John

As I've said elsewhere I was also a fan of Heath and April. Given that the Heath Bianca relationship seems to be resurfacing I am starting to find that believable'. The Bianca of her early relationships with the Prince and later with Liam rather annoyed me. She seemed self absorbed, shallow and unable to sustain a relationship on any solid basis. Her experiences through the pregnancy and its aftermath have been well written and the fact that they would cause the quite far reaching changes in her attitudes to life and people seems believable to me. I always thought Heath loved Bianca as an almost out of reach women who seemed to embody many of the things that he thought he would never be worthy of. I give April a lot of credit for starting the change in Heath. She had the capacity to make him think and consider his actions without just resorting to violence and aggression. The pregnancy and later death of Rocco continued that process. I think the first few months of 2013 will be interesting and I'll be interested to see just how the writers will deal with Heath and Bianca.

Interesting comments RR1. Looking back on the year I think the relationship between Heath and April would go into the "lost opportunity" category for me. It always intrigued me how April, despite her youth, relative small physical size, and almost fragility, seemed to constantly be able to stop Heath in his tracks and make him think. With her his usual "crash through" aproach to situations just didn't seem to be adequate.

No you aren't. Many of us like Heath and Bianca together.

I think a lot of the comments regarding Natalie are unfair. I manage a Counselling Centre. I talk to Counsellors a lot although I'm not a Counsellor. Looking at it from their point of view, the biggest problem they have is that as soon as people find out they are counsellors people want to tell them their troubles. They find great difficulty separating their professional and private lives. Doctors have the same problem. It seems to me that is what is happening to Natalie. I also see Natalie's attitude to Brax differently. I actually think it is refreshing to see someone think and act beyond the physical attraction, jump into bed, we're meant to be , he/she is the love of my life cycle. Natalie is attracted to Brax. She may even be falling in love with him but she recognises that just that physical attraction or even love is not enough to guarantee a lasting relationship. She's thought about it and made the painful decision that the relationship doesn't have a good chance of working. So, at least for the moment, she's walked away.

I think there is a strange sort of chemistry between the two of them but the constant making up and breaking up has become tedious for me at least.

Don is certainly the only believable and effective Principal the school has had in my time.

Would blow your dog off the chain!! Tree and power lines down all over.

Vile. Min 5 Max 10 Snow down to 600m.

If you would read through my previous post carefully you would see my acknowledgement of this misunderstanding: Why is it that more than one post in admiration of the Braxtons is acceptable, whereas more than one post critical of the Braxtons is considered repetitive? That's called double standards. It's a shame that some members have been personally offended by my dislike of some television show characters. Please provide me with some specific examples where my posts have been 'agressive and intimidatory'. Sorry about the delay in my replying to your post. My apologies in that I was confusing you with a couple of other posters who had been referred to me. I have no problem with your posts. Please be assured that it is not my intention to discourage anyone from either expressing a like or dislike of the Braxtons. That's what this discussion board is all about. I was reacting to a number of PM's I had received from members who felt intimidated by long and repetitive posts about the Braxtons in various threads. This did not apply to you. Once again my apologies.

I agree that it would be good to learn more about Roo's early life in the Bay. I must confess, as someone who hasn't watched the show right from the beginning, I have wondered a bit about her back story. I have recorded all the early years episodes perhaps I need to start watching them to catch up.

Very well said. I've highlighted the main points I agree with above. This is the major gripe I have about the show at the moment, really its the problem I've had with the show since 2005 to varying degrees. The major lack of consistency. But its got terrible since the Braxtons arrived and since they are the current obsession, I see their introduction and the focus on trivialising their crime and irritating behaviour as the main culprit in 2011-2012. It makes the writers come up with tacky plots that are very repetitive and difficult to invest in. See I also agree with Coral about drama being about 'life without the boring bits' - the thing is, Coral was an excellent character writer who gave the characters genuine and realistic responses to goings on (most of the time) and therefore we could accept that these characters were realistically facing what they were on screen and dealing with the aftermath as people do in life. She knew Summer Bay and how to write Home and Away as we knew it, but with lots of emotion, drama and light-hearted content. The current writers don't write 'life without the boring bits' they write shallow characters and storylines (Imo) that don't mean anything or have any lasting or realistic consequences - Braxton is top of the list for me. Bianca is another example - I can't comment properly on the last few months, but the rape was pathetic. Swept under the carpet within a matter of episodes. Irene's cancer, brushed to the side because they cant be bothered giving an older character screen time. These sort of things irritate me which is why I have done what others are suggesting, switch off. I find some agreement with you both Alexx and RR1. I think the organisation of this storyline and the timing of the presentation of its parts has been poor. It's a shame because, as an examination of the type of counter culture which can grow up when social disadvantage prevents people accessing many of societies privileges, the Braxtons had real dramatic potential. For me the back story of the Braxtons which would have helped us to understand them as characters was presented far too late in the development of the storyline. We've only just met Danny Braxton in the past few weeks and he is a major part of that back story. Without an understanding of his character and role much of what we've seen to this point is " a series of disconnected events". I have some sympathy for those viewers who are tired of the pointless violence and crime. The back story which would have given the events point was simply not available to them. On the up side it is being presented now. I hold out some hope that things will improve./

You were not "called out" because of your dislike of the Braxtons or their criminal activities and involvement with drug dealings. If you look back through the threads you will find numerous occasions where you and others have presented those views. There is no problem with this in fact it is what the Forum is about. You were "called out" because of the long and repetitive nature of your posts which were seen as stating the same opinion over and over again often in the same words. They were also perceived to be aggressive and intimidatory.

I have to agree with you. People are entitled to their opinions and certainly entitled to express them on the Forum but it is almost as if some people are trying to drown out any different opinion in long, repetitive posts which pretty much say the same thing over and over again. Personally I believe that the show has in the past overdone the drug and crime storylines but I do think in recent times we have begun to see more of the back stories of the characters and why they behave as they do. For me this makes interesting character focussed television. Personally I am not looking to be constantly taught moral or legal lessons in the television drama I watch. I am looking for reflections of life presented in a dramatic way. I recall Coral Drouyn, former Script Producer on the show, saying at one stage that she saw television drama as "life with the boring bits cut out'. I tend to agree with her. For me constant scenarios with criminals being caught and made to pay for their crimes would be just as boring as criminals constantly getting away with criminal behaviour. In the "real world" many people who commit crimes are never charged or convicted. People who come from low socio-economic backgrounds tend to be over represented in the criminal justice system and also tend to be more harshly treated by the system than those who come from more affluent backgrounds. Life is not fair and people who come from the "wrong side of the tracks" often have very limited options. Perhaps that's why they see crime as their only option.

Interesting post RR1. I really do think they have lost track of April's character. Early in the piece she had a degree of sophistication due to her travel and upbringing and could be quite idealistic if at times misguided. Somehow that sophistication has deserted her and so has her idealism. The transformation to "nympho" as you so rightly describe it seems to have been without a real explanation on screen anyway as to why that had happened. I don't buy that an encounter with Heath would be the entire explanation for this. To me April's journey in recent time s has been quite random and without any defining consistent character.

Cold, wet 10.5 degrees

Very wet. 10 degrees

I couldn't find a thread for the discussion of this relationship/marriage. If someone can set me straight I'll be happy to merge. I just have a different view of this relationship and it's difficulties. Indi is seen by many as the responsible one in the relationship with "responsible" being seen as conservative, low risk etc. I don't see it like that. I see Indi as "safe". Not being able to function away from her family, not being able to contemplate life away from the safety and security of her well off life with her father generally providing a steady, more than adequate income and able to provide her with all the fashionable clothes and trinkets that she has been accustomed to up to this point. She finds it hard to contemplate a life where earning an income can come from sources other than the white collar, conservative lifestyle she grew up with. Romeo on the other hand has grown up with none of that. His family has struggled against life's challenges. He is used to struggling in challenging circumstances without "safe" financial backup from parents and family. Because of this he sees earning a living as a surfer as an acceptable, challenging contributing to the financial support of himself and his wife. All of his attempts at business ventures have been risk taking ones. He didn't fail at his charter business because he didn't stick at it. He failed because Harvey sabotaged him in an underhand way. His Surf School didn't fail because of a lack of committment on his part. It failed ( or faded away ) because Indi couldn't get her head around Romeo wanting to earn a living in any other way but the "safe", white collar occupations she had been used to. Perhaps these are reasons why they should never have married in the first place. Perhaps they explain the difficulties which appear to be besetting Indi in the upcoming spoilers. Either way I hope that some how this relationship survives. I think it would have had a better chance if Indi had accepted the challenge of committing herself to joining the battle with Romeo away from her family rather than demanding that Romeo try to survive in her world.

Wet, windy. 13 C.

Mmmm. I don't necessarily like or dislike Brax but I do find him a worthwhile and complex character. He's not all black or all white, like most people. There are times you can like him and at other times you will loathe him. I'd say I appreciate his character as a study rather than like or dislike him.

What a thought provoking post and just the sort I was hoping would be part of this discussion. That's not to say I agree with it all. Just to clarify my thoughts; 1. I agree that Brax has been involved in criminal activity and that the River Boys are a gang involved in criminal activity. 2. I know that not all people from poor socio economic backgrounds resort to criminal behaviour but statistically, in Australia anyway, people from those poor backgrounds are over represented in our jail population. 3. I am not trying to promote Brax as some sort of Robin Hood figure who should be excused from the consequences of his wrongdoing. My point was one of effective dramatic presentation of the human cost of criminal activity particularly that associated with drugs and gang activity. It is my view that the ongoing saga of the River Boys, the death of Charlie ( and others) and its effects on Brax, Jake, the other gang members, Ruby, Casey and all members of the Summer Bay community needed to be explored at some length and in some depth for the "human suffering" message to be effectively presented. That message is still being presented in the pain and suffering of those left behind. The portrayal of a swift implementation of justice and winding up of the storyline without portraying the suffering would not have been as effective either as drama or in portraying the human cost.

I have no problem with the recognition that the gang lifestyle and it's associated activities are criminal and can and do have tragic consequences. But I believe that if our appreciation of Brax as a character and his efforts to look after his family stop there we have missed a lot of the point of the storyline.

I'd like to widen the discussion of the character of Daryl Braxton. At times discussion has been focussed entirely on his criminal dealings, real and assumed, and the tragic consequences of those both for him, his family and his friends. I certainly acknowledge that and I think that a large part of the point of the River Boys storylines has been the tragic consequences which can come from association with gangs and their culture and criminal associations. This is particularly the case when drugs are involved. These have been graphically portrayed in the death of Charlie and the various others who have become casualties of that whole scene and will continue to be felt in the grieving of those who loved Charlie and those who were her friends. But to stop there ignores all the other dimensions of this complex character. There are some who choose to believe that Brax and the others effected by the deaths of other gang members are not entitled to any sympathy or compassion and are only to have blame assigned to them, be ostracised from society and forgotten about. I don't subscribe to that view. I believe any human being is entitled to compassion after suffering loss or grief. Why did the writers introduce us to Ma Braxton and her attitudes to Casey and her other children if not to have us understand the background they came from? Why did the writers show us the struggle that Brax had to try and go straight and cut himself off from any criminal associations in his past? Surely it was to show us how difficult it is for people who are born on the "wrong side of the tracks" to escape from that life and access the opportunities for a better life that those of us who are more affluent enjoy often without thinking. Casey's struggles have been a great illustration of this. So I feel compassion for Brax, at the same time as I feel it for Ruby and Charlie's friends. I don't believe any of these insights into the difficulty of escaping from a criminal background would have been illustrated to us, the viewers, if the drug squad had descended on mass and swept all of the alleged criminals up and conveyed them to court and jail. A sometimes self righteous, and "holier than thou" society would have once again dusted off it's hands, congratulated itself on a job well done, and proceeded to once again ignore those who grow up in disadvantage and who at times see crime as their only chance of gaining some of the advantages of society denied to them. This examination of the tragic consequences of all of this in the death of Charlie and all of the others, as well as the ongoing grief being suffered by Ruby, the Summer Bay community AND BRAX is a far better illustration of the tragedy of all this than a simple morality tale where all crime is punished, all criminals end up in jail and all crime is committed by those from the "wrong side of the tracks". To me that is the point of the character of Brax and I think he has been written with a great deal of insight and beautifully played by Steve.

I think the relationship has possibilities. April certainly isn't intimidated by Heath and has the ability to make him think. Heath certainly seems to care for April on some level. He wasn't prepared to provide her with drugs and has showed at least some concern for her welfare at times. It will be interesting to see how it develops. For it to last fairly substantial character changes by both of them. I'd like to see it.

Has it really been that long? I've been here since 2004. It's been a wild ride but fun. May it continue.

Windy and wet. Would blow your dog off the chain!!