Was Lynn axed prematurely?

[adam436]

Does anyone else think that perhaps Lynn was axed prematurely? I'm not sure of the reasons behind the decision; I've heard it is because she was that "in between" age between Carly/Bobby/Roo and Sally, which doesn't make sense, as I thought she was the same age as Steven?

 

I liked Lynn (more so than bratty Carly, moody Frank and whiny Sally) but I certainly thought she was the least developed of the 6 original foster children; even her reason for being fostered was the weakest of the six children. I think the producers let her go too soon and could have developed her a little more. They could have introduced her other siblings when they needed a new foster child, given her a love interest or a meaty storyline like Steven and the older teens had and even developed her relationship with the other foster children (I don't recall her being that close to Frank or Bobby for example!).

 

In 1989, they built a teen group around Steven with Viv and Emma - personally I would have happily forgone Viv (as she was basically a run-of-the-mill teen!) to have Lynn stick around a bit longer or return for another stint. If she stuck around a little longer, Helena might have been more open to returning in the future, but instead it seems because she had a bad experience, which made her give up acting and drop off the radar altogether.

[Blaxland 89]

I don't mean to be rude but she was by far the worst actor out of all the other ones. Maybe that is why she was axed because some of her delivery was appaling 

[JosieTash]

I always liked Lynn. she was the reaon i LOVE H&A. in that 1st year, she - for me - turned a good show into a GREAT one .......when she stood up for that disabled boy Nicco AND when she told Celia she doesnlt believe in God anymore - because Carley was raped.   

[beau_t]

39 minutes ago, Blaxland 89 said:

I don't mean to be rude but she was by far the worst actor out of all the other ones. Maybe that is why she was axed because some of her delivery was appaling 

Really? I can honestly say I've never noticed that.

As for the premature axing I'd say that in hindsight yes she was axed too quickly, however I understand the decision behind it at the time. I liked that it showed the instability of foster family life - they had to show that the Fletchers weren't a normal family - and I guess Lynn was the most expendable.

[j.laur5]

I think it was a mistake to axe Lynn, aswell as Neville and Floss, as it would have been interesting to see how long they'd have lasted had they stayed as long as the actors wanted to

[CaptainHulk]

She just didn't fit with the family like the others. She kind of was the odd one out. Okay, She knew Sal from the Children's home and Sal refused to budge without her, was in Stevo's year and shared a room with Carly but other than that... Nah. 

However, it'd have been nice to wheel her out for either of Sal's weddings.

[Red Ranger 1]

I can see why they did it: They obviously wanted to lose a Fletcher to make space for other characters and Frank, Carly and Bobby were too high profile, Sally was the kid and losing Steven would have meant too few boys.But I do wish they'd had a rethink.Her background did provide an interesting scope for storylines, with the idea of her being someone who had a difficult but not completely broken relationship with her birth family and was torn between her two homes.(Compare with Frank, whose back story was never really used.)She actually had some strong stuff with Bobby and they're closer than people might remember at times: I remember her moving into Bobby's caravan at one point because they'd both fallen out with Carly, and taking the blame for her graffitiing the school.She had a good bond with Carly and given that she was there for the beginning of her drink problems it would have been nice to see her stick around to see it play out.And they really could have done more with her and Steven being in the same year: I seem to remember Sandra was introduced as Lynn's friend but then she dropped out of the storyline completely.

[CaptainHulk]

I think they got under the skin of Frank in the books.

[adam436]

Perhaps the character should have been written out temporary or had her take a back seat and reintroduced instead of Viv or Emma the following year. Aside from the romance with Steven being a bit ick (he could have dated Emma instead!) all of Viv's family storylines could have worked with Lynn.

 

I remember Greg Benson (Matt) was in the opening credits in 1988, and then he left for a bit and returned in 1989.

[beau_t]

I remember reading speculation that Lynn was the Summer Bay Stalker in 2005, her life had gone tragically downhill since returning to her family - she had written a letter to Sally (her best friend) in 1989 desperately begging her to get Pippa to help her, but Dodge got it first and destroyed it out of maliciousness towards Sally and also because he didn't want to lose his place in the house in favour of Lynn (this would all come out later).

She then grew up damaged from the abuse she received at home, feeling that the Fletchers abandoned her, and her whole motive was getting revenge on Sally and the Bay for forgetting about her.