cicerid

In my opinion Roman is over-reacting. Don't get me wrong, Aden and Nicole should have come clean about what they did straight away and not have gone behind his back and he's got a right to be angry about that but a) both Aden and Nicole knew what they were doing; b)after all Roman has now known Aden for a while and clearly thinks he's a decent person (otherwise he would not have him live under the same roof as his daughter and would not have stood up for him on many occasions) so why the big deal; c) he allowed Belle to stay over multiple times and he allowed Nicole to go on a uninhabited island with Goeff for a couple of days (Goeff not wanting to have sex did not necessarily mean they would not have sex). So, while I can understand him not liking this going on under his nose without him knowing and while I can understand it becomes kind of personal because his own daughter is involved, throwing Aden out is a bit extreme and may I say out of character. A good adult conversation with both Nicole and Aden to try and understand what is going on and more importantlywhy, would have sufficed. I agree Roman is trying to assert his male credentials at a time when he's not in control of things because of the aftermath of his accident. He's therefore probably handling the situation differently to how he would have handled it in the past.

Oh my God Moya, these pictures are absolutely amazing! What a wonderful experience/time you seem to be having! Will you go back to Australia after your travels or back to Ireland? Good luck and make the most of it!

This post is just in reply to some comments that started in the Adelle vs Tachel poll. Quote Red Ranger: By the way, cicerid, you've just made the exact same point that I was trying to make before:It wasn't the fact Aden had been abused that hurt Belle and caused their relationship to break down, it was the way he chose to deal with it.His actions were not inevitable.If he'd chosen to get help sooner, and it was possible if not easy for him to do so, he wouldn't have turned on her the way he did and she wouldn't have had to watch him behaving in such a frightening manner.(And, for the umpteenth time, Aden's father didn't know his abuse was actually happening, he just knew it was likely.) Quote I agree he should have got help sooner and if he had done so, many things would not have gone they way they did. But I would not go as far as to say it's Aden's fault that he did not get help. He just did not know how to deal with things. He was only a child when the abuse was happening and still kind of a kid when it all came out. And he actually did start getting help and attending sessions and his life was kind of getting back on track until Larry confessed to "suspecting" the abuse. As for Larry, I am a parent myself and if I even remotely suspected one of my children might be likely to be the subject of abuse by a family member (or anyone for the matter), I would bloody well look into it and make sure it stops. Then again, luckily for me I don't have an abusive past like Larry so maybe I'm oversimplifying the situation as things are not necessarily as black and white for victims of abuse as they are for people who are not.

Maybe they are already trusting their own judgement and doing what they think is best for the show... we'll never know will we? Anyway, should they end up splitting them up for good, maybe they should hop on this forum and get some rather interesting and well written storyline ideas from Family Matters

That's exactly what I mean though. It's your opinion that it is in the best interest of the characters and of the story to split Aden and Belle up, the majority of the viewers don't think so because they genuinely like the couple and they don't see all the flaws you see. The fact that they are an awful pairing to you does not mean they actually are an awful pairing. It's just your opinion. Of course the show lasted 20 years without them but characters come and go and there are always golden couples to leave only to be replaced be another one. In my personal case, Aden and Belle are the main reason I watch the show and if they left, individually or as a couple, I'm not saying I would stop watching but I would probably stop watching religiously every day until someone I find as interesting as them shows up. But again, that's just my opinion. The writers can't please each one of us so they tend to please the majority. I hope you don't feel I'm undermining your opinion or attacking you because that's really not the case. I actually respect your point of view and sometimes see where you are coming from and I find it very refreshing to be able to discuss my favourite characters with someone who does not share my same view without it becoming personal (they're only fictional characters after all). All I wanted to stress is the fact that we feel differently towards different characters because we are different and what might be addictive viewing to me is "God I wish I could fast-forward" viewing for you. As I wrote earlier, that does not mean I'm right about Adelle and you're not; we just perceive them differently. No hard feelings I hope.

I am not going to argue whether they are a good couple or not because a) you all know what I think and b) because we are all different and we all perceive people differently. I find them incredibly interesting together and some people don't. I think you and I Red Ranger for instance could go on and on analysing them as a couple and we would always end up having opposite views on them and that's simply because you and I have a different opinion as to who makes a good couple. That does not make either me or you right and the other one wrong: we just see them in a totally different way. As for them being a so called golden couple, Aden and Belle are indeed very popular and the only reason why the writers are "pushing" them as a couple is because this is what the majority of the viewers seem to want (at least according to polls and letters sent to the official website). Splitting them up for good would be a very unwise decision for the writers to take businesswise. The more popular characters/couples always seem to get more drama and intense storylines because that's what keeps the majority of the viewers watching. If Aden and Belle suddenly became very dramafree and started leading a very ordinary life, they would suddenly become boring to most viewers. Having said that, I agree with an earlier post of yours where you stated that piling problem after problem on them is an indication of lazy writing. I love them together, I love the fluff between them, I don't enjoy seeing them go through crisis after crisis in their relationship and I think they could be equally interesting if they were left to deal with interesting situations that don't necessarily have a negative impact on their relationship. I really doubt that even in the real world any couple having to deal with big issues like abuse, depression, drug addiction, loss of parent figures etc. etc. would not have their world rocked and their relationship tested. The reality is, not many people in real life have to deal with all the above issues at the same time or in the space of a few months. Maybe the writers could spread the drama more evenly among the characters. But it looks like they are instead choosing the more popular ones only (look at all the drama they piled on Jack and Martha in the past).

Maybe I’m supposed to be disappointed in Aden for choosing to leave the hospital once he was certain Belle was ok but I just can’t. His reaction is a very human and understandable one considering all that he went through with Larry. Aden himself said a couple of episodes ago that it was not Belle he did not trust but her addiction. He has seen it all before and now the latest events must have brought back so many memories and past emotions. I don’t know whether it is selfish of him not to want to have to go through it all again with Belle (except from his initial reaction he’s been incredibly supportive and totally there for her until now) or whether he simply feels he is not strong enough. There is a kind of resignation, not just sadness, about him. There’s hardly any anger actually, and anger was what I was kind of expecting of him. The scene today where he fails to hit his boss on the boat only to be hit himself to me shows exactly how he feels at the moment: sad, upset and confused but also very powerless.

I loved them in tonight's episode! I actually have loved them in all recent episodes. The acting has been amazing and the storyline so realistic. I think they have been rather strong as a couple considering what they are going through and I think it's great the writers are showing Aden's and Belle's individual ways of dealing with the addiction and their individual perspective on things: we have got Belle on the one hand who is a strong character who's always been independent and now finds herself having to depend on drugs but she has not lost her independent trait completely as she is adamant she can kick the habit all by herself. On the other hand we have Aden who, is being incredibly supportive and totally caring and who must find the situation so hard as he went through it all many times with his father. I can undertand why he reacted the way he did at Rachel and Tony's wedding. His father was after all never successful in kicking the habit and lied to him on many occasions. I feel sorry for both of them and really hope their love will prove strong enough to overcome this latest crisis in their lives. On a more shallow note, they both looked gorgeous tonight and their interaction before and during the wedding was a pleasure to watch. They capture my total attention even when they don't have any lines!

Totally agree with this last statement. It's not just Aden and Belle breaking up multiple times, all couples on the show never seem to have a happy phase that lasts longer than a couple of weeks. Even if they don't break up, there's drama hence strain in the relationship. The writers could keep them happily together and still give them interesting storylines which grip an audience. In Aden and Belle's case, we've definitely reached the point of over-dramatisation: the issues that have been - or are still being - tackled, have been brilliantly portrayed and very interesting because they're real-life situations (child abuse, drug abuse) and I guess there had to be ripercussions on the relationship because that's what would probably happen in real-life too. Even the strongest couple would not escape from being affected, if not rocked, by issues as big as these. But I now wish - as a huge fan of the couple who still thinks they are perfect for each other - that they were given a well deserved longer-than-two-weeks stretch of happiness. I just want to see them lead an ordinary life for a bit. Strength in a relationship is also shown in every day's situations.

I on the other hand really enjoyed their scenes together in today’s episode. I found them very sweet and sad at the same time. I really like Aden and Belle as a couple and always enjoy an episode more when they are in it. You can really tell they genuinely love each other but also how fragile their love is at the moment. Aden is definitely the strong one now and it was so sad to hear him say how committed he is to her and that he’ll support her and be there for her . I think it was very powerful and they are paving the way for some very intense and surely well-acted scenes. Belle is indeed being selfish and erratic (and not just towards Aden) at the moment but this is what drugs do to you: they become your priority and start ruling your life and unfortunately you can’t just wake up in the morning and decide that’s it. You need help but before you take this step you have to take the even bigger step of finding the strength to seek help. I guess Belle is just about to hit rock bottom and seeing her come back to the surface should be great viewing – and hopefully Aden will be right there by her side. On the acting side, I think Jess Tovey’s has been superb. Many people in real life would grow out of patience with her and the reason some viewers are similarly finding it hard to sympathise with her proves that she’s acting her part really well.

I agree he has not done anything wrong but he might feel guilty for not noticing something was seriously wrong with Belle - no other reason.

As is often the case, I agree with everything you wrote Jody and you probably put it in better words than I would have. It's so nice to watch them being carefree, even if it is only for a few seconds, and it was nice seeing Belle helping Aden help Joey instead of popping pills. I think Aden will have a shock when he finally notices Belle's problems and I can't wait to see what his reaction will be and how his feelings (guilt, anger, pain, disappointment) will be portrayed by Todd.

Unfortunately this is what any kind of addiction does to you: it turns you into a deceitful person who would stop at nothing to feed it. You end up spoiling not only what is good in your life (relationships, a career) but also what is good in the life of those close to you. You know what you are doing is bad and wrong but you cannot find the strength to fight it all by yourself. Drugs get the better of you. So Belle would not deliberately hurt anyone but it's very plausible that it might happen. As for Aden and Irene not having noticed yet, sometimes it's the people closest to you who are the last ones to know. Not necessarily because they are dumb or blind but because the addict is very good at deceiving and hiding the signs. To them, she could simply act (and look) stressed because she is stressed over her new job (which is indeed very demanding - the pressure to deliver a front-page article every other day when you really have no previous experience in journalism) and still suffering from PTDS. In Belle's case, I think it is now only a matter of time before people other than Nicole start seeing the signs. And yes, maybe something really bad will have to happen to give Belle - and everyone else in her life - a wake-up call.

I agree with you, their relationship is definitely not healthy at the moment and the main reason (in my opinion) is because they are keeping things from each other instead of talking and finding comfort in each other - Belle is apparently going through hell but hiding it from Aden and he's totally oblivious to what's going on (if he does not realize soon what is going on I might start doubting how smart he is!). I think the reason Aden did not go to uni is not because he wants to be the most important person in her life but because she is the most important person in his life and he's putting her first. No matter how excited he was about getting it but I doubt this prawn trawler thing is what he had in mind as his dream job. I'll just have to wait and see if and how they overcome this new hurdle and I will then pass judgement as to whether their relationship was one worth fighting for or not. I'd like to think it was (obviously )