Old H&A Fan Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 This thread is for all the Sally-lovers and Dodge-haters, who vehemently defend little Sally and wish the worst would happen to Dodge (like burying him under the prison he'll end up in for getting rid of Phillip Matheson accidentally in the fire). I ask you: 1. Doesn't Dodge deserve at least some credit, for rescuing Viv off the streets and helping keep away her abusive father? 2. Also, what about the time when he saved Sally from drowning while continuing to cop abuse from the poor, innocent little darling 3. What about the time when he helped organise Tom and "Pippa"'s wedding anniversary, complete with '60s themes? Do you still think Dodge is evil through and through?? I will be asking questions later about how Shane was given a second chance and was rehabilitated despite his life of crime, while Dodge was condemned to the scrap-heap for the rest of his life — no questions asked, no second chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexx Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 No I don't think Dodge is evil through and through but I'm not a Dodge hater or Sally hater. I think Dodge is a complex character, you also have to take into account that he too is young and has had a pretty disruptive life himself so far. I dont think he's a good guy misunderstood though, I think he's pretty selfish at times and doesn't seem to be doing anything simply out of the goodness of his heart - dont forget his 'thing' for Viv, I wonder if he wasn't attracted to her he would have bothered helping her out. Plus we dont really know if he feels guilty about what happened to Phil or not, I know most people wouldn't be able to look Stephen in the eye knowing his uncle was killed due to the fire he started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Ranger 1 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Okay...I don't think the Dodge of 1989 was completely evil, or maybe not even at all evil, but I don't think there was much, if any, good in him either.I guess you could argue the Dodge of 1995, who was interested solely in getting revenge on Steven, probably fatally, was evil.I think Dodge is a curious character in that he can veer between being entertaining and even likable despite his selfish nature and being completely without virtue. Without having seen the last half of his 1989 stint, I find it hard to give an opinion on his actions or say definitively whether there was anything altruisitic about them or not.I find his friendship with Steven curious because it's hard to tell exactly where it's coming from.I don't think it's a true friendship in the sense that there's any loyalty or Dodge actually cares about Steven, I think at most he enjoys his company but he'd sell him out in a heartbeat if it was to his benefit.(As, I believe, he ends up doing.) The show does have a certain disparity with regards which characters are given a second chance or not but, although there are an awful lot of exceptions both ways, I guess it comes down to the severity of their crimes and how willing they are to change.I'm not sure how many of the details are eventually established, if any, but he came to town, stole from everyone, got busted, got off surprisingly lightly.He could have taken that "second chance" to turn himself around, instead he snuck back to town, started a fire and, however accidentally, killed someone, which he doesn't seem to have shown much remorse about.His placements with the Fletchers is a thorny one because he would probably have been found out and gone to jail for killing Philip whatever happened.But either way, he didn't take advantage of that "second chance" or learn anything from Philip's death, he just went on being a criminal and stealing from people(and, indeed, I believe Pippa was on the verge of turning him over to the police for his crimes even before it came out that he'd killed Philip).Again, when he came out of jail, he was offered a "second chance":He could have gone straight, tried to pick up his life, he was young enough to make a go of things.Instead he came back to town, went after Steven and got himself killed.So, I think his fate is mostly of his own making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan F Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 You may try and argue away that he's not a murderer, as he didn't intend to kill Philip, but that doesn't change the fact that he committed murder on his release from prison in 1995. That pretty much cements his status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau_t Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 You may try and argue away that he's not a murderer, as he didn't intend to kill Philip, but that doesn't change the fact that he committed murder on his release from prison in 1995. That pretty much cements his status. It's disappointing that Dodge and Sally didn't have much to do with each other in 1995. Did they have any scenes together? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Ranger 1 Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 You may try and argue away that he's not a murderer, as he didn't intend to kill Philip, but that doesn't change the fact that he committed murder on his release from prison in 1995. That pretty much cements his status. Well, he didn't mean to kill Murdoch either(he says...). No, I don't remember Dodge and Sally having any scenes together at all in 1995, which is a bit odd.I remember he had bits with Pippa and Alf but most of it was with Steven or people who weren't around in 1989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulu1978 Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 The 1989 version of Dodge wasn't truly evil,but when he returned in 1995 he was more deranged and murdered Irene's ex husband and tried to kill Steven before ending up dying himself. Dodge could have tried to change if he wanted to like other characters have done,but he chose not to and only had himself to blame for how things turned out for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old H&A Fan Posted March 6, 2011 Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 It looks like jail made him more bitter and twisted. You will notice how he doesn't harbour any hard feelings about Steven in his final moments before going down for Phillip's "murder". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylover Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 I fancy Dodge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaxland 89 Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 But thats just the thing. He didn't even have a bad childhood to blame. He was from a rich loving family. And killing your best friends uncle and boasting about it to Adam shows he had no remorse. He would have ended up ripping the Fletcher family apart had he not been caught and the way he was clearly abusing Sally would have left permanent mental scars. As for Viv, he couldn't care less about her situation with her Dad. He just fancied her. It was Steven who saved her. Dodge was never meant to be seen as a "good guy under it all". He remains one of the shows best ever villans. Manipulative through and through and a compulsive liar. Setting up innocent people for arson and murder. A killer himself! A thief. Threatening children and vulnerable woman (Celia). Plenty of characters in Home and Away have had bad upbringings and not done any of these things. He was a good looking guy and could be charming but that just made him even more dangerous. If Dodge isn't evil an evil character, then none of them have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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