Hollyoaks: Discussion Thread

[Chris B]

One major problem I have is Phina Orbuche's hair. She looks a hot mess. It's way too short and it's not flattering. For such a sexy woman (just going off Buffy and Footballers Wives), it's an odd choice. I wish they'd given her a fierce weave or wig, but I do like her on this show so far.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I really haven't been impressed with Marquess' first week at all, the show just seems as lifeless as ever.

I guess we'll have a more accurate picture of his show when the Costello's debut pretty soon. But so far, unlike on EastEnders, there hasn't been much noticeable or subtle change in this transition period.

[DRW50]

I haven't watched much of the Lucy Allan era, not on a day to day (or even month to month) basis, but I thought that Friday's episode was pretty good. I was actually sort of frightened with Loretta picking up Steph and taking her who knows where, and then the stuff with Kyle threatening Lauren and finding out Teresa was pregnant. The story which for me just sucks is the stuff with Cheryl. I don't know why they think she's a star.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I didn't know Guy Burnet recently appeared on one of those crappy Disney Channel shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEvZ8wK2NZA

[DRW50]

The Disney Channel shows changed so much since I used to see them years ago. I kind of preferred Under the Umbrella Tree or Dumbo's Circus...now kids seem to grow up so fast...

Guy could probably break into the American market with the right role, he has that sort of vibe which a lot of Americans tend to enjoy in British guys (arrogant but vulnerable underneath).

I was watching more of Craig's relationship with Darlene Taylor and while I know some people hated her character and thought the woman who played her couldn't act, I thought she and Craig had very good chemistry together, even thought she always treated him like a spare part, and I thought Guy's acting was much better with her. With McDean you could usually tell how nervous he was and there was a lot of screaming/crying stuff which few actors do well with.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I always thought he was the backbone of the McDean pairing, and was supposed to be conflicted and confused, which he played really well in that story. I really did think I cared more for them because of Craig and not John Paul looking back. Craig and his confusion and self-hatred were the best parts of that story, I thought.

When I look back at McDean, it's always much more interesting to look at it from Craig's perspective than John Paul's. I've never really been impressed with James Sutton's acting to be honest.

[DRW50]

The problem I had with Craig's perspective was I never knew if he had one. I don't really have a problem with a straight character going gay, or even a gay character going straight, if the writing is there. First you had the way that Craig beating the crap out of John Paul and attempting to force himself on Sarah were both glossed over. Then they had Craig use both John Paul and Sarah and for all the talk of how conflicted he was, he never seemed all that conflicted to me. Craig went from psychopath to socioipath and the show never really wanted to deal with this because it was all so plot-driven. Then they had the rushed McDean reveal which mostly seemed to happen because Guy was leaving. And a year later, Craig returns, and few of the McDean issues were resolved, we were just supposed to be happy because they got back together.

I thought the whole story was a success in terms of getting attention and in pandering to some fans but a mistake in terms of what was done to the characters. The only thing which really made it work after the affair was the chemistry between Guy Burnet and James Sutton. Other than that I wish they had just left them as friends and kept John Paul with Spike or brought in someone else for him. The stuff with Craig also pretty much took away John Paul's personality, he just became "the other man," then he became the gay character until it was time for him to leave a year later. The earlier John Paul stuff, when he was allowed to have humor and charm, were more suited to James Sutton than the constant bursting into tears. I was watching some of the stuff when Kieron and John Paul broke up and when Kieron died and episode after episode ended with John Paul bursting into tears -- no thanks.

I also thought that story did a lot of damage to Frankie.

Edited July 12, 2010 by CarlD2

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Did they ever explain what ever happened to Spike?

I did enjoy how jealous Craig was of Spike/John Paul and how Spike would rub it in his face.

Edited July 12, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

Spike and Craig had a lot of chemistry together. Obviously that was never going to happen but I wouldn't have objected...

The last time they ever showed Spike that I can remember was in October or November 2008, not long after the Ashworths took over the Dog. I sometimes wondered if they brought him back just so they could say "We did this, OK," as some fans had wanted him to return, and after the return there wasn't much else you could do with him. I think he was suddenly a reporter and he kept trying to make it look like Neville Ashworth was turning the Dog into a gay pub. He and Hannah and their hate for each other was a lot of fun to watch. I think some fans were always offended by the way he was with Hannah but really she gave as good as she got.

I think they still could have done more with Spike, especially when you consider that was when you started getting so many filler characters (long lost brothers and sisters and so on), and the "comedy" stories Lucy Allan enjoyed. Spike could have fit into some of that.

Do you think Kirkwood had a lot of plans for the Roys and Lucy Allan just botched them, or did she not ever care about them? I was bewildered at how quickly most of them were written out and also how quickly Ash was ruined, surely that wasn't the original idea?

I haven't watched a lot of that timeframe but I remember an episode where Bel went to work for Louise and she was very rude to Cindy (which naturally helped Louise give Bel the job). There was something kind of unique about Bel, I think they could have done something with her. She had a certain gobbiness which fits Hollyoaks females better than downtrodden heroines fit it. But I guess a lot of that changed after Kirkwood left and she must have become more of the traditional sour mother figure.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I know Kirkwood said something to the effect in one of his last Hollyoaks interviews that the stuff that aired during his final year or at least the final 6-7 months or so of his tenure were altered and changed a lot by the time it hit the air, though since they were his stories, he was still credited for them.

I don't think Allan really cared about families, she clearly wanted to boost the younger crowd and the university aspect of the show. I think it was her goal to establish the new students on the show, and it really didn't work since all of her new characters were so poorly defined and she caused tons of damage to the existing characters she tended to use heavily. Since the Roy's were so new, she must have considered them expendable and easier to get rid of. Why she loved Anita so much, I don't know...

Edited July 12, 2010 by Y&RWorldTurner

[DRW50]

Do you think she got anything right?

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I can't say anything really stood out about her tenure from what I saw. It was all pretty short-term and dull and aimless as ever. Nothing seemed to have much of a direction, and her new characters were horribly executed and were more like caricatures (see Cheryl).

[DRW50]

A lot of Monday's episode was, frankly, bizarre. How many scenes were spent on Cheryl thinking she had sex with Charlotte? The only amusing part was Charlotte going along with this idea to annoy Cheryl. Cheryl's endless braying and begging Jesus for forgiveness and all the moaning about how awful her life was now that she had "gone gay" -- how stupid is this person? She crawled into bed drunk and has no memory of what happened. It's not like she woke up with her head between Charlotte's legs. And why is this the only gay-related story the show even has, when they have THREE bisexual characters on the canvas??

Steph is not in a great frame of mind and Jake has been mentally ill and made a lot of mistakes but why would Steph totally believe everything Loretta said? It's just plot-driven gunk.

Kyle was, as he sometimes is, actually menacing in that scene with Theresa, but Theresa's "scared" acting doesn't do a lot for me. The stuff with the china dogs was silly. I'm just glad that Myra is finally getting more involved in this story, as she should be.

Did anyone else think there was a surprising amount of chemistry between Jacqui and Kyle?

I think it was badboy93 who said Beth Kingston wasn't that bad, and I have to agree, she seems to be a lot better these days.

[Bright Eyes]

Cheryl just gets more aggravating with every episode. I. JUST. CAN'T.

I don't mind Beth Kingston much either and the character seems likable enough, I just don't see why I should care about her. As for Charlotte, I kind of like her, but the actress doesn't do anything for me.

I am going to say it ... I LOVE KYLE. Neil Toon has a lot of screen presence, and as a villain, he's believable. At least from what I've seen. Is he one the the characters departing? I really hope not. I loved Theresa in their scenes together where she went back and forth from standing up to him and being scared. I was really invested in those scenes. Two decent actors just giving us good drama.

Yeah, I didn't buy Steph buying Loretta's BS either. What's going to happen now, Loretta's going to cause some crazy stunt, die, and Jake will be blamed for it?

Edited July 12, 2010 by Amello

[DRW50]

I think Kyle was always a short term character, but I kind of hope he stays around. He has a real presence sometimes and he is probably a better fit for the charismatic punk role than anyone has been since Warren and Justin.

I think Charlotte works well as a fun supporting character. Her comedy moments actually make me laugh, whereas Cheryl/Ricky/Duncan make me nauseous. I agree that I don't necessarily care tons about her, or about India, but with some of the dire new characters who have been brought in, I think that it's better to keep the few who are at least tolerable. Unfortunately considering Dave's firing, being annoying and nauseating might be what keeps you around.