Melody Jones - Celeste Dodwell

[Red Ranger 1]

Okay, so we've finally seen her departure over here.And her last scene was both better and worse than I expected.They did manage to get almost everyone important there to see her off, I'm glad she got moments with Alf, Jai, Annie and especially Geoff and a little moment of semi-reconciliation with Nicole.(It's easy to forget they were actually friends for a bit.)I wish Ruby had been there:They were supposed to be friends but they didn't have any scenes together all year.I wish too they could have found a way to have a farewell with Kirsty, they were both in the previous episode and we missed out on it when she left town.Other than that it was fine...until the end when we didn't actually see her leave! She just wandered out of frame while we were left watching Geoff and Nicole argue!

Which brings me on to her reason for leaving.I'm sorry but what were they thinking?They spent the preceding weeks if not months stressing how badly living with her mother had screwed Melody up, then sent her right back to her mother so she could potentially screw her up again?All the arguments against it were completely valid:She couldn't trust her, just because she wanted a relationship with her mother didn't mean it was actually possible.Christine may have seemed to have a personality transplant but she apparently turned over a new leaf once before, after the assault when she [presumably] dropped the charges against Geoff and let him and Melody see each other, only to turn up again worse than ever.Losing Melody was a shock to her and made her do what it took to get her back, but now that she's got want she wants I can't help thinking everything would go back to normal pretty quickly.

And what was all that stuff with Melody's gran about?Are they suggesting Christine only treated Melody like that because that's how she was treated?If so, it just shows once again what an incredibly forgiving person Melody is-when Aden found out that his father(not even the person who abused him)had as rubbish a childhood as he did, his response was to try and kill him.More realistically, I can't help remembering when Nicole's mother came back:She was glad to get back on speaking terms with her but didn't even consider going back to live with her because she knew nothing would change.When Irene moved to the Bay, Fin and Damian gave her a chance but kept living with Michael and Pippa because they'd had too many false dawns and couldn't trust her.If the whole thing had played out over months instead of days, with Melody getting to know her mother again whilst still living with Miles or at least living in the Bay where her friends and her new family could keep an eye on her and then Christine had asked her to move away with her, it might have worked.But instead they just let Christine take her off to another country where she could do whatever she liked to her and no-one would know.

"I've come full circle" says Melody just before she leaves.She's right and that's not a good thing. It feels as though all the months living with Miles have been rendered meaningless, she's given up all the new relationships she's built for a filial affection that's just appeared out of nowhere, letting herself be sucked back into the dysfunctional family she escaped from.At the end of the Melbourne trip, she was talking about how hard it is without people that care about you around.But the very next thing she did was go to somewhere even further away where she only knew one person, who we'd seen time and time again can't be relied upon.And the worst thing is, we'll probably never know what happened.

Slim though the chance may be, I hope she's happy.No, actually, I hope she's miserable and she comes back.If they want to do it without undermining her exit(even though it was rubbish and deserves to be undermined), I think they should have her mother die shortly after their reunion, a la Bruce Campbell, so she has to come and live with Miles.So long as it doesn't leave her too angsty.I want my Melody nice, happy and most importantly in the show.

[~Lynd~]

I agree with everything in your post RR1.The episodes just confirmed the reservations i had about the whole thing.I honestly wasn't moved like most people were,i thought the whole thing was badly done,unless of course she turns up on Miles' doorstep in a few months but i doubt it.Are we honestly meant to believe that Christine has turned over a new leaf so fast, and after everything she's been through that Melody would practically run overseas with her where she knows nobody?As if!

You bring up an intersting point about Aden to,but like i've said before people have double standards because he's hot.

I'll stop ranting now as it seems i'm one of only a few who thought the whole ending was an unrealistic pile of crap.

[LuvAden]

I got the impression that the storyline might have been rushed because of Celeste having other committments. If not then it was just crappy writing.

[Jody]

I liked the idea behind her leaving storyline. While it may seem unlikely that she would ever want to have her mother in her life I don't find it completely unrealistic. Christine was a horrible person and by no means a good mother but we've seen on many occasions that even though her mother put her through complete hell, and she realised she was better of without her, Melody did love her very much. But it was always her mothers horrible behaviour that pushed them apart. I don't find it hard to imagine, now that her mother is there and seems like she has changed and is remoresful over her past behaviour that Melody would want to believe that they could have a proper relationship. And meeting her grandmother probably helped her feel for her mother abit more. I think this had the potential to be a good storyline if handled well, but in the end it just wasn't.

What I didn't like was how rushed it all was. It feels like everything happened in a few episodes and it did. I would have preferred to see Christine arrive weeks, even months, before and watch her and Melody work their way to coming to a point were Melody would feel comfortable leaving with her. Instead they spent months wasting a great actress and then wrapping up her story in a couple episodes.

The first mistake with her storyline. They spent to much time dragging out that awful Nic/Geoff/Mel triangle. I always felt that Mel's little obssession should have just been a small part in her storyline to show how much she wanted that sense of normalcy back in her life. It should have stayed as just a small part of her journey. Instead they took what was an interesting storyline and turned it into some teen love triangle and an oppurtunity to give two characters who they had nothing for something to do. There were lot of times when it seemed like the writers lost track of what the storyline was really about. When looking back at the way Melody's storyline was written before the OC and after theres a big difference, back then the relationship aspect of it was just a small part of the bigger story.

Secondly they should have started the Melbourne storyline earlier. It would have worked better to have her run away earlier then she did. Instead of stalling it. That way there would have been more time to introduce her mother back. After Christine told Melody about her grandmother I would have liked if Melody was somewhat sympathetic towards her but not enough to forgive her. Now that would have been much more realistic. I don't accept Christine's past with her mother as a good enough explanation for why she turned out the way she did. I'm not saying she didn't have it tough and it wouldn't have effected her but still. I find it to be a real cop out actually. I feel it would have been better if they just used that as something to make Melody willing to give Christine the benefit of the doubt for the moment. And then have them spend the next month or so working on their issues. And it would be nice to see Melody struggle with her feelings for the mother, whether or not she can bring herself to fully forgive her for what she put her through, whether she's willing to risk getting hurt again, and whether she trusts her mother to not going back to the way she was if things don't go well. Also to see Christine truly realise the damage she did to her daughter and work to gain her forgiveness and mostly importantly her trust. I think it would have made for some good viewing and drama. I know for a fact that Liz and Celeste would have done a wonderful job.

I feel if it was handled well and done over a period of time this could have had the potential to be great storyline. I don't see why they couldn't do something like this. What makes the ending we got even more disappointing is that the writers would have most likely known for some time that Celeste was planning on leaving, so to see everything rushed like that and wrapped up into a few episodes just makes it feel like crappy writing. But the actresses do deserve some praise. Liz and Celeste did manage to do a great job with what they were given. And the scenes did end up being quite nice. A poor way to end a long running storyline that started out brilliantly last year and not what would I would have wanted but it was still enjoyable to watch.

Edited March 16, 2009 by Jody

[Red Ranger 1]

I agree with a lot of what you say, Jody, if they really did know how long they had Celeste for it was handled appallingly.As I said earlier, the storyline might have worked if played out over months rather than days but for me it just didn't.

I didn't enjoy those last few scenes, partly because Melody was leaving and I didn't want her to but partly because it felt like a completely faux happy ending and I just couldn't see it turning out well.It relied on Melody and Christine acting against every instinct they'd previously shown.I'd been worried right from the start that they were going to suddenly turn Christine nice because it would be a complete cop out.And they did and it was.When she said she'd always been proud of Melody, it was so obviously a lie I didn't know whether to laugh or throw something at the screen.(Even when she was calling her evil?Even when she dragged her up in front of the school meeting to tell them all how badly behaved she'd become?)

Ever since she humiliated Melody at the school meeting and ranted almost incoherently at Miles, I've been convinced Christine isn't just a bad parent or overly strict, she's actually mentally unstable.The exorcism and kidnap attempt just proved it.Alf even said of Audrey "She's not well" and it's equally true of Christine.There's no sign she's had counselling or treatment so, however much she might want to change, I think she'd end up acting in exactly the same way sooner or later.People have suggested what Melody has been through has made her stronger and more able to stand up to her but it wouldn't work in my opinion.She tried standing up to her last time and she would have been in real trouble if Miles and Geoff hadn't been there.And now they aren't.

[Jody]

After watching older episodes I noticed that when Melody stopped going to see her pysciatrist, apart from one or two mentions from Miles it was just forgotten. It seems like just another moment where Miles really dropped the ball when it came to her looking after her. I'm not sure whether he could have made her go, being her legal gaurdian, but I would have expected to see him put more effort in trying to convince her it's what she needs. I'm not sure if Geoff knew she stopped seeing her doctor, but since the teenagers seemed to know more about her life then Miles at times I'm going to assume he did as well. And considering just a month or so before, Melody was practically begging her mother to get her medical help I'm surprised they were willing to just let this go without putting up much of fight. With the people she ended up with to look after her, the girl really didn't stand a chance.

[Red Ranger 1]

I try not to fall into the "It's all Miles' fault" camp but I was disappointed that he seemingly didn't even attempt to get her to reconsider ending her counselling.He just sat there looking defeated.I also think part of the problem was the complete lack of stability in her home life.Her nice, normal family broke up almost as soon as she moved in with them and on at least two occasions Miles actually seemed to be taking it out on her.Then they broke up again when she was at her lowest point.No wonder she thought she was a burden.Her comment about how long Kirsty was going to be a part of the family may have been more telling than it seemed.

[Julez]

Has anyone seen Clubland? An excellent movie, btw. The lead female - Emma Booth - shares a very similar look with Celeste.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Julez

[H&Aaddict]

I took my mum to see Hay Fever (a Noel Coward play) in the West End (London) for her birthday and was surprised to find Celeste in it! She had to use an Upper Class 1930s English accent in it and her role involved lots of physical comedy, so completely different to her role as Melody! She was actually really good and I didn't even realise it was her until I read the programme during the interval! 

I remember seeing her in The Musketeers on BBC1 as well - again completely different role to both H&A and Hay Fever, so she really is quite a versatile actress! 

[DialMforMorag]

I met Celeste in London last year and she spoke about being half Australian/half English, she moved to London immediately after finishing Home and Away to attend drama school. She said that Home and Away was a huge learning curve for her, acting wide. She also mentioned that she was an extra on Downton Abbey. Good on her for getting other work in the meantime.