H&A Summer Break on Fiver

[alreetlike]

Although the Project 56 storyline was another one that dragged a bit, with characters constantly just on the verge of finding out what it was all about and then not doing so.Of course the reason Amanda can be bad-but-not-all-bad is because we've got Evil Josh with his Evil Goatee fulfilling the villain role.And the most ridiculous marriage in the show's history, which is a pretty hotly contested title.

I didn't mind Josh at first so I was rather annoyed when they decided to turn him into a supervillain. I'd actually forgotten that it went on for so long but it's all coming flooding back now. Anyway, aside from the slightly ridiculous way that storyline went, I liked the mixture of a hint of comedy when Graham/Amanda/Josh were around the dinner table, followed by drama with Graham giving Amanda the divorce papers and collapsing, and the cliffhanger where you don't know if she's going to help him or not. I prefer more subtle drama than guns/kidnappings/stabbings/explosions etc.

[Red Ranger 1]

Whilst I did like Graham having a bit of fun at Amanda and Josh's expense, it was a frustrating and rather depressing narrative dead end, as Graham ultimately failed completely and Amanda ended up getting everything she wanted from him.(Her only saving grace was that she did eventually turn against Josh, although that seemed to be more down to him cheating on her than anything else.) Effectively letting Graham die, twice, was probably her low point.There's huge poignancy in that moment where Graham hugs Beth at the surf club and arranges to meet her the next day, finally realising that she's the one who's been looking out for him the whole time but not actually living long enough to say it.

Well, that first episode made up for the lack of Sally, even if it is a case of "like mother, like daughter" with her going into denial over Flynn's death.Matilda noticing how quiet Ric is had me going "Awww, she cared for him back then as well" and nice to see a bit of Pippa.Lucas loudly celebrating Tony and Beth moving in together is a bit ironic given that he ended up hitting the self-destruct button over it, not for the last time.Nice to see some of the Kim/Robbie double act that had largely dried up by that point and Robbie's woeful attempts to chat up Jane.I think this was during the period where they kept giving Kit dramatic entrances, usually involving a close-up of a pair of boots.I can't remember if I knew she was coming back at the time or not but I think I cheered when I saw her all the same.

[Slade]

I see your point about grey now. Did you never think that Aden had shades of grey throughout most of his time then? Presumably not.

I actually quite enjoyed Wednesday and Thursday's episodes involving the stuff with Amanda and Graham. This is all new to me but I liked it. I hadn't seen too much of evil Josh (or as previously mentioned that thing under his chin which resembles a beard) so his role was interesting. Amanda was quite the gold-digger.

As always for me personally Morag shows precisely what a good character she is. I loved the way she temporarily got rid of Graham (i.e. making her tea) then quietly downloaded the information on Project 56. Project 56 - sounds more like a top secret US government thing. I also really liked the plotting with Graham afterwards at the Diner and Morag's surprise at how much Graham was enjoying getting back at Amanda and Josh and how calculating he was i.e. the dinner. I too enjoyed that especially Amanda's uneasiness. Josh remained oblivious and underestimated Graham right until Amanda told him everything.

Amanda will remain one of my favourites but I'm not sure what to think after seeing those episodes. Initially I quite liked the lying and scheming but still thought there was an element of morality at first i.e. when Josh pushed Morag over and she hit her head but Amanda wanted to go back and help her, so thought she wasn't completely heartless. But when Graham had a heart attack didn't like the way she just stood there, although admittedly I think she was in two minds because she stood to lose everything if she and Josh were exposed. Again at the hospital when Graham confessed to making copies of Josh's plans and he was having another heart attack Amanda wouldn't call the nurse until he told her where the copies were. However in both cases I don't think anything Amanda did would have prevented what happened to Graham.

On another note really enjoyed the stuff with Robbie and Kim and quite liked Robbie getting it on with that girl. Presumably nothing really happened after that as he ended up with Tasha.

[Red Ranger 1]

I've a feeling we didn't ever see that girl again...Aden's a curious one, I think the main problem with him for me was that, certainly from 2008 onwards, he was a shades of grey character but there wasn't enough acknowledgement of that in the show, the other characters just seemed to ignore his darker aspects and it felt as though the audience were expected to do the same and just carry on liking him whatever he did.

Talking of 2008, here are the episodes before and after the last run, so first we've got Roman and Martha getting on better, Jack having only just found out Sam's a killer and Jazz still making a play for Tony, next episode Jack and Martha are engaged, Jazz and Miles are over and done with and Geoff and Melody are having trouble with the evil bitch queen of death.God, I'd forgotten how much I hated Christine and seriously, it wasn't a case of them turning her crazy later on, she's already there, she's got absolutely no grasp on reality whatsoever.The little Belle/Geoff/Annie scene was rather nice(as was pretty much everything Annie did in that episode, from failing to understand Jazz's jokes to handing Ric a plate of sandwiches when she saw Melody), even if they did give Geoff some very bad advice.Belle's constant "I wish I had a boyfriend" speeches are rather telling in retrospect, no wonder she convinced herself she was in love with the first guy that tumbled through her window.

Watching the episodes in isolation, without having seen what she actually did, Sam does seem very sympathetic whereas at the time I think I was cheering when Jack realised exactly what she'd been up to:she did place people's lives in danger and she seriously crossed the line by murdering a man, even if it wasn't one that anyone cared about.I don't think she deserved to die but she did deserve to go to jail.Ironic that Jack offered her the same deal that Angelo offered Martha and Hugo:She'd probably have been better off taking it.

That episode probably marks the moment where they began to put the brakes on the Aden/Nicole relationship, which I feel was a very bad move for both characters and at least one other character. Watching the way it's played, with Aden not only suddenly being afraid of sex but seemingly not even wanting Nicole to kiss him, it's almost impossible to reconcile not only with the guy who was making out with Tam a few months earlier(and, indeed, practically jumping Nicole a few weeks earlier)but with the guy that'll be making out with Belle in a few weeks time.I think that probably marks the point where the new writing team began to take over and the quality of the storyline nosedived.

Oh-and Jazz, the Bad Girl of the title, another of those shades of grey characters.For all her scheming, it is kind of nice that she does know where to draw the line, even if it's not where most people would draw it, and while she's willing to get Tony drunk so he'll sleep with her she's not willing to do it when he thinks she's someone else.That second episode was the famous one where presumably we're meant to see Jazz as the baddie when in fact it's Rachel and especially Leah who come across as a pair of stuck-up cows.It's a shame Jazz let slip to Tony what she'd done at the end because at that point it did seem like she was trying to improve.

[Slade]

Ah dear Jazz, I loved Jazz. Se was soooooo funny especially when she was drunk not to mention I thought she was gorgeous. I really liked her in the first episode as mentioned despite putting Rachel out of commission for the night by slipping laxatives into her drink she came across quite well with Tony, not taking advantage of his drunken state. This was where I started to see red with the whole Sam/Jack business but I've already mentioned that with the previous episodes they've shown.

I've seen the second episode shown on Friday at least twice however it was still quite enjoyable. I thought Jazz was hilarious when she was absolutely plastered. The best part was when Christine interrupted Jack's engagement, tried to take Melody away, declared she was going to get a restraining order against Geoff, Jazz interrupted then got into an altercation with Christine and Jazz slapped her right across the face. She got Christine good. The looks on people's faces in particular Matilda and Rachel (who had her hand across her chest and mouth open in sheer disbelief) were priceless. Christine was such a control freak wasn't she?

It's funny because I haven't particularly liked the way Rachel has conducted herself at certain times with certain people but if she had been like that with Jazz I wouldn't of had a problem with it because of what Jazz did. Funny thing is Rachel didn't seem that annoyed and was actually quite sympathetic towards Jazz.

For the most part I've always liked Leah but she really annoyed me during that time. If it had been anyone else she would have been ok with them but because Jazz was after Miles I thought she was quite unpleasant which is out of character, although admittedly she was exactly the same with Kirsty.

Today's episodes were again pretty good - The Olympic Cliff Hanger for 2004 with another nutjob. I did really like this time. It was when the stuff with Dani and Kane had effectively been resolved and they were almost friends and Kirsty and Kane had been accepted by Rhys (not necessarily liked).

I have to say I really didn't like Kane's attitude towards Rhys - period - considering after everything he did he had no right to take the moral high ground regarding Beth.

I actually really liked the suspense and the build up to everything. You knew the main characters knew Sarah was coming and were just waiting for the moment for her to appear. I thought it worked really well having everybody in one house like that and I liked some of the banter such as Noah's identical twin remark. Thought Jesse's "Why did you bring her here?" line to Scott was slightly unfair. What was he supposed to do?

I thought the actress played the part of Sarah quite well and I liked the way she was reacting when Flynn and Noah were trying to reason with her. I found her evil laugh quite funny and I also really liked the countdown, the gun going off and Dani screaming. It was a really good way to end the episode and the cliff-hanger and it was definitely a lot better than the one in 2008 - shame things ended so tragically.

[Red Ranger 1]

It was interesting seeing those episodes again, I remember them the first time round and even watching them again they were incredibly tense if ever-so-slightly silly.I've a feeling that in Australia it was a genuine mystery what the outcome would be, whereas in the UK they'd announced who died not so long previous.

I actually applauded Jesse's "Why did you bring her here?" and was disappointed that apart from that line nothing was made of the fact that it was basically all Scott's fault.If it hadn't been for him, Sarah would never have found them and...someone wouldn't have been killed.The episode never convinced me that Scott didn't have a choice, especially since you could argue Dani wasn't in any danger since Sarah had effectively left her under police guard.Basically he put all his friends in danger to save his own skin, or rather share the danger around a bit, and he didn't seem to make any real effort to stop her or alert the police which I felt he could have done fairly easily or at the very least taken her on a wild goose chase.And yet a few months down the line he's blaming Viv for everything that happened...

I could kind of understand Kane's attitude towards Rhys, it did actually seem to be almost open hostility towards them at that time, but I wasn't particularly happy with his lack of empathy towards Kirsty, although I suppose when you think about the relationship he had with his own father it's not that surprising that he expected her to just wash her hands of hers.I guess this was the point that marked the end of the Sutherlands:Jade was already gone and Rhys, Shelley, Max and Dani all left in quick succession not long after, leaving only Kirsty.

As for Peter's message...I suppose a more accurate version would be "Vinnie's still alive but don't worry about it, you never see him again, except this one time in a bear suit, and he'll be dead in a few years anyway."

[Pierced Musie]

... I am still 2004's bitch. I laughed (Sarah showing the boys who is boss), I drooled ( Sarah) and cried (Noah ). If only they had showed the ep where she pretended to be the stripper...

I will say more about todays episode tomorrow, when I have finished girlcrushing...

Edited to add: Finally I can have some decent screencaps of Sarah to make some icons...

[ebrett84]

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but Kane's attitude to the Sutherlands (and his attitude in general) totally changed when they brought him back. He used to basically understand and accept that they, and everyone else, had a right to hate him, but when he came back he was completely contemptuous towards them and acted like they were the bad guys. Ugh. Agreed that him taking the moral high ground with Rhys was absurd. Rhys should have knocked his block off.

RR, I also always thought it was Scott's fault and I was surprised no one ever made a big deal out of it. It was kind of in character though. He wasn't a coward or anything, but he was always really dumb.

The thing that always bugged me about the shooting was this: Sarah had a choice between shooting the girl who her and Felix had been stalking and harassing for ages and who had "started" the whole thing (in their eyes) and some random guy who she'd never met before...and she shot Noah. Given that Dani ended up leaving soon afterwards they should have just killed her here.

Going back a few posts, I agree with RR about Aden being a crap character. Acting like a total prick while everyone acts like he's a pillar of the community is not "shades of grey", it's just crap writing.

[Pierced Musie]

I always thought they did things backwards when Kane came back. It should not have been about Kirsty & Kane being together but should have been about Kane mending things with Dani and then showing how much he cares for Kirsty. I loved the fact that he tried to protect Dani from Felix. I also liked the fact that he stuck with Beth and looked after her.

[ebrett84]

I always thought they did things backwards when Kane came back. It should not have been about Kirsty & Kane being together but should have been about Kane mending things with Dani and then showing how much he cares for Kirsty. I loved the fact that he tried to protect Dani from Felix. I also liked the fact that he stuck with Beth and looked after her.

Yeah, but then people would have complained that "they're turning the rapist into a good guy". Of course, people accused them of doing this anyway despite the fact that he was actually written as a complete jerk. . Plus, I imagine they thought they could get more mileage out of t Kane and Dani / Rhys hating each other rather than Kane trying to be nice to them, and the fact that it meant throwing out a heap of 2002 character development for both Kane and Dani was irrelevant to them. I mentioned this upthread, but they partially ruined Kane's character the very second he returned. He left Kirsty because he knew she would ultimately have a better life without him and with her family which was very noble of him, but coming back basically sent the message that at the end of the day he didn't really care about that as long as he got what he wanted.