Romeo Smith - Luke Mitchell

[emmasi]

I really like Romeo. He's like a cross between Noah and Kim. His looks are close enough to being a perfect blend of them both. His personality is friendly and outgoing like Noah's, but with Kim's stoic sense of self-preservation. And now he's flirting with Xavier for fun! Ah, a boy after my own heart

[gaian_star]

so annie and romeo are definitely becoming a couple because i just cant see it, firstly he looks so much older and he i cant see him settling for handholding on the beach

not so sure i like this pairing - it makes no sense to me

and poor jai

but him as a character seems really good, i like the snippets of his history but its that history which makes me find it impossible to believe he'd get with annie because of Jai

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm finding it very hard to get a handle on Romeo.It feels like we've been given three different Romeos who just happen to be played by the same actor.First he was a wisecracking surfer dude.Then he was a sort of sensitive love interest for Annie.Then he was a mature big brother for VJ and best friends with Miles.It feels like he's wandering around the show without any real purpose or personality.I thought they might actually be giving his character some depth when we had that line about him not touching drinks or drugs, and I thought that maybe his cocky behaviour was just an act and he was rather insecure underneath, but it seems it's all just a lead in to some tragic, angst-ridden, family history storyline(yawn).And yes, having him shaft Jai didn't exactly put me in his corner.

I really don't know why they've made him 17 unless they're going to do a Noah and have him go back to school next year.Maybe to make the romance with Annie more plausible but I actually think it would be better if they bit the bullet and made him her older boyfriend rather than her sort-of-but-not-really older boyfriend.(Would, say, a 22-year-old dating a 16-year-old really be a no-no?Look at Nicole and Liam.)When he's with the adults, he talks to them as if he's their equal which seems a bit daft if he isn't old enough to vote.He seems more like a lodger at the caravan park house than a foster kid.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Red Ranger 1

[Foxy]

I think it's very natural for a person to be different around different people - in Romeo's case, wise cracking surfer on first meeting the ladies, and Jai, romantic with the girl he likes, and a more mature person around adults and younger kids. I also don't think it's unbelieveable that these different sides have taken time to be released either; up until Kirsty left Miles, no-one has needed him to be a friend like that, and up until VJ was bullied no-one has needed him to be the older brother figure. I find it much more realistic that we're learning about him slowly rather than being given a one dimensional character that doesn't stray from those boundaries the entire time they're on the show.

As for his family background, we know barely anything about it so I for one will be reserving judgement. I honestly don't know how the writers manage sometimes - it seems everytime they do a romance story people moan, everytime they do a family background story, people moan, and everytime they tackle an issue, people moan. Home and Away has always been about bringing in kids from difficult backgrounds, exploring that backgroud and helping them deal with it, and then letting them leave again on a high - less so in recent years with the increased death rate, but they have always mended the problems that a character brings with them, and I don't see why Romeo should be any different.

As for the relationship with Annie, I think my biggest problem isn't the gap in ages between Charlotte and Luke, and the gap between their characters maturity - romeo, for all his bravado, is pretty mature, whereas Annie is a little more naive - but again, I'll reserve judgement on that until the relationship begins properly, so as to see how it develops.

Also, I don't think it's ever been implied that Romeo is an official foster kid at SBH - he's been fostered in the past, but there's never been any talk of Miles having 'officially' taken him in - so for all intents and purposes he is a lodger. And I don't find it bizarre that he speaks to adults as equals - I just think he has a lot of respect for them, Miles and Alf in particular, and I see no reason why they should talk down to him, or treat him like a kid just because he's 17 - there is no correlation between age and maturity.

different characters do different things for different people though - that's one of the things that makes Home and Away so interesting really, everyone seems to see things from completely different viewpoints, but there's something for everyone!

[Lesley Bee]

I really hope they give Romeo a good storyline, i think he has the potential to be a really great character

[thejefferies]

Geoff quit school, so did Ric, what kind of signals do they give?

Ric was actually expelled from SBH.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think it's very natural for a person to be different around different people - in Romeo's case, wise cracking surfer on first meeting the ladies, and Jai, romantic with the girl he likes, and a more mature person around adults and younger kids. I also don't think it's unbelieveable that these different sides have taken time to be released either; up until Kirsty left Miles, no-one has needed him to be a friend like that, and up until VJ was bullied no-one has needed him to be the older brother figure. I find it much more realistic that we're learning about him slowly rather than being given a one dimensional character that doesn't stray from those boundaries the entire time they're on the show.

I agree it's natural for people to have different sides to them but I just don't get that feeling with Romeo.He doesn't feel like a three-dimensional character who has depth to him, like I said he feels like a succession of one-dimensional characters, as though the writers keep saying "No, we don't like him like that, let's change him."That's why I was annoyed about all the stuff with his family, as I said, I thought they were giving him some depth, that they were suggesting that his confidence was a facade and underneath he was less of a jack-the-lad type than he pretended to be, so I was disappointed that it turned out to be plot dump.His relationship with Miles does seem to be all over the place:I get that Miles hasn't really fostered him but then I don't think he's ever really fostered anyone except maybe Jai, they just sort of turn up, and Kirsty's "What, we've got another teenager to look after?" reaction seemed to suggest they were taking on a parental role, as did Miles going to check up on his new job when he started working for Liam.But then suddenly they were jogging on the beach together and chatting as if he's the new Roman.I really would like to get to know Romeo but it seems they're just going to give him a dramatic storyline without giving us any real reason to care about it.Everything involving him seems to be plot-driven rather than character-driven.He doesn't need an involved back story, he needs a personality, preferably one that's consistent rather than changing according to whatever the plot requires him to do.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Red Ranger 1

[DinerLandlord]

To be fair, at 17 Romeo is practically an adult and can be a bit more independent than than a 15 year-old. He doesn't neccesarily need to be looked after by Miles. I moved out of home to go to Uni at 18, and loads of my friends in Uni were still only 17 living without any adult supervision.

Edited January 16, 2010 by DinerLandlord

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm having a really hard time connecting with the character unfortunately.I recently saw the episode where he tells Xavier about his mother hooking up with a guy who was bad for her and it felt like that should be a really big moment, an insight into Romeo's past and what's shaped his attitude.But I just couldn't find any genuine emotion in the scene.If you're talking about the character having different sides, he never seemed to move out of "wisecracking surfer dude" mode all episode, however serious the conversation he was having.I had the same problem with the scene where he told Annie that when he kissed her he'd mean it:The whole speech was delivered in such an insincere manner I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to pay attention to the words or the way they were said.It's possible I'm missing the point entirely, that he's supposed to be emotionally guarded and the cheerful attitude is his way of masking his true feelings.But it seems more like even he isn't interested in his storylines.

[DinerLandlord]

Does anyone else find his voice a bit odd? I can't tell if it is the actor's natural voice, or if he is somehow trying to sound younger on purpose to make him more convincing as a teenager and not a 24 year-old. His accent is also a bit Americanised, but that doesn't suprise me, you get guys speaking like that here in Ireland too.

Edited January 20, 2010 by DinerLandlord