Angelica

This a problem that is not exclusive to Tori, that I agree. I think this is problem with most of the younger cast. Raffy has probably done the best out of the Morgans for branching out. But look at the likes of Justin, Brody, Mason, Hunter, Olivia, Kat, Ash - they only hang out with their current or potential love interest. Justin and Ash refer to each other as best friends but they never actually interact. Brody and Mason have no friends outside their new love interests (and if/when those end they have nothing). I complain about Tori's lack of friendships in my previous post, because Tori has such a split personality between her work/family self and this childish insipid creature she becomes around men. I feel I could like her more if only she did more outside of the realms of her romantic relationships.

My problem with Tori is that she becomes incredibly insipid when it comes to her love life. I realise that she is supposedly naive about relationship but I have no desire to see a woman who is supposedly mature enough to be the head of ED, act like a prepubescent child around men. I know a romance with Ash is on the cards, but I personally have no desire to see that. I would rather they tried to branch out Tori's friendship circles.

Agreed - her relationship with Andy was definitely her downfall. It always felt like Hannah was meant to be the "nice one" without having any of the nice qualities. And yet, she lacked any qualities to make her flaws interesting. I don't see any similarities between Tori and Hannah except that like Hannah, I feel Tori's characterisation has been ruined by her romantic pairings/

I don't see any similarities between Ben and Zac. Zac was likeable, and didn't have an anger issue.

I thought Matt was a great character and it was a shame to lose him. I felt Alec Snow has such natural charm and charisma playing him, and I do feel that they missed a chance to really test his acting abilities by giving him so few storylines. He had great chemistry with his friends, but also with his adult role models such as Zac, Leah and Roo. Hope all the best for Alec in the future!

I just want this Billie pregnancy storyline to be done with so that we can move on. On the other hand, VJ has proven himself to be the most genuinely sweet guy who is left on the show (other than Zac). I still feel they missed an opportunity for a Skye/VJ/Billie love triangle!

Exactly - this show does this all the time now. They bring guys in such as Kyle, Andy and Hunter and have them perform acts that are pretty irredeemable. And then with no evidence of any significant character change or redemption, suddenly try to sell this character as a bad boy with a heart. At least with Kane, the redemption arc lasted more than 5 minutes. Having Hunter repeatedly refer to Tabitha as a psycho even though he had only recently stabbed Andy in prison, makes his character the world's biggest hypocrite to boot. I think Olivia has potential as a character but only if she branches out from hanging out with someone more broken than her.

I think the problem with Phoebe is the problem that exists for all females introduced in the past few years. She is introduced as a Braxton love interest, and is never really developped beyond that. After they split her up from Kyle, it just feels like they are bouncing her from one guy to the next because they don't know what else to do with her. That storyline with Dom is a prime example of that - what exactly did it achieve? I agree with Luke39, that part of the problem is that she has very much become a Mary Sue character.

To be honest, with Ricky, there are few ties left in Summer Bay. I can't see any reason for him to return.

I hated the Hugo smuggling story. I actually enjoyed Hugo/Martha a lot more than Jack/Martha - Martha came across less like a spoilt princess, and more fun and spirited. Hugo seemed like the calm contrast to her spirit. However, they massively ruined that with the people smuggling storyline - and it seemed ridiculous that Martha would run off with Hugo after knowing what he did.

So true. This pretty much how I felt about Brax's departure storyline too.

I personally felt that Matt/Maddy had the potential to be an interesting couple - but that potential was wasted by rushed storylines. I have never been a fan of Oscar/Maddy as a couple as I never truly believed that they loved each other. I felt that Oscar often had Maddy on a pedestal, and I felt that Maddy loved how Oscar made her feel rather than loving him in her own right. I felt the bulk of their relationship was built around Oscar being there fore Maddy, and their co-dependence. So I found it realistic that they would drift apart once Maddy no longer needed him in the same way (especially as Maddy's support network has increased significantly since she was diagnosed with cancer). The initial drifting apart of Maddy and Oscar felt quite organic, but the writers ruined that by ultimately trying to make the Oscar the bad guy to expedite the process. When Evie felt tried to set up Matt and Maddy, I rolled my eyes. But as their friendship continued, I felt they had a very natural chemistry about the way they interacted - like they kinda got each other, and didn't have to pretend to be anyone else. I liked the fact that they could be brutally honest with each other. I believed in their friendship so when Matt started developing feelings for Maddy, I was intrigued to see how it panned out. Unfortunately, I should have known better. Instead the writers decided to rush through the milestones in their relationship making any declaration of love seem shallow and insincere. And the decision to move in with each other is ridiculous. But at the end of the day, these guys are teenagers, I am sure there will be more partner-swapping I don't necessarily agree with the comparisons to Josh/Maddy or Sasha/Matt. Matt has his flaws, but I think he has come a long way since when he first arrived - mainly thanks to Leah/Zac and the makeshift family he now has. I agree that he still has some growing up to do, but then again, so does Maddy.

I love Billie - even when I hated what she did to Nathan because she has an element of vulnerability that is quite touching. It is kinda reminiscent of how I felt about Ruby who even at her most frustrating at the end of her time in H&A, could still break my heart.

I think I would disagree about Evie/Andy. Admittedly, I have no desire to see Andy having a happy-ever-after while he shows no remorse for killing someone in cold-blood or helping to cover up someone else pyromaniac tendencies. But my real problem with seeing an Evie/Andy pairing, is why I would have a problem with Evie/Matt. One of Evie's most irritating flaws is her sanctimonious attitude - I have no desire to see her in a romantic relationship where she is constantly putting down her partner in an effort to make him a better person. That being said, Phillipa seems to be capable of having chemistry with most characters.

Unlikely, she has no ties to the Bay anymore

I think the problem is that they keep doing this dramatic entrances for characters (Kyle and Andy are other examples), and then expect to redeem these guys later on.

I thought he had great potential when he first started. Pairing him up with Phoebe has sucked the life out of his character.

This has been a topic much debated on the Maddy character thread recently. When Evie first tried to set up Maddy and Matt, I thought it was the worst idea. But as they have gotten closer as friends, I do think there is something about their interactions which works, and they do have really good chemistry. I want to like Oscar/Maddy as a couple, but I have never been able to buy them as anything other than friends (partly because Oscar, to me, seems like such an asexual character). But it will be a shame to see Oscar hurt.

If nothing else, this love triangle has provoked more reaction than any other love triangle that has occurred in the last few months! That can only be a good thing. I think that might be partly because I think that there has probably been a bit more groundwork here rather than it coming completely out of the blue between 2 characters who have never interacted. The idea of a Maddy and Matt romance was first introduced by Evie before Oscar and Maddy got back together, and they have been consistently interacting as friends since then. In fact, I think part of the problem with Oscar/Maddy is that when, for instance we had the fire, we saw more of Maddy supporting Matt than Maddy supporting Oscar to an extent that I actually forgot that Oscar and Maddy were still together. As for the whole Maddy outgrowing Oscar...I think that when a relationship really takes off because one person becomes dependent on the other person during their time of need (as opposed to have an already strong relationship that then gets tested by a crisis that bring the people closer together) then the relationship struggles to adjust to the change in dynamic when that person overcomes these trials and is happier. This is certainly how it feels with Maddy/Oscar - like they struggle to just have fun together, and need to be in constant "heart-to-heart" mode. I felt this was apparent with the whole magazine quiz storyline. The premise might have been contrived, but it was still telling that the period where they felt most natural was having their "heart-to-heart" at the end. Whereas I can see why this might draw some people to them as a couple, but for me, I want more balance between the lightness and seriousness, and I often find their lighthearted scenes quite forced if they are not in a group setting (I feel Oscar often veers into excessive awkward geekiness with Maddy being excessively perky during these scenes). The other additional problem here, is that when Maddy first got ill she was quite ill - she had Roo and Oscar. Now, her friendship group has expanded and we see her interacting with the likes of Matt and Evie, both of whom I think she has really good natural chemistry. This in my opinion, only highlights the lack of chemistry between Oscar and Maddy. Now this may be poor writing, but it means that I have failed to ever warm to Oscar/Maddy as anything more than friends. I'm not sure if Matt/Maddy would work but I can see why the writers might want to explore that avenue (more than I have with other random pairings that we have had). At the end of the days, these guys are all teenagers - there will be plenty more partner swapping to come.

I want to like Oscar and Maddy together but something about their relationship has always felt so flat. When Oscar first developed feelings for Maddy, it did feel quite shallow. That Oscar was very much blinded to Maddy's flaws because of his physical attraction to her, and instead built her up on a pedestal (which by the way, is a very teenage thing to do). Very reminiscent of Edmund and Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park. And then Maddy ended up going through a lot, and Oscar was there for Maddy, and their relationship really developed from there. Except now that Maddy is responding to treatment, and things in her life are getting better, it just feels like Oscar is a redundant aspect of her life. They are a teenage couple, still in their honeymoon period, and yet every time I have watched them recently, it feels like they are further apart than when they broke up. When Evie first tried to set up Matt and Maddy, I rolled my eyes at how contrived the situation. Now, I still don't necessarily want Matt and Maddy together. But when I watch them interact, I do think there is something about the way their characters interact that just works. They just have a very natural chemistry that just works. It kinda reminds me how back in the the day, I could often get frustrated with April's character and yet, when watching April/Dexter feel that there was something about them as a couple that just worked. In the end, I think that what might seems better on paper doesn't necessarily translate better on screen. But then again, I always think they made a mistake breaking up Spencer and Maddy so early on - as I think so far with her potential suitors, he has probably had the best combo of being a nice guy + having a good natural chemistry with her. While in general, I do want the " nice" guy to triumph (see Robbie/Tasha, Dexter/April or Tony/Rachel), I am not sure I see Oscar/Maddy lasting (nor wish it).

​Haha, I didn't know about it either until I actually realised I'm asexual and started reading more about it. I asked my mum what she thought about the idea of Oscar being gay, and she said "He has other problems, but he's always been running after Maddy." People who are gay can be involved in heterosexual relationships before they question their sexuality and find they could be gay, can't they? Or he could be bisexual? Happens a lot or alternatively people being aware of their sexuality but still getting involved in hetereosexual relationships because of fear of society/family's views. The thing about Oscar chasing after Maddy is that it is so overdone and cliche. I struggle to think of a teen drama or film that doesn't involve the geeky guy pining for popular girl trope.

I am still not sure about her acting skills - I find Hannah comes across as so insincere, and I am not sure whether this is solely due to writing or whether the way she is portraying her too.

Not necessarily - not everyone does. However, they could have made more effort to make Maddy look sick!

Jheez have you not been watching any episodes lately? Please tell me where you see bratty behaviour and don't bring any past staff up. Excuse me? Why exactly are past events off limits? Sorry i'm not gullible enough to fall for the old "give the character not liked/not working a life threatening illness" routine Well that's the reason you hate her right? Because you base it on her past behaviour but characters have growth and improve and I've seen that a lot with Maddy. So what exactly makes her selfish right now? I think the problem is that at the moment (and as others, I am on UK pace), Maddy hasn't really done anything to make me believe that she is changing for the better except develop a potentially life threatening illness. I think the problem is that the writers decide one day that a character is now likeable and then ram that down the audience's throats rather than good storytelling and character development let the audience come to their own conclusions. I have made similar criticisms of the writing of Andy.

I think they were always going to cause polarised views because they have been such a big part of the show. I quite liked the Braxtons when they first arrived, and the tension they created. The problem was in trying to normalise the Braxton's past and behaviour.