Hope and Rafe are on the brink of a break-up. Hope is kissing Ted, again. It’s April and this month we are throwing back to some of the BEST Super Couples in all of daytime. Hope’s current love triangle had us thinking we’d start with Bo and Hope.
I’m going to give you a little personal background. I grew up in a CBS soap only household. My momma and grandmother watched CBS soaps only. One day in the early-ish ’80s (during the summer) around noon central time; I walked out of the living room at my grandmother’s house. I wasn’t in the mood to watch the mid-day news. I wanted to check out another soap on another channel. But I didn’t dare change the channel in the living room. So, I went to the spare bedroom. I’m no spring chicken so I won’t even try and sell you that I could give you a specific narrative of that day. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that when these eyes saw Peter Reckell and Kristian Alfonso that was it. I have watched Days of our Lives since that day.
I saw Hope’s beautiful face and smile and Bo’s leather jacket, beard and motorcycle and it was soap love at first sight. And we must give two shout outs to Bo and Hope for that fab 80’s hair! Bo and Hope started with the typical love story of an upper-class girl falling in love with the guy from the wrong side of the tracks. But there was absolutely nothing typical about “Bope.” They were special, extra special. Their vibe, the tension, their fights, their sparkle, their fire and ice anything and everything about them was everything.
Bo learned quickly not to let Hope’s “Fancy Face” and upbringing fool him. She was no pushover and gave Bo more than he could handle from day one. This elementary school girl used to daydream of finding a man someday that would look at her the way Bo looked at Hope. (It took me some time. But I did!)
Hope beautiful, refined, feisty and virginal. Bo handsome, a lil’ bad, a lil’ dangerous, a rebel who didn’t need a cause. We fell in love with this pairing hard and fast. How could we not? Bo and Hope met at Shenanigans. In that first meeting, Bo described Hope as a “pretty little rich girl who is nothing but a pain.” And that is a perfect description of the beginning of their relationship. Hope crushed on Bo’s older brother Roman. Hope had great taste. Both Brady bros were de-licious. Roman was merely a crush. A placeholder in Hope’s heart, if you will. Fate knew what it was doing. And fate always wins.
Bope’s beginning was filled with danger, adventures, tension, flirting, laughing, fighting and trying to deny the inevitable,. There were more than a few people in Salem who didn’t think a Bo and Hope coupling was a good thing given their diametric backgrounds and upbringings. And none more so than Hope’s daddy, Doug. Bo and Hope fell in love and wanted to be together and together. Doug literally went into cardiac arrest when he walked in on his daughter about to be deflowered by Bo. Hope promised her daddy she wouldn’t see Bo anymore. She began dating local politician , Larry Welch, and they became engaged. That’s when things really got fun!
All eyes were glued to their TV screens when Bo kidnapped Hope at the church on the day of her wedding to Larry, drove them away on his motorcycle and let Howie dress up and walk down the aisle in Hope’s stead. E-P-I-C. Hope was kidnapped from Bo and the kidnappers threatened Hope’s family if she didn’t marry Larry (Larry was more than just a politician). She did. But Bo found out why Hope married Larry. Bope reunited, finally made love (she and Larry’s marriage was never consummated) and it was them against the world. The world lost. Bo and Hope became engaged.
Where does soap royalty go to tie the knot? England, of course. In a royal fairy tale wedding, Bo and Hope were married in one of the BEST soap weddings in soap history still until this day. Kristian/Hope breathtaking, Peter/Bo heart-stoppingly handsome, they don’t make ’em like that any more boys and girls.
Bo and Hope went through it and we stayed the course with them. Their marital bliss was interrupted when Bo’s world came down crashing down when he found out that Victor Kiriakis was his biological father and not Pops Shawn. Crushing. Bo’s emotional torment and the changes in his personality strained the marriage. Hope became pregnant but miscarried which put a greater strain on the marriage. She got pregnant again and gave birth to Bo and Hope’s firstborn, Shawn-Douglas. The new family set sail on a trip around the world on the boat, Fancy Face later that year.
They returned to Salem a few years later. Hope was kidnapped and held hostage by Ernesto Toscano and presumed dead in a cave explosion. Hope was indeed alive. Hope returned and the couple would find happiness again. But my goodness all that would transpire before then. But that is the very reason why we love our soaps and angst for our supercouples. The overcoming makes the reunions so much sweeter. Bo and Hope had lots of overcoming to do; Billie Reed, Hope thinking she was Princess Gina, the real Princess Gina, Stefano DiMera, Bo almost marrying Princess Gina thinking it was Hope, a brainwashed Bo, kidnapping, a who the baby daddy (John, Stefano, Bo) and a baby-switching storyline. Whew. And that only brought us up to around the year 2000.
Bope remarried and Zack, their second child was born (a part of the who the baby daddy/baby switching storyline). The truth came out that Bo was Zack’s father and the Brady’s were happy again. Not for long. Because who wants that right? LOL. Larry came back for revenge (he had a long memory). He and Billie teamed up, kidnapped and tried to kill Hope. Next was the Salem Stalker Murders, that left most of Salem dead but not really. The culmination brought back an alive Billie. And Bo and Billie discovered their daughter, Chelsea, was alive. The search for and subsequently Chelsea’s presence put a rift in the marriage which was right up Chelsea’s alley. In time Bo and Hope were able to do what they always did; work through their problems. But then…the unthinkable happened. Zack was killed in a hit and run accident and Chelsea was the driver. Devastating. That still hurts. Bo tried to keep it the secret that Chelsea was responsible for Zack’s death to keep her out of jail.
The grief and devastation from losing a child plus Bo covering for Chelsea was more than any couple could bear. Bo and Hope separated. There was another who the baby daddy storyline when Hope was pregnant with Ciara (Patrick Lockhart, Bo). Ciara’s was Bo’s. Yea! Bo and Hope got back together. Bo was then diagnosed with a rare pancreatic disease that required a transplant. Chelsea was his donor (despite Bo’s refusal). Bo made a full recovery. Bo fell from a ladder while trimming the Christmas tree and started having visions. He was able to stop some impending disasters but wasn’t able to stop his vision of Ciara being kidnapped from coming true. Ciara was rescued but Bo and Hope disagreed on how to handle the kidnappers and the ransom. That led to another break-up. Carly Manning (Bo’s ex who Bo was involved with when Hope was presumed dead) came back to Salem and her and Bo started seeing each other again. Also around that time, Hope’s beloved grandmother, Alice Horton passed away.
Hope started taking sleeping pills to help her during that difficult time. Let’s just say um, she had an unusual reaction to the medications. Hope transformed into “Nighttime Hope”, who assaulted and robbed the powerful men of Salem at night. When Hope was faced with what she had done, she pleaded guilty and was sent to jail. In jail, the forever cop uncovered a donor organ scheme which resulted in Hope receiving a commuted sentence. Hope was free. Carly left and Bope you know it was back together again. Together but not married? A hidden key in the town square steered Bope to a safety deposit box that contained a marriage certificate. John and Hope were married while in Alamania years before when they were under Stefano’s mind control.
The four of them traveled to Alamania so John and Hope could get a divorce. After John and Hope’s adventure of trying to outfox Stefano, who programmed them again so they could steal artwork, and barely escaping with their lives and Bo being and coming out of a coma; Bo and Hope’s life returned to normal. At least they’re normal whatever that was. Salem PD made budget cuts. Hope stayed on at the police department but Bo elected not to. When Caroline, Bo’s mom, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Bo had the free time to help care for her. He went with Caroline to California for a treatment trial. When they returned Bo was in Salem but Peter wasn’t. Bo was in Salem, off-screen. Bo, Hope and Ciara visited Belle, Shawn and Claire for Christmas. Hope and Ciara returned to Salem but Bo stayed. Bo then decided to go on a quest to find information/a way to put Stefano away for good.
About two years after we last saw Bo on screen, John gave Hope a letter from Bo that stated he was going further undercover and would be gone and out of contact with her for an indefinite amount of time. It took Hope (and us) awhile but Hope was ready to move on (I wasn’t lol). She sent divorce papers to Bo’s last known address. She fell in love with and planned to marry Aiden Jennings.
Oh, but our Bo hadn’t abandoned Hope and Ciara! He wasn’t staying away voluntarily! We knew better! He would never do that to our Fancy Face! He was being held captive. Patch, doing the soap gawds work, found Bo. Patch helped Bo get free and back home to Salem. Bo didn’t make it home in enough time to stop Aiden and Hope from getting married. But he did stop Aiden from killing Hope, his newlywed wife.
We all rejoiced! It had been so long too long. Then……Bo and Hope barely had time. We barely had time. Bo was diagnosed with a fatal progressed brain tumor. Not too long after, he died in Hope’s arms as the snow began to fall. We all cried and cried and cried and cried. If you can handle it watch it here.
A year later Bo and Peter returned for a special Hope centric dream sequenced episode (Larry and Stefano also appeared). Hope had gone through so much since losing Bo and killing Stefano. Bo with an all-grown-up Zack gave Hope the strength, love and insight to be ready to leave the past including her mistakes in the past and move forward. Bope together again our soap hearts burst with joy and thanksgiving.
Did you all read all that? And are we still supposed to believe Bope is over and done? We are supposed to believe there is no “hope” for our Bope?
We refuse to accept it. Anything and everything is possible in soapland. Love does truly conquer all. Fate always wins, doesn’t it?
Peter/Bo please come home!
#Bope4Life
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