jodlebirger

I think her longer stints in the mid 00's to her departure in 2008 suited her best. They could work on her character then, and it was great to have her around Martha and have her opinions about several things. I thought her shorter stints in 2009-2012 was quite rubbish. She needs more than a 5-6 episodes to get in character and to shine. I feel a bit nervous for her last stint, I don't hope they destroy her or make her look stupid in a way. She is good when she can really dig into things and show all the others that she is right.

Hm. Agree that Hunter is bad, but that he is responsible for his mothers action is just nonsense. She is the adult one, and she is far more psycho than he is. She was a nutter long before he entered. And she should have put a stopper to his actions, and made him responsible and not made the situation worse. I haven't seen all yet, but I have read it on here. And what she did is far worse, and she got worse and worse. She also pushed Hunter away. What differ Hunter from Aden, or Rick or Jesse or others before 2010, is that there were no build up to his actions, or no explanation. But I think that Hunter's actions is too serious to forget. I know something will be revealed (by reading on this forum), but it doesn't seem that the incident with Marilyn will not, and that is the most serious thing. With Aden, Ric and other guys and girls before 2010 we saw a reaction to what they did.. we saw the process of them trying to be better... We can always disagree with the consequences of their actions, but at least their actions were an issue and not forgot about. And in a soap I can forget about the realistic time to heal in a clinic for example, or if the outcome of a court case - the punishment - is hard enough or not... I can live with that, as long as there is some kind of consequences, because it is a soap. But I need to see the prosess of becoming a better person, with setbacks and with good steps forward. I don't buying in changes overnight and totally forgetting about their actions. And that's the reason why Hunter is a new Kyle to me... and not Aden or Ric, or Jesse... With Kyle there was the same thing... we saw extreme scenes and actions, we had no other explanation about this actions rather than "he wanted to be a Braxton"/he was jealous. We even got to know that he have had great foster parents. So his actions came out of the blue, and the angry Kyle also vanished over night. I know there was a kind of trial, but we never really saw much of that and it was forgotten about. We never saw the struggle. And that has always destroyed Kyle for me. I really don't want to see Hunter in a relationship with anyone before they dig into his childhood, get a good explanation for his actions, and I want everything to come out. He need to get a kind of redeeming process. If they get this done in a proper way, then I can enjoy him in a relationship with a girl.. and his relationship with Leah, Zac, VJ and others. Just like I really enjoyed characters like Aden, Jesse, Rick and more.

-9 C and snowing all day.

The redeeming thing is good thing when it's well written. And when there are some reasonable explanation to a character's behaviour. I like the most when we can se the prosess of the characters struggle of becoming a better person. And when they get some help from the others in the Bay. I love such kind of storylines, I think it is great to think that even with a bad past you can be a better person with the right support and strength and will to change. It is not always that in the real world, but I think it is great that this can happen in a soap, in dreamland. And I think that this kind of storylines are so much more exciting than the guns or over-the-top dramatic stuff. And all the redeeming storylines can be different from each other. I don't think these kind of storylines have been too identical to each other on H&A. When they are going in depth, I have loved these kind of storylines. When they are doing this well, no other soap are doing this as good as H&A. And they are the reason why I have watched H&A for 20 years. But in recent years, I don't think these kind of storylines have been that good. There have been less explanations of the character's behaviour, and less about the charachter's past, and the prosess of changing behaviour have not been that good. They have often changed without any explanation. But Billie had a good explanation for her behaviour. And she was sent away to a clinic. II think it will work if she returns as a reformed character, but still with some problems. Her stay in the clinic is a good enough reason to her change, and I hope she changes a bit. I really don't like when these kind of characters get a lot of help and they still don't change, or revert to their old habits before they leave the bay. What I don't like, is when people compare all kind of bad boy or girl storylines, and call them bad-boy go good. There are a lot of examples of bad boy storylines when we haven't seen them change at all, or they have changed overnight. Brax or Casey were never bad boys go good, for example. Brax always remained the same, and Casey changed for the worse. Heath had a good prosess of changing of behaviour, struggling of course and did several mistakes. But he changed over time. But I think there have been better storylines with a better background storyline than Heath's. I haven't seen Billie returning. But I think Billie part 1 was well written and very well played. Maybe the best storyline of this kind in recent years. Maybe her story went on for too long, but I still think that this kind of a storyline needs a good portion of time to be explored on screen. I am looking forward to see more of her... Hopefully she returns to stay for a longer while.

But that's the point, I don't like the way he is portrayed and played at all, no matter if I look at him as a new character or not. Really because I don't like this type of characters. He lacks depth for me. And he doesn't feel like a main character. Many years ago when Flynn was recasted I struggled in the beginning because I thought the two actors were really too different. But I got used to him rather quickly because he had a lot of chemistry with Sally, even better than the previous one. And he got storylines that suited him, the new Flynn.... I don't think that is the case with VJ. It feels to me that VJ is in a vacuum and the writers tried to make him a bad boy first, but that didn't work and now it seems like they don't know what to do with him. He has almost been in it for a year here in Norway (July eps), and he still mopes around. He has had some storylines with Leah, but I feel that the focus has been on Zac and VJ hasn't really shined or had a big part in any of the storylines. I feel that is strange, when they got someone that old to play him. I expected that he got more significant storylines. I feel they have to work more with VJ and make him a character on his own. He still feel like a part time character, and not one of the main cast.

I feel that this "I'm disappointed..." dialogue between me and RR1 was written with a tongue in the cheek (a playful tone). Sometimes we wish that people could agree with us, don't we?

Evie would have been even worse combination with Matt than Maddy probably is. Evie is also intelligent too, and she is probably even easier to hurt than Maddie, and she is much more thoughtful than Maddie. If she is suited to Matt, then she has had a personality transplant during the five last months. But I am not sure that Evie is suited to Josh either, it feels much more like a teenage fling which last for a year or two, and then she will realise that she will go for different boys. There was a while I liked Josh and Maddy. But I think that stopped when Maddy was rebelling, and then Josh moved on to Evie. But in the beginning they were good like a teenage couple who lasts for a while. I agree that Matt and Maddy shouldn't be together. But I think that Matt would have been suited to someone like Billie instead. Someone who can understand him and his background. And I think that Maddy has moved from one boy to an another for long time now, it feels enough. I don't think it is necessary to let her once again swap boyfriend. It would have been better to develop her a bit, and let her stay with Oscar for a longer period, but without church bells and wedding rings... Something in between. Still a teenage relationship, but a little more steady than her previous relationships and build on more than just physical attraction. And the cancer storyline was a good start. People here say that teenagers change boy and girlfriends all the time. But my experience is that teenagers aren't always doing that. Some stay single until they are over 20, and some stay in a relationship for a longer period too.... It would have been great to have more a mix of different kind of characters and personalities and relationships.

And I am a bit dissapointed that you have got used to it and think the recast is just fine. I don't think I will get used to it even in 3-5 months. Or with other words, well I have got used to Matt Little as VJ, but I still find him extremely wrong for the role. He will never suit that role at all. And as I have said many times, it is not about Mr. Little's size. Vinnie was not a little man. He probably got too much muscles in a blink of a moment, but I can overlook that. But I had to laugh when I saw today's ep here in Norway. Irene had collected pictures for an album for Leah (after the fire), and Irene, Marilyn, Leah and Zac were looking at it. Leah commented on how little VJ was at one of the pictures And then Irene commented "He isn't a little boy anymore. What on earth have you been feeding him". But the size doesn't bother me that much. He isn't much bigger than the other teen characters. But to be honest Jake Speer or Jackson Gallagher are better at playing teens with all that emotions and range of emotions a teenager has. And They are older than Matt Little. At least Matt Little should have played a different teenager. I think he was better at being a jerk, like he was in the beginning after the recast. He could have played a bad boy instead. I don't think he is suited to play VJ, Vinnie and Leah's son. Because he is not supposed to be a jerk or a bad boy, and they are now putting him in more emotional scenes which don't suit the actor. But when people now are saying they are used to the new actor, it feels like you have accepted this bad recast. And I feel that this is exactly what the producers thought when they casted Matt Little (and other who hasn't been good in their role, or unfit for it), "people will complain for a while and then they will accept him". And then they will do the same mistake over again.

I switched off every time she was on screen in those times. I remember once I didn't watch the show for about 6 months because she was in it.... But then she became more watchable and more like a person and less like a cartoon villain, but still with a sharp side - and I started to love her. A lot of the women on the show are a bit too weak in my opinion. So it is great to have someone like her on the show. She normally acts like a normal person would do.

Reading this makes me think that Maddy the character has regressed. She stringed two guys along last season, and now it seems like she is doing it again. Making Oscar insecure with a very good reason. And that is the problem. It is not ok to cheat, but It is not ok to make your boyfriend or partner to feel like that either. If this makes Oscar kissing or hang out with someone else, then it isn't only Oscar's fault. Cheating isn't always serious cheating.... things aren't that black and white. It reminds me about Heath and Bianca. That was more serious consider their age, and Heath cheated.... But why did he cheat? Yes, because Bianca made strong signals that Heath wasn't good enough for her, and she just wanted to be with Zack instead. It was really serious what she did too. It is not ok to do such things. In a way Bianca and Maddy were cheating in 2014. Cheating is more than about getting physical. It is also about emotional stuff.

It is early days of Mattie and Oscar up here and they are far from boring. If they have become boring, then the only reason is that the writers don't bother to give them decent storylines. We have really seen this over and over again the past 5-6 years or so. When two characters have been a couple for a couple of months or less they are breaking up or cheating. Because that's the only thing the writers seem to be able to do with them. And I can understand that, when it cause a buzz and people are so positive to the new couple (because they haven't done anything with the old one to move them forward). So it ends up in a cycle. But this is not the way to make a good show, or write good storylines. Actually they are not really writing them, they are only using old storylins and swap the characters names and some other small details. So it's quite easy... doesn't cost much of time and creativity. Maddy and Matt have never been compatible. Not with their different background. When a character stays three or four years on the show (or more) they need to be moved forward. And with Maddy hooking up with Matt will only be the opposite. Why on not earth put Matt with someone else, someone new???? And I also want to see more of Matt's family (sister and father). There are a lot of things they could do with him, and Maddy's past and parents needs to be used more too. To be honest I think they should have brought in a new girl instead of two new boys (as it seems they have done in Australian pace - Tank and Hunter). Josh, VJ, Matt and Oscar... - four teenage male characters - and that is enough, when we have only Maddie and Evie together with the new girl Olivia (who hasn't arrived yet in Norway). To have six male teen characters on the show is just insane. I think Jake Speer did such a great job with his anxiety storyline last season, and he showed he can do serious storylines. Why not give him more? It is like the writers decides who they want to be popular and who they want to stay in the shadow and just be there until they leaves. And that is so completely wrong and unfair on the actors. Edit: and I have to add... Maddy has been almost 3 years on the show.. I wouldn't be surprised if she leaves in the first half of 2016.

We are (almost) five months behind you, up here in Norway. But we have had this new VJ in for almost a year now, and I still can't take him seriously. It really doesn't feel like VJ. And how much they are trying to make him looks young with hairstyling and clothes, I really don't believe it. I don't think Matt Little is able to act that out, it is not only because of his "older" looks og size. I think it is really a big shame they made such a bad recast. We have seen a lot of VJ lately in serious storylines about Leah and her injuries and surgery, but I really don't feel anything. It doesn't feel sad at all, because I am not able to feel VJ's pain. The actor is not able to act that out in a realistic way. It's like I want to FF all the scenes with him and just have only Zack in them instead. I think that they should have cast someone with a bigger acting ability and someone who looks a bit younger. It's sad though, because these storylines have so much potential.

When a girl is dating a bad boy in the show, it isn't always like she is a nice girl, she is very often troubled and rebellious herself. For example Belle was just as rebellious as Drew or as Aden, even more from time to time. And Kirsty was really a bad girl behaving the way she did. Kane was more loyal to his family (even they abused him) than Kirsty was (who came from a great family). There were sides to Charlie which lead her to her relationship with Brax, she really had some bad sides too and broke the law and moral and work rules every time it suited her. So it's not always a nice girl met a bad boy. But sometimes they can grow so they can move away from that. But that also counts for the guys. It feels to me that a bad behaved girl is always seen as a girl who has a rebellious period, while the boy always is seen as someone who can't change, even if the storyline says that there were reasons for him to behave like that and he has got help to deal with it. That frustrate me so much, because I think it is a bit like this in real life. But when it comes to Maddy, I think she moved away from the rebellious things, with the cancer storyline and she discovered what life was about and what what friends and love are about. Maybe Matt has changed in UK and Australian pace, but I think Maddy and Oscar should have been in a stabile relationship for a while now, why on earth throw away something that they used months to develop?

I have said that I compatability is the thing which is lacking, and I have really explained why. So you are accusing me for disliking them only because I you think I don't like the character is quite amusing. You are saying you and people who like them do that because you find them more compatible. Why are your reasons more valid than mine? They had a good storyline arc with the cancer story and build up Maddy and Oscar together. And then they could have developed further. And they should have. But It is probably too late now... it must be long time since the cancer storyline in Australian pace and it will probably be too difficult to build the trust and the beautiful relationship up again. But I am saying that they shouldn't have thrown it all away. But you have your opinion and I have mine, none of them is more valid than the other. Buts I said, it must be many months since the cancer storyline in Australia. And many months have been lost. Maddy has also had relationships with Josh and with Spencer on the show. She has been almost three years on the show (three years on set, I suppose), Matt less than two years. She will probably leave long time before him and her departure is probably not that far away. My biggest fear for her now is that they put her in a relationship quickly and then when it starts to be interesting, then she is leaving. That will be a shame. I feel like the writers are wasting to much time on moving characters from one partner to an another without really good build ups or follow ups. It is hard to invest in a couple or a character. I have mentioned it before; it is really long time we have had a young couple in the show that people really rooted for... A young golden couple.. They should have given Maddy a long lasting relationship with good development long time ago!

Matt isn't beliavble for me, because he isn't well played or casted. The actor is far too old looking, and isn't able to play a younger person, like Cassandra Clementi is, Jackson Gallagher, or Jake Speer when he is given the possibility. And I don't think his backstory has been developed enough, he is a kind of character that needs more background story and more storylines with both his sister and father. It all felt too quick and wrapped. I don't think Oscar has had good enough storylines either, for example together with Zach... But he didn't change personality over night. I think that Matt dragged Sasha down, after she became more mature then she regressed... I feel the same will happen with Maddy.

The reason why people want Maddy to stay with Matt is that he is more exciting than Oscar. But what have made him more exciting? He got a lot of hype in the beginning because he was introduced as a River boy. And he has been given more exciting storylines and in general more to do than Oscar. As RR1 said, Oscar is one of those characters they only want to be there and do nothing, while Matt is one of their favourites. It is not fair, especially not to the actors. Jake Speer has shown that he can handle several storylines while he has been given chances. He was good in the cult storyline, but it didn't help when the storyline was extremely bad. There is no reason why Oscar can't do funny stuff. He is a more serious character than Matt, but that is what Maddy needs. But he is also still young and can do different things if the writers want to give him such storylines. I have never liked Matt's character, I am five months behind and there are a lot of stuff I haven't seen yet. But it doesn't seem like he has changed overnight when I am reading here. At least Oscar is believable.

Maddy is nothing like Belle. Totally different background. In many ways, I think that Belle never changed she was still the "wild one" through her stay on the show. But she matured a bit. And Aden was just an another version of Drew, just with a more in-depth family history. But still from the same environment, and both Aden and Belle (and Drew) came from troubled homes, but from the middle class. Maddy is nothing like this - her problem were that her parents were to concerned about material things than her feelings and interests - she was brought up in that kind of neighbourhood, and Matt is even more from a neighbourhood with unemployment, gangs, and crimes. Aden and Belle were two troubled teens who met and it became explosive from time to time. With Maddy and Matt, I will say we have the snobby but still good girl with the gang member/boy from the dark side. And by the way, I never believed in the romance between Maddy and Spencer, never saw the spark. They were never portrayed like they were in love and the writers should have given them an another reason for running away. The only reason why Spencer seemed to be damaged by the break up was that the writers weren't willing to give him decent storylines while they gave Maddy plenty of stuff. We have seen this with many other characters, who just are there for most of their stay without doing nothing. It doesn't mean they are bad characters with no potential or played by bad actors, but the writers don't have any interest in developing them. There were a plenty of things they could have done with him, and he even had a brother in the bay. In many ways I think that Spencer originally had more potential than Maddy. His background storyline seemed more realistic than Maddy's. But both background storylines and the way they came into the bay should have been written more consistent and with more depth. I also think that Maddy's parents should have been used more in the cancer storyline. She was still their daughter, and I think the way they were treated was unrealistic. And I am disappointed that they didn't want Oscar and Maddy together, after all the build up. I don't think they feel flat... With all this said, I think still that Maddy is the most consistent teen with a the most natural development from the last 2-3 years, at least to May 2015. eps. We are five months behind Australia.

Maddy was a spoilt self centred brat when she came to the bay. She came from a home where they were concerned about material things and she was used to get things her way. But she was insecure deep down, and was good at heart but needed someone to steer her in the right direction. But Roo wasn't the right person to do that. So she stayed like a brat until her cancer illness, and then progressed. I think that was a perfect build up to a relationship with Oscar. He was her friend through it all. So it made no sense what happened after. It really irritated me. Because it was the first young couple in years that had a good build up. Matt is a kid from Mangrove River which means he has a different background as Maddy. I still think backgrounds are important, it made you the person you become even you can change direction (from being a brat to be a nice person). But where you come from does always matter. So I don't think Maddy and Matt are compatible. I want her with Oscar, because until his mother's death he had a similar upbringing as Maddy which have inflected him the way he is. Matt will always carry his Mangrove River background with him. I know there are exceptions but normally it is like this. I find this the same thing as people screaming about Nicole and Aden some years back... I always thought their backgrounds were colliding, while Belle and Aden had more identical background which formed them as characters. I want H&A writers to use the characters background. And most of all, when they are building up someone as a couple as they did with Oscar and Maddy (and Liam/Bianca, Kyle/Phoebe and many more), I want them to develop them and not break them up let them move around all the time. And I also want them to build couples on their storylines, develop them naturally. Because now we are seeing to much of people moving around very quickly. Much more than earlier on the show, even if there was a break up we always knew they will end up back together... or the break was more naturally after a long time. There is a reason why we haven't had golden couples in years. Remember the days of 2008 where we had Rachel/Tony, Jack/Martha, Aden/Belle and several more who was developed over time. Or earlier when we had Will/Gypsy, Beth/Rhys, Beth/tony and more... even if there were break ups these relationship developed naturally over time, even the breakups and make ups.

I would have loved to have Morag back in the Bay. I think as long Alf is there she has a lot to do. It would have been good to have her around to fix problems and resolve mysteries like she did in the 00's. I would have loved to see her interact with the younger cast too, as she was great with Aden, Nicole and Roman. But I have a feeling that we have seen the last of Morag... Unfortunately.

For me it is also much about the way he came into the show not the time he did it. Far too extreme. Too act like that out of jealousy, because that it was how it was written. I need a good start and good development to invest in a character. And Kyle's start was unappealing. And after that he became a nonsense character to me, the other Braxton's overshadowed him, he was a unnecessary addition to the Braxtons and it felt that the writers meant that too, that he only was brought in for the desert storyline and cause some friction between the Braxtons. It felt like it was never Kyle's turn to shine, he was just there as the others "shadow". I wonder if it would have been wiser if the actor had entered the show as an another character with a better start and been allowed to become a character on his own. And now it feels too late, he has been in the show for 3 years. It would have been better to write him out. I think he and Phoebe should have left together. I want these to quit before Andy. I think Andy and Josh should be able to work like brothers, and probably have storyline which allow them to grow a bit before they leaves. And now they are really the only brothers on the show. Explore the relationship between them better, writers.

In my opinion both Josh and Andy probably should leave soon, and then we could start with fresh new characters, but there are also others that should even leave before them.. Kyle, for example... should never really have come into the show... It feels like he never has had a place in the Bay, and his start was far too extreme. Then he just became a "nothing" character, and the other Braxtons "dog". Andy is nowhere like that, even if he isn't very good. And then we have Ricky and Hannah... who should have departed long ago...

Andy isn't any worse than any other... He turned of the life supporting machine, yes, but Jake was already kind of dead. It was Brax who actually killed him with the race hunt for Jake. Certainly not! They came in with a bang and destroyed the diner, hurt a lot of others together with the rest of the River Boys. Miles was really hurt and ended up in hospital. Everything was about gang wars and violence.. And Brax was the gang leader, but manipulated Heath to do the bad things so he could be the one to blame. Casey was probably a bit better, there were some hopes for him... but he was to fascinated with the violence and he looked up to Brax which certainly wasn't a good thing. Andy has never been like this. He was just a wannabe thug, who is kind at heart. He pushed Maddy and Casey off the road, but it has always felt like Andy had some anger problems and problems with finding his place in the world. He was only looking for love. He was afraid of loosing Josh, and really acted in wrong ways. But there was always glimpse of a lost boy there. And the boy needed to be found. I think Casey's death was the final straw for Andy, so he could pull himself together and start a new life. All Andy did was having contacts with Jake. He didn't know who and how dangerous he was. And when he discovered what Andy was up to, it was already to late. And Casey made some really bad decisions to involve himself, as he always did. And Brax and Jake were enemies long, long before Andy showed up. So I think that the Barrets, and especially Andy were brought in just to make the Braxtons look better, even Braxtons made the crimes by themselves most of the times. I think the Barrets were never meant to be a replacement to the Braxtons as people thought. They were brought in far too early for that. It is very clear for me that Ash is brought in to be the substitute for Brax, when Brax leaves... So I think that the Barrets, especially Andy has got underserved much hate. Andy is starting a journey to become a better person, and I think it is interesting to follow him on that journey. I really hope not that Andy will reverse, go back to his old self, by the end of his stay on the show...

I have always thought it was a mistake to put her with Ross back in 2008. She had a lot of good things going on in the Bay, and then she met him, got married, he got alzheimers and then they disappeared. I would have liked her to stay single, or be with Ross but without the alzheimer. To much was thrown towards the Buckton family in a very short time. It kind of destroyed the characters. And I think Morag never became the same. It was also a shame that we didn't see more of her after Charlie's death. She could have come back to the bay to take care of Ruby (and be with her brother and niese).

That would have been more realistic, yes.. And to be honest I think the storylines hints more towards that age difference, than the big age gap between the brohters it was meant to be. And Johnny Ruffo doesn't look much older than Andrew Morley.

Yes... exactly... I wish the writers was more consistent with the writing of the character... and give them backstory and age that fit the storylines. Now they are changing age and personality all the time. Chris' personality has been consistent (but with too little development), but his age (and the rest of the backstory) isn't fitting with the character's personality and storylines. I think these details are important, and I wish that these things were done better with all the characters.