LANGFORD’S PICKS AND PANS
People of the Valley (Wales)
I thought I was going to throw my tv across the room last week when I heard Iolo going on and on about Macs and Ffion’s deception regarding Macs being the secret dad of her baby. I can see why Iolo is upset as Macs is ignoring his own child, especially since Jinx, who believes he’s the father, is Iolo’s best friend. But given that Iolo ran over Gethin, left him to die and refuses to come forward, I just couldn’t stomach his being so judgmental, not just towards Macs, but with Colin as well.
To the show’s credit, however, they eventually explained that Iolo’s attitude regarding his disdain for Macs and Colin’s lies came from his own guilt from what he did to Gethin. This guilt obviously continues to grow and eat away at Iolo with each passing week. But I found it a bit hard to believe that Sion is now telling Iolo he needs to get over it and move on. Just the other week he was railing at Iolo non-stop over how he needs to tell the truth if he’ll ever have peace. Sion’s sudden change in attitude makes no sense to me and seems like bad characterization to have a certain story point take place. This show is usually better than this.
River City (Scotland)
Except for the curious choice of the rap music (and perhaps that’s because I don’t like rap music), I think the background themes chosen to play over the show’s various scenes continue to be a highlight for this show. Last week’s developments with Will and Robbie were quite sad as they both tried to move on in the aftermath of their breakup with them missing each other, even though they know things had to end.
It was nice to get an update on Hayley as she’s a character I really miss and it’s no surprise she would name her baby after Robbie given how close they are. And as we heard a bit about what’s going on with Petey, it furthers my belief that Petey’s involvement in Will’s life is not over by a long shot. In the meantime, could they keep Will in his policeman’s uniform? I realize it’s a demotion for him, but it gets thumbs up from me.
Secret Lives (Finland)
Well, I knew it wouldn’t end well for Lari and his career would be ruined as a result of the gay bashing. And given that he wound up crying in Elias’ arms (though the actor didn’t shed a tear!), my guess is eventually Elias and Lari will get back together. And of course then Lari’s dad will not be too cool with having a gay son. This storyline has gotten decidedly predictable so that will most likely happen next. However, I do wish, as I’ve said before, that people wouldn’t just give Ida a pass for her role in all this. Perhaps when Lari finds out what she did, someone will actually call out the nasty girl on her (quite frankly) evil, actions.
Hollyoaks (U.K.)
Soaps will often change a character’s personality in order to write a particular story, having them do things that viewers often find hard to believe or damaging to their character. That’s how I feel about what the show had done with Callum, who last week, acted nothing like the guy who I’ve come to know over the past year.
In the past, Callum never had much use for people to pulled stupid pranks and acts of violence. So his out of nowhere bond with newcomer thug Robbie is hard for me to buy. Callum generally would have nothing to do with a nasty punk like Robbie and he certainly wouldn’t take part in his vengeful tactics against Doug and John Paul. This is not just out of character, it’s character assassination.
But that really became clear when Robbie showed on more than one occasion that he was homophobic and Callum had little reaction to his bigotry. One of Callum’s closest friends, whom he has stood up for against bigots like Robbie, is George. Just how is Callum going to explain his friendship with Robbie? Or is the show simply going to not have the characters cross paths to avoid such messy details? The point is, Callum has been completely re-written in the past week just to give this new character a cohort when there’s no way that Callum would ever have anything to do with this guy. Let’s hope this ‘friendship’ comes to a close quickly so we can have back that sweet, broody guy we know and love.
Or course, given Robbie’s over-reaction to Doug and John Paul kissing, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll eventually find out that Robbie is gay or has a close male relative who is. He is the first of the show’s five male siblings that will be joining the show over the next few months. And Hollyoaks being Hollyoaks one (or more) of them will undoubtedly be gay. Either way, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to make of this new character, but I do know that they’re going to have to give him some likable qualities. Even naughty or wicked characters have to have something for us to like about them and there’s nothing to like about this guy. Hollyoaks is certainly capable of that, given how much fans loved sociopaths like Brendan and Silas.
As for the rest of the show, it’s nice to see Esther again. Too bad Hollyoaks had her doing all her recovering from her suicide attempt and liver transplant off screen, but it’s no surprise. That's this show’s style. They’ve never been good at playing the aftermath of a story. But I’m glad that Jen was finally exposed for her bad behavior, even if this story arc has been totally implausible. I still say there’s no way that Patrick would have simply taken Jen’s word that she and Tilly weren’t having an affair and just expelled Tilly without an investigation. Besides, as I said at the time, there was plenty of evidence that Jen and Tilly were sleeping together since Jen was texting Tilly begging Tilly to take her back the day before Jen’s accusations led to Tilly getting kicked out of school. But with HO, you can’t always apply logic to its stories.
I was confused about one aspect of the storyline and perhaps UK viewers can explain things to me. Jen’s last scene was of her being arrested by the police. However, they never bothered to explain what she was arrested for. I don’t think a teacher sleeping with a student is illegal and the age of consent in the UK is sixteen and the show said late last year that Tilly was 18. So again, what was Jen arrested for? Moreover, who called the police? Someone would have to report the affair and there’s no one who would. I have the feeling the show did it for dramatic effect, even if it went against story credulity.
As for the show’s other events, I’m glad that John Paul and Doug finally got together, it’s just too bad that things went south so quickly. JP and Doug are really sweet together so I’m hoping the show will stick with them long-term once John Paul returns. BTW, where is Ste? The last time I looked he was half owner of the deli, but he doesn’t seem to be around. Wouldn’t Ste have been involved with the event at the school, which was a big account for the deli? Even when Doug talked about getting some help, he referred to Leanne. Doug didn’t even mention Ste. The show could simply resolve this by saying that Ste needs some time away after everything that happened with Brendan because his not being there is a glaring absence.
Finally, I’m so glad that Esther did not forgive Sinead. I still say she forgave Ruby way too quickly and it’s so hard for me to see them being so buddy buddy after Ruby stood at Esther’s bedside and wished her dead after her suicide attempt. But Sinead was much worse as she refused to admit what she did even after she got caught. Frankly, I think her sudden apology stems from that she lost all her friends and wanted to be part of the gang again rather than being truly sorry. Sinead has always been a horrid person. I can’t imagine she’s changed.
Days of Our Lives (U.S.)
Days was particularly tough to sit through last week, not just because of the annoying as hell antics with Will and Sonny, but because of the heavy play on the awful Daniel/Jennifer/Chloe storyline. I think it was particularly awful not just because we saw way too much of these three, but what happened. It was odious of Jennifer to dump Daniel ostensibly because she wasn’t over Jack and wasn’t ready to put that relationship behind her — especially for viewers who have watched the show for more than five minutes who found Jennifer’s sniffing after Daniel mere minutes after Jack died to be nasty behavior. For the part of the so called grieving widow to then use her ‘great love’ for Jack to break it off with Daniel is just gross, especially since we know she doesn't mean it.
I think they might be one of my least favorite couples or any soap ever...
It’s really another slap in the face, one of many the show has given longtime viewers about Jack and Jen’s star crossed romance. But more than just throwing an already dead Jack under the bus, having everyone in town pimp this tired-ass pairing won’t make viewers like it. Dan and Jen are boring, chemistry-free and they make both characters unlikeable (not that I liked Dan to begin with, but that’s beside the point).
I liked the scenes between Vargas and Nicole, though it was a sad reminder of Nicole losing a baby that should have survived. I hate that the show killed Nicole’s baby. Though I disagree that Nicole blaming Jen for the loss of her baby is the worst thing she’s ever done. She’s done far, far worse, in my opinion. But I’m looking forward to the triangle between Nicole, Vargas and Father Eric. It could be interesting, and I’m hoping that it leads to the uber sexy Vargas sticking around for a good long while. About Vargas and Nick, I still don’t think that their relationship was sexual. But I do think it’s possible that Nick was sexually assaulted by someone in jail and Vargas gave Nick protection in exchange for help with his ‘plan’, whatever that is.
I’m glad that Will confided in EJ. I’ve missed their close relationship and it’s nice to see them together again. Though, it’s another a reminder of the chemistry between Will and EJ and that what Will has with Sonny pales in comparison. Speaking of Sonny, this whole thing with him being conflicted about Rafe and Kate’s affair is just ridiculous. Rafe and Kate’s relationship is none of Will’s business. There is no reason why he needed to know about them. What Will or anyone thinks about them is irrelevant. It’s dumb that Sonny felt he had to blab something that had nothing to do with Will, especially since Sonny is sitting on the secret about Gabi’s past, which most definitely has something to do with Will. Sonny’s need to tell this secret he was asked to keep quiet just baffles me and makes the character look like his priorities are screwed. It is a stupid, ludicrous plot point that irritates me to no end.
As far as Chad and Abigail finding out that Cam is a stripper, that’s only interesting in that we get to see more of Cam’s hot body. It doesn’t make Cam any more interesting to watch. He and Abby are still must miss TV, ditto for Chad and Abby. But it was nice to see Abby and Sonny share some scenes though as these ‘close’ cousins barely speak these days.
Finally, I loved the Lucas/Sami scenes. Those characters and the actors who play them are so good together and bounce off each other so well. Let’s hope Lucas gets involved in the plot against Nick with EJ, Will and Sami. That will be must see viewing with plenty of delicious sparring. Oh and why was EJ treating Vargas like he was an imbecile? Yes, Vargas has a criminal record, but so do most of the people EJ knows. I just thought his attitude towards Vargas was slightly insulting.
SCOOPS AND SPOILERS
Will and Sonny realize they like scheming...
Days of Our Lives — Sonny finds his inner Kiriakis and plots with EJ to come up with a way to help Will regain a place in Adrianna Grace’s life. Elsewhere, Will keeps his plan to enlist Stefano to aid him from Sonny as Will, EJ and Sami come up with their own scheme to bring down Nick. But they aren’t the only people looking to put a hurtin’ on Mr. Fallon. Kate tries to trick Gabi into signing papers that would give Will a legal place in his daughters life, but Nick intervenes before she does it. He is furious at Kate’s interference and vows to put a stop to it. Meanwhile, as Nick is increasingly upset by Vargas, the super hot ex-con begins to manipulate a turned on Nicole to get closer to his goal.
AND ALSO THIS WEEK...
Holby City — Malick gets the career chance of a lifetime, but it would mean leaving his newfound son Jake behind...
Neighbours — Chris is upset when he finds out why Georgia is avoiding him....
That’s it for this edition of Langford On Soaps. See you next week!
