Hollyoaks: Discussion Thread

[AMCOLTLLover]

Come on? No one really gets suspicious about that hotel room Darren is locked inside? As if someone doesn’t want his room get cleaned for days.

This story needs to end. 

[InLoveWithSoaps]

I loved Gemma Atkinson on Emmerdale and have always been waiting for her to return so I'm fine with her back to Hollyoaks. I also love to see Katie McGlynn on as I loved her on Corrie. Although as I recall her first scene was her around the hospital and she seemed to have no issue going there and then 3/4 months later she's anti-hospital. It's great to have a character like that though and I loved when she was all ignorant about Luke's condition and suggested to Zara and Cindy they "do their research".
What they've done with the Deveraux is great but what a mistake it was to kill off Lisa, as Toby and even Celeste can never recover from that. That's just an impulse Hollyoaks had at the time to just go overboard with the killings, I still think Harry being killed by Breda in the SK storyline was a massive mistake. Toby killing Pete they could have gotten away with, but what he did to Lisa was so violent and unforgivable. Shame as that added nothing and ruined what clearly could have been good for a long time. Also recast Mitchell or something.

I'd also like to see them recast Ellie Nightingale down the line. She wasn't all that memorable and can be reinvented with another actress à la Liberty. I'll suggest Louise Marwood!
Also does Lucy Allan have a connection with Emmerdale as we have "Alicia" in a minor role (so far) as a cop, surely there'll be something more, and "Cameron" has popped up. I've also noticed the series producers from under Kirkwood have been replaced and the episode writers and directors seem to always be new names. So far I'd say she's doing a fine job, obviously dedicated to tie up loose ends. I did find the Fergus ending a bit of an anti-climax as he didn't see it coming, and I don't think they needed the McQueens to leave the Dog, also what happened to their old house which I liked?
I don't know where the Darren story is going as of a month ago but I do find the hotel mystery with Ste's cleaning crew going to work there a nice different kind of mystery with the setting being part of it.

[AMCOLTLLover]

I think Ellie was more than memorable! She had that heavy Rape stuff going on back in the day. 
Holly/Ellie were two of the most beloved characters mid 2010‘s

[LondonScribe]

A tad spoilery, but not much as Lucy Allan doesn’t say much, even with the word count

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https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/hollyoaks/a38696253/hollyoaks-spoilers-lucy-allan-2022-storylines/

[Bright Eyes]

No spoilers for me thanks. Watching as freely as I can from them has been a likable experience. You better believe I have avoided that promo like a ninja.

[DRW50]

Apparently  it gives away everything.

[AMCOLTLLover]

What a shocking blast! Damn all those 3 deaths were really shocking!

Sylver and Marnie will be missed.

im not upset about Celeste but i was starting to like her

[pdm1974]

Just started watching Hollyoaks a couple of months ago on Hulu, and I'm hooked! It does so much of what I wish the US soaps would do...a truly diverse cast and set of characters, topical plots, and a lot of story movement. Plus, all of the outdoor shooting makes the show just seem much more "open". Hollyoaks feels like a real town.

That being said, Sylver was an early favorite character for me so, I'm

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[Bright Eyes]

Very relieved that Mandy left alive. Now I just have to live with the constant fear that they will kill her off-screen at any given moment. Along those lines, I also miss Sami, but it was the actor's decision so c'est la vie. At least he also left alive, always a blessing with this show. R.I.P to Verity and him ever reuniting.

They should find a way to keep Cameron Hutchinson (Stephen McGregor) around because he looks great and for the little he got to do he had a good screen presence/could act, too. 

The fire explosion: I was worried about my girl Juliet. That little hellraiser entertains me every time she bellows at someone for any minor inconvenience. I'm glad they're planning to put her in the garage again. The episodes themselves were very well done.

As for the actual deaths, I've said it before, but I feel the need to reiterate how thankful I am that Toby didn't become a serial killer. He murdered Lisa and then the guilt tore him apart ever since, and he confessed of his own volition, eventually. Worst timing ever, but he did. He really should have been the one to die instead of Celeste, as it just depletes the only black family on the show. Plus, Celeste showed that she fancied both Prince and the new Sam, so they definitely could have continued on with her. I also enjoyed the friendship foursome that was Celeste/Verity/Theresa/Cleo. What I don't understand is, Saul (whose name as Nate was way better) went to the police about Toby, so is everything Toby/Celeste did public knowledge, because only him, Martine, and Cleo reacted to it? Verity was mourning her as a friend, but gave no hint to knowing the truth. But the biggest elephant in the room was always Simone/Zack never seemingly bothered that they couldn't see Lisa for over a year. The Mitchell strand was always ridiculous, but no one wants that actor back so hopefully DeMarcus gives Felix/Martine enough story going forward because they've been built up pretty expertly and I would hate to see them go anytime soon.

Anyway, onto Sylver. Him actually saying he would always love Mercedes no matter how many times she cheats on him was the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Why couldn't they just let him leave town like he was planning to do? They gave him a chance to actually leave with dignity, but felt it was necessary to add to the death count. For what? All for a potential child is a psycho plot with Bobby? Why does anyone think stories like that ever work? And Mercy with her 4th dead husband. A tired retread. Are we really supposed to care about going through this merry go round with her again? The only thing I want to see from her at this point is her once strong frenemy-ship with Cindy.

Now, Marnie. The greatest loss of the three. She could be so many things to so many different characters. A true multi-faceted character. Her death made all the more sad by that hopeful hint of a potential relationship with Jack. I genuinely thought the actors had terrific chemistry together. I previously speculated that Donna-Marie was brought back to be killed off initially. I thought it would be during the Fergus story like I've posted about before, but I guess with Lysette's controversary, the plans might have changed at some point. They were a good double act, too. The most annoying thing about her death is all the times narcissistic Ste had the audacity to remind James that HE loved her, too. That HE was mourning her, too. Why do the writers think that makes Ste sound sympathetic? He sounds like an ass. 

Elsewhere, it was nice to see Tom getting some real material again, but damn his problems with Yas came out of nowhere. It gave me whiplash. Thank Christ it was just a kiss with Cher, but still. Why the rush? And I'm talking even for Hollyoaks' standards.

That scene with Shaq telling Misbah how scared he was that he could be as terrible as Ali surprisingly made me choke up. Omak Malik did a great job and has been a good addition, though I admit his accent took some adjusting to at first. However, they really should have had him be more of a cad, because we've only ever seen him with two women and barely. He could have easily had a fling with Celeste, Leela, a bunch of others or some nameless faces so this person they told us he was would have been more believable. And that's not the actor's fault at all, because he easily pulls off that role. And Theresa had another mumbo jumbo line during this time, something like he hurt her more than any other man? EXCUSE ME!?! You literally shot one dead. Still pissed she's not working at the garage. Kind of along the lines of how annoying it is that Stacey Slater isn't working at the salon in EE.

Serena caught my attention in her first episode as 'Galaxy', so I was happy to see them bring her back with a family. They've all been likable enough, except for Dave, who I find to be a wet blanket. It was nice to see that Honour already knew about Maxine's existence to solidify how strong the Chen-Williams marriage is, but Maxine is such a drain and her being in another chemistry-less pairing with Warren made me wish she would have left with her awful mother, oldfake-Trish (don't miss her one bit.) It just gives me horrible flashbacks on how desperately this show tried to sell us on her and Dodger together, a couple who absolutely sucked in every conceivable way. #justiceforTexas Oh, and redoing the Hutchinson, now Chen-Williams apartment, with that horrible green eye-sore. Why? Who approved something so aesthetically displeasing?

As for Ethan, he's certainly hot and a passable performer, but this story is one of the strangest I've seen, especially for a newcomer. One note Maya was horrible, but I could stomach it because the actor was always listed in the credits as recurring so I knew she'd be gone sooner than later, but I don't know what to think about him because he kills Maya by accident, but then runs Warren down on purpose. Is this their way of building up their new big bad from scratch? I think most are just waiting for the day him and Sienna hook-up. I am intrigued about who stole Honour's notes on Warren in a desperate plea for this show to realize his time is done. He's killed SIX people. Enough is enough. And though I fancy Rory-Douglas Speed immensely, they're not doing Joel any favours by having him keep quiet. They could take a page out of Dexter: New Blood and have Joel put him out of his misery, especially with this new ailment Warren has now. Still, I don't know where they're going with this story, so I guess I'm interested by the power of pure confusion.

With Scott wanting to become a foster parent he's mentioned expecting to one day get a young child to take care of, but I think it'd make much more sense if his eventual foster kid is some troubled high school age teen that he eventually adopts. It was a smart move to him in with Maxine.

Damon and Liberty seem far too isolated for my sake. It always seems like Liberty is popping up with characters who have no idea why she's there. Why they haven't had Liberty and Theresa share any scenes yet is beyond me. They both need friendships, but I guess with Damon it makes more sense story wise right now for him to be more alone. Hopefully they'll play the beat of Darren trying to help him overcome his gambling addiction at some point. I just have this irrational fear that it's leading to an exit for him, with or without Liberty I'm not sure. 

I wish they had let Nana move into that retirement home. I really don't think she brings anything special to the McQueens and never really has. She's never come close to being any sort of matriarch. She's just an Aunt Sal, not a Peggy Mitchell. I noticed John Paul usually drinking or being hung over before Sylver made the remark about it, but I don't know how to feel about a potential alcoholic story. With how horribly drunk he would get when he was with George, it seems they might have had this in mind for awhile, but again, I think I'd care more if he actually got a life first. Actually, other than Theresa and Cleo, none of the McQueens seem to have any connections outside their own. Then there's Olivia who I do like actually and I'm interested to see where they're going with her as the ambitious snob. Hopefully, not too far into villainy, but it'd be fun if they towed the line.

Becky Quentin. I am loving to hate her. She's asking for a slap, and I hope she gets it, but the chaos she constantly creates is entertaining. She certainly doesn't feel long term, so I just hope they don't keep her passed her sell-by date, but I'll enjoy her until then. However, someone I don't enjoy is Gabriel Clark as Oli. I've tried, but he just pales in comparison to Aedan Duckworth and makes me miss him every time he appears. I'm going to hope he's written out once Luke dies, which I'm going to guess is going to be his and Cindy's wedding. The caveat is that I really want Zara to stay, so being that there's so many years she was gone, I'm going to need a long lost child to pop up in the next few months.

Okay, I think that's it for now. I know it was a lot, but I feel better having gotten it out of my brain.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Bright Eyes

[DRW50]

@Bright EyesI watch little HO these days but really appreciate your thorough writeup. You probably already know this, but David Tag said in an exit interview that he also had a hard time with Sylver's comments to Mercedes, and he and Jennifer tried to do what they could with them.

[Bright Eyes]

Thanks for the kind words. And yes, I read about the DS article about it. Glad to know I'm not crazy, not about that anyway. 

[Bright Eyes]

This show really did everything imaginable to make the Chen-Williams family dynamic as confusing as possible.

Dave's biological kids are Maxine (with Trish), Sam (with an unnamed Woman), and Mason (with Honour).

Honour's bio kids are Serena (with an Asian father), and Mason (with Dave).

And Lizzie is Sam's half sibling, but is not biologically related to anyone else in the family. 

 

[AMCOLTLLover]

I don’t really like this new family

[Bright Eyes]

The ending to the Faroe story was pretty satisfying. I can't remember when a murderer actually went to prison instead of being killed off on this show. Brendan maybe? One thing I will miss about Toby is that he was basically the only male character on soaps that was actually fashionable.

[Bright Eyes]

Her tenure on the show was before my time, but it was still such a pleasure to see Gemma Atkinson come back home as Lisa Hunter. All the references, the cheekiness with Tom, and the heartfelt talk with Zara on the stairs were wonderful. Her return was the end of yesterday's and most of today's episode if anyone is interested in just seeing her again.