Neighbours: Discussion Thread

[Liberty City]

Am I the only one who isn't loving Terese's extra dark hair? The single-process almost black hue is too dark for Rebekah Elmaloglou.

[DRW50]

Finally finished the last few weeks.

Some thoughts:

Lights Up was nicely done - maybe the best of the "special" episodes in the revival. Memories of past friends and loves were done with restraint, and Harold's memories of Madge had all the more poignancy knowing that Ian Smith is leaving again soon. The scene with Paul comforting Hilary about her old love Kenneth Muir may be the best Paul has had in the revival. 

I also thought the show did a decent job remembering David a year on, showing how his loved ones struggled with how to mourn him, with a minimum of tears or tantrums but with a clear sense of loss.

The idea of Nicolette impulsively letting Yaz flee the country (and even pushing her from immediately confessing) feels true to the character, and Leo figuring out and blackmailing her into firing Seb was an even better twist. I liked that she wasn't self-righteously outraged and instead just did what he wanted because she didn't give a fig about Seb anyway.  And her talk with Leo about why she got caught up in the moment with Yaz, how David would feel about the two of them lying, etc. was great.

I do think the whole story with Nicolette being belittled and banished by everyone (including Leo) over her keeping a record of Aaron's struggles cast a cloud over these scenes. I wish she had reminded him of his big moral outrage over her actions. And when Jane and Aaron find out, will they have a big angry reaction? Byron in particular should be mad, due to his friendship with Holly. If they are mad, then it's going to pack less of a punch because they were already furious with her last year for much less. 

The Leo/Krista/Seb story goes around and around without any rooting interest. I don't believe in the Leo/Krista relationship anymore and I think the longer the pairing has continued the blander Krista has become. So much of her personality is about this relationship. On paper, the Krista and Seb history should be much more affecting for Krista than it is. Instead, he just reminds Krista of umpteenth old stories while she gives a wan grin. Rather than Seb pursuing her, I would be more interested if she had fallen back into old habits with him, or even kissed him, by her own choice. Clearly Seb is just meant to be a spoiler for the money couple, so it's telling that the show is so unsure of the rooting value of Krista and Leo that they had to have Seb take a shot at Davod to remind us of who the "bad" character is in this story. I do find the actor who plays Seb attractive, and I think he would have been better served in another role. This one, like everything here, is a nonstarter.

Holly may be one of the vapidest characters I've ever seen on a soap. She faces trauma after trauma, but other than variations on, "Why is this happening to me?" she goes right back to factory settings. She is so vapid that when she went to talk with Andrew I couldn't tell if she was flirting with him. 

The show going back to Max and Holly just makes the decisions made with Max during the time they didn't share scenes more confusing to me. His backstory is also confusing. He was so mad over a female friend being Roofied that he Roofied the man responsible, yet he didn't think twice over harassing Sadie? Speaking of that, have Max, Byron and Sadie had any conversation about that whole period since Max got out of the hospital? What was the point, other than the old cliche about someone starting on a show as a pig so we will get to see them improve?

Taye seems to be there for the same arc. Knowing he's one of the few new regular characters makes it more disappointing that I found him so unlikeable. Dex feeling isolated in the family makes sense as something for Taye, who is clearly bitter toward his sister and very emotionally immature, to take advantage of, but it's not something I want to watch.

Speaking of characters I don't want to watch, I just don't think I'm ever going to care about the Paul/Terese relationship. I'm glad they finally had some scenes where he talked about his guilt over David's death, they were long overdue for Paul, and I thought Stefan and Rebekah were both excellent. I wish they didn't feel so much like exceptions. A great deal of the time (and this started before Nell's return), I don't even get the sense that Terese likes Paul, 

I had completely forgotten about Katrina (I didn't even remember her name) until she randomly returned last week, going from a cold and selfish character to running a food drive for the needy. It makes sense for her to return with Chelsea on the way, given that Chelsea got her fired from the hotel (if this is the same character). I hope she runs Chelsea out of town as soon as possible.

I can't tell if the show is planning a loneliness story for Andrew or if they just have nothing to do with him so that's why everyone he cares about keeps shunning him.

I enjoyed the scenes with Gino and Vera as she was convinced to move into Eirini Rising. I couldn't muster up any involvement in her ties to Byron, Max and Sadie because we barely saw her with them before this story began. 

We had two mentions of Curtis Perkins in one episode, but no sighting of him. Is this another budget issue or is something else going on? I've seen more selfies of the actor on Twitter than appearances in the revival.

The brief moments with Aaron and Rhett had some chemistry, and more depth than I'd expected (learning about Rhett being a father). I didn't invest because there's no point investing in any guest characters. I hope this isn't the end of the story, but there's no point to expect more for the time being.

Jane's story with Clint has also sped along, likely due to yet another case of perils of the guest character. We only had a few episodes of her reacting to the age difference before she learned he was a cleaner and pulled back from seeing him. I'm sure there is more to come, but I can't bring myself to care when I know this character may not even be remembered in a month.

It's been tough for me to feel much about Byron and Sadie, due to the same lack of development of other couples/relationships, but the whole mini-story where he almost got a piercing to please her before not being able to not go through with it was a good way to see their different personalities and how much they care about each other.

Edited February 3 by DRW50

[cassadine1991]

So what’s the verdict on Chrishell Stause?

[Skylover]

She was alright, shame she was wasted on a boring character.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah she was perfectly fine.  It's hard to invest in a character like that, especially when we know she's just going to be on for a limited time.  I will say her acting style, etc, fit the show better than Mischa Barton who always seemed like she came from another planet.

I like the Seb actor well enough too, but I agree with you.  Out of the major storylines right now, it's the worst offender at a story I just can't really muster any interest in (and the addition of the new sister character is *not* helping and really just makes Seb's character all the more confusing.  She was engaged to him??)

Curtis is such a non character, I had to look up who he was as I didn't recognize the name (but he did have some lines this week.  And he's fine for what he is, I just don't think the show has any interest in ever expanding his role from random school assistant.)

But you do make a good point I've noticed since watching Neighbours since the reboot (I watched it fairly regularly for a few years 10-15 years back partly as I was dating a guy from Brisbane who loves soaps, knew I loved soaps and wanted me to watch with him, and it was easy to find for a brief time here in Canada.)  The guest characters who more often than not you don't want to get too interested in even if you like the character because, again more often than not, they're simply not going to be expanded into anything more.

[DRW50]

Thanks for replying @EricMontreal22 as I wasn't sure anyone would want to read that wall of words.

Curtis did have more to do pre-reboot, which is why some fans thought there'd be more of him this time around, but you're right he is not a central character. 

I don't remember the guest character to regular character disparity being so clear before the Amazon revival. If they miraculously get another year, I hope this can be worked out. 

[Joseph]

So, off topic but does anyone knows of a place I could watch the classic episodes besides Amazon? They're not available where I live anyway

[Liberty City]

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premiere episode (with some weird-ass thumbnail) uploaded four hours ago to the Classic channel.

[DRW50]

Thanks. 

If they are putting up episodes that are already on Amazon it makes me wonder if they have been canceled.

[Liberty City]

I don't think so, because other series produced by Fremantle Australia are also going up on YouTube. I think it's overall a copyright thing that allows them to be published online in other capacities.

[Bright Eyes]

Until we know otherwise, 2025 is going to be the year of, will Neighbours/Hollyoaks/Days of our Lives/The Bold and the Beautiful be cancelled? We shall see.

[DRW50]

I hope you're right. This does make sense.

I had forgotten B&B was under threat. 

I'm still not completely sure about Shortland Street either, although maybe they have a two-year deal?

(I know you've said you don't watch SS now but their brand-new revamp starts next week if you are interested)

[Liberty City]

I'm still feeling fine about a renewal, honestly. I'm not too concerned. I think we also need to realize when Amazon picked it up, MGM Studios wasn't involved and Freevee was still in the picture.

Well, right now, DAYS is picked up through 2026, so I guess we've got it until its next anniversary?

[Bright Eyes]

The short

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 time I watched was wonderful, but I let it go because it got too difficult to keep up with and constantly had to find new places for episodes. I know it's down to three episodes, but I'm currently watching classic EE (in Jan 1995), DAYS, and will be watching Beyond the Gates so that is as much time as I can lend to the soaps, unfortunately. But I'm always happy when you and others post updates and thoughts about the show. 

I thought the renewal ended Sept. 2025? I always mess that up for some reason. Thx. 

[Liberty City]

Unless I misunderstood it? We're in "season 60" right now, no? Wouldn't a renewal for season 61 mean it's renewed through 2026? This is why I hate "season" renewals for soaps. Just tell us what year you're renewing until, FFS. The two-year renewal in March 2023 ensured its renewal to its 60th season (now?), so a renewal for the 61st would mean until next year, no?