Storylines

[j.laur5]

^No, I completely agree with you about Alf and Ailsa, they were a true 'super couple' and worked perfectly together. I'm sure that if Judy Nunn was still on the show, Alf wouldn't have changed as much as he has over the past decade. If they were still in the show together I can imagine that they would still have that great chemistry.

But Irene and Alf would be nothing like Ailsa and Alf because Irene is nothing like Ailsa and they have no romantic chemistry at all, or any special on screen chemistry for that matter. I think it would be a big mistake to pair them up just because they are of a certain age and single.

What they should do is give Alf a partner who he would realistically be attracted to - a woman his own age and with similar quirks and traits to Ailsa.

How has Alf changed?.

[Light of the Bay]

I'm going to post my thoughts in this thread as it seems the most appropriate:

I know I come across as very downtrodden on this forum but I am sick (so, so sick) of the constant crime and poor storytelling. I don't watch now but when I read the summaries for each episode in the Spoiler section every week seems to drag on and on with the same stories and repetitive format. This isn't even H&A anymore - it's an Australian show that's almost totally lost its way (partly due to a certain someone in the Script department) and there is no development or resolution for characters. The older ones don't even get their own storylines - they merely pop up randomly to give some 'advice' to teens they have absolutely no connections with.

Now I've made my point on twitter but no-one has listened and I don't know what there is left to do. I guess I'll just give up entirely for a while and try again at the end of the year. I don't want this to upset anyone and you certainly don't have to agree with my opinion but H&A is getting progressively worse. At the moment, it has no redeeming qualities and the "warm" feel has been sucked away since the RB era. All I'm after is some balance and some imaginative stories that are more 'everyday' and are family orientated. In the early 00's there was always something going on but the difference is that the stories were on a human level and they allowed characters to interact with each other and get to know one another. Louise Bowes thinks she's doing the greatest job because a few dramatic women on twitter tell her so. She's not and she won't admit that she's making brutal mistakes. Same goes for Lucy Addario.

I'm really sorry for making another post of this kind but I had to get it off my chest. I hope you can understand.

[Blaxland 89]

I don't think pairing a character off with another character to try to give them something to do is a good thing anyway. A character should be strong enough to stand single first.

I think that the trouble with Leah. For too long now, all her storylines have just revolved around a man. Now she has become so much weaker as a result of that. Although I still really like her being in it. I'm sure there is more imaginative things to do with her. And the same goes for Alf.

[alexx]

^I agree. That is the main reason I no longer like Leah and didn't miss her at all while she was away. I find her very bland and all of her storylines seem monotonous and relationship based. I just find it really boring.

[me123456]

^No, I completely agree with you about Alf and Ailsa, they were a true 'super couple' and worked perfectly together. I'm sure that if Judy Nunn was still on the show, Alf wouldn't have changed as much as he has over the past decade. If they were still in the show together I can imagine that they would still have that great chemistry.

But Irene and Alf would be nothing like Ailsa and Alf because Irene is nothing like Ailsa and they have no romantic chemistry at all, or any special on screen chemistry for that matter. I think it would be a big mistake to pair them up just because they are of a certain age and single.

What they should do is give Alf a partner who he would realistically be attracted to - a woman his own age and with similar quirks and traits to Ailsa.

I agree

[Blaxland 89]

I am one for knocking the current show and looking back with rose tinted glasses. However I have been thinking about the show overall and in my opinion it is no where near as bad it has been at some stages. I was thinking about Seb being introduced as Fisher's grandson. Which led me to remember that Barbara was his grand mother. When Fisher left, Seb became very close to Alf. Didn't he want to know about his grand mother. Alf's sister? And what about Alf's 60th? Barbara was there and so was her nephew Duncan. Wasn't there a storyline to explore there. The fact that Duncan paralysed Seb. Not to mention all that business of Barbara trying to murder Fisher in 1996. Didn't that issue need to be addressed. I am sorry, but the current episode or no worse then all that bad story telling. IMO the story line in 1996 with Barbara is one of the worst in the shows history. They really had lost the plot just after Angel left. With stories of Stephanie and Liam knowing each other in a previous life. And Joey doing black magic. And somehow people slag off 1998 and 1999! I say this when just watching early episode of Barbara in the when I think she was a good character and had potential.

Over the course of the shows history there has been some really "soapy" period. 1996 and 2005 2006 was like a spoof. Almost Sunset Beach if anyone remembers that.The show had the most quality in the first year and a half with all continuity tight. And the writing was extremely good in late 97-99. Not much drama I admit but well written and had a nice feel of the show and is underrated. I love the "golden age" as much as the next person but the tale end of it was poor. And then, like now the actors were/are employed by their looks. I've waffled on long enough. But if the current show had credits and better underscores I would be thinking that its not so bad nowadays. It was lovely having Celia back. Marilyn is funny. John and Gina are good characters together. The Walker family has some depth and history and the Braxton's are finally been giving some level's to them. We have Sally's return to look forward to. Now all they have to do is SORT IRENE OUT!

[TelephotoMarigold]

Of course the show has had issues before with it's storytelling. Instances where it just doesn't explain stuff that has happened or have forgotten what has gone on previously with characters. Nicole's fluctuating birthday. The development storyline. Jack's shooting. But it's the stuff where you know that with the addition of a line of dialogue here or there will make the difference that gets to me.

Irene's cancer is a prime example. We have had nothing about her getting a check up. For example we don't have to see her in the hospital but maybe when she goes into the diner for one of her shifts she mentions that she's been for a check up and is all clear or something. Or maybe have Marilyn mention something to her as they work together about how Irene's got back from the clinic and how things were different for her when she was ill.

Then there is Irene's family. The actors who played her kids have moved on to other things and fair enough we don't see them but for an illness like cancer wouldn't they have visited? I can't even remember them being mentioned although I'm sure they must have been, let alone the fact that Irene is a grandmother now. After viewing her with Olivia, Chole's daughter and also to a lesser extent Lilly (Gypsy and Wil's daughter) we know that she would make a doting grandparent but we never see her buy them presents, ring them, go to see them. The writers have her invested much more attentively in whoever makes up the current cast to the detriment of her own character. Her more recent storylines have included being asked to organise Rocco's funeral and despite the obvious relationship she has with Bianca and also April she is not their family and should never have been placed in that position. Personally I found that it was a throwaway to include one of the older characters in a storyline that revolved around the other cast. In addition Alf has had various trips to see Roo (when she lived overseas), Sally and even Duncan so it is not beyond the realm of having someone take a trip off screen for that purpose and offers the viewer a sense of continuity that is currently lacking.

The Braxton's were introduced as a menace to Summer Bay and have certainly been that. First and foremost in the divide they create amongst fans and then secondly in their own character development. Brought in as River Boys members of a surf gang the writers have since turned them around to be the forefront of most of the H&A storylines. The obvious drawback to this is that it narrows the focus of the show to the exclusion of other characters and also character development leaving some fans bereft yet others enjoy them. For my personal viewpoint, and I do not intend to enter a debate about it, after their introduction the writers were unable to decide what to do with them, hence Heath's progression from drug dealer to family man, Casey from schoolkid to criminal and Brax from drug dealer to restaurateur, in that they are attempting to fill out the characters. Adding a backstory to this in the form of Danny Braxton didn't help because none of the three brothers, later to become four, managed to get a final reckoning with him and in fact led to more angst for all of them. With just pushing the story a bit further they could have wrung even more drama out of it and made the characters more appealing to the non-Braxton fans.

I could add more, the Harvey/Roo dynamic for example. Some people like them and others do not. I personally found the endless arguments prior to the wedding were just trying to add a screwball element to them that didn't come off. Now they've been turned into foster parents, except, it seems not officially which probably manages to skip over the fact that do not have their own place or Harvey's criminal record. And how exactly does Lottie feel about this doesn't seem to have been addressed. Will we in fact see Lottie onscreen again?

Then there is the Leah exit line. This was rushed however you view it and despite the brooding looks from Jamie and his obvious break and entering of Leah's house and business there was a singular lack of menace over the whole thing and yet we were to believe that Leah was so fearful she took her son out of school and left? How was that dealing with a stalker? How long was she planning on leaving things before she came back to her home and business?

In conclusion whilst the premise of many of the current storylines may in fact be at the basis of good drama the execution of them and some of the writing leaves something lacking in its presentation.

[Light of the Bay]

I don't want to repeat myself yet again but I agree with you, Tele. Your posts really put the Script Producer and writers to shame - the level of writing we're seeing is just not up to scratch. It's very inconsistent and there is a huge divide in the show. There is 'The Braxton Show' and there is 'Home and 'Away. They have proved that they simply cannot integrate the two together. I don't even enjoy it anymore as it's gotten so rotten (IMO) - they've abandoned the feel and spirit of Summer Bay and what it means to live there. I actually had a chance encounter with Coral Drouyn recently and she told me she hasn't watched since she departed back in 2004 as they've turned it into a crime-ridden town with no promising qualities. TPTB seem to think we want to see hot guys and hostage situations all the time.

I don't think anything will change unless 7 try and poach someone who has worked on some less mainstream projects and understands quality character-driven writing.

I always said that the writers would regret not listening to long-term fans and I feel that they will in due course. It's all in the ratings...

[Blaxland 89]

I do agree with what you're saying but as you mentioned it, I don't think 2004 or the last half of 2003 was especially character driven either. Tasha, Robbie Kim. Pretty awful characters. Tasha comletely changed after her ridiculous introduction story line. Same with Robbie. And Kim was one of those above. Shirt off and all that. But pretty bland. Kane consistently changing from bad guy gone bad to just bad guy. Colleen having a long lost daughter story. And then there was the swapped at birth story.

I'd take now over that.

[John]

This is a very interesting discussion.

On the whole I am a fan of the current show but that doesn't mean I am uncritical of everything about it.

I've said in a number of other threads that I think the introduction of the Braxtons as a group representative of people who come from the "other side of the tracks" was an interesting developement for the show. We were introduced to their suspicion of authority in any form which they perceive as being a tool of the rich and their family loyalty which they would see as a protection from a world which largely works against them. Their involvement in crime was because they saw no other way of ever getting access to some of the privileges that the more well off members of society take for granted.

In Brax we saw a recognition that he didn't always want to be that way and that he didn't want his family, particularly Casey, to be a part of that. In a strange way it is a redemption story arc similar to many we have seen in the past. Ric, Aden, Belle in more recent times. I think his battle to succeed just shows how difficult it is to bridge that social divide.

I think the writers spent far too long portraying the violence and criminal involvement that is part of that world. It was indulgent and I think those who see it as an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the Underbelly series are probably right. By doing this they alienated a part of the audience who then ceased to believe in the possibility of characters developing into a more socially acceptable form . They just wanted the characters gone, to jail or anywhere just not on the show any more.

That delay lessened the impact of Danny's appearance which should have deepened our understanding of just how difficult the upbringing of the Braxtons had been and how they had to struggle to survive. By the time Danny appeared a section of the audience didn't care any more.

I do like the direction the writers are taking now. Particularly with Heath. I believe his relationship with Bianca does hold the potential for his redemption. Hopefully the writers will time this right.

I think the interraction between Bianca and Cheryl may well become a highlight of the show. They are much more alike than either of them would admit.

I'm still puzzled as to where they're taking Brax. I'll be quite annoyed if he just becomes a part of the endless cycle of breaking up and making up relationships. The way he is gatthering his brothers and their partners around him is sort of like a fostering relationship at best and at worst an annoying attempt to hang onto something that is over. He is still a strong influence in the family group and if they are to be "redeemed" he will have to be an important part of that.

With the younger cast I think the writers are suffering from their tendency to use older actors to portray teenage characters. It means that many of them only stay for one three year contract period before the bright lights of Hollywood beckon. That makes the development of a strong teenage group of friends difficult.

Probably enough from me but I'm enjoying this discussion.