Kirsty Sutherland Phillips - Christie Hayes

[j.laur5]

Man, I would hate to have been Kristy when she returned as would have found out that three of her family and friends died she since she had been on the run.

Flynn-Friend

Beth-Stepmum

Dan-Friened

Edited December 23, 2009 by john003au

[Slade]

I thought the kidney disease thing was another example of bad continuity. I’m pretty sure if you have a transplant from anyone other than an identical twin you have to take immune suppressing drugs for the rest of your life. So how would have Kirsty been able to get regular medication whilst she was on the run? Let’s remember the whole reason she and Kane came back to Summer Bay in the first place they didn’t want to risk exposure taking Ollie to the Doctors/Hospital.

In the last few weeks I think it was confirmed that Kirsty and Kane were divorced and during the second miscarriage I think Rachel referred to her as Kirsty Sutherland. Kane was a bit of a jerk towards the end but he and Kirsty departed on amicable terms. I’ve had a quick look at the character profile and it says Kane got a job somewhere on the coast. I’m not sure how far that is from Summer Bay but I was hoping he would see Ollie on weekends. I hope Kirsty told Kane she’d moved back to the city. I would love to be a fly on the wall to see Kane go to the Sutherlands to pick Ollie up. I would imagine that both Rhys and Shelly still hate him.

Yes Beth was like a second mother to Kirsty (or third if you count Irene) alreetlike. And I would bet that a significant number of hardcore KK fans liked her too. She never judged her and let’s face it, if it wasn’t for her Rhys would have never accepted Kirsty’s relationship with Kane. I believe she was the one who ultimately pacified him even after he found out there was no baby – when Kirsty lied about the miscarrige.

[ebrett84]

The continuity going back to Kirsty's first stint was just terrible all round. The kidney stuff, not mentioning her previous miscarriage (or Shelley's) and acting like Kirsty stopped talking to her parents because of Beth being the worst examples. Also, did Shelley and Rhys really hate Kane at the end? I can remember they were actually all a happy family for a little while, but that changed when Kane found out about Rhys cheating on Beth. Still, I can remember after Noah died, Kirsty said she was going to try to patch things up with her parents (and was apparently successful - I remember her saying she actually enjoyed herself when she went to see them in the city) and Kane said he didn't have any problems with that. Still, after he took her on the run with him, they would probably hate him for that, even if it was her idea as much as it was his.

I've got to say, in spite of her pro KK stance, I never really liked Beth. Her backstory was interesting (her ex-husband almost felt like a character on the show, he was mentioned that much), but she was just so saintly. Apparently she hadn't been an angel in her youth which caused her to strongly identify with Kirsty, but by the time she got on the show I just found her quite boring. I just found it annoying how she always seemed to have the absolute perfect piece of advice, no matter the situation.

[j.laur5]

The continuity going back to Kirsty's first stint was just terrible all round. The kidney stuff, not mentioning her previous miscarriage (or Shelley's) and acting like Kirsty stopped talking to her parents because of Beth being the worst examples. Also, did Shelley and Rhys really hate Kane at the end? I can remember they were actually all a happy family for a little while, but that changed when Kane found out about Rhys cheating on Beth. Still, I can remember after Noah died, Kirsty said she was going to try to patch things up with her parents (and was apparently successful - I remember her saying she actually enjoyed herself when she went to see them in the city) and Kane said he didn't have any problems with that. Still, after he took her on the run with him, they would probably hate him for that, even if it was her idea as much as it was his.

I've got to say, in spite of her pro KK stance, I never really liked Beth. Her backstory was interesting (her ex-husband almost felt like a character on the show, he was mentioned that much), but she was just so saintly. Apparently she hadn't been an angel in her youth which caused her to strongly identify with Kirsty, but by the time she got on the show I just found her quite boring. I just found it annoying how she always seemed to have the absolute perfect piece of advice, no matter the situation.

But that was Beth, the voice of reason.

[ebrett84]

But that was Beth, the voice of reason.

Yeah, I know that was her role, but we already had Irene filling that role and doing it in a more down to earth, less unbelievable way.

[Red Ranger 1]

Read through the last few pages and agree with a lot of it.Some of the continuity during Kirsty's return was a bit poor.The implication that she hadn't spoken to her parents since Rhys broke up with Beth was absurd, didn't tie in with what we saw at the time and completely unnecessary, since the storyline would have been exactly the same if they'd simply said she hadn't seen Shelley since she went on the run.Although I agree Kirsty and Mattie were never close, they really missed a trick by not letting her or Kane have any reaction to Beth's death.But then most of the emotional beats were missing from their return:We didn't see Kirsty's reunion with Irene because they were trying to build up suspense which they then blew with a tell-don't-show cliffhanger.(Obviously didn't learn their lesson because they did the same with Belle's cancer diagnosis.)And it seemed odd that Miles acted as though he'd never met any of the Hunters when he and Mattie were pretty close...and that was only last year.

In retrospect, I think it would have been better if they'd sent Kane to jail in 2005 and had Kirsty move closer to him, then last year they could have said he'd just been released and had them move back to the Bay together.Instead they had them on the run for years, then Kane was let out of jail without any real explanation after only a few months, thus making a mockery of the whole thing.I think his return a year ago summed up why they were doomed:Kane still seemed to think of Kirsty as a naive fifteen-year-old who needed him to make the hard decision for her, whereas she'd actually grown up and knew her own mind, either when they were on the run or since she'd been back.That was the way he'd behaved while they were gone, doing what he thought was right for them without consulting her(when arguably the "right" hard decision, and the one Kirsty wanted him to make, was to come back and face the music).

I agree that a lot of the hostility towards Kirsty and Miles' relationship was down to bad writing.On paper it seemed a bonkers pairing but when they were actually allowed to be a happy couple, they worked really well and were really cute together.But we had to sit through endless arguments which caused several fans to go "Kirsty's so selfish, she's always lying to Miles"/"Miles is so horrible, he keeps making Kirsty do things she doesn't want", etc.I never thought the age gap was a problem, it was only about 7/8 years and at that age that's nothing(dating Kane when she was 15 and he was 17/18 was a far more significant gap).And I don't think her being a mother figure was any more ridiculous than Sally being a mother to Ric when she was only 8 years older than him:There was about 7 years between her and Jai and Melody and about 4/5 years between her and Nicole.I do agree some of the friendships seemed underdeveloped though and I was never really happy about her relationship with Leah;half the time they seemed to be best friends, the other half Leah seemed to be telling Miles to break up with her(which is the main reason I never want those two to get together).

Although it'll never happen, I like to think if she and Miles meet up again a few years down the line, when she's settled in her own life instead of just becoming a part of his, they'd have more of a chance of making things work because it was clear they did love each other, they just never managed to get onto the same page with regards the future.It's a shame the whole idea of her wanting to be a teacher seemed to get lost in all the drama about the pregnancy and miscarriage, it's hard to tell whether she'll keep it up or just go back to being Rhys and Shelley's little girl, a part of someone else's life again.

I wasn't happy with the way she left:It was in character but it's a shame that probably the last time we see her is her embracing her less attractive qualities.She did what was best for her, not what was best for Miles or Jai or Nicole or even Ollie.He'll probably get over it quickly but she ripped him away from his family and the only home he's ever known and it was obvious he didn't want to go.Like several others, I was hoping for another moody voiceover letter like last time with Irene, where she told Miles how much he and the others meant to her and why she was sorry it had to be this way, but not to be.

The discussion on "super couples" splitting up is interesting because I suspect the only reason the ones quoted are still considered super couples is because they were given an ending which suggested they were going to be together forever or would have been if fate hadn't intervened.Kim and Rachel and Drew and Belle had huge followings(as someone said, half the storylines in 2006 were centred around Kachel), Frank and Bobby were HA's answer to Scott and Charlene in the '80s, Vinnie and Leah were popular which may be why she seems more and more like a spare part, I loved Nick and Jade and the only good thing about Kirsty never mentioning her is I can still pretend they're back together...But because we saw them split up and one of them leave while the other one dated other people we forgot about them.In fact, that's largely what happened to KK when they split up in 2002, Kirsty went on to have other relationships and there seemed to be a feeling of "Okay, we liked her with Kane but he's gone now so we'll accept this."But because Kane and Kirsty did leave together only to come back and reveal that what comes after "happy ever after" isn't always what you think, people felt cheated. (Completely random thought I had a while back:When Kirsty saw that fortune teller who told her she'd love two people, one kind, the other ashamed of his past and coming back soon, and she thought he meant Seb and Dylan only for Kane to come back instead...could the other one have been Miles? There's continuity for you!)

[ebrett84]

^ I think the age difference seemed worse than it was for a couple of reasons. One was that, while the difference between the characters' ages was about 7-10 years (I'm not sure exactly how old Miles is supposed to be), the difference between the actor's ages was 12 years. Another reason was that Miles' twin was Kirsty's teacher once upon a time. And finally a lot of the time Miles just seemed to act more like her dad or older brother than her boyfriend. It just seemed that the dynamic of the relationship was always Kirsty getting into scrapes and Miles trying to get her out of them, or Kirsty disappointing him and then trying to get his approval back. But as I said, and you agreed with, I did actually like their relationship. It just should have and could have been better.

Fair point about Sally, but I still think there's a difference. Sally had been on the show forever and was emotionally mature enough to pass for a lot older than what she really was. Kirsty was really immature a lot of the time.

One missed opportunity for a storyline about Kirsty: Does anyone else wish they'd held off on Martha's stripping storyline and given it to Kirsty instead of the "escort" storyline which had logic and reason gaps you could drive trucks through? I could see Bartlett harassing / firing her from her secretary job, Kirsty trying to get another decent job but being unable to because she'd been on the run and had no experience / qualifications and somehow getting drawn into stripping to pay for Kane's appeal (have Kane's lawyer be a dodgy type who basically keeps taking her money and not doing anything / asking for more). And then Bartlett seeing her at the strip club and feeling really guilty about driving her to that point. I think that could have been far more powerful than Martha's storyline for a few reasons. One would be that she has a boyfriend who is completely unaware of her secret life. Another would be that she's doing it so her four year old son could have a relationship with his father. And finally, Kirsty was never the slutty / skanky type who flaunted her sexuality, so it would just seem more embarrassing and degrading for her than it did for Martha. I could really see Kirsty doing it as well. No, she was never the sex object type, but she was always rebellious and willing to push the limits and she struck me as the type who'd do anything for Ollie or Kane. And yes, Kirsty / Christie is definitely sexy enough to work in a strip club.

Another minor continuity point: Why did Morag agree to represent Kane when he'd cost her $10,000 or so by breaking bail last time she represented him?

Fair point about super couples. I'd totally forgotten how popular Kim and Rachel and Nick and Jade were. I'd disagree with the KK point though. I can remember being shocked and devastated when Kane took her back home and then just left her a letter. I never accepted Kirsty with anyone else until she came back and I accepted her with Miles.

[Red Ranger 1]

^ I think the age difference seemed worse than it was for a couple of reasons. One was that, while the difference between the characters' ages was about 7-10 years (I'm not sure exactly how old Miles is supposed to be), the difference between the actor's ages was 12 years.

Miles is Sally's twin so he'd be the same age as her, 30.Kirsty was 23 when she left so it would be about 7/8 years.

[-Kevin-]

Oh how I miss Kirsty

Why do all the good ones have to go ?

[ebrett84]

Oh how I miss Kirsty

Why do all the good ones have to go ?

Yeah, I miss her too. It's a shame that she's not around now that they've gone back to more character driven stories. She would have really fit in well with this new (or old actually) focus. I still loved her last year, but she didn't quite seem to fit in a lot of the time. It was like she was a character from another era who didn't really belong in this one. She'd have been more at home in this new era.