Karen's 1993 return

[BobbyFridge]

I think it should have been longer, or even permanent. She is hilarious here, just unashamedly a bad girl not even trying to hide it. Manipulates Alf to go to see Roo to get him out of the way. makes it clear to Finlay that she doesn't like her and tells Blake he can do better than her ''she's a bit of a bimbo'' and then when Finlay says she hoped they could be friends ''why would i be friends with a wishy washy person like you, you're pathetic!'' , takes advantage of Ailsa. She could have caused trouble for many years and even teamed up with Morag later in 1993 when she returns too!

Or she could have been recurring like Nick Cotton in EastEnders and Terry Duckworth on Coronation Street. Comes back causes trouble, leaves again for a long time and comes back again many times over. The only problem is i am not sure if Ailsa would have been as gullible as Dot Cotton and Vera Duckworth were to keep giving more chances. Alf would have been like Jack, knowing she can't be trusted, but he would put his foot down a lot more than Jack ever would.

[16770052]

I’m annoyed we never saw Karen and Sophie reunite. 

After David’s death, Sophie was angry at basically everyone. But we never got to see Sophie confront Karen…who was the one actually responsible and was her former best friend. Karen was arrested by the time Sophie returned so we never saw Sophie confront Karen.

Sophie had just left the bay by the time Karen returned in 1993. So once again we never saw any scenes of Sophie and Karen together. 

It almost felt deliberate that the writers didn’t want to have this storyline.

[cymbaline]

On 15/04/2022 at 10:24, 16770052 said:

I’m annoyed we never saw Karen and Sophie reunite. 

After David’s death, Sophie was angry at basically everyone. But we never got to see Sophie confront Karen…who was the one actually responsible and was her former best friend. Karen was arrested by the time Sophie returned so we never saw Sophie confront Karen.

Sophie had just left the bay by the time Karen returned in 1993. So once again we never saw any scenes of Sophie and Karen together. 

It almost felt deliberate that the writers didn’t want to have this storyline.

Something tells me there's a story behind why this never happened. When you think about it, the potential for some really great writing was right there in front of them. That car accident was a seismic, life-changing event for both characters and sent them in directions nobody would've ever foreseen. On the other hand, it could've gone horribly wrong. By the time Rebekah Elmaloglou left Home and Away, her acting had become little more than her grunting before speaking, then yelling a lot. Would our eardrums have been able for all the shrieking from her and Karen?

[Spinach]

I feel like the story was more a convenient way of writing Blake out. There were so many missed opportunities. Sophie had just left, Adam was away, and Alf left at the start of the stint (at least they had some interaction). I'm not sure Bobby even spoke to Karen, and they were working in the diner together for a bit... It did feel quite rushed, with Karen turning over a new leaf and then stealing from Ailsa/Roxy and disappearing within the same episode. That said, I agree it was very enjoyable and wish it had lasted longer... Karen's comebacks were great! Though what was the point of her being nice and friendly in the first couple of episodes so she could get Alf and Ailsa "off her back" only to make absolutely no effort in the following episodes?

I'm rewatching the early years and I think Karen's one of my favourite characters. I never realised that before, but I look forward to her scenes. I'm just up to the part after the disco where she couldn't get a guy, so all the fun is just about to begin, but even during her innocent early episodes, I find it so interesting knowing how she ends up. And even in those early episodes, she's still quite strong-willed and petulant at times, making her later stubbornness/rudeness believable.

I'll have to remember Karen for the next Most Popular Character Poll.

[BobbyFridge]

There was some interaction between Bobby and Karen. Mostly because Finlay and Karen were working together at the diner and ended up getting into a fight and throwing food at each other. Bobby fired them both in anger but later she told Ailsa that she wanted to give Finn another chance as she knew Karen had provoked Finn.

I thought Karen was a touch whiny in some of her early episodes but once she was with Revhead she definitely got more interesting. To be honest when you get totally bland characters like Sophie, Finn and Sarah its much easier to appreciate Karen because she was definitely more interesting then them. There was potential for Karen to be a long term villain in the show (they didn't seem keen on having a regular villain back then, the villains are always guest characters) I could have seen her teaming up with Morag for example or later on being involved with Saul and the cult (since her involvement with Revhead showed she could be a willing accomplice if she was taken in by the other person) but in a more evil way rather than being a victim like Selina was.

8 minutes ago, Spinach said:

Though what was the point of her being nice and friendly in the first couple of episodes so she could get Alf and Ailsa "off her back" only to make absolutely no effort in the following episodes?

 

 I think that was because she was genuinely scared of Alf, she knew he had a short fuse and wouldn't put up with any nonsense so she acted nice and encouraged him to go and see Roo. Once he had gone she felt it was safe to stop pretending. 

[cymbaline]

On 23/04/2022 at 01:02, Spinach said:

...I'm rewatching the early years and I think Karen's one of my favourite characters. I never realised that before, but I look forward to her scenes. I'm just up to the part after the disco where she couldn't get a guy, so all the fun is just about to begin, but even during her innocent early episodes, I find it so interesting knowing how she ends up. And even in those early episodes, she's still quite strong-willed and petulant at times, making her later stubbornness/rudeness believable.

I hadn't thought about it in that way but you're right. They planted the seeds for Karen's transformation into a bad girl quite early by Home and Away standards. For me, the turning point was towards the end of the 1990 season when two things happened. She became openly insecure about her looks and attractiveness to the opposite sex.  Also, she thought she was in with a chance with Haydn (she didn't IMHO) and had to stand by and watch Sophie steal him from under her nose. Her friendship with Sophie never really recovered after that and those self-confidence issues continued to plague her. She made some dodgy choices in the new year and getting with Revhead was the logical conclusion.

It's never going to happen but she would be a strong Early Years character to bring back. Most of the other characters had run their course by the time they were written out and didn't look like they belonged anymore when they came back as guests. Karen isn't one of those and she is interesting enough for them to keep writing for. She seems to have turned her life around offscreen but you'd wonder how much had she really changed? Alf in particular wouldn't be pleased to see her back in town. Nor would Marilyn or Irene who would remember her all too well from all those years ago. 

[Stewarts Point]

If looked at in close detail, yes clearly there was an underlying jealousy that Karen had of Sophie, possibly even from very early on when Sophie quickly went out with Blake in the summer of 1990. That would have built after Sophie kissed and went out with Karen's crush, Haydn. It was intimated that she lacked self esteem and felt she'd never have a boyfriend. These factors undoubtedly played a part in Karen falling for Revhead. But I think they are overstated.

Firstly, boys did like Karen and asked her out, but she was fussy and turned them down. She had clearly had an over inflated sense of her own looks and catchability.

And secondly, a good looking boy really did like her and asked her out and went out with her, Mark (just before she met Revhead in the spring of 1991). It was a strange one because one moment they were an item and then the next Mark was leaving just before the swim meet and Karen acted as though she'd barely ever talked to him. 

So I say that Karen was just attracted to the bad boy, and that far from a low self esteem, she had rather an inflated ego.

As for not reuniting with Sophie, I guess unlike the Steven-Dodge reuniting episodes in 1995, it wasn't the criminal (Karen) who was out for revenge. Sophie, unlike Steven, had nothing to do with the protaganist getting caught after the car crash. Also they stayed relative if not as close, friends until the end. As for Sophie, she had made her peace by the time of her departure and so nothing could be gained by her confronting in Karen a character who hadn't repented. And yes I think it was done as a way to write Blake out.

[cymbaline]

The Mark storyline is a bit odd and I wonder did something happen behind the scenes to make it fizzle out the way it did? It's obvious that they created the character to fill the gap while Haydn was away and that they were always going to have him move away in the end. Karen seemed to genuinely like him at the start, though Sophie's meddling behind the scenes undoubtedly coloured things. But once that was resolved, Karen & Mark went nowhere. There was no chemistry between them which didn't help. Did they even go on a date? To me it's odd that after all the groundwork they'd laid down, nothing of note happened between them. Maybe she was attracted to bad boys? Who knows?

When Karen returned in 1993 she didn't give a monkey's about anybody else. That, by the way, made her great fun to watch. Sophie, I reckon, took far longer to get over David. Coming face to face with the woman who had caused his death would've been a huge thing for her and it could've been good. That would've depended on who was writing the episodes and how shouty Rebekah Elmaloglou was though. She more or less grunted and yelled her way through the last couple of seasons of the show and I for one wasn't sorry to see her go. 

 

[homeandawayroxsomuch.]

On 22/07/2022 at 19:21, cymbaline said:

Coming face to face with the woman who had caused his death would've been a huge thing for her and it could've been good.

Going from Sophie and Blake's last appearances, Sophie and Karen would be in-laws now.

[cymbaline]

Ooh I hadn't thought about that. By then wasn't she supposedly back on the straight and narrow? Though seeing how far off the deep end she went when she hooked up with Revhead, I don't think that bad girl would ever be completely suppressed.