Red Ranger 1

Ha-hah! A most entertaining piece of work, my dear.I greatly anticipate the continuation.

Liked the conversations between Aden and Irene and Aden and Nicole.Looking forward to having certain things explained.

Oh...my...god.I don't think I've laughed that much in a long while.Keep it up!

Ha ha!Sorry, just had to laugh at that last line.Isn't that just typical?Good job Aden wasn't released a day or two later...

Man, I'm good.I think it was the comment about Belle not showing as much as she should at twelve weeks that did it. And, er, you're good as well, of course.Very well written.And loved Nicole's little cameo.

I had a feeling Belle might end up losing the baby...not that that's necessarily what's happening. Yes, I'm still here.Actually like your analysis of Aden and Belle's relationship.You seem to have put a lot more thought into it than they did on the show.

I believe his name was Richard Bellingham.He and Morag were together when she first moved to the Bay in 1989 but split up not long afterwards.(Morag mentioned him in passing when Ross turned up, telling Martha she first met him shortly after she broke up with "her Uncle Richard".)

I'm finding this argument very interesting and there probably is a case that Melody has had it worse than the others.Larry Jefferies and Bruce Campbell might have been far from ideal guardians but deep down they did seem to love their charges.I never really felt that with Christine.She thought she loved Melody but she didn't seem to understand what that meant, ensuring Melody acted the way she thought she should rather than let her develop as a person.It's a bit much to say she's the only person who's used her past to excuse her behaviour: .I don't think we should be writing her off like some people seem to:The show has a long history of teenagers self-destructing(Matilda, Lucas, Hayley, Nick, Jade, Kirsty, Jack, Sam, all the way back to Carly)and coming good in the end. And I don't like the way that, because they love Geoff and Nicole now, everyone feels the need to rubbish Geoff and Melody's relationship.I don't see it as him playing it safe.Nicole as she was then was definitely NOT a suitable girlfriend for Geoff and he went out with Melody because he realised he wanted a girlfriend who was a decent person rather than someone glamourous.I genuinely think they loved each other and it would have worked out if things had been different.Okay, Melody encouraged him to break his AVO but then Nicole was the one that encouraged her.And it was Melody, albeit with a lot of prompting from Belle, who persuaded Annie to go easy on Geoff after he'd humiliated her, before thanking Geoff for trying to be nice and admitting she needed to grow up, after which Geoff was the one pursuing her.It's no wonder she's fixated on him, he was probably the first person to genuinely care for her.Aden fixates on Belle when she's with someone else and they're meant to be together. Melody does it and she's a stalker. I'm hoping the writers know what they're doing, that they're taking Melody on a journey which is going to have a pay-off(round about the season finale/return perhaps?)and we're going to get Nice Melody back at the end of it.If they end up ruining a decent character, I will not be best pleased.

Yeah, that was kinda sweet... My own personal favourite line? That had me...momentarily tittering.(Hey, I don't laugh much, okay?)

Well, it helped that someone posted a character profile of him on the main site not so long ago.(Did they know?)That reminded me of a few details.

Hate to be the contradictory know-it-all but actually Dane was Lee's boyfriend when she turned up heavily pregnant and pretty much went into labour in Lucas' front room.He was the one that encouraged her to abandon Joe(and he was also meant to be on the run from the police for receiving stolen goods).When she came back to reclaim Joe, her and Dane had split up and she was meant to be living with a family called the Kennedys(in Ramsay Street, presumably).There appears to be a year's gap in between Lee and Joe leaving the Bay and moving back into the caravan park, during which time she presumably reunited with an apparently reformed Dane. And if memory serves me correctly Joe's father was called Steve Braeburn.

Yay!Geoff gets to be the man of the house. So that's the end of Jason, right?

Aden and Melody?!That's even crazier than Aden and Belle.I could see Aden with Nicole, I could just about see him with Ruby although like Melody she's a bit young for him...I dunno, I don't think Aden would cheat on Belle, not that early, not after going to all that trouble to win her back.I agree, as they are at the moment I don't think they'd last although that doesn't mean the writers won't keep them together anyway.Aden comes across as a bit obsessed with Belle but maybe, if he started to gain more confidence with girls, he would drift away from her a bit...Maybe he'd do something else that would put Belle off him but I think she's one of those girls who'd take him back whatever he did, like with Drew.

I'm sorry, emmasi, my bad, you're absolutely right, I can remember some of it now.Curse inactive memory.I can remember Aden going to get a beer from the fridge and Nicole saying something like "Roman was in the SAS, he'd notice" and Aden putting it back.And I can vaguely remember the conversation you referred to.I think I just chalked it up as a continuity error and ignored it.You can explain it away by saying the character didn't know how old Aden was and was just guessing.(It's not without precedence: shortly after they met, Flynn gave an age for Sally that was clearly wrong and obviously just a guess.)I don't think it was a conscious decision on the writer's part, I think they just forgot how old Aden was and now they've remembered, hence the line I quoted(although in the context it was slightly ambiguous).That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

I don't remember Aden being referred to as seventeen and I don't remember him not being allowed to drink(which wouldn't necessarily mean he's underage anyway).When Aden and Nicole first moved in, Morag said something about becoming surrogate parent to two teenagers, which might be what you're thinking of.But I don't know everything so you might be right, although Roman DEFINITELY said Aden and Belle were the same age.I can probably find the episode if you like. My theory on Aden's behaviour pre-abuse revelation:The show has deliberately left it vague as to how experienced Aden is.I think that before the article about his grandfather brought it all to the surface, Aden had repressed his memories of what happened.It wasn't a healthy way of dealing with it, which is why he was behaving badly, but it was a way and I think he didn't start having problems with intimacy until it all came out and he had to face up to it.I think Belle is Aden's first serious relationship but he was sexually active beforehand, he had a few casual flings.Belle said she's never known Aden to have a girlfriend but she seems to have forgotten about Cassie(although I don't think they slept together). And what about that Izzie girl he was going out with before he binned her for Tam?Were they just holding hands?But that's just my theory and everyone is welcome to disregard it. As for Tam...I agree, Aden was quite sweet and charming towards her, more so than he was when he was first with Belle and his idea of courtship seemed to consist of saying "You want me" repeatedly until she agreed.But I also think he was mostly using her to get one over on Geoff, by copping off with the girl he liked.Whatever the case, as Sally pointed out, at the very least he was guilty of supplying a minor with alcohol.

Oh boy... Gosh, how many people are there that want to hurt Belle?! Geoff to the rescue?I'd pay money to see that.

What?!I've seen this about before and I'm not sure where it comes from.Has Aden's age been changed in an episode I haven't seen?At the time, about a year ago, Aden was eighteen and in Year 12.He's still in Year 12 and it was established several times at the beginning of the year that he flunked his exams(possibly because he collapsed from appendicitis in the middle of them)and is repeating.I don't think there's been any mention of him being de-aged.When he was first staying over at Belle's, Roman said they were the same age.Is Belle supposed to be sixteen or seventeen as well?Unless someone can present me with on screen evidence to the contrary, I'm assuming Aden's nineteen now. You could claim that Tam's actions were consensual but, seriously, I really don't think she was in the right frame of mind to be making decisions and I do think Aden took advantage of her.Maybe not in a serious way but he saw an opportunity to have a bit of fun with her and took it without taking her feelings into consideration.

I'm hoping that Belle's words had an impact on Colleen and she'll keep quiet about Lucas and Cassie.

Okay, much as I'd prefer it if they split up for good, I'm trying to be objective here.I've been thinking about what they need to do with this couple and it seems to be what they're doing.Except they're doing it wrong.Up till now, Aden and Belle have been this sort of in-the-closet couple who spent most of their time shut up together in her room.Now the writers have suddenly decided that their new Golden Couple need to be mainstreamed.The problem is they're rushing it.It should be a gradual acceptance, like with Kane and Kirsty, but instead people like Irene who've never had any time for Aden seem to have suddenly decided they like him and he's a suitable boyfriend.It's as if whatever it was Belle caught has infected the entire town. Anyway...Ever since Aden and Belle first got together, they haven't had a chance to breathe.They've always been arguing or in the middle of some crisis or both.There haven't really been any chances for them to just relax and enjoy each other's company.So, I think...they shouldn't give them any more storylines for a while.It's not me being anti, I think it's to the benefit of the show, the characters and the viewers(except the ones who want Aden and/or Belle in every scene but that's not going to happen...I hope).Once this development business is over, we need to see them fade into the background a bit and become part of the community rather than their scenes being all about them and the other characters not being included.Show them working together in the Diner, show them round each other's houses, interacting with each other's families.Make them supporting characters in someone else's storyline, show Geoff or Annie or Roman or Nicole or Melody(or even Irene if they can be bothered to give her a storyline)with a problem and them helping them out instead of focusing on themselves all the time.That way, when they do have their next storyline, we'll believe that there's a firm foundation to their relationship rather than it being this enormous ride that they haven't had a chance to get off. I don't think I'll ever really like this couple, let alone love them the way some people seem to.But if it's handled a lot better than I think it has been so far, I think I could end up accepting them.

Exactly! You’ve just confirmed what I suspected. So he didn’t actually assault her did he? I agree with the rest of the stuff as my previous comments concur with this. But I was just enquiring about the earlier “assault” remark made because I recall a similar one in the Anti Aden thread a few weeks ago and the last time I checked, sticking you tongue down someone’s throat if you are both drunk and willing (as your post suggests) is not classed as assault. I seem to recall he did a bit more than just kissing her.He was lying on top of her and touching her in a manner that was highly inappropriate for a girl of fifteen(I think he actually had his hand up her skirt). I'm not sure Tam really was all that willing, he'd got her in such a state that she was virtually insensible at the time and not really capable of consenting to anything.The video of the two of them together did actually look as though they were having sex.Aden denied that that's what happened or what would have happened and I believe him but it was a very uncomfortable situation.

No, Aden never apologised for that, just as he has never apologised for the way he treated Geoff or any of the other things he's done.I like to think Aden was still in denial about his abuse when he assaulted Tam because otherwise we're left with a very nasty subtext.The whole thing about Aden being a "reformed character" and getting on with people I find somewhat dubious because I really don't think there's been anything to justify it.It's like someone's thrown a switch and suddenly the whole town's friends with Aden.

^^Yes, that's pretty much exactly what I've been thinking.His abuse is an explanation(a motive, if you like, at least in the case of trying to kill Larry), not an excuse.He was responsible for his own actions and he shouldn't be absolved of that responsibility.I'm not sure the punishment fitted the crime, I think he committed some very serious offences and the sentence he received wasn't an adequate enough deterrent to prevent him doing the same thing again.I believe that he did eventually, as a result of his therapy, accept that his actions were not justified and feel remorse.But only in that case.I don't think Aden's a psychopath exactly before he wouldn't go around being randomly violent to people.But I do believe that if he found himself in another situation where someone deserved to be harmed, as with Axel, he would do it without compunction.He only showed remorse because he was shown that his reaction to Larry was a gut instinct and, when he allowed himself to think about it, he realised he didn't deserve to die.

Hmm...I realise this is a sensitive subject but really, what are we saying here?That being abused excuses anything?That you can try and kill someone and get away with it because you've been abused and you had a reason?That you can beat up someone that's supposed to be a friend because they remind you of the person that abused you?That you can treat people who are kind to you as badly as you want because you were abused and think you had a reason? If the main issue on locking someone up is whether or not they're still a danger, then to my mind Aden is.What if he found someone else who'd been guilty of a sexual offence?He seems to think what he did to Axel was all right so what's to stop him beating them up as well?Or what if one of his brothers came back and he decided that, hey, he could have protected me, he deserves to die as well?Only a few weeks after being given a good behaviour bond Aden beat up someone else.Aden is dangerous.He should not have been let back on the streets just because he spilt his guts about his terrible childhood. And...did Larry even know anyway?I'm not convinced.Larry went through exactly what Aden went through yet no-one, not even Aden's therapist, seems to think it excuses him.He was in denial.He didn't want to face up to what had happened to him so he couldn't face up to the fact it was happening to his sons.When he saw evidence of it, as he has repeatedly said, even during that confrontation with Aden at the house, he made sure it didn't happen again.There is no justification for what Aden did.He was just looking for someone to punish.He couldn't kill the person that harmed him, so he tried to kill the person that had stood by and let it happen. And it's a tiny point but I don't think he kidnapped Rachel and Belle because he was afraid of going to jail.In fact, I think he thought that would happen anyway;he said he'd let them go once Larry was dead and he must have known that they'd then tell the police what happened.He kidnapped them because he wanted Larry to die.He didn't want them helping him and he didn't want them phoning an ambulance.He just wanted his father dead.And I really don't like the fact that that has simply been forgotten.

There really does seem to be a big split here between those who think they have chemistry and those who think they don't.For those of us who don't, it feels like a really bad move on their part, being sucked back into a relationship that wasn't worth much in the first place. I think if they were going to pair Aden up with someone it should have been someone new, not someone like Belle who knew what he'd been like.Maybe he'd never been directly nasty to her but she'd been around and seen the way he treated people, especially Geoff and Annie who were living with her.The scene at the hospital was a turning point but it didn't seem enough for her to do a total backflip.It was like when Cassie was warning people off Jules and then suddenly started dating him herself:It just didn't make character sense.That very night, Aden blundered into her room drunk (having just tried it on with Nicole), asking to stay there.For some reason she agreed and then he kept forcing his way into bed with her despite her telling him not to.The second time they shared a bed was even weirder:he turns up after they've just argued and asks to stay the night.And then...I don't know if it's a perception thing or a chemistry thing but the way he cuddled up to her while she lay there looking bemused looked to me more like a child getting into bed with his parent than boyfriend/girlfriend which makes their relationship seem very strange. And they totally rushed into them sleeping together after making such a big fuss about not being ready.I believe Belle meant it when she said they didn't need to rush things but I'm not sure Aden did, since in the very next episode they appeared he slept with her.I think it was partly to show her he cared about her and I think he did enjoy it but there was an element of him doing it because he thought she'd leave him otherwise.Stepping out of the show, I think the intention was to show Aden and Belle all nice and happy before Larry turned up and things went wrong.But it's disappointing that the only way they could find to do that was for them to have sex.It just undermined the storyline and the relationship.

Oh boy.As ever, feel like I'm walking into the lion's den here...I'll try and be balanced.Firstly, Todd Lasance is a fine if not brilliant actor.That's probably part of the trouble.When presented with a scene where Aden reacts in an unlikeable fashion, he goes for it full throttle and makes me not like him. I'm tempted to gloss over his 2005 appearance because I have a hard time remembering it's meant to be the same character.I did actually like him at first and I actually thought Cassie was a bit harsh on him, stomping out of his hospital room, saying he wasn't the person she thought he was and never seeing him again, even though what he did was wrong. Then they brought him back last year and he was a bully, whatever retrospective reason they might have given for his actions.I absolutely hated him then and was annoyed by the way he kept hanging around, making everyone miserable for his own amusement and not really getting any real punishment.Not for the last time, he deserved to get in real trouble for wrecking the Campbells' farm but his mates lied for him and nothing happened.Even when he was in the car crash I didn't feel sorry for him, it was his own fault for smoking drugs and distracting Cassie. Then they made him a regular and it was obvious he couldn't carry on the way he had.We began to look at his home life and see he didn't have a very good relationship with his father.We saw him trying to help Annie, showing that he didn't wish her any real harm.And Roman and Morag started to spend time with him and show him that there was a better way of treating people and that he could be a decent person if people treated him right.We found out about his abuse and realised much of his behaviour came from denying what happened to him.When he and Larry admitted what had happened, they both began to become better people and form a proper relationship. I actually quite liked Aden during this period.He still had that bad boy vibe so he was recognisably the same character but he wasn't doing anything too malicious that made me dislike him.He was beginning to form bonds with people like Roman but, crucially, characters didn't suddenly start liking him for no reason and there was still tension with Irene and Geoff.And I really liked the relationship with him and Nicole and wish they'd stuck with it.I'm not trying to compare their situations but they were both basically screwed-up people, raised by parents who weren't up to the job, who tended to compensate for their insecurities by winding up other people when really they just wanted acceptance.It would have been nice to see them supporting each other instead of hooking up with someone who'd be a stabilising influence. But then it all started to go wrong and the writers seemed to be doing everything they could to make me hate him.First there was the incident with Axel.Some people might think Axel deserved it and there were ways it could have been done that would have made Aden sympathetic.But instead he brutalised him and never once showed remorse about it.According to Belle, the doctors said it was a miracle he wasn't badly hurt.In short, Aden could easily have killed him, if he'd had internal injuries and hadn't been found in time.It reminded me of Dani telling Kane that there was no difference between what he did to her and his brothers beating him.Was Axel screaming and begging for Aden to stop while he ignored him?It just makes him no better than Axel.Except that Axel went to the police and owned up to what he did, while Aden just stood around with that smug self-satisfied look while Tony tried to explain to him that he'd done the wrong thing.It just made me hate him.And I was very disappointed with Belle's reaction:She was clearly shaken by Axel's condition and disgusted by Aden but by the end of the episode it was forgotten about.From that point on, it was literally never mentioned again, aside from Axel sporting a few bruises, until Aden was in the clinic and he told Melody's father "I was the one that put Axel in hospital for what he did to her", as though it was something to be proud of and showed he was suitable company for a vulnerable fifteen-year-old, which just shows how out of touch with the rest of the human race he is. Then there was Belle...I'm sorry, I know I'm in the minority, but I just hated that relationship.It just didn't make sense.I couldn't see what Aden was doing to make her find him attractive other than looking good with his shirt off:He was just acting smug and arrogant, breaking into her room and kissing her, forcing his way into her bed drunk...He treated her just as badly as everyone else, then he suddenly seemed to fixate on her as this perfect girlfriend who was going to solve all his problems.The whole thing seemed to border on the abusive. And then there was his attitude towards Larry, which seemed to veer between too trusting and too callous.When Kane put Larry in hospital, Aden didn't really seem to have any sympathy for him;I got the impression he'd have preferred to keep his set-up with Roman and only went back to Larry because it would look bad if he didn't.Then, when he found out Larry was drinking, even though he'd known he had been before he moved in, he used it as an excuse to abandon him instead of trying to get him help.Then, when Larry did sober up, he went to the hospital and told him he'd be back on the drink at the first setback...and then gave him a setback that put him back on the drink, thus indirectly causing Axel's death.Then, after doing nothing to stop Larry running away and spending the next few weeks alternately worrying about him and saying he was a useless drunk he was glad to be rid of like some sort of schizophrenic, he found him at the house and learned he'd been abused as well.And in typical self-centred Aden fashion, instead of thinking what it must have been like for Larry, he was only bothered about what that meant for him.From then on, he treated Larry the same way as he treated Axel, as a substitute for his grandfather, a legitimate target for him to take revenge on.He denied him medical attention.When Rachel turned up, he took her prisoner to stop her from helping him, even though she'd been kind to him.When Belle turned up, he gave her the same treatment.And he seemed quite prepared to finish his father off himself.It just shows why you don't want to be friends with Aden because he'll turn on you if it suits him.His actions were indefensible and there should have been no way back for him after that.If he was responsible for his actions, he should have gone to jail, if he wasn't, he should have been sectioned.Instead we got a pat "He was crazy for a bit but he's all right now", where he spent a ridiculously short amount of time in a psychiatric unit, two thirds of which he spent blaming everyone else for what happened, then made a token court appearance where they bent over backwards to let him off.Community service for attempted murder?That restores my faith in the justice system. I genuinely believed Aden's a sociopath, with very little empathy for others.You could argue that it isn't his fault.You could argue that it makes him interesting, although he's not the sort of character I'd want hanging around the show.It's got to the stage where, for me, the more enjoyable episodes are the ones he isn't in and any character that associates with him seems to get all the life sucked out of them.