Give Irene a decent storyline!

[bttb-rox!]

Irene's interaction with Annie and Geoff recently makes me even more sad that she hasn't had a decent storyline in ages . Like Sky said (way back in this topic), it'd be nice for her to have a storyline of her own. I'm really hoping that next year will see some storyline material developing for good ol' Irene! I'd like to see her get into some really gripping storylines. The whole Corey thing was very interesting to watch, but something a little less 'stalkerish' would be nice for a change! I'd love to see Barry return...even if he only returned for a short time. Could Bareen be reunited once again?! Don't get me wrong, I love seeing Irene helping kids and everything, but something revolving around her a bit more would be a great change from what we've been seeing of late. I'd like to see her cope with something, perhaps a death or just struggle with something.

So the question is...what storylines would you like to see Lynne tackle?

[alexx]

Anything emotionally charged – she is fantastic at highly emotional stuff, whether is be sobbing hysterically, punching people in the face, or facing a life changing dilemma.

There's still so much potential with her and her rael family, we've seen her sister Wendy once back in 1995, but since then we've heard little to nothing of her sinse. Her relationship with Damo, Fin, Nathen is still crap compared to how much she's redeemed herself with taking in her waifs and strays...why is this? Could Irene actually find it really difficult to bond and connect as closely to her own flesh and blood as she does with the kids that haven’t been emotionally and psychically scared by who she once was?

How did the first 40 or so years of her life affect her personally as she is today, we all know she has done nothing but try and be the opposite of who she was back then, but its still who she was, but surely it still has an emotional impact on her. Is she lonely? Does she really crave her 'real' family?

[bttb-rox!]

You've made some really good points there, Alexx. I've often thought that Irene must have more history to her than we know. It's the same with most of the characters IMO. We don't know that much about any of them really! Obviously, there are exceptions to that but on the whole, very little is known about their lives previously.

Irene is a classic example of the above. Lynne, having joined the cast in 1993, is part of the furniture and it's such a terrible shame that she hasn't been given much of a chance to shine this year. I just hope that next year will be different. Some emotionally gripping storylines for Irene would be great to see. Lynne herself said when she was filming all the Corey buinsess, that she enjoyed doing it as it gave her something to really sink her teeth into. She doesn't have to have a really depressing and unhappy storyline, but just something that puts her in a more central role in the show.

[buffygirl]

I havent been watching intentenly every day,but i saw a eppy with Irene and the girl who was stealing, it turned out for personal things, i thought hey Irene's getting a foster mum storyline again and maybe this will give her another stronger storyline again instead of the backline stuff.

I do sometimes wonder how Lynne puts up with her being left in the backgroung so much cause she is a great actress and is worthy of more but still hangs in there.

Im gonna say this and i know it'll upset my fellow Barren commerads but unless some weird explation and yes it's possibal to bring back Barry.

Now that would be a major storyline for her and worty.

[Frances]

I am hoping that the arrival of the Campbells will see the dawn of a new era for Irene. They are very different from her previous charges, who, with the exception of Tasha, were all rather street wise and rough around the edges. The Campbells were loved and cared for by their parents and by Bruce. They had a closeted upbringing, and had a fundamentalist view of Christianity drummed into them. They now live with a woman who has seen the seedy side of life, and has sinned in Reverand Hall's eyes if his recent pronouncements on other characters are anything to go by. I really do hope they explore the potential in all of this and use Irene far more then they have been doing. She is a wonderfully warm and endearing character.

[Lesley Bee]

Irene is an amazing character and her interaction with Annie is just fantastic to watch. I really hope this is the start of more great storylines for her, she is fantastic

[Angie's Wraith]

The fact that they give characters like Martha story line after story line and ignore Irene just makes my blood boil. Bring back Barry and lets have some good times at the Beach House please. Irene has not had a decent story line since Corey and she was AMAZING in that, and that was 2 years ago. Lynne is fantastic use her.

[I Love Sam]

I love Irene, I hope we see a lot more of her with Annie and Geoff. They waste her. She was great when Corey poisoned her, and I think she should get more stories.

[Liz]

Irene doesn't deserve to be used as a 'complementary character'. She's too strong to be exclusively in the background of other characters' storylines.

Why are the older, well-developed characters ignored in favour of the kids?

[chatter box]

Irene doesn't deserve to be used as a 'complementary character'. She's too strong to be exclusively in the background of other characters' storylines.

Why are the older, well-developed characters ignored in favour of the kids?

That is the $64,000 question. The producers seem to think all of the show's viewers are kids I think, or that kids only like to watch kids. But, my kids love Irene. My husband loves her. I think she is fabulous.

I think it is also tied up with what Alex said in the teenagers thread and losing the soul of the show. They have somehow lost the knack of weaving the characters together and making them work off each other emotionally. If they get that back then the older characters like Irene will have more scope. As Liz says she is too strong, too good to be left in the back ground, when she shines she is luminous.