Shortland Street

[Dion]

Unfortunately it looks like Jack's return stint has already wrapped up, with Phoenix's death being the final straw to make him cut ties with Shortland Street - a bit ridiculous since he and Phoenix never had any sort of friendship, though I guess seeing his dad's best friend lose his own son could be triggering.

 

Michelle's great. Hopefully Chris makes her wife number 6 and Lisa Chappell stays for years.

[FrenchFan]

Ah ah Chris’ personal life seems like a mess. 
 

I have only been watching for 4 years so I don’t get all the Phoenix backstory. Was he always a convulted mess ?

[Dion]

Somewhat. He was introduced in 2010 as the unknown son of Chris and his third wife Alison Raynor. Alison had recently drowned so his uncle decided it was time Phoenix got to know his father. Alison had kept Phoenix's existence a secret as she and Chris had a messy divorce shortly before Chris returned to the show in 2000 (Hence in the timeline of the show Phoenix would have been born around 2000/2001 but they SORASed him and made his birth year 1995).

 

Anyway, it took a while for Phoenix to settle in at the Warner house as he was moody and still mourning the loss of his mother. Harry also resented Phoenix as he wasn't the only child anymore (Harry didn't know about the triplets at this point!). But after a while, Phoenix settled into the teen gang that developed around Evan and Jasmine Cooper and Ula Levi and dated Jasmine for a year or so.

 

In 2012, Phoenix developed a crush on his teacher Hayley. However, she was obsessed with Chris and led Phoenix on in an effort to get Chris, making Chris believe that Phoenix was stalking her. When Chris rejected her, she framed him for being abusive and ruined his professional and personal life. Hayley was eventually murdered in the 20th anniversary episode and Chris was framed for the crime. Phoenix eventually helped prove it was Hayley's ex who had killed her.

 

Phoenix then faded into the background over the next year, before leaving to go to art school in Berlin in late 2013.

 

 

[FrenchFan]

Thanks for all the story ! Didn’t know that at all. Chris had so many wives and kids ah ah.

[Dion]

Nicole and Maeve are now married

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And actress Theresa Healey has returned to the show, nearly 25 years after her iconic character Nurse Carmen Roberts was killed off on Christmas Day 1995

 

 

Though she is not playing Carmen, she is playing Maeve's mother.

 

 

 

[Forever8]

A big return next year 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHeQ8q_BhU6/

Elisabeth Easther is returning as Carla Crozier 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carla_Crozier

[Dion]

 

[DRW50]

I've been watching some of this recently.

 

Is Eddie leaving? (I hope not as the actor is hot)

 

Who is Miley to Drew and Harper? Who was Talia? Is his name Miley?

[Dion]

 

 

I don't know about Eddie but it certainly looks that way.

 

Marley (though with the kiwi accent it does kinda sound like they are saying Miley sometimes) was introduced last year when his drunken father (with Marley in the car) crashed into Maeve and Nicole after their wedding. Marley's dad died and Drew and Harper (who'd recently found out that Drew had a very low sperm count and thus was unlikely to father more children) fell in love with him and were able to foster him. Talia is Marley's mum who is in prison (for drugs I think). We haven't seen her yet.

[DRW50]

 

Thanks!  I haven't watched much in a few years so I appreciate your kindness.

 

What do you think of the Carla story? The aspect of her playing with the psyches of various characters is compelling, but the stuff with her hypnotizing Nicole is a bit too silly for me. I don't think it helps that the last time I saw Nicole was the ugly, degrading Lincoln storyline, and now a few years later she's in this committed marriage.

 

Something I like about the current episodes actually is the focus on committed married couples who are able to have stories that aren't about the usual cheating and nonsense - like Zara and Boyd and Drew and Harper. I appreciated that episode where Drew decided to try wearing a dress and instead of being treated as something humiliating, he and Harper agreed that he looked hot and then had sex. You won't see that anywhere else. (I make it sound much more pornographic than it was) 

 

What did you think of that whole story with Leanne and Rosalyn? Leanne is a good spark plug character that every soap needs. I have to admit the scene of her boyfriend/Marty's father keeling over when he saw them kissing gave me a cheap laugh. 

 

Desi is an interesting character but also so overbearing. Damo - not sure how I feel about him. I think he works a little better in serious moments.

 

Marty seems like another of those characters who will be burnt out on misery quickly, based on the current mercy kill story, but I like the actor. 

 

(this show has very good casting people)

[Dion]

Yeah, the hypnotism is a bit silly but overall I enjoyed her return.

 

Nicole and Maeve did get married off pretty quickly but that's generally normal for this show. They work well together.

 

Leanne and Rosalyn have mad chemistry and I hope we see more of them.

[Dion]

 

[DRW50]

Thanks for sharing that. Very sweet.

[DRW50]

When this Carla story is over I hope we won't need to hear Nicole shriek-wailing "Pele!!!" again...

 

The woman who plays Carla is a very good actress.

 

This show has so many gorgeous men, and most of them can act, which makes it better. 

 

The story with Tilly is hard to watch, but feels realistic enough compared to a lot of teen plots. It helps that the actors who play CeCe and TK are so good.

 

I assume Desi is a popular character, but, while the actress is fine, the character herself just overwhelms me. Doing whatever she wants while going around shaming and belittling other people as a moral crusader is just too much for me.

[DRW50]

The pacing on this show fascinates me. On the one hand, at least bad stories are wrapped up quickly, but it's dizzying when I go back through 2021 and see that in mid-February, Marty meets a dream woman in a delightful romcom setting (so much so that he even trips and crashes into things - repeatedly - at the mere sight of her) and by early May, they are both complete emotional wrecks, as he has to stop her from going to the police over mercy killing her father and she leaves Ferndale to get away from the agony of her memories, asking him to never contact her again. I mean...wow.