LANGFORD’S PICKS AND PANS
Neighbours
I like this new arc for Chris. It not only makes perfect sense and plays right into the show’s history, it is also is very consistent with Chris' personality. I know that a lot of the commentary on this last week’s plot was that Chris was being stupid and he was. He had no business accepting the deal with Paul after Lucas told him not to and he definitely should not be getting behind the wheel of the car with no license.
But it’s been long established that Chris is the type of person who needs to feel needed, is practically obsessed about fixing a problem and he has no issue with lying if it suits him. Plus, given that he feels that the problem was his fault to begin with, I can easily see Chris going to great lengths to resolve it.
Unfortunately, I can only imagine what it’ll cost him this time because these things never work out in Chris’ favor. On the plus side, it was nice to see Tash and Andrew supporting Chris for a change after all he backing up he’s done for them over the past couple of years.
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I know a lot of people are upset because Chris isn’t instantly jumping into a new relationship. After all, he and Aidan broke up a few weeks ago, so shouldn’t Chris have a new beau already? Umm.... no. It’s perfectly realistic that Chris wouldn’t be dating so quickly. I think the comments that the show is backing off about Chris being gay is ridiculous, even if Neighbours is skittish about the romantic stuff. That’s a separate issue, IMO. The show has already said that Chris will have new romantic interests. Let’s just hope that it’s a more interesting love partner than Aidan was.
People of the Valley
Last week People of the Valley reminded me why I used to love this show so much back when I watched regularly. It’s still a wonderfully written and beautifully acted soap that tackles subjects and topics that many shows just won’t touch. Last week was an example of that with the situation that Iolo found himself in. However, even though some powerful drama took place, I had a lot of problems with certain aspects of the execution.
Let’s start with the revelation between Moc and Gethin. Now, this storyline has been running for a year and I didn’t really know much about it. But this is it in nutshell: Gethin was dating a woman named Sheryl when his father Moc came to town. It quickly became obvious that Gethin hated his father but wouldn’t say why. After Sheryl dumped Gethin when she found out he had a secret wife and child, she started dating Moc. Upon learning of the affair, Gethin said that Moc had molested him as a child and told Sheryl that Moc was after her young son. It was unknown whether Gethin was telling the truth or lying out of revenge. Eventually, Sheryl broke up with Moc and Moc decided to leave town, bring us to the scenes from last week.
Gethin’s daddy got way too close for comfort…
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I found the scenes fascinating on a number of levels. It was interesting that Gethin, even after all that had happened, still wanted a relationship of some sort with his father. Gethin still loved his father and wanted to get past all the bitterness and anger. The show has been playing ‘did he or didn’t he’ card for the past year and even in these scenes, the question was still left up in the air and even Gethin was starting to believe that he’d imagined it. The moment where the truth was finally revealed was amazing. It was as if Moc had suppressed or refused to believe that he sexually abused his own son. That was a terrifically played revelation. But it was what happened after that where, for me, the problems began.
I do not believe for one minute that Iolo would run over Gethin and just drive away. That goes against everything I’ve ever seen from this character since the moment I started watching. Iolo has always been the sensible, level headed family member who strove to always do the right thing. I was actually shocked when he drove away because I couldn’t conceive of Iolo doing such a thing. And for me, it was just twisting and bending a character to make a story work. And that was when this character based story became plot driven and lost some of its power.
Could Moc leave his own son to die?
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But back to Moc and Gethin for a moment, Moc showed his true colors when he hesitated to call the ambulance, knowing that if Gethin died, the secret died with him. Of course Moc did the right thing, but then actually had the gall to say that right before the accident Gethin admitted that he made up the molestation accusation. My guess is as far as how it plays out from here, when Gethin wakes up from the accident, he won’t remember anything and even he’ll believe Moc’s version of events. However, his memory will come back, probably just in time to rescue another young boy from Moc. Of course, knowing this show, it’ll be a couple of years before this plays out, but there you go.
Returning to Iolo, as much as I don’t believe Iolo would do this, Dyfan Rees was solid in his scenes where he felt the guilt and shame over his actions. Even though he’d done something horrible, I thought the moment where he sat on the stairs crying and clutching his father was heartbreaking. It annoys that the show has given this talented actor nothing to do for months and months when he can clearly handle heavy material. But if Iolo is this upset now, I can only imagine how he’ll feel when he finds out that it was Gethin that he hit.
Iolo acted out of character, but was compelling viewing…
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Sion and Britt’s reactions were on point. Sion alternated between scolding his son for his actions and comforting and holding him through his tears. But Sion, being Sion, couldn’t help but be judgmental. That’s not wrong, of course, because Iolo did commit a terrible crime and compounded it by running away. But I loved Britt’s reaction even more. Coming from a criminal family (and having committed a few crimes herself), she immediately set about hiding the evidence and covering up for Iolo. And despite the seriousness of the moment, I laughed when she grabbed the phone and put it in her lap so Sion couldn’t call the police. Now that is the kind of characterization I expect from this show.
Still, even while I’m not pleased by the bit of character assassination that brought this story about, I’m nevertheless pleased that Iolo has something more to do other than advise someone else about their problems. I suspect though that because of the kind of person Iolo is, he’ll agonize and beat himself up over this. He might want his life to go back to the way it used to be, but it looks like that is unlikely to happen for a long time. And as someone who has long wanted this character to get a juicy storyline, I guess I can’t complain about that.
Hollyoaks
A lot to go through this past week, so let’s take care of the small stuff first:
I didn’t like the end result of the hearing regarding Sinead and Ruby’s bullying of Esther. Yes, Sinead got what she deserved, but that was only because of her complete lack of remorse and that she actually blamed the victim for what happened. But I felt that Ruby should have been expelled as well. I think she got off far too lightly, especially since only a few episodes before she stood by Esther’s bedside, taunting her and wishing she was dead. I just hate that basically Ruby gets away with changing Esther’s life forever.
Ruby didn’t suffer enough…
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Sure, she survived her suicide attempt, but she’ll always have medical issues and that’s on Ruby. I still say Frankie and Jack should have shipped Ruby off to be with her own family. It’s inconceivable to me that Esther should have to share a room with Ruby. Yes I know the show had Esther forgive Ruby, but frankly, there’s no reason she should have. It’s a plot contrivance as far as I’m concerned. And still, George and Tilly continue to be MIA while the climax of the story plays out. It makes no sense. What also makes no sense is that Diane actually thought she still was going to get promoted after what she did. She should have been fired as a result of her actions.
I was so glad to see Amy back. I’ve always loved the character and missed her terribly. And well, the show needed to deal with those kids staying with Ste and Brendan because the situation was untenable. Amy was absolutely right to take those kids away and not just because of her own history with Brendan. Ste can say ‘Brendan’s changed’ all he wants and Ste can fool himself into believing it, but why should Amy? She has no reason to trust the man who threatened to kill her and her kids more than once. Besides, we’ve seen Brendan put the kids at risk while he was babysitting them. It was only a matter of time before something terrible would happen.
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While many viewers felt sorry for Ste and Brendan, I had no sympathy for either of them. Ste cried about how important his kids were to him, but he showed what was really important when he got back together with Brendan in the first place and then proceeded to lie to Amy about it. Brendan has always been of utmost importance to Ste before anything, including himself. Even after Amy took the kids, Ste only went after her because Brendan gave him ‘permission’ to go. Of course Amy did the right thing and left anyway. The minute she was gone, Ste would be back with Brendan and putting those kids at risk. And Amy knew it. Even Brendan knew that those kids were in danger as long as he was a factor in their lives.
Of all the ludicrous comments I read from the Ste/Brendan fans about Amy’s return the most was that Amy wasn’t ‘nice’ about taking her kids. Umm... what? Her children are in terrible danger from an abusive sociopath and his enabler. She doesn’t have to be nice. Getting her kids out of that house was the important thing. How Ste and Brendan feel about it is irrelevant. I wish though that Amy had told Ste that he is destroying himself and destroying his life. It’s what the Amy I remember would have done. Anyway, with the kids gone, there’ll be no more nauseating ‘Daddy Brendan’ scenes. And for that I am grateful.
Sorry, Ste, your tears mean nothing to me....
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I hate it when the show just ignores its own history and Brendan hiring Jim makes no sense. Jim was the one who represented Mercedes and got her off for what she did to Mitzeee. But more importantly, it was because of Jim that Paul got away with murdering Lynsey, who was a good friend of Brendan and Cheryl’s. But that salient point wasn’t even mentioned during those scenes. Besides, those scenes were pointless. No judge would put those kids back into Ste and Brendan’s care, not after they heard the ugly history of that relationship, what Brendan did to Amy and Ste’s own past. Ste would be lucky if he got unsupervised visitation, especially for Leah, who isn’t even Ste’s biological child. Going into court would be foolish on Ste’s part.
The storyline about Carl out to get Walker is just stupid. Not just because of Carl’s dumb plan to murder Walker, but it continues to ignore Brendan’s role in Riley’s death. And it’s ludicrous that Mitzeee wouldn’t tell Brendan that Walker was back in town, especially because it puts Brendan’s life in danger. Leaving Brendan that file on Walker as she heads out of town is such a silly plot twist and it makes Mitzeee seem stupid. She wouldn’t text Brendan or phone him and let him know what she’d left him? I mean, come on show. As far as Mitzeee turning out to be pregnant with Riley’s baby, I guess that’s a nice exit for her, even if it reeks of plot contrivance. Five months pregnant and she ‘s not showing at all? And, I never bought Mitzeee and Riley as this great love story. They spent more time apart than together, during which Riley was ‘in love’ with several other women. I’ll miss Mitzeee though. She was a terrific character. Her sister, however, is not an adequate replacement.
Goodbye, Mitzeee, you’ll be missed!
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As for Brendan and Ste’s problems after the kids being gone, I guess I don’t see why Ste should have any faith and believe in Brendan, even if Brendan was innocent about the drugs. After all, just recently he tried to kill his own father (and lied to Ste about it), nearly punched Ste a couple a weeks ago and threw a glass at him. That’s the thing about getting involved with a man like Brendan. How can you believe what he says when he’s shown you his true colors only moments before? But why it the world would Brendan suddenly decide to leave town after someone tries to frame him for dealing drugs? How about finding out who did it? And how convenient that Brendan goes to visit his kids. Didn’t they want nothing to do with him over Christmas?
It wasn’t a bad week in Hollyoaks, just one full of dumb contrivances and silly plot points. In other words, business as usual.
Secret Lives
Gee, you don’t think it’s not obvious who put the pictures of Lari and Elias kissing all over the school? Of course it’s Ida. She’s a nasty, mean spirited creature who made Lari and Elias’ relationship all about her. And no one else would do such a wicked thing. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t her. Of course this probably spells the end of Lari’s hockey career and that’s a shame. I personally felt Elias was wrong in pressuring Lari to come out, knowing what he was putting at risk. Let Lari be the poster boy for out gay athletes once he’s had the chance to actually become a professional athlete, if he chooses to be.
It’s a very personal choice that someone makes for themselves and I don’t think anyone should ever be pushed out of the closet. That’s why Elias’ constant nagging bugs me. He broke up with Lari, so he should just leave him alone and let him live his life how he wants. Constantly chasing after the boy just makes Elias seem pathetic.
I did like how Janne tried to talk some sense into Lari. At first he was teasing him, but then he was genuinely concerned for his friend and wanted to help. But again, I don’t think Lari’s friends, well meaning or not, realize the true ramifications of Lari coming out and need to back off.
Of course all that is moot now since Lari has been outed. I still don’t see a happy ending for Lari and Elias. I just don’t think they are destined to work it out.
Days of Our Lives
Please show, stop writing Will as so stupid and gullible. This is the same guy who just last year blackmailed EJ and helped him to fix an election. It makes no sense that Will would be so stupid that he wouldn’t even consider that may be Nick might be behind the blackmail. On the other hand, I find it hard to believe that Nick would be the first person Lucas would consider, not when there are so many other people who could do such a thing. A little plot logic is in order here.
In other subjects, when I first heard that Rafe and Kate were going to have a one night stand, it made no sense to me. But watching it play out it made perfect sense. I think it might be fun to watch these two grow closer, if only because everyone in town, especially Sami, EJ and Stefano would hate them being together. Besides, Galen Gehring and Lauren Koslow have chemistry and their scenes are fun. Rafe should be careful though. Sami might have done some naughty things in her past, but Kate will literally kill to get her way.
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I have to say, though. that Rafe and Kate hooking up only solidifies my belief that if Sonny and Brian were straight they would have had sex last week. The show has gone far in showing that gays have romantic lives, but they still don’t get to be as horny and screw around just like everyone else and sleep with the wrong people. The Will/Sonny/Brian story would be so much more delicious and show Brian as a true rival if he and Sonny had hooked up.
And why is the show suddenly writing Brian as if he’s in love with Sonny? I liked it better when Brian was depicted as someone out to get Sonny into his bed and he’d do what he had to do get him there. Can’t the gays be bad and wicked and not sappily besotted just once? Blech. Freddie Smith and Brant Daugherty still have sizzling chemistry though. It’s a shame the show isn’t really presenting Brian as a true romantic rival and not merely a distraction for the moment.
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I thought it was terrific that the show gave Will the fantasy of he and Sonny hooking up in the shower, not because I felt the scene was hot or anything because these two don’t generate sparks, but Days, with the exception I already mentioned, continues to write Will and Sonny like they would any other couple. I don’t know what kind of blowback the show is getting about Will and Sonny and their romantic scenes, but perhaps that’s because any controversy has been minimal. Or more important, the show isn’t getting scared away.
I thought the card Will wrote Sonny was sweet and clearly it’ll be used to reunite them down the line. But the whole ‘bonding over music’ was rather silly because we’d never, ever heard Will and Sonny discuss music or what it meant to their relationship. Things like that take away from the power of the pairing because it feels like the show is just pulling things out of a hat. For me though it just shows what I’ve always felt, that the show never really spent a lot of time on the actual falling in love part of Will and Sonny’s relationship, just had them sort of go on a few dates (actually not even that much) and they were suddenly in love.
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(Source)
Well, there is Sonny’s creepy New Year’s Eve wish from a year ago that he wanted Will to fall in love with him. I thought that was as weird now as I did then. The show might want us to forget that Will was still very closeted then and spending his time flirting with EJ, but I certainly haven’t forgotten.
I like that the show is remembering that Will and Gabi used to be friends. I always liked them when they were written that way because their friendship always seemed genuine. I know some folks think Gabi tried to manipulate Will into giving up his baby, but it never played that way to me. And even now she wants Will to be part of his kid’s life, she just doesn’t want him to try and take her baby away from her. If she didn't have Nick buzzing in her ear then there would be no problem on that score.
And unlike a lot of folks I don’t want to see Gabi out of the picture with Will and Sonny playing happy families with the baby. Not only do I not want Will and Sonny to be daytime’s version of Modern Family (which will probably happen anyway), I don’t think that Gabi should lose her child anymore than Will. If people think that she should lose her kid because of that Melanie business, then shooting someone should disqualify Will as a father as well.
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I did like how Gabi called Nick out on the ‘gay boy’ comment. I think the show should just stop soft soaping it and have Nick use the word ‘faggot’, but at least Gabi acted as if Nick had said the actual word. I also think that at the end of the day Gabi will see Nick for what he is and do the right thing in regards to the baby and Will. Finally, I still don’t think that Freddie Smith and Chandler Massey are playing the angst of Will and Sonny being apart to its greatest effect. I just don’t think that the show is getting all they could out of it. The actors just seem to be going through the motions. Much of their breakup, sans the Brian scenes, have been as dull as their coupling was.
SCOOPS AND SPOILERS
Is it time for Will and Sonny to reunite?
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Days of Our Lives — The life of Will’s unborn child hangs in the balance this week, but will the crisis lead to Sonny and Will reuniting? Sami continues to press Gabi to have a paternity test, but Gabi, afraid that it’ll lead to Will trying to take her baby away from her, is hesitant to do so. Things get heated and Rafe gets involved, leading to an ugly confrontation. Gabi gets upset and doubles over in pain, crying about the baby. Sami thinks Gabi is faking to divert Sami’s questions, but it quickly becomes apparent that Gabi isn’t faking the pain and is rushed to the hospital.
Once there, while they wait for word on her, everyone lays into Sami, blaming her for Gabi’s health crisis. She is ordered to stay away from the pregnant teen. But Sami being Sami, she refuses to listen and sneaks into Gabi’s room to apologize. However, she only further upsets Gabi, who goes into premature labor. The doctors work to stop Gabi’s labor while Sami insists she was only trying to apologize. Thankfully, the doctors stop the labor and for the moment, mother and child are out of the woods. Nick corners Sami and unloads his rage on her for putting Gabi and the baby in danger.
Elsewhere, Will is grateful when Sonny shows up to show his support and the two start to bond again. Will and Sonny go to Will’s dorm room, where Sonny finds a letter that Will has written, explaining the depths of his feelings for Sonny. Sonny is touched by Will’s words, but is it enough to get them back together?
River City — Following Will’s latest abusive attack, Robbie’s friends want to know how he hurt himself. Robbie lies that he fell in the shower. When his pals tease Robbie about being so clumsy, Robbie worries about how Will is going to react. Will’s response, however, surprises Robbie. But will it solve their problems or just make them worse?
Holby City — Malick and Nathan’s relationship is blossoming and the two are growing closer. But Nathan is tired of his relationship with Malick being a secret. After all, it’s not as if Malick is closeted. However, Malick disagrees and doesn’t want his co-workers to know anything about his private life. His insistence on that, however, could cost him his newfound love.
Secret Lives — Now that everyone knows that Lari is gay and about his relationship with Elias, Lari feels his chance at a hockey career is over. Elias is upset that Lari was outed the way he was and even more troubled when Lari blames him for the dirty deed. Elias denies it, but Lari refuses to believe him. Elias later tells Ida about the situation and is upset that Lari was hurt and doesn’t have any faith in him. Ida goes home where it’s revealed that she has the pictures of Elias and Lari kissing and that she was the one who plastered them all over the school. Ummm... surprise?
Ste and John Paul fight about Doug...
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Hollyoaks — A new relationship begins to blossom when Doug and John Paul finally meet. Doug has an accident at the deli, slips on cooking oil and is knocked unconscious as smoke begins to pour from the oven. John Paul is passing by and comes to Doug’s rescue. The two hit it off and Ste finds himself jealous of Doug’s new friend, even though Ste dumped Doug for his ‘soulmate’ Brendan. The next day, Doug and Ste visit the school for career day and things are going well. But when John Paul sees that Ste is bothered by Doug and JP’s growing friendship, John Paul, who has never liked Ste from way back, does all he can to tick Ste off.
Things come to blows between Ste and John Paul, forcing Patrick and Doug to break up the squabble. But has all of this made Doug realize he’s not quite over Ste as he thought? Elsewhere, Brendan is back from Dublin, but given how things were left between them, their relationship is fraught with tension. And a scheming Walker and Kevin are looking to create even more problems for the couple.
Will Iolo admit to what he’s done?
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People of the Valley — Iolo disappears, leaving Sion to wonder if his son has skipped town or worse, to avoid facing the repercussions of the hit and run. When Sion finds out that it was Gethin that Iolo hit, his guilty conscience forces him to go and check on Gethin’s condition. Still though, Sion keeps quiet about Iolo’s role in the accident. Later though, when Iolo surfaces, we will find out if he’s ready to come clean about what he’s done.
AND ALSO THIS WEEK...
Neighbours — Desperate to cover up his car accident, Chris commits a fraudulent act. But will he get away with it? And when Lucas finds out, Chris could lose everything....
NEWSBEAT
Hollyoaks’ PJ Brennan still struggles with being gay...
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Coming out of the closet is never an easy thing for many gays. It can even more difficult when you’re in the public eye. Hollyoaks’ PJ Brennan, who plays gay deli owner Doug Carter, says that while he’s been out of the closet for awhile now, he still finds himself struggling with his sexuality. He says that while people assume he’s completely comfortable with himself, Brennan says that isn’t the case at all.
“The perception is that I should have had all this worked out by the time I got on a show that has put me in the spotlight for being gay. I’m still working it out, I’m very late in my own development.” Brennan told Soap Squawk. “To have people message me every day and tell me things, I feel bad because half of me wants to empathize with them and the other half wants to go ‘you don’t know what I have to deal with everyday’. There are so many hurdles I need to get past before I can draw back and be myself.”
Brennan, along with co-star Keiron Richardson, recently posed nude for Gay Times.
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Brennan hails from Brooklyn and was raised Catholic. He explains that his faith has a lot to do with how he looks at himself. It also propelled him to move to the UK to study acting in hopes it would help him find the freedom to be himself.
“...That’s what drama school was, three years finding the confidence to call myself an actor and to find the confidence to be my own human being.” Brennan said. “The culture in the UK is so more open, which is one of the reasons I moved here and I’ve been here over five years now. “
Brennan feels the kind of intimate moments seen on Hollyoaks between it’s gay and lesbian characters is something you’d never see on an American show.
Doug and Ste were happy once, can they be so again?
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“If Hollyoaks took place in America we wouldn’t be doing these character interactions.” Brennan explained. “I like scenes that have us just kissing because we’re a couple, it’s not for impact or titillation. I like playing the day to day stuff.”
Brennan added that while people in the UK might be more open-minded about gays, he still faces bigotry, recalling being called ‘faggot Doug’ in the street recently. But to his surprise he gets negative comments from gays as well.
“...A lot of gay men have tweeted me to say I have a gay haircut now, which is homophobic. On top of that gay men tweet me and say I’m too skinny or cry too much which is “so gay”, so within the gay community there is self hatred which is something I have only just realized.” Brennan said. “Every day is a new thing that I’m learning and trying to navigate through.”
Get ready for more... and less of Freddie Smith...
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Days fans might have noticed a difference in Freddie Smith, who plays Sonny Kiriakis, as of late, the actor told Soaps In Depth about a big change in his appearance.
“I’ve lost about 25 pounds over the past five months,” Smith shared. “I just dedicated myself to going to the gym six times a week and eating completely healthy every day. The pounds just melted off.”
Smith also says that while Will and Sonny are on the outs right now, there’s plenty ahead for Sonny.
“There’s some stuff coming up that I’ve been dying to do with the character — and actually did.” Smith said. “So in the next few months he has a lot of different stuff happen to him. I’ve just been enjoying the ride.”
That’s it for another edition of Langford on Soaps. See you next time!
