Hollyoaks Discussion Thread

[Slade]

What a complete and utter display of selfish behaviour!

Jacqui has always been my favourite McQueen but today it was all about ME ME ME ME ME. For not one second did she ever think that her mother was in an absolutely impossible position and arguably had to make the hardest decision of her entire life. Can you imagine knowing that four of your six children face certain death and having to decide which two will live. And to make matters worse she just left her there to die.

I wasn’t sure which McQueen was going to die but thought I would feel totally indifferent about Tina. I have to admit her final scene with Dom was very sad especially when she was telling him to tell the baby about her. And although I didn’t agree with the way she acted recently I felt really sorry for her (and Dom).

It will be interesting to see how the McQueens cope with her death and how the whole Tony / Jacqui / Mercedes issue pans out.

[Zetti]

Jacqui acted like any person would be after finding out her mother however hard it is was willing to sacrifice her life. She didn't have a choice. I can understand Myra's reasoning behind it. She just was hurting after finding out her mother was willing to sacrifice her.

[xGlowingAngelx]

Wow... the Jacqui hate is strong right now . I dn't agree with her taking Max, but I do get the impression this is the point she's regretting everything that as gone on with Tina. Holding on to Max is like a safety blaket for her right now. She had to listen to her own mother give her life up for her and I don't understand how her actions right now - which is obviously her immeadiate reaction for the events - are really THAT bad. Just because Carmel forgives Myra, suddenly Jacqui should aswell? Why? Jacqui's going through what the rest are going though, as well as finding out her boyfriend slept with her sister and was the father of the baby that same sister aborted, her mother springs a brother on her after 27 years of secrets, that same brother turns out to be a physcho, kidnaps the whole family, her mother chooses her to die over her sisters and right now she feels like all those closest to her have lied to her. OK, So Myra's lied to everyone else aswell, but Jacqui's obviously taken it the hardest, which could have easily happened to any of the sisters.

I think it's a case of Jacqui needing to greive for Tina (Which isn't going to be easy if, as I suspect, she's going to be punishing herself for everything that's happened over the surrogacy) as well as dealing with everything else. Jacqui's always been the strongest McQueen, the one that everyone expects to stay strong and hold the family together. She said herself not long ago that she practically raised the others. It's no wonder she's going to feel so betrayed. Her mental state right now is an absolute wreck and I hope that over time, the whole family can pull together. But it's not all going to happen over night, which is why I'm giving Jacqui the benefit of the doubt.

[Slade]

No, no, no, I LIKE Jacqui. She’s my favourite McQueen but she just annoyed me the way she acted towards Myra as the rest of her siblings weren’t acting like that. In fact even Mercedes offered to be one of the ones to die.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Jacqui at first but I started to like her when I saw another side to her when she was in prison with Becka. I like that on the exterior she is a hard-faced b**ch, but inside she is a very warm and sensitive person.

Anyway I’m just annoyed at the whole situation. Things were going quite well with her and Tony and Mercedes had to open her big mouth and ruin everything. Don’t get me wrong I understand that she thought she was going to die and so had to relive her conscience but it was just the worst possible thing for Jacqui.

I do hope her and Tony patch things up as I would like to see them married and have kids eventually (one way or another).

[xGlowingAngelx]

I just think people are being so incredibly harsh on her. Not just on here, but on various other forums. OK, She's said some awful things and she's done some awful things. Her acting like that whilst the others weren't was just a turn in the tables and I liked the way it was done. Myra has ALWAYS used "We're a family" against her children in desperate times (The Jacqui/Tina/Max stuff, Jacqui/Alek/Carmel, Mercedes/Russ/Carmel etc) she's always said how she brought them up to be good catholic girls. A family that stuck together, ESPECIALLY in the bad times. We've heard on more than one occasion how Jacqui pretty much brought up the others (Fair enough, it was also during times when Myra was earning a living in order for herchildren to survive) but she brought them up none the less. Given that Jacqui was still only young herself, that's an awful lot of responsibility for her. OK, Jacqui didn't OFFER to die, but she also didn't OFFER one of her siblings to die. She actually told Mercy she couldn't watch her die. She's seen two of her sisters cheat with her other half (Even though she didn't love Alek, Carmel didn't know that when she slept with him), she's gone through the tragedy of losing a child she so desperately longed for only to learn she can't have more children. She finally thought she'd find that happiness when Tina offered to be a surrogate (The point of which we really did see a strong bond between Tina/Jacqui) then she learns that it wasn't even her baby because Tina proved to be just another McQueen girl.

Jacqui's no saint and I'm certainly not implying that she is, but she's had just a tough an upbringing as all the rest. She finally allowed someone to break through her tough shell and see the real her that isn't nearly as tough. But she did, and she and Tony really worked well. They went through an awful lot and then she has to find out her sister slept with her boyfriend, got pregnant by him and aborted the baby.

When Myra offered Jacqui to Niall to kill, she used the defense "Michaela's the youngest and Tina's got a son" Michaela being the youngest shouldn't even nearly be a good enough reason. Age is irrelevent at times like that when you're facing losing a child. And to turn around and say Tina has a son to Jacqui - who can't have children! - was an AWFUL thing to do.

Why Mercedes told Jacqui she slept with Tony anyway is beyond me! I mean, WTF? Why was it even necessary? Of all the secrets that family have, why the hell was that the one she revealed? I love Mercedes too, but I just didn;t see the point. It was a mistake that they've both moved on from. I know she felt guilt for it, but I just don't like that the writers did it. If they really had to do it (It's soap, course they did ) I honestly think it should have been done another time, because now Jacqui has to deal with it and almost everyone is calling her selfish for it.

I also hope they patch things up. Awww I remember back when Tony/Jacqui first began and I was one of very few that ADORED them together and really hoped they'd make it, so it's incredibly sad to see this happen. I really do hope they work through it. I know it'll take time, but I do believe they belong together....

[Slade]

I had no idea there was such a widespread view about Jacqui. I haven’t actually been to the other forums but I know the C4 ones in particular can be pretty full-on.

One of the main problems with this is that we’re in one of those situations where nobody is right but everybody’s actions are understandable sort of thing. However I personally feel out of everybody that Myra was the one that was least in the wrong because she had little (or no) choice. Whoever she chose to live there would be reasons why the choice was wrong. The others unfortunately did.

Now take Mercedes for example. She had a choice. She could have simply chosen to keep her mouth shut and not say anything at all. Although I understand that she had to alleviate her conscience, what purpose did it serve telling Jacqui about her sleeping with Tony? Why not just let Jacqui go to her grave thinking that her and Tony’s relationship was perfect.

Again Jacqui had a choice she could have helped her mother rather than just leaving her there. And I don’t buy that “Tina is younger” excuse because the expression of coldness in her face spoke volumes (great acting BTW).

I thought that whole Tina offering to be a surrogate was a BAD idea from the offset. And I knew further down the line something like that would happen. It would have been better if Tony or Jaqcui had chosen someone they didn’t know or considered adoption (I can’t remember if they explored those avenues).

I personally hope the writers don’t do anything stupid and start ruining Jacqui’s character because I said before that she’s my favourite McQueen. And yes I agree with you - I also like Mercedes.

[-Kevin-]

I really disagree with glowingangel .Jacqui is the most selfish thing i have ever seen.Myra's decision was based on facts.the fact was Michaela was theyoungest and it just makes sense to save the youngest first because they have all had longer lives than Michaela.Also Tina does have a child which I think was the right reason for Myra's choice again.At the end of the day every child needs its mother.Nobody can love a baby like a mother can.Anyway Mercy and JP did the decent thing and offered themselves up.If I was in that situation I can promise you I would do exactly the same.Would jacqui actually save herself over her youngest sister.Familys always say that they would die for each other which they should.Just not in Jacqui's mind.She thinks that she wants she has to have like when she took the child from Myra and took it home with her.I mean the child has nothing to do with her and is none of her business whatsoever.Her bitterness towards Myra is just pathetic its not as if Myra chose to not save her because she wanted her dead because she hated her.Myra had to pick 2 to save and was told if she didnt pick 2 they would all die.So myra choose with her head and not her heart.

[xGlowingAngelx]

Maybe they have lived longer lives, but they're still also very young themselves. I'm the youngest of my family, but I wouldn't allow my parents to use that as a defense for anything. A family is a family, it doesn't matter which is the oldest, which is the youngest, it's family. The connection is meant to be equaly as strong and a parents love should be be equal between each. The duty to want to protect them in the bad times shouldn't differ between them just because one was born a few years later. Maybe choosing Tina was a right choice, because without her Max - the one who is the MOST innocent in this whole charade - is left alone. OK, Russ is there, but all those reasons Niall said to Myra about growing up without a Mum are true to Max aswell. For that reason - and that reason ONLY - Myra's decision to save Tina's life was justified.

And Myra should have handed over Max to Russ when he asked. She sat there and listened to Niall tell her how awful it was to grow up without a mother. He told her it was the one thing he ever wanted. Yet when Max loses his mother - at just a few months older than Niall was when sh abandoned him - she refuses to hand him to the person who now needs to be the constant in the childs life - his father.

The child has as much to do with Jacqui as it does Myra, Mercedes, Carmel and all the others. Neither of them are his mother and neither of them ever will be. They've spent the last few days feeling so much bitterness towards each other for how Myra has lied to them all, how she could abandon a child, how she could even choose between her children and yet they're arguing over Max like he's some toy in it all.

I remember just after Jacqui had lost the baby and she asked Alek to leave, Carmel and Jacqui were practically tearing each others eyes out and Myra constantly stood between them and told them that she'd had enough of it because they were both her children and she wouldn't see her family fall apart - something that any parent should do, no matter what the situation.

Myra chose between them fully aware that - had Jack etc not burst in - it would be the last time she would have seen Jacqui, Mercy, JP and Carmel alive and she'd have had to have dealt with the guilt of knowing it was her decision to lose them.

I don't know why there's so much dispute over whether it was the right decision anyway, lmao. I still firmly believe none of us would know how we'd react in that situation until we were actually in it. Clearly everyone has a different opinion over it and we're not all going to agree. Makes it more fun The disagreements here are mild towards those elsewhere. lmao.

[-Kevin-]

Yes but like I said choosing the youngest is the most logical thing to do in a situation like this.If Myra had chosen anybody else it would have been unbelievable because she would have been then choosing her favourite.She chose to save the two because they had a reason(well not really a reason but an excuse) to live whereas carmel and jacqui didnt.I also cannot believe that Jacqui would be willing to live instead of letting her youngest sister have a chance.Because she was obviously wanting Myra to choose her over Michaela or Carmel.Obviously she wanted her mother to pick her because she wanted to feel loved by her mother but at the expense of her sisters lives I think was very unfair.

Myra does actually have more of a right to Max because Tina was her daughter and like she said its what Tina would want.In fact I think there could be a huge custody battle on the horizon.i can see Jacqui,Myra,Russ and maybe even Dom fighting for the child.

As for jacqui leaving Myra to die is the worst part of everything.Jacqui had a choice whereas Myra didnt.When she told Myra that she was sorry Tina is younger there was pure evil in her eyes.Then when she was outside the church she said that she didnt know if she wanted Myra to survive,that really took me by surprise.

there is 1 thing I do agree with you on though on there are very strong opinions on jacqui's behaviour all over the web and there is a lot of hatred for jacqui.I felt sorry for Jacqui when Mercedes confessed about the

abortion

and her life has really been turned upside down and inside out and is the most affected person throughout all of them.So i do have some sympathy for her but I still cannot forgive her behaviour.

[xGlowingAngelx]

I got the impression that Jacqui's bitterness over the situation wasn't about Myra choosing Michaela or Myra NOT choosing her, rather than being about Myra choosing at all. Something which a lot of people have said they were shocked about. With regards to "selfishness" I think they all were in a way, because they all wanted Myra to choose them. Yes, Mercedes and JP willingly handed their lives over, but I'm sure underneath it all, they were both hoping Myra wouldn't. For every bit of selflessness in that whole family, they also each have a bit of selfishness. But they all wanted to survive. I mean, none of them "wanted" to die. But there is a difference between being the one to decide your own fate and your mother choosing that fate.

Of course there will be a huge custody battle. This is soap land. A baby wouldn't be a baby without some form of paternity mix up/custody battle. lmao. I think every viewer spotted the custody battle ages ago. Unfortunately, it's much worse than I think any of them could have expected.

Now the leaving Myra to die bit I do totally agree with. I thought that was awful. The ironic twist made that scene though, because Jacqui only really did what Myra did to her. (I'm not sayin it was right of her. Just a cruel, ironic turn in the tables). And saying she hadnt seen her outside was pure evil. That I've nt and wont even attempt to justify.

I must admit, the scene where Mercedes confessed about the abortion was heartbreaking. Again, an ironic part of that scene was after Mercy said she'd told Jacqui, Tony said "why?" and Jacqui replied "Why? She's my sister" which totally threw me. It seemed to contradict Jacqui's actions/anger over it. Made me laugh lol. And I'm not sure whether it was bad writing there or just to confuse little old me. lmfao.

Either way, regardless to the bitterness/hatred etc that they're all feeling now, I really hope they manage to pull through. There's been at leats one point since the McQueens arrived where each one has been there at some point for the other, so to watch them ultimately being pulled apart is so incredibly sad. And I still don't quite understand why JP left..... Wasn't that supposed to be the same day as the ecplosion? Just that the episode was a different day? Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of him going back for a "Craig Cuddle" () but it was so rushed. James said he was willing to come back for the explosion and although we all knew his return was just "the icing on the cake" (James Sutton's words or something), I kind of felt he should have stuck around for a bit. It's understandable that he wouldn't want to see Tina being buried, that's something I think anyone should understand, but I kind of felt he should have stuck around anyway. At least for a few more days to help them deal with it. But never mind, 'tis one less person to start crying and make me want to blub like a baby. lmao.