How Would You Redeem a Character?

[VirginiaHamilton]

If you were a head writer and:

a. inherited a terrible/marginalized soap character

or

b. ruined/marginalized what was once a vibrant soap character

and were given the task of redeeming him/her (operating under the assumption that you have enough time to do so and that any character can be salvaged):

1. Which character would you choose to redeem?

2. How would you redeem this character?

I'll start with Hope Logan on B&B. I'd redeem this character by having her come to the realization that she needs to stop comparing herself to her mother and fearing that she is doomed to inherit her mistakes. Once she realizes that this is truly the root of the problem (and not her 'inability to uphold her promise of purity'), she will start to have a healthier view of sex and relationships and stop making decisions based on who she isn't (whether it'd be Brooke or Steffy).

[Melroser]

If I took over GH and could get Genie Francis back as Laura, I would totally rewrite her recent years.

I would have it that she was faking her mental breakdown all of this time in an attempt to keep Helena off of her back and away from her family thinking Laura was no longer a threat of any kind. But now that Helena recently resurfaced and has gone on the run after Ethan, I would have Laura return having recently run into Helena in Europe and the cat being out-of-the-bag to sort of speak. I'd also have Laura return with Scotty whom was in on it with her for years and helped her.

When Luke finds out that Laura was never really mentally unstable, he rips into her about lying to him and she returns the fire with all of the things Luke has lied to her about in the past (such as his fling with Holly resulting in Ethan, for example).

Laura as a character would no longer have the stigma as the weak, mentally unstable woman (as it would have been faked) and return a spitfire to give it back to Luke for all of the lies he has done for HIS family just like she did for HERS. By having Scotty back in the mix, it would return to the Luke/Laura/Scotty history of years ago.

[JaneAusten]

I don't consider Hope needing redemption as she's not ruined or irrelevant. Her feelings about her mother and confusion over her sexuality and her sort of skewed morality is a character flaw that plays into who she is and her story. The only thing I'd like to see happen is her move into a story with Brooke over their own relationship vs this insipid triangle. I think the pill addiction story has done wonders for her character.

Sharon Newman is one character that needs redemption and I'm not sure it's possible without removing her from the canvas for a year. But I think I'd back burn her to an extent. I don't remember what happened to Sharons mother but she could come back and their relationship explored further and perhaps played into why Sharon is what she is. She definitely needs out of the Newman orbit.

[Cheap21]

There's nothing about Hope that needs redemption. The show is doing a good job at making her a more rounded and real character right now

[ChitHappens]

I agree about Sharon! She's become a wasteland and redemption can only come in the form of leaving GC and returning after a significant amount of time has passed. I didn't think she could get lower than shagging her child's kidnapper, but Shictor? Holy Guacamole!

There is no redeeming Adam, so TIIC will have to rely on the audience's love for MM. Characters like Adam are supposed to have a short shelf life. Back in the day, writers didn't have to shake, bake, twist, turn, rattle and roll other characters to keep the resident sociopath on canvas. Its was the aftermath of what the crazy had done, and how it related to each character, that would be written. Instead, we got MAB and company pulling triple shifts to redeem a character they had clearly taken too far! I remember on RH, the loon who fell in love with Faith was so good. He kidnapped Faith and held her for about a month. Faith was eventually found but had a broken leg and lost her eyesight. The crazy guy (can't remember his name) would not let up. After stalking a bedridden Faith one last time, her father, Ed, followed him to the roof. The crazy fell from the roof and took Ed with him. That was a wonderful story! Even thought the actor was fantastic, his stay was meant to be short. Adam overstayed his welcome. In an effort to redeem Adam, they gave him Sharon, but the only thing that did was begin the complete destruction of the character!

ANDREA

[Gray Bunny]

Rape them.

Always the writers' answer.

[BoldBeauty]

Pamela Douglas on B&B. She's a complete cartoon. I'd just bring her back and let her act more normal. And eventually she'd be redeemed in the background, being more in touch with reality and toned down.

Liam the waffler could use some redemption too. Make a decision and stick with it. No looking back.

And Amber: grow up! You are 30, not 18.

[Cheap21]

LOL...she's older than 30 by this point

[DRW50]

Or have them rape someone out of love.

[P.J.]

Thomas Forrester, B&B. The way he got off scot-free after last summer's berry-not-sexcapade is atrocious. He never even paid for blowing up Rick's car years ago. TIIC considered him punished, having served time in the dungeon of Thorne's office and having his silly line taken away from him, but to me, that's BS. He got (or he's supposed to get) 25% of Forrester for trying to destroy Brooke's life, and then hiding behind his mother's and granny's skirts when he was caught.

All it would take is for Thomas to stand up to Taylor and DEMAND that she return the voting rights to Stephanie...and then give Brooke an honest, full apology, which to my recollection he never did. "Grandma made me", and "I just wanted my family back together" (or whatever mealymouth excuse came out of his mouth) really never acknowledged the depth of betrayal or his own greedy ambition.

[balozier]

When you talk about "redeeming a character", do you mean salvaging an otherwise useless/there-for-filler character into something halfway entertaining, or do you mean taking a character who has traditionally been considered a long-time antagonist and turning them completely into an outright protagonist of the series?

[VirginiaHamilton]

I mean either:

a. realizing the full potential of a character beyond sticking them in go-nowhere/demeaning storylines

or

undoing the damage that was done to a character that started out well

[VirginiaHamilton]

Since I'm on the subject, I may as well address my latter point by using Liz Webber of GH as a prime example. I'd redeem her by doing the following:

1. Yanking her out of that "maternal one" rut that she's been stuck in for almost a decade and reintroduce her to the one thing that she was passionate about in the first place - art. I'd have her leave GH behind and rediscover the art that she left behind in favor for a "real job" so that she could have something else to do besides be dependent on the attention of a man.

2. Giving her her razor-sharp wit back and getting rid of the passive-aggressive behavior that she has exhibited since Guza stuck her in "maternal one" mode, as she'd no longer play that insipid damsel-in-distress role.

3. Finally confronting her rape head on instead of making piss-poor decisions when it comes to her love/sex life. Allow the realization that she will no longer allow that traumatic event of the past to fuel the present decisions that she makes so that she can finally take full responsibility of her life.

[Khan]

But only if they're lesbian. Otherwise, you give them a brain tumor.

[MoTheGreat]

Y&R Lily, recast her let her dump Cane. They need to recast the twins with white babies already, so she would be a free woman.