Ryan
I've been a member of this board since Kim arrived in Summer Bay approximately three years ago in the UK (these were the days before mass episode downloading), and I can remember with my cohorts of that time, some long gone, cringing as this old looking school kid with wooden acting arrived in Summer Bay.
Let's admit it, most of those first months were horrible. Chris Hemsworth can't have been chosen on acting ability alone. A slightly complicated series of events which meant that Kim should have been in Year Twelve, but was now in Year Ten, along with Robbie and Tasha. In his first episode, Tasha asks if he is a new teacher, and whether this was suppoed to be an in joke or not, Kim just looked too old to be hanging around in school.
Mind you he was a gem of a character compared to that of his father, Barry Hyde. Gradually changes were made to his character, he was taken out of school and given a job as a trainer, a good decision, for me and gradually moved into an older bracket of friends, you know, those that didn't go to school, though he still friends with Robbie and Tasha. Problem was his stories were becoming a bit repetitive. In 2004 he thought he had a son and it wasn't. In 2005 he thought he had a son and it wasn't. He loved someone, they loved him and then they either stayed in Paris, tried to kill everyone or loved someone else. He survived a couple of car crashes, an aeroplane crash and a chopper crash and yet survived them all. It wasn't exactly the bet storylining of all time.
I think, however, Kim has been redeemed through 2006 and 2007. Before he appeared to be a guy to which random things occurred, they happened, we yawned and then we all moved on. Since then, we've seen a great storyline between a couple that were wrong for each other from the outset, but determined to make themselves right. It's almost if he had plumped for Rachel, imagining he would never get Kit. The subsequent reliasation of whom he really, really loved and the long torturous series of events that led to this final decision is a welcome relief from recent love-triangle storylines which have been bliss and you miss it events. I'm not going to shed tears for Kim leaving, but he's certainly leaving higher in my opinions than I had thought that he was going to be.
Bttb-rox!
When Kim first arrived back in 2004, he was a schoolboy that became good friends with Robbie and Tasha. Who would have thought that three years on, his life would turn out the way it did? From finding out that he was dating the Summer Bay stalker to being in two plane/helicopter crashes, Kim certainly had an eventful time in the Bay. Here, I share some of my thoughts of Kim as a character and how I feel he has changed since his arrival.
He arrived back in 2004 as a teenager who enrolled at Summer Bay High. He quickly became friends with Robbie and Tasha. The three of them often hung out together whether that be in the Diner or at the Beach. They were a threesome who, in my opinion, made the best Summer Bay friendship of their time.
No one could have changed Kim more than Rachel though. She brought out the softer, more romantic side of Kim...who even serenaded her once! Their relationship was a very interesting one, as the writers really covered everything that could go right and wrong in a marriage. Most of the time however, things went wrong.
A day or two after they got engaged, came Jack and Martha's wedding. Now we all know what happened at the reception! After the explosive ending at their wedding came the helicopter crash which a fair few Summer Bay residents including Kim and Kit Hunter, being lost in the Bush.
Whilst in the bush, it seemed quite likely that Kim wouldn't make it. With the thought that it might be their last night, they kissed. That would then be responsible for the majority of Kim's storylines from then on.
With Kim finding out that he couldn't have children, brought a great range of opportunities in terms of storylines. My personal favourite being the baby Joe saga. I felt that that storyline really got to the heart of the show. That storyline was also going to cause various barriers in their relationship in the future.
Throughout 2007, Kim's storylines mainly revolved around Kit and his and Rachel's rocky marriage. When Kit returned in the 2006 season finale, Kim was shocked to find out that she was expecting his baby, after they were together in the bush.
With the arrival of Kim's son, Archie, things didn't get any better for Kim and Rachel. Then add on Hugh Sullivan admitting his love for Rachel, and you had the start of what I found, a very gripping storyline.
To see the struggles that Kim and Rachel went through to try and save their marriage, is most definitely one of my favourite storylines that involved Kim. Their marriage was sadly, quite short, but in the time that Kim was in the Bay I can truly say that watching him and Rachel getting together throughout all the odds, watching their relationship go from strength to strength, and then to see it breakdown gradually whilst trying to stick the pieces back together was a combination of extremely well put together storylines.
Kim was a very well constructed character and to see him go from being a teenager, to who he was when he left, was a great transition to watch.
Perryadams
When Kim first came into the show, he had a thing for Tasha when he realised her and Robbie were together he made her choose, when she chose Robbie he wasn't upset with her or Robbie but became their BFF, and they had this 3 Musketeer thing going on... If it were anybody else in Summer Bayland it would have been the end of the relationship with both of them and they would have ended up in a car accident together or they would be locked in a house on fire together or something... Anyway fast forward a few months and Kim found out Matilda had a crush on him. Instead of gently turning her down he lead her on... Much to Kit's disgust and quite rightly so but Robbie and Kim still stayed friends despite the horrible thing he did with his sister... Anyway this little tension thing with Kit turned into an attraction and Kit and Kim ended up boyfriend and girlfriend. When Kim told Robbie that he was with Kit, Robbie was happy that his best friend and his sister were together he even let Kim move in with him and let the two stay the night together in the room "alone". Anyway she left him for a life in Paris and Kim left Robbie's for Hayley's. Fast forward a few years and Kit is pregies despite the fact he is married to Rachel...