VIDEO: You Have to See the Shockingly Progressive Twist on The Bold and the Beautiful

TV soap operas have long been masters of the plot twist. Evil twins, ghosts, aliens, serial killers and the old standby amnesia have all become somewhat common on the biggest daytime dramas. But the writers of The Bold and the Beautiful took the show's latest shocker to a whole new level. And you know what? Good for them.

(There are spoilers ahead, obviously, in case you have some B&B piling up on your DVR.)

Wednesday's episode of The Bold and the Beautiful was a whopper, revealing that Maya (played by Karla Mosley) is actually... Myron. A man. The reveal came when Maya was having a confrontation with her sister Nicole, as Nicole discovered that Maya had transitioned from a man to a woman at an early age.

How transgender stories became TV's breakout trend in 2014

"I've done some research," Nicole said. "And I know why our parents kept it a secret."

"What secret?" Maya asked.

"You're not my sister, Maya," Nicole said. "You're not Maya at all. You're Myron, my brother."

"My first reaction was surprise, because 10 or 20 years ago, this is not a story we would be telling, and not in a way that's truthful and not sensational," Mosley told USA Today. "My second reaction was, 'Thank you.' It's a gift, it's a privilege. It's a real opportunity to educate our viewers here and all over the world."

The Bold and the Beautiful head writer and executive producer Bradley Bell told USA Today that the storyline is about love. "It is about people respecting other people's differences and their uniqueness," he said. "In the end, we all want to be loved, and in order to love someone else you first have to love yourself. If you are transgender, gay, straight, it doesn't matter. It's about finding love in life. This is a love story."

Watch the reveal for yourself:

What did you think of Maya's transgender storyline?