Angelica

I agree that this has been the problem with Andy's redemption storyline is that it hasn't been earned. Instead, all his misdemeanours have been brushed under the carpet, and suddenly, we are supposed to accepted New Andy. I agree that this has been the same problem with the Braxton's. All these crimes that keep getting committed lose impact when they are treated so trivially by everyone in involved. While I can understand the sentiment that Jake would have continued to have destroyed Brax's life, I think it would have made the story a lot more palatable if Andy had shown at least some conflict about the idea of taking someone's life (especially in the situation where the person was unable to defend themselves in any way because they were attached to a machine) or shown some guilt afterwards. The whole redemption via Hannah storyline doesn't help either. Partly because Hannah is such an awful character that it is hard to see why anyone would want to be with her or believe that she could spark a change in Andy. But also, partly because I find these "you make me want to be a better person" storylines really trite and shallow. At least with Heath, most of his change was related to him becoming a father; first to Darcy, and then to Rocco. His relationship with Bianca progressed because she saw his better qualities as he grew into his father role (it never felt like they were trying to attribute much if any of his change to Bianca). Heath went from being my least favourite Braxton to my favourite in a way that felt very organic. I just don't feel they have taken the same steps to develop Andy as well. I think part of the problem is that from the beginning, people have been giving Andy the benefit of the doubt, and a million chances, before Andy had ever done anything to prove that he deserved it. Contrast that to say Kane's redemption, where though he never really paid for the alleged assault on Dani, at least spent a lot of time trying to prove himself to the community before anyone (other than Kirsty) gave him a break.

I think her treatment of Zac really ruined her characterisation. Up until then, I thought she may have had potential. The main problem is that she acts very immature, and unlike Maddy, does not have the benefit of youth to explain her behaviour. But she was horrible to Zac after they broke up, which was not in keeping with the fact that she supposedly really cared about him, and they broke up because of the twins rather than any inherent problem with their relationship. It was even worse for her characterisation to pair her up with Andy and make her choose Andy over Zac - it made no sense given Andy's characterisation up to that point, and her history with Zac. It just made her again, look immature and shallow like she could only handle a physical relationship. Even now, it seems Hannah is more interest in the physical stuff with Andy rather than any emotional connection. It seems that Hannah spends a lot of time claiming that she shouldn't get with a certain person (Zac, Andy, Nate) only for her to show no self-restraint and get with them anyway. Again, making her appear very shallow and fickle. The problem is that we are meant to see Hannah as a likeable character, the type of girl that would make Andy want to change his ways. But instead, we have this immature, shallow character who lacks any of the warmth of other characters such as Leah.

I think he has the potential to be a good character, but I don't think he has been used properly. As we have seen previously with characters such as Robbie or Dexter, male characters don't have to be reformed bad boys for audiences to like him. I agree with those who feel that pairing him with Maddy has ruined his character to some extent. The problem is that their relationship is so one-sided, and I think Oscar moved from being a nice guy to being rather pathetic as he follows Maddy around like a puppy dog. I just feel there have been so many scenes where Maddy has knowingly or unknowingly lead Oscar on, and Oscar keeps giving her more chances and keeps holding out for more. I think the other problem (and I am not sure how to phrase this well) - Kassandra has quite a voluptuous kind of look - it makes the age difference between Oscar and Maddy seem so much greater than it looks. When Oscar was first introduced, I always thought he was either assexual or gay. I always felt it was a shame that he turned into the cliche boy lusting after the popular girl. I think H&A could do with a permanent character who was either homosexual or bisexual, and I think Oscar would have been the perfect character to have been that person. I think Jake Speer could have done the storyline justice.

I don't think the comparison to Aden is unfair, as I have always felt that the writers were modelling Matt as an Aden type with Matt/Sasha being the new Aden/Belle. At the moment, Matt doesn't have the complexity of Aden though. I think the character of Matt has potential if written better - Alec Snow seems to be more charismatic in his role than the other new teenagers, and he seems to have good chemistry with other characters (which is why it is a shame that his character has been limited to interacting with Sasha).

Yeah this. When Marilyn was first in the show, she seemed older than the early 20 year old character she was playing and was marrying Don Fischer. I think it has levelled out I do know what you mean about her appearing younger in real life - because Emily always seems very glamorous whereas Marilyn is always more conservatively dressed. I don't think she acts age inappropriate though.

I agree. I thought Jack/Martha was one of the most overrated couples in H&A. They were vaguely amusing when they originally hated each other, but after that I found them quite bla, and didn't like how their on-off relationship panned out especially all the stuff in relationship to Sam. I thought killing off Jack was the best thing in terms of Martha's characterisation - she maintained her feistiness, but lost some of the brattiness/selfishness. Controversially, I really like Martha/Hugo in the early days (before the people smuggling storyline). I think by that point, Martha had mellowed a little.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. I think the adults in Maddy's life have not been helping her characterisation. As you say, Roo often tries to be Maddy's friend rather than her guardian, and therefore, spends a lot of time acquiescing to Maddy's will. And I think sometimes Alf Stewart is good at trying to discipline Maddy, but I also think that sometimes, he lacks some of the empathy and understanding that might actually get through to her. I often feels that Maddy comes off best with her interactions with Spencer (when he is not adopting his holier-than-thou attitude), just because she has been pretty consistent with the fact that she cares for his general well being. She was quite sweet and caring during his whole bipolar stuff (and sensible enough to try to get Roo involved as well). And I think Spencer (and occasionally Casey) seem to be able to get through to her. I am glad that her and Josh broke up - it didn;t bring out the best in either of their characters. I think part of her problem is that she doesn't really have an identity outside of her relationships, What happened to her passion about music?

I miss Dex. I miss Sasha and Dex's family interactions. I always liked Sasha most when she was with the rest of the Walkers.