Take an Early Years Plot Point and make it 2021

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

19 hours ago, adam436 said:

A few characters would have been trapped inside the burning General Store and in edge-of-your-seat drama, only escape at the last second. 

I'm not so sure about the quality of this "edge-of-your-seat drama" thing these days.  When there was the fire at Leah's house, they all escaped at the last second and they all survived. 

Also, the immediate episodes following the General Store fire MESSED with me so much like, first it's just Sally being an excitable kid and telling Steven about seeing the fire from the window and him getting distressed with the fire engine sirens, and then when they thought it was Frank who had died, Bobby being unresponsive and later convinced that he'd come home any minute and Steven throwing the chairs and then the flashbacks to his own parents' deaths and then breaking down in tears telling Tom and Pippa "I loved him and now he's gone" as he thought of Frank as a brother.  

And then the episode when they knew it wasn't Frank, but Tom had his suspicions that it might be Phil and he had gone to visit Stacey to tell her, and then Carly having one of her super insensitive moments where she says "You don't have fires in Summer Bay every day" like, just because it's not Frank doesn't mean that it isn't bringing back bad memories for Steven.  And then Stacey going to hug Steven and him shoving her away as he realises that it's Phil who has died in the fire, and then running and nearly getting hit by Lance and Martin.

I feel like the audience knowing from the start that Dodge threw the firebomb was questionable though.  We had no mystery for that, but then the episode where Steven has just found out the truth and is talking to Andrew and then has visions of Fisher, Andrew and Dodge while doing his Hamlet essay was also powerful.

I only watched those episode a couple of months ago, but THAT will probably stick with me much longer than the "unmissable drama" they have now.

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

- I can see cancel culture taking place, such as Don and Marilyn's relationship being a big taboo and Ailsa's murdering of her father.

- Celia would have been part of the conservative groups on social media and listening to and watching right-wing media personalities.

- Jean would have been harassing Marilyn via text.

- Pippa would have met Michael online and maybe met an obsessive stalker.

- Don would have been messaging Pippa on social media after Tom's death.

- Drones would have been used to search for missing people or view disasters such as fires.

- Roo would have defamed Ailsa all over the Internet.

[adam436]

15 hours ago, Luigi Severus Fletcher said:

- I can see cancel culture taking place, such as Don and Marilyn's relationship being a big taboo and Ailsa's murdering of her father.

And the teacher/student relationships too, such as Andrew Foley and Carly and Steven and Selina. 

Social media and the internet would have made a huge difference to the early years storylines!

• Lance, Marilyn and Martin being exposed as frauds in their musical act would have gone viral 
• When a teen is ostracised (i.e. Roo after the baby lie, Shannon after coming between Shane and Angel), their peers would be trolling and harassing them on social media. 

Some of the teen issue-based stories would have been more in-depth or perhaps a little more "forward". Could, Craig Barnett, for example, have been gay and had a crush on Steven? Or could Carly's trauma after her rape have lead to self-harm, rather than alcoholism? Those were stories explored in the current era. 

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

19 hours ago, adam436 said:

And the teacher/student relationships too, such as Andrew Foley and Carly and Steven and Selina. 

Social media and the internet would have made a huge difference to the early years storylines!

• Lance, Marilyn and Martin being exposed as frauds in their musical act would have gone viral 
• When a teen is ostracised (i.e. Roo after the baby lie, Shannon after coming between Shane and Angel), their peers would be trolling and harassing them on social media. 

Some of the teen issue-based stories would have been more in-depth or perhaps a little more "forward". Could, Craig Barnett, for example, have been gay and had a crush on Steven? Or could Carly's trauma after her rape have lead to self-harm, rather than alcoholism? Those were stories explored in the current era. 

Hmmm. I like your ideas.

- Saul's cult being more nastier and more women coming out against him, this upsets Selina at first, as she doesn't believe Saul can do anything bad. But after seeing how he is, she comes out against him in full force.

- Alf's thump happy-nature having repercussions. You KNOW Brett Macklin would be one to cry "assault".

- Shane's death being possibly prevented.

- Summer Bay City Rollers putting up songs and covers on YouTube.

- Ailsa murdering her father being posted on social media, maybe under the guise of a fake username (obviously Roo).

[James Martin]

Celia's gambling addiction that she had when she returned for Roo's wedding in 2013 might have been explored somewhat.

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

On 24/11/2021 at 21:03, James Martin said:

Celia's gambling addiction that she had when she returned for Roo's wedding in 2013 might have been explored somewhat.

It certainly wasn't portrayed as being as serious as other gambling addiction storylines since, although I'm sure a Braxton got in too deep over issues with a loan shark around the same period (not sure when exactly).  Hard to imagine them taking a gambling addiction storyline with Celia so far as to seriously affect her family like that.

[hapitoby]

On 04/12/2021 at 01:18, homeandawayroxsomuch. said:

It certainly wasn't portrayed as being as serious as other gambling addiction storylines since, although I'm sure a Braxton got in too deep over issues with a loan shark around the same period (not sure when exactly).  Hard to imagine them taking a gambling addiction storyline with Celia so far as to seriously affect her family like that.

About a year before but from memory Brax was trying to sell Angelo's when him Charlie, Ruby and Casey were moving to the city. Heath wanted to take it over and ended up getting into debt with gangster Geoffrey King. He gave Heath a very expensive watch but Brax talked him out if it - Geoffrey threw it in the water (I think) and then told the Braxtons they owed him like 50K or whatever it is. Leah found out half the story and bailed them out. Brax was furious and then went into cage fighting to pay her off/get over his grief.

 

[cymbaline]

• When Sophie wanted to record her nefarious foster sister Tracey outlining her plot to oust her from the family, she would've done it on her smartphone. Still, that would never look as impressive as the bus sized ghetto blaster she walked into the living room with. 
• Michael and Pippa would've moved in together at some point before their wedding. It's unclear why he continued to sleep in his poky caravan, seeing as he was eating and showering in Pippa's place a few yards away. Both were mature adults who'd been married before and weren't religious. It was implied that they hadn't even got around to doing the deed before their wedding. Why???
• Marilyn was able to buy the Beach House with an ease millennials can only dream of. She was left a sum of money by an old lady she had befriended and at Alf's suggestion, approached a bank and got a mortgage. She was working as a shop assistant and could barely afford the repayments, as she frequently reminded everybody.  In 2021, she wouldn't have a hope of getting a mortgage while working in Alf's shop. She also would've been paying extortionate rent, which would soon eat into her nest egg. The Beach House would have been far out of her price range too, worth goodness knows how much more now. 
• In search of, ahem, questionable adult material, Blake and Haydn wouldn't have had to borrow manky old magazines or VHS cassettes. Still, watching West Coast Women while knowing there was a significant risk of somebody walking into the room must've added to the frisson.
• Instead of getting his hero Tim Watson to sign an autograph, Sam would've had him pose for a selfie.

 

[nenehcherry2]

9 hours ago, cymbaline said:

• When Sophie wanted to record her nefarious foster sister Tracey outlining her plot to oust her from the family, she would've done it on her smartphone. Still, that would never look as impressive as the ghetto blaster she walked into the room with. 
• Michael and Pippa would've moved in together at some point before their wedding. It's unclear why he continued to sleep in his poky caravan, seeing as he was eating and showering in Pippa's place a few yards away. Both were mature adults who'd been married before and weren't religious. It was implied that they hadn't even got around to doing the deed before their wedding. Why???
• Marilyn was able to buy the Beach House with an ease millennials can only dream of. (She was left a sum of money by an old lady she had befriended and at Alf's suggestion, approached a bank and got a mortgage) In 2021, she'd be on low pay, working irregular hours in Alf's store and paying extortionate rent. The Beach House would cost far too much anyway, already worth twice what it was 10 years before.
• In search of, ahem, questionable adult material, Blake and Haydn wouldn't have had to look further than their smartphones for West Coast Women or girly mags.
• Instead of getting his hero Tim Watson to sign an autograph, Sam would've had him pose for a selfie.

 

 

Alf (walks in): G'day, G'day, Pip! 

Pippa: oh seeeyoouuu Alf. 

(Helmet haired Ailsa is sat on her arse on the Stewart couch drinking a cuppa whilst wearing THAT red dress, Pippa has just left whilst Alf grabs laptop. Dramatic score starts...) 

"Aiiiilllllsssss, did you let Pip look at flamin' porn on the laptop again?"

"What?!!" (Judy delivers that word in her usual high pitched tone, puts hands on hips and shakes head to one side) 

Pippa comes back in, eyes popping out: I beg yours?! 

"Says pornhub...fist in h... I can't even bring meself to say the flamin' rest of it...it's flamin' disgusting, Ails!!" 

"Oh, Alf (rolls then claps her hands as she liked to do)... Do calm down, Darling, it's not good for your blood pressure... It would have just been one of the boys, Love. You know what they get like at that age, especially when you're always heading off on little panto trips to England every year, leaving me with this place, Duncan, two businesses to look after, blah blah..."

You're flamin kiddin' aren't ya?! 

"Oh, Alf, really! (clasps her hands, 90s Ailsa style) Now, I really must get back to the diner, Love, I've left Donald to look after the place... Just for half an hour whilst I sat on my arse drinking a cuppa with Pip. Now.. just leave it alone, Darling! Boys will be boys (gets Mumsy and points finger up) Okkkayy, bye!" (kisses Alf's cheek, shakes head to one side again and grabs handbag)" 

"Well, you flamin' wait till I get my hands on that pair of galahs... Their flamin backsides'll be tanned till nexf Winter!!!" (early years dramatic music plays, freezeframe) 

WRITTEN BY BOAZ STARK

[Luigi Severus Fletcher]

The Summer Bay Nutter storyline being more sinister and disturbing than it was... After relistening to Penpal (Creepypasta) (which I recommend you all listen to), I can see a lot of similarities to the Summer Bay Nutter story. Unknown stalker stalking someone (Home and Away = Mainly The Fletchers, Penpal = the protagonist), unknown stalker killing off pets and stuff (Home and Away = Jessie, Penpal = Boxes) and some other things and not from the Summer Bay Nutter storyline, BUT from a recent storyline with Ryder and Theo, another similarity happens to the protagonist's friend.