Kirsty Sutherland Phillips - Christie Hayes

[Foxy]

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER THREAD.

By all means discuss at Australian pace, but anything that has not yet happened on Australian screens is going to be removed, for the sake of those people who don't want to know.

Please refrain from posting any spoilers here, or anywhere else outside the spoiler zone, in future.

[Lise]

I thought Kirsty's departure was ... gutless, on her part. Not even being able to tell Miles face to face that she was leaving was nothing short of it. I've never been a fan of her's since they bought her back but regardless of that she could have at least found the decency to tell Miles.

One good thing to come out of it, though, was seeing Shelley again. She was really good with both Kirsty and Ollie.

[Inactive User]

I agree, Lise.

I am glad she had left because I don't like her.

Poor Miles-he will be sooo heartbroken to learn the love of his life had left him with nothing but expect only a note!

But I don't want Ollie to go because he's such a cutie and I will miss him including his cute grin so much

So good to see Shelley back. Can't remember when it was the last time I saw her before she returned. Was it 2004/2005?

[j.laur5]

2004.

[ebrett84]

Kirsty was my favourite character back in the day. I even loved her before Kane when she was portrayed as a total brat and everyone was supposed to hate her. I don't know, she just seemed to have a certain vulnerability that most bratty characters can't pull off. Also, while Christie isn't the best actress (and this was doubly true in her initial stint), she does have this natural likeability and warmth about her. I especially loved her drug overdose storyline (has H&A actually done one of those since? That'd be a good way to kill someone off) and the time she put a bag of rotten prawns in the air conditioning unit and stunk out the whole school . And, of course her relationship with Kane was classic. Probably the most original and controversial relationship in the show's history.

When I heard she was coming back I was dead against it though. I didn't see what they could do with KK other than split them up and I didn't want that. It could have been ok though, if they'd done it right. I don't see why they couldn't have had an amicable breakup with Kane seeing that Kirsty had moved on and set up a good life for her and Ollie and leaving because it was the right thing by her, rather than turning Kane into a total unredeemable jerk and basically turning a memorable relationship into Kirsty's big mistake. By the way, as for people saying that Kirsty would never choose a guy she'd only been dating for a couple of months over Kane, I disagree. She ran away with Kane (basically choosing him over her family) after she'd been going out with him for about two weeks (The time from the Mirgini sinking to KK being discovered was 35 episodes or seven weeks, and that includes the actual shipwreck episodes, the trauma bonding etc). Kirsty is the kind to develop hard and fast feelings and act on them quickly. That's also why I didn't mind her moving on from Kane so quickly when others were saying it was out of character. It wasn't.

I do think the writers missed the boat on her relationship with Miles though. Don't get me wrong, I did actually like them together but most people didn't and I think that's on the writers more than the actors or characters. Most people seemed to like them when they were actually allowed to be cute and funny together (I remember a scene where they were ragging on Romeo and Jai for writing poetry to Annie that was really good). But they didn't get nearly enough of these scenes and instead were made to fight over every little thing, and after a while it just seemed like "why are you even bothering to be together?".

The other major complaint, as others have pointed out is the "middle aged" thing. Was the 10 year or so age difference with Miles even mentioned? Or her lack of age difference with Nic and Jai and Romeo (the actor who plays Romeo is actually older than the actress who effectively played his foster mum )? It seemed like they tried to hide this by dressing her in these mumsy, dowdy, frumpy outfits when they should have been going the other way. They should have actually played up her youth and made her into a character who is basically forced into a "mother to teenagers" role because of who she is dating, and constantly questions her suitability for such a role, but who draws on her own recent experiences as a teenager and tries her best and usually (not always) gets it right. Make her sort of a big sister / cool mother type. In particular, her relationship with Nicole (almost Kirsty's successor in terms of being a rebellious brat) was massively underexplored imo. That could have been really interesting, but whatever bonding that happened between them apparently took place offscreen, because lord knows we need to see more Hugo and Angelo scenes .

One thing I did love was her exit. I know others hated it but I thought it was perfect for her. Kirsty's first instinct was always to run away from her problems, and for all the growing up she did, she was still the same old Kirsty at the end of the day.

In the end, I think her return was appreciated but a disappointment. It was a disappointment because I thought they missed a ton of opportunities with her, but appreciated because even if she wasn't as good as her former self, she was still one of the better characters this year.

[alreetlike]

Great post ebrett84. Saves me typing it all out - I agree 100%

[Slade]

It’s been well over a week since Kirsty left the UK screens but I just have to post, because for me it wouldn’t feel right otherwise.

I read your post with great interest ebrett84 and I would to share some of my own thoughts. As I stated earlier on in this thread like yourself I was also a fan of Kirsty well before Kane came into the picture. I always found it somewhat endearing that she wasn’t perfect, essentially a good person with faults. I actually preferred her acting the first time round and even remember when she first returned and was at Irene’s there were occasions where I felt it was slightly dodgy, although she did improve.

Like yourself, I thought she and Kane were magic and was completely against her coming back as I didn’t see any plausible way they could return without being separated. I always felt bar a confession from Gus there was no way to prove Kane’s innocence. I also felt that any return had to be done about a year to a year and a half after she left as some of the characters they were close to were still around.

I take your point about Kirsty moving on from Kane relatively quickly. I also remember her falling for Dillon but they couldn’t go out because they believed at the time they were half brother and sister. She then hooked up with Seb and we discovered Angie had misled everybody so Kirsty had a very difficult decision to make but in the end she chose Seb over Dillon because she claimed she loved him. When Kane returned shortly after Kirsty had seen him for just over a week that I can remember then she decided that he was the one for her (even though she said she was in love with Seb beforehand). There are a couple of things though - where she ran away with Kane after Rhys and Shelly band her from seeing him and when she got married in both cases she missed her family which ultimately drew her back. Also it’s one thing finishing with someone when you are in high school (in the case of Seb) but it is completely different when you’re married to someone and have a kid with them. I remember how distraught Kirsty was when Kane told her to move on when he was in custody but I always felt initially she chose Miles a security thing.

I know people have said that she’s changed whilst being on the run but that was one of the reasons why I went off her slightly. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the old Kirsty. Kirsty was always traditionally an athlete. I remember her winning the triathlon way back in 2001 but she decided against an Olympic scholarship because of her family. Again she was a lifeguard and the star player of the football team. Even though she had a kid there was no reason why they couldn’t have explored those things on the show because lets face it she was pretty hopeless as a secretary.

There was a period of time during the show where I didn’t like her attitude in particular during the stuff with Trey and the way she went off at him by the bar and when she was being interviewed with the department regarding Miles alleged assault. I thought she redeemed herself though when she seemed to empathise with him at the hospital when he sought John Palmer.

In terms of continuity it was extremely disappointing. She was very close to Beth and there was no mention whatsoever regarding Beth’s death. There was a perfect opportunity for this when Maddie was still around but instead she went off at Kirsty in the Diner with no reference whatsoever to the fact that they were half-sisters. I had to wait a week till Kirsty left before we finally had some interaction with Martha and even then it was very little. I always thought there was a perfect opportunity to develop a really good friendship because they had a bit in common. Both of them are around the same age, were diagnosed with serious illnesses, presented with a situation where they had to decide whether to save their own lives or their unborn child or their own. They also both sadly miscarried their babies. In Kirsty’s case it was twice.

I really didn’t like the way she ran out on Miles like that but having thought about it some more I think her departure suited her. The same way her first ending did and Dani’s departure suited Dani. Although I didn’t want her to return I am disappointed now she’s gone, disappointed that she couldn’t patch things up with Kane and disappointed that we probably won’t see her or any of the other Sutherlands again.

[ebrett84]

Slade: Yeah, Dylan was exactly what I was talking about when I said that Kirsty develops strong feelings very quickly. One day she was completely depressed about Kane "dumping" her and then the next day she was madly in love with this new guy and had basically forgotten about Kane. It's just the way she is. I thought she chose Seb because she realised that after what happened with Dylan, that they actually "felt" like brother and sister even though they weren't. I don't think she ever loved Seb. I think she was just trying to get on with her life after Kane and Dylan and thought that being in a relationship was the way to do that, and Seb was the most convenient choice. The thing I like about Kirsty though, is that unlike with a lot of characters, you're never quite sure what she's thinking. As for choosing Miles, yeah security and stability was definitely a big part of it, which makes sense given what she'd been through over the past few years. It annoys me that a lot of people seem to think she was "using" Miles for these things though. The guy's a teacher, not a millionaire, and there are a heap of guys who would have been willing to be a father figure to Ollie.

They seemed to give up on the "athlete" stuff after her kidney illness, but yeah I would have liked to see her doing more outdoorsy stuff. As for the Trey stuff, yeah she had a bad attitude about it, but why shouldn't she? She didn't do anything wrong and this guy accuses her of forming an inappropriate relationship and jeopardises her career as a teacher before it even starts. I'd find it pretty hard to have a good attitude and be completely understanding about that.

I'm not fussed they didn't make a big deal about her relationship with Mattie. Mattie was leaving soon afterwards so investing time in that relationship would have been pretty pointless and they were never even remotely close anyway. I'm surprised they didn't make a bigger deal about her friendship with Martha though. As you and others have pointed out, they would have been pretty natural friends (they were both very close to Tasha as well, so that would have been an easy starting point), but their "friendship" was entirely off screen. When Martha was sitting by her bed after the miscarriage, I distinctly remember thinking "what the hell's she doing there? Since when do these two care about each other?" But as I said above her real "lost and under developed" relationship was with Nicole. Judging by their last scene, they were supposed to be really close, but again, this took place almost entirely off screen.

[ebrett84]

I forgot to mention this in my post above: As for Kane, I wish he'd been mentioned more. Are him and Kirsty friends? Does he ever see Ollie? Stuff like that. I'm not sure about a reunion though. I spent most of her second stint hoping that it would end with her going back to Kane, but I'm not sure now. KK was a teen romance that I just don't think was sustainable long term. Kirsty does seem to have outgrown Kane a bit. I can understand the sentiment for them getting back together as they're my all time favourite couple on the show, but I'm not unhappy she's back with her parents instead. By the way, has a "golden couple" like KK ever actually been split up like this without getting back together later? KK were huuuuuge in their day and every other couple of even close to similar popularity has either got a happy ending if the actors are willing to leave together (Will and Gypsy, Robbie and Tasha) or been literally til death do us part (Sally and Flynn, Jack and Martha, Aden and Belle, Hayley and Noah, Shane and Angel etc.). Unless you want to count Vinnie and Leah, the biggest couple I can think of to have split up is Marilyn and Fisher. Somewhat ironically, Marilyn left Fisher in a very similar way to how Kirsty left Miles.

[alreetlike]

In terms of continuity it was extremely disappointing. She was very close to Beth and there was no mention whatsoever regarding Beth’s death. There was a perfect opportunity for this when Maddie was still around but instead she went off at Kirsty in the Diner with no reference whatsoever to the fact that they were half-sisters. I had to wait a week till Kirsty left before we finally had some interaction with Martha and even then it was very little. I always thought there was a perfect opportunity to develop a really good friendship because they had a bit in common. Both of them are around the same age, were diagnosed with serious illnesses, presented with a situation where they had to decide whether to save their own lives or their unborn child or their own. They also both sadly miscarried their babies. In Kirsty’s case it was twice.

Agree on the continuity issue. I may be biased because I quite liked Beth, but she never gets a mention! Obviously it's not a major thing, but it seems at times like the writers assume we don't remember these little things.

Not a fan of the whole off-screen relationships thing as well. I hate it when this happens; it feels like they pick names out of a hat and just lump them in a scene together and pretend they've been best mates all along.

I still can't believe she left without Kane ever getting a mention again. Surely he would've seen Ollie regularly since he left? In which case he'd have some idea of what was going on in Kirsty's life, and for all of Kane's faults I think still think he'd care about her.

Ebrett: I also can't think of any other 'golden' couples to have split. What a shame it had to be one of my favourite ones - can't win 'em all I suppose.