Maddy Osborne - Kassandra Clementi

[Slade]

Maddy is a selfish, self-centered, attention seeking drama queen. On the surface she may have angelic features but underneath she's shown herself to be a manipulative individual.

She first started to annoy me regarding her attitude towards Roo. Roo decided to take her under her wing and treat her as her own daughter and Maddy was petulant, ungrateful and generally being a brat. She would purposely be disobedient purely for the sake of being difficult and because she had very little respect for other people. It certainly didn't help that Roo would treat her with kid gloves, mollycoddling her rather than putting her foot down and showing some discipline. I specifically recall one episode where Alf asked her to do something, she refused and went crying to Roo playing the victim putting on the butter-wouldn't-melt act and purposely causing an argument between them. Even when Alf threatened to throw her out, Maddy still refused to comply. He was bluffing but it didn't work. She only apologised in the end for her behaviour because Spencer gave her an ultimatum.

I don't really care much about her relationship with Josh but she didn't have a good attitude towards his studies when it came to his exams. And it was all about her. Her attitude was that she was going to pass them with flying colours because she was so talented and he was going to fail because he was so dumb. She was quite dismissive and didn't like that his attention wasn't exclusively directed towards her when he had to study. When she did attempt the study group it didn't go well. So to my delight Josh passed and she didn't. The best thing about that was not the fact that she failed (which I imagine other posters would have really enjoyed) but she couldn't get her head around the fact that Josh beat her. She couldn't be happy for him. She even tried to blame Zac having a personal issue with her for her own failure. And when Sophie eventually said she had to repeat, that was the icing on the cake.

Obviously during this time Josh and Evelyn went behind Maddy's back and did the dirty - I'm not going to even try to deny that. So they were going out, frustrated and in love Maddy wanted to get back with him but as payback to the person who stole her man out of pure spite and malice, she prostituted herself, taking advantage of the fact that Oscar had fallen for her purely because he was the closest person to Evelyn and she wanted to hit her right where it hurt.

I was quite indifferent to her sleeping with Josh after Casey died but have to admit, I really enjoyed it when Alf laid into her and said she was low. I think she did use the situation to her advantage but Josh wanted it just as much or even more than she did. It's also interesting that she was so focused on that she didn't really seem to care about Casey's death even they were pretty close at one point.

Oscar has not done himself any favours. And I've gone into depth about how stupid and delusional he's been but Maddy continued to take advantage of the situation. Not backing off and giving him space during his community service, shortly after he realised that she used him. Again she took advantage of his infatuation to offer to go with him to the dance purely to get closer to Josh - Not because she wanted to spend any time with Oscar. She only called him when she was bored and nobody else wanted to spend any time with her. Inviting him for a shopping spree, stealing Roo's credit card (Despite everything Roo had done for her). When she thought she was pregnant and believed that Josh might not be the father she wanted Oscar to lie about it as some sort of way to entrap Josh with very little regard for how it affected Oscar. The thing that makes me laugh is that she actually went on to claim that Oscar was her best friend. Because he was weak, submissive and did what she wanted. And I'll say what I said then, with friends like Maddy who needs enemies! I believe that Oscar had a lot of potential as a character that has been ruined by Maddy.

Then we have the big C. It annoyed me how she did the disappearing act once again with very little regard for how it affected the people who cared about her. But they ruin the end of the season finale and the exciting bus crash with her damn voiceover. And now that she believes she's going to die, she suddenly 'decides' that she is in love with Oscar now and wants a 'relationship' with him. The timing couldn't have been anymore convenient. Let's not forget the fact that she has become completely dependent at someone being at her beck and call. That person has now wised up and realised that he's being played so with all this under threat Maddy basically gives him what he wanted all along.

When Nate first told Maddy she was pregnant, I was dreading that storyline because I knew it would suck several characters in. When it was revealed that it was cancer my fear was that killing her off would effectively martyr her so I actually was hoping that she would be cured ASAP. This is the worst possible outcome for me. We are going to have to sit through several months of characters basically acting like she's the best thing since sliced bread and devoting a significant amount of their time to her. It's bad enough seeing Roo continue the mollycoddling but at least that's understandable. Now we have Spencer arranging the charity event and trying to suck Josh and Evelyn in. Oh and that idiot Chris wants to help too. And I'm sure the rest of the Summer Bay residents will be lining up. And I'm concerned that other characters will be ruined like Oscar is. Putting asside all that the worst thing about this storyline is the way she apparently seems to have given up. I actually preferred her before because although she was unlikeable at least she was entertaining. Now I'm finding her quite boring.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think a lot of the problems people have with Maddy are that she’s a teenage girl. She and Roo are family and they treat each other as such and yes, that means that Maddy isn’t overly polite and well-behaved, she’s downright rude and sulky at times, like all teenagers are with their mothers. Alf’s behaviour to her at times, especially in the early days, has come across as undermining Roo, by disciplining Maddy for the sake of disciplining her and making threats that Roo wouldn’t want him to. I could probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Roo has genuinely been too soft on Maddy, and I think producing a nurturing environment is no bad thing.

It’s ironic that the months in which Maddy was a good girlfriend to Josh and he often treated her badly seem to be ignored, instead focusing on the last few weeks when she was shown in an unfavourable light to justify him cheating on her. And even then much of it was his fault…or possibly Matt’s fault for basically telling him to lie to Maddy. She probably shouldn’t have just assumed he wasn’t interested in study but he didn’t do much to dissuade her, instead lying to her and avoiding her. And then she failed the exam which was entirely her own fault even though she tried to blame it on other people, and she didn’t do herself any favours with her attitude. Neither she nor Josh had much empathy for the other but I don’t think it was entirely down to her to put aside her feelings and be supportive.

Then Josh cheated on her and the prevailing opinion seemed to be that because he and Evelyn were “in love” (even though he’d professed his love to Maddy a week earlier), this was all fine and dandy, they’d done nothing wrong, they’d no reason to feel guilty and Maddy should just get over herself. I’m sorry but I don’t believe for one second that Maddy slept with Oscar to get back at Evelyn. Her attitude when Evelyn found her in the house the next morning was not that of someone who’d scored a point, it was of someone embarrassed and ashamed, who knew she’d done the wrong thing. Evelyn was just self-centred enough to think it was all about her. Maddy did a lot of wrong things during this period: Using Oscar (although I think she did care for him as a friend despite often treating him badly), stealing from Roo, keeping the fact she might not be having Josh’s baby from him. But I could forgive her for them, because it always felt like the result of her being insecure, of investing a lot of time, energy and love in Josh only to be dumped as soon as he had another option and left feeling unloved and worthless, and doing stupid things to make herself feel better, sleeping with a boy she didn’t love just to feel wanted, buying endless new clothes to make herself feel attractive, trying to get Josh back in her life by hook or by crook. And most of it backfired on her and didn’t make her any happier.

And then she was diagnosed with cancer, and didn’t handle it the best way she could have done. But who would? She was young and scared, and she ran away and convinced herself she was being noble, and well and truly hit the self-destruct button. And Oscar pulled her back from the edge and convinced her to face up to things. I’m not sure how I feel about their relationship. I think it has potential but I don’t believe Maddy loves him and her claims to the contrary make me a bit uncomfortable. I think there are feelings there and that she is sincere and has convinced herself she loves him, but that’s not the same as actually loving him.

I don’t think she’s given up and I think people around her are overreacting a bit. She knows she might not survive and she has that in mind even though she’s still fighting and still trying to enjoy life. I almost wish I was watching this storyline ten years from now, knowing the outcome. Because at the moment I’m torn between enjoying it as an in-depth study of a young person with cancer and being desperately afraid that she’s going to die. She really doesn’t deserve that.

[Slade]

I generally avoid responding to your posts re Maddy which up until recently very often seemed to defend virtually any negative comment I made about her so I should probably continue biting my tongue here. And I can't see any good coming from this but here goes:

I think a lot of the problems people have with Maddy are that she’s a teenage girl.

It's interesting you say that because that and some of the reasons given above to defend/excuse some of the things I've criticised her about have been used to criticise other characters.

It’s ironic that the months in which Maddy was a good girlfriend to Josh and he often treated her badly seems to be ignored, instead focusing on the last few weeks when she was shown in an unfavourable light to justify him cheating on her.

Show me one post where I've said it was OK for him to cheat on her.

Then Josh cheated on her and the prevailing opinion seemed to be that because he and Evelyn were “in love” (even though he’d professed his love to Maddy a week earlier), this was all fine and dandy, they’d done nothing wrong, they’d no reason to feel guilty and Maddy should just get over herself.

Again don't recall saying they did nothing wrong. In fact I even said above they did the dirty which seems to have been ignored.

I’m sorry but I don’t believe for one second that Maddy slept with Oscar to get back at Evelyn. Her attitude when Evelyn found her in the house the next morning was not that of someone who’d scored a point, it was of someone embarrassed and ashamed, who knew she’d done the wrong thing.

And? Is it not feasible that she fully intended to sleep with Oscar to get back at Evelyn, followed through with her plan then the morning after her thought process was something along the lines of "What have I done?". Then the guilt and remorse kicked in. And she felt ashamed, even though the damage had already been done. Do people not do things without being able to think about the consequences unless doing so retrospectively? Did she not kiss Oscar at school in front of Evelyn/Josh purely for Evelyn's benefit the day before? Did Spencer not warn Oscar off Maddy shortly after that because he knew she was up to something and he was concerned that Oscar would get hurt?

For clarification (in case nobody had worked out from my posts in the UK thread or here) I really don't like Maddy and my post above was not intended to provide balance. I wanted to highlight the reasons why I dislike her and find her annoying. And why should I feel obliged to be impartial?

[Red Ranger 1]

I know what you mean, I should learn to bite my tongue too, defending Maddy is a bit of a gut instinct thing. I knew when I was typing it the bits that could be misconstrued and really should have edited them to make it clear I was talking in general terms rather than applying directly to your post. I do probably beat other characters with the same stick Maddy gets beaten with, so to speak: Every teenager on the show talks like that to their guardian, some are better than her, some worse, and I guess it depends how much we like them how much we mind. I’m not saying you defended Josh and Evelyn cheating but I am saying the show was disproportionate: There was almost no negativity about what they did from the other characters, with most of it directed at Josh and everyone who had a go at Evelyn being portrayed as being in the wrong in my opinion, whereas Maddy twice gets “slut-shamed” by other characters (usually Evelyn, which didn’t help my feelings of injustice).

Your interpretation of what happened between Maddy and Oscar is as valid as mine, even though I don’t share it.

[JosieTash]

Although I’ve not really been a fan of Maddy’s since not long after she arrived, this year has turned my opinion around.

I’m thinking that she’s been less of a princess, or maybe because of the cancer it’s not annoyed me as much. I like her friendship with Oscar, and with Sasha gone, Mads is probably my fave character right now.

I’ll add that, although it’s superficial, I really like her style. Her clothes/style seems to be whilst maybe not all fashionista, it’s certainly a cut above the other girls in the show. I’ll add that I LOOOVED Sasha’s very defined retro stylings.

For the icing on the cake, whilst all the other teens were groaning about having to go to the War Memorial, it was SUPERB to see/hear that Maddy’s UBER proud that her great grandfather fought in World War 2.

Edited April 19, 2015 by JosieTash

[John]

I'm hopeful for the character of Maddy. People who survive a bout of cancer often emerge with a fresh appreciation of what's important in life. They become more grateful for the opportunities they have been given realising how easily they can be snatched away.

I hope that if Maddy gets together with Matt that she will devote herself at least a little toward supporting him. There have been signs of this change in her concern for Alf during his current issues.

[dee123]

Nasty brat of a character. Haven't hated anyone this much since Maddie on Hollyoaks. If cancer was the writers way of trying to get the audience to like her than, sorry, big fail.

[Tebzpriscilla]

Nasty brat of a character. Haven't hated anyone this much since Maddie on Hollyoaks. If cancer was the writers way of trying to get the audience to like her than, sorry, big fail.

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.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Tebzpriscilla

[Slade]

If cancer was the writers way of trying to get the audience to like her than, sorry, big fail.

I know pathetic isn't it? After being annoying and highly unlikeable for quite a while they play the cancer card. They couldn't even be bothered to give her a different illness. But yep not falling for it.

[dee123]

Nasty brat of a character. Haven't hated anyone this much since Maddie on Hollyoaks. If cancer was the writers way of trying to get the audience to like her than, sorry, big fail.

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

Edited May 16, 2015 by dee123