Drew - love him or hate him?

Indeed the fact that viewers could see the reasons behind Drew's behaviour seems to be one of the reasons opinions of him are so divided. A turning point seems to have come in people's opinions when his mother Jazz arrived in the bay. 'When Drew first arrived I hated him to be honest. He just seemed like all he cared about was himself and was quite annoying but over his time in Summer Bay he has grown on me especially since Jazz arrived and I actually really like him now.' (as123) 'I think with the introduction of Jazz showed the viewers exactly where he gets his morals. (Ter06) A lot of people have commented that 'when Jazz came to town and we discovered his back story, suddenly it all made sense. Growing up with a self centred mother like Jazz who packed him straight off to boarding school and never knowing his father, I'd have been surprised if Drew wasn't selfish and wrapped up in himself. For me that was good in character writing and when I found out why Drew was the way he was I started to feel sympathy towards him'. (Skykat)

A lot of members have praised the continuity in the writing of Drew's character as 'he came to the Bay a messed up kid and left just as messed up. A lot of the reasons for him being the way he is, has to do with the way he was raised. A lot of people seem to not like him because he only seems to put himself first but he was raised by Jazz. It's taken her this long to realise how she's been.' (Carmelle) He was a private school boy who only came to the bay for money, and I am glad that they kept the character true to who he was before coming to the bay. So often we have characters that seem to change overnight and for Drew not to was a refreshing change. (ter06)

His better storylines, in the opinion of our forum members seem to be the ones based around his relationships with Dan and Leah. 'Dan and Leah were the first adults to actually care for him as parents should. I think it's a shame that we never got to see more of his relationships with his various family members. Seeing more of Drew trying to build bonds with them may have given us a better insight into his past which probably could have explained why he acts the way he does. (Carmelle) 'I loved his bond with Dan, much more so than his with Peter. Dan was there for Drew at a really difficult time as he adjusted to the bay and the loss of Peter, he was also there in the aftermath of Amanda-gate and I thought that by the end the family bond between Dan, Leah, Drew, VJ and Ryan was really touching and genuine. Drew in that setting was much more likeable and I sensed a genuine respect for Leah as the mother role model he had never had.' (Skykat)

His relationship with Peter also comes in for praise as 'when Drew first came to the Bay one of the reasons for him being so screwed up was the non-existent relationship he had with his father.' 'I think it was understandable that he and Peter would struggle given that Peter let him believe he was dead. I know he had his reasons and it was to protect Drew but I still think that'd be pretty hard to forgive. After that Peter got with the woman who had just broken Drew's heart so I found it plausible that their relationship, whilst close, lacked the bond he had with Dan.' 'When Peter came back it was a big mistake having him paired up with Amanda so soon, especially given that Drew and her had a relationship. It would have been much more interesting to see some father/son storylines that didn't have anything to do with Amanda or Belle. (Carmelle) His relationship with Amanda was generally well received with most viewers appreciating that 'very few teenage boys would have been able to resist what she was offering and he genuinely fell for her.' (Skykat)

His relationship with Belle was another issue to divide our forum members. It has been described as 'passionate from the start' (Skykat) but also that he was 'far less annoying without her' (Eli) and that their 'constant breaking up and getting back together again was quite wearing, so maybe that had an impact on what I thought of Drew.' (bttb-rox!)

 Their recent break up has also come in for a lot of praise. 'That break up scene was soooo well done' (Frankie) and 'I did love that break up scene, I think Drew was even better than Belle in that scene. They were both good, but he was slightly better. It definitely was my favourite Belle/Drew moment though and one of the best break up scenes I've seen on H&A that I can remember. I think this one probably was as good (if not better) as the Scott/Dani break up episode in 2004. (Eli) 'I've found myself liking him the past few weeks. That break up scene was just, wow. I didn't know he had it in him.' (KaitieL) Despite the praise it seems the well received break up was not quite enough to win over his doubters. 'I can't help wondering if he had not had a very capable actress to feed off (and Jess Tovey is one of the best young actresses they have had on the show for years) whether he would have been able to pull it off quite so well. I doubt it myself, without Jess or someone as good, he couldn't have done it IMO. (Frankie)

In terms of his other storylines, the drag racing/ stolen car parts storyline has been described as 'boring' and that 'his character reacted incredibly immaturely but reading it as a reaction to Jazz being back in his life it made perfect sense. To me he was pushing the boundaries of his relationship with her.' (Skykat) This storyline has also been described as a 'conscious decision to make the character behave in a way that protected himself first, and didn't make much time to worry about everyone else. I think I'd always seen him as more of a caricature - the no good punk teen with no respect for nothin' - rather than an actual character. But that all changed when he became a no good punk teen who was doing everything he could to keep himself safe, and inevitably digging himself in deeper. It was a subtle, but endlessly interesting change in him for me. (emmasi)

In terms of potential 'Drew deserved better storylines than he got and it's a shame that he's left.' (carmelle) It has also been noted that 'it would have been nice to see more of the friendship between Drew and Ric. They had quite a few things in common and even though they didn't get along when Drew first arrived they became good friends by the time he left, but all we ever saw was them going from trying to knock each other out to hanging out together.' (Carmelle)