Shortland Street

[FrenchBug82]

Me too. She is still my fave and I continue pining for her return despite the fact that it is not likely to happen.
 

My first experience with that as a watcher was Gerald.
I realize it is a bit crass but Harry McNaughton was playing him very gay so for his big romantic storyline to be with a woman and then asexuality felt like pulling the carpet from underneath us even if in itself the stories were fine.

Does anyone know if there is an archive of episodes from the past few years anywhere online?

Edited January 5, 2022 by FrenchBug82

[DRW50]

I also liked Wai  - I thought she h ad an old school Hollywood quality, even if her acting was hit and miss.  The story was so depressing and also so rushed. I'm not sure what went on there. 

You're right that the actresses are not to blame.  I  do wonder what may have been  changed (especially with Esther, as I really don't think the show would have intended for her to have two small children with men who are not on the canvas). Did you like Eddie? I did, although I may be in a minority, I don't know. I wish he hadn't been so defined by the  Esther relationship. I think his relationships with  Leanne and Theo (that character seems to be long forgotten) and Nicole were more interesting. 

Anthony Langford, who uploads Jack-related clips (and the current Jack-Esther-Curtis short web series), said that  Rico was let go because the story/character were not well-received  (I am paraphrasing), but I don't what they expected with the way  the whole thing was told. I think one of his first scenes was punching Jack out...

 

Edited January 5, 2022 by DRW50

[Slutty Shauna Fan]

Ahh yes, Gerald. I do know the show got into trouble with the overt gay sex when Gerald hooked up with his old school friend so maybe that's why they changed tack. It wasn't anything shocking though just some conservative viewers freaking out.

 

I did like his exit with his BFF libby though. 

 

You do get some pretty good uploaders on public sites though sometimes the quality isn't the best. If you want anything from the last couple of years you can get them from some file sharing places.

 

 

Yes it was definitely rushed. It definitely would have had more of an impact if it was a slow burn and Wai had other stories first.

 

I think I would have liked Eddie more away from Leanne and Nicole. I didn't like how he was introduced as it was yet another storyline that completely changed Leanne as a character. I could never imagine snooty, racist and homophobic original Leanne having any relationship with Willy.

 

Being tied down to Esther was a major mistake. Eddie was always going to be second best to Curtis no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't fair on the character. 

 

The whole character of Theo was very WTF ( i did like her though) but she never seemed suited to Eddie (I loved her lesbian FWB, Hannah?). Yes Theo was shown the door very abruptly. The actress was very unique and I was invested to see if Theo would patch things up with her bitchy mother and find a place in her family. I was hoping to meet the overachieving sister that was always mentioned.

 

Eddie worked best when he was being paternal, he was great with Wilder & Kiwa so I think I would have liked Eddie more if he was introduced by himself without any ties or came with an established family unit. Lots of potential as a character but he never seemed to really gel for me unfortunately.

 

Very interesting, thanks for the info. I'm surprised the backlash spooked the writers so quickly. Yeah I don't know what they were expecting either.

 

It sort of does surprise me though that they listen to feedback so much because I made the mistake of visiting Shorty's facebook account during Carla's first stint last year and everyone was moaning the storyline was dragging on (I would hate to think of what they thought of the Zara missing one then) and they had had enough of her, yet she came back at Christmas. The Rico hate must have been unrelenting.

 

So which were you favourite stories of 2021 then DRW50?

[DRW50]

I'm not fully through with the year yet (I missed some November and December episodes), but what I've seen doesn't exactly blow me away so I think I am safe to go ahead and make the picks. 

My favorite story was probably the human trafficking story and fallout - we got to see how it affected Zara, Theo and Michelle, then further aftermath with Rani and Boyd when Zara was missing. Rani clashing with Boyd over whether Zara was dead, trying to get justice, Boyd going back and forth the whole time and then trying to move on with Kellyanne. I thought it was all very strong drama that didn't feel too preachy or sensationalized. The big scene where a pregnant Zara returned for Boyd when he was truly alone was melodramatic, yes, but I thought it was powerful. I miss Boyd, but I also thought he and Zara chose the right time to exit, even if I wonder about whether his exit is permanent or not. If so, at least it makes sense. I mostly just miss his scenes with Drew, a relationship I kind of wish had ended up in a one-nighter, yet I'm also very glad did not...

I also thought the story earlier in the year with Tillie being lulled into going out with older boys and wearing makeup and how this led to increasingly bitter conflict with TK was a good family-based, believable plot. The episode where the girls and the older boys crashed their car had a real gut punch when you briefly believed Tillie was dead, even though that ended up being a copout. While the story was quickly wrapped up, I liked that it wasn't completely forgotten, as we later saw Tillie being a bad influence on Madonna's daughter, and being interested in new boys. 

The slow build of Louis' drug use and turn to dealing worked for me, due in large part to the very talented, handsome actor and how good he is with CeCe. I would rate this higher if the whole thing hadn't seemed to very abruptly end. I also liked the mini-story with CeCe's dying sister - I thought the woman who plays CeCe was very moving when she wept over being too late to see her one last time.

As you mentioned, the early Carla material, when she was manipulative and haunted but not completely panto, was strong. The episode where she convinced Wai to kill her father stood out to me, because, yes, this was illegal, but the way the story was told, with her decaying father begging her to end his life, it was difficult to think this was the wrong choice. 

The brief story where Chris got hooked on Drag Race and, after Desi hosted a drag fundraiser, got to go on stage (along with Marty and TK) was lighthearted community fun that I always want to see more of.

The story felt a bit padded, but I think Dawn/Prince/Samira had a number of highlights. Prince's slow falling out of love with Dawn made sense, and he had genuine chemistry with Samira. Their tryst was grotty, yet never felt overly cheap or forced. Many of those last scenes, like Prince breaking up with Dawn and his final goodbye at their old flat, were poignant. I also liked that Dawn was called out on going too far, and tried to make up for the way she treated Samira.

In what was not exactly a good year for new characters, between Rico, and, frankly, what I've seen of Francesca and that new twitchy puppet of Carla's (the jury is out about Jojo...), I thought Samira was the best new character. Smart, vulnerable, sexy in an understated way, played by a good actress. I also like Madonna, but that is more down to the actress, as the character is a mess. I like Villiami too, but again, that's the actor...

The brief story about Drew's career crisis and move away from plastics also felt character-based and well-acted. 

I'm trying to figure out what my best and worst scenes of the year would be...one for best is probably when the patient of Villiami's wheeled away, screaming. I know that was done for cheap meme purposes, but I still laughed. Another best would probably be Nicole's panic attack after she and Maeve smoked weed (remember when Maeve was meant to be in constant pain?). Often the show just makes Nicole seem irritating in moments of panic and anxiety, rather than truly distressed, but they took more  care here and it was a well-shot and acted scene. I'd probably also pick the conclusion of that strange, aimless story with Esther and the little girl where we learn she had a twin sister and various siblings she was protecting, and Esther has to tell the twin that her sister died, to which the girl replies she thought that was the case. A very quiet, human moment that made up for the 50 different "Esther dreams and clutches her chest like Fred Sanford" scenes beforehand.

Edited January 6, 2022 by DRW50

[Slutty Shauna Fan]

Some great picks.

 

I'm conflicted on the human trafficking plot. Initially it started as a dreadful story, clunky and preachy. You had Theo going in by herself to rescue girls in shipping containers taking on thugs three times her size single handedly and winning. Then Louie charging in with police officers apprehending the thugs. As if. Though I really think the story really picked up with Zara's disappearance. The ambiguity of it all was fantastic and seeing Rani out looking and thinking that dead woman washing up on the beach was her mum was heartbreaking. Then you had Boyd chasing ghosts and Rani going to that club which was again fantastic and realistic. I agree, the cliffhanger of Zara coming through the door was draw dropping and great. Though I wanted more from the fallout. Zara stayed around for a week and then the whole family was shipped out pronto. I wanted to see Zara struggling for a longer period of time and it felt so rushed. I realise the actress probably only came back to wrap up the story and give Boyd/Rani a happy ending but I would have preferred Zara to remain missing then and maybe address it for the 30th. Not sure if the actors of Boyd or Rani chose to leave or were pushed though.

 

I agree as much as I hate Tillie I really did enjoy her stories and pushing her boundaries. Remember when she stole filler from Drew and tried to inject it in her lips? I also enjoyed TK struggling to deal with her. I would have liked to see more conflict between Cece and TK though as they have such different parenting methods.

 

Apart from weed, did Louie actually do many drugs? Honestly can't remember too clearly but I thought he was only dealing to pay for things like his bike. I did laugh though when Louie asked for his job back and Nicole was hesitant. Why Nicole, all your nurses break the rules and the law so a student nurse doing it isn't going to make much of a difference.

 

I didn't like Aggie dying either. I thought the story was dreadful to be honest. Cece didn't get nearly enough focus for her sister dying as she was dealing with Rani and then Sophia took over the storyline which eventually became her exit. Cece didn't even get to her funeral or visit Sophia in Fiji to see how she was coping.

 

Yes the early Carla material was great and definitely my favourite, sans finger tapping hypnotising crap.  Though both actresses sold it as well as they could. I hope the writers don't discard the character of Carla as an afterthought in 2022. Carla would have been fantastic as a grey character, sometimes morally reprehensible but underneath a sad and tortured soul that needed nurturing and hopefully redemption.

 

I thought Chris was really cruel to Michelle during the drag race episodes. Chris didn't want to deal with Michelle so constantly avoided her and just watched drag race. Michelle wanted to build a home with him and he kept blowing her off. Michelle should have dumped him then and there. I did like though when it became, as you said, a community issue and rallying around fundraising. Seeing Desi kicked off the stage because no one was laughing at her jokes and the guys doing the drag (Loved Leanne as Dolly Parton) was great fun. I also enjoyed them bringing in real drag queens.

 

I usually hate affair storylines but I really loved all of the Samira/Prince/Dawn affair. The build up was great from Prince becoming smothered and overwhelmed by Dawn's ambitions to him finding reasons to spending time with Samira to eventually an affair. I enjoyed seeing Dawn ask questions of herself and seeing Prince dealing with the fallout and also doing some self analysis. I did enjoy Samira at that point. Not sure why they dumped Prince but I would have liked to see him stay around as he had more scope as a character. It was a really good character driven storyline.

 

I definitely agree about Madonna and Villi, both actors have chemistry and the actors are good, but the will they won't they has been dragged out ad nauseam and Jojo really didn't need to get in the mix.

 

I actually liked the majority of the characters introduced this year I have so say. I like Jojo (she really needs to go head to head with Desi). Though the problem with Jojo as a character is that she is yet another OTT loud and abrasive character and you already have Dawn, Desi & Leanne that fill that role. Hopefully the writers can differentiate the character somewhat. Really like Tom, Samira too. Though as of late Samira was definitely written as an annoying hollow feminist and very cliché.

 

Francesca seems very similar to the character the actress played last time on Shorty. I also can't see Sara Wiseman (Francesca) staying as she is very active in other roles and has had a very good career in NZ/Aus. So it's hard to get too invested in her.

 

Rico was definitely the standout bomb of a character. Though a shout out to Kevin, Dawn's pity screw.

 

Yeah the wheelchair lady did feel like a meme monent, though Shorty has always done scenes like that so it didn't feel try hard. I laughed too.

 

Good choice with Nicole's panic attack. 

 

I'd forgotten about that weird and horrible Esther storyline. The chest clutching was very bad (lol at your reference). It then turned into some spiritual physic connection thing between Esther and the girl. 

 

If you haven't already watched the last three episodes were probably the best of the year and certainly a massive improvement on 2020's cliffhanger.

[DRW50]

You're right - I meant he escalated into drug dealing. Thanks.

[FrenchBug82]

So I have been spending the past 48 hours almost entirely on catching up the two-year-and-a-half I had missed. Reading up, finding key episodes on the Internet to watch and my first thought that I had sort of forgotten is...

I had forgotten how strong their track record of attractiveness of male characters is. I would seriously jump the bones of 95% of them and that's a pretty steady ratio whatever year you pick. It is particularly striking because while they do have some traditional female beauties too, they also are a lot more comfortable hiring female actresses that are more "real-looking".
I like the eye candy but the gap is very noticeable.

And as stated before over and over, damn the turnover on this show is bananas. The number of characters that have come and gone in two years is shocking.

Also Desi to Jojo regarding her pregnancy: "This isn't Texas; you have options here". As an American, this one hurt.

But I feel caught up enough that I will be watching again when they come back (next week?). Tried watching Retribution but I am not a fan of that gritty directing style and crime-ish drama.

 

 

[FrenchBug82]

This show really kills off too many characters too often. The survival rate for the staff at that hospital is shocking.
Not that I was a super fan but killing off Tess feels weird to me. She was popular and they needed a basic good girl straight heroine. Unless they are bringing Sass back (I think both actresses really look alike) I don't understand the play here.

On the upside, killing off Curtis makes sense and does solve the Esther problem that was discussed here earlier.

[AMCOLTLLover]

Oh no… did she die? The season return wasn’t available for me at my source right now

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[FrenchBug82]

Apologies for spoiling it.
Yes, she did die.

[AMCOLTLLover]

It’s alright

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 But damn.. Curtis died too.. Wth? That whole show is a mess right now

i was finally able to see the double episode.. I don‘t like it 

[DRW50]

What the [!@#$%^&*]?? They killed off Tess??? She wasn't the strongest character, to put it kindly, but she was likeable and the actress did a lot with a little. 

I know she and the actor who played Prince are married - maybe they both wanted to leave the show and she agreed to stay longer to finish out her storyline? 

Now who is Amelie going to be raised by? Her mother is dead. Her father was long gone. Is Chris, who is haunted by his own mistakes as a parent and spends a lot of his time chasing tail, going to raise her???? 

Or are they going to have Tom raising the child of a woman he's only known about six months?????

[FrenchBug82]

Curtis was killed in Retribution but Esther and Jack are going to come back to the main show to deal with the fallout.

And yeah killing Tess is weird. To be fair I kinda thought it was weird she'd stay on when Prince was written out so I am not that surprised that she ended up leaving too but it is a weird choice because they need a non-remarkable straight heroine.
All the other female characters have a quirk and the show generally has one or two nondescript leading lady. We are left with noone right now. That leaves Tom pretty stranded atm too. 

From the double episode it seems that at least at the outset Amelie is intended to stay with Chris (and those very last seconds of Chris giving this obviously forced smile to cheer her up was actually a very nice acting touch) but I imagine there will be a story there, especially since they were leaning harder than I would have expected on Viv being involved with that. Considering they too just got together, it seems weird to me for Viv to declare herself Amelie's mother figure.

I like Madonna and Vili but I find it hard to find the Jojo triangle compelling. The actor who plays Vili is fine and attractive but he is not giving me anything that would suggest he is interested in Jojo at all. He plays those scenes so robotically while he at least tries to engage with Madonna. So even setting aside the old-fashioned vibe, which makes sense from Madonna but not from him, the whole marriage thing feels so contrived. He asked her to marry him and be a family like he would ask someone if he can buy her ice cream at the mall.

And I really like Francesca as a character but even though they were setting it up pretty heavily I am not buying the Samira pairing at all.

[DRW50]

Yes, the work there really stood out from some of the poor acting from Tom and that Vincent guy (he feels like something from a parody).

I also thought the actor who played Drew did a good job. 

I agree that the show is lacking in female characters who can be easy to relate to. Samira might be closest, if they get rid of Francesca. 

[FrenchBug82]

Thoughts:

- By all means, Shortie, give a character that had been a bit of slog all kinds of interesting layers and then... write him out right after that. I know Tom would never win a popularity contest with the audience but I was interested for the first time in a long while.
And not to harp on that turnover again, but they don't even bring back characters. So it is really a huge waste.

- I find Sara Wiseman so magnetic; I love watching her act. The writing is kind of the wall for that character and I never bought Francesca/Samira but I wish she was here long-term.

- But sure, let's write out complicated characters so we can instead drag another few episodes of cringe jokes about Damo's D&D cosplaying and the paint-by-the-numbers impending Louis/Dawn pairing. Yawn.

- I like that Shorty is often pretty blunt about social issues and it hasn't always been subtle (I was rewatching old episodes and I had forgotten that the lead-up to Tane's drifting accident was Sarah running around the hospital with a petition in favor of setting drive age at 18 because teens are irresponsible).
But man they are really dumbing down that stuff to tediousness. The less said about Desdemona's "help-a-junkie" subplot and the entire stereotypical gender wars the better.
But the shared DON stuff pissed me off. Started with a really compelling off-hand remark by Madonna about feeling invisible (using the fact she and Chris don't ever interact which was well-done). Was an interesting character layer and something to think about... only to have Nicole repeat the exact same speech using the exact same lines three times to three different characters thus managing to both fall into the white saviour trope AND turn a nice compelling line that made you think into a heavy-handed preachy point banged over your head.
What happened to letting people fill in the blanks themselves.