Darryl 'Brax' Braxton - Steve Peacocke

[pembie]

^ Yeah makes total sense even though I have never seen The Shield. It does sound like a pretty good show from the way you spoke about it.

Anyway even though Brax does his best trying to look out for his brothers. It tends to come across to me as the best ways of solving theirproblems is his way or nothing. I tend to think Casey and Heath (well not Heath so much now) Are somewhat afraid of Brax and they feel like they have to run everything past him first. Other times I feel Brax just butts in without giving Casey or Heath chance to sort things out or even ask him for help. Brax says his had enough of sorting stuff out for everyone But can't see him easing back anytime soon.

[Fyn3]

But Heath has changed and it wasn't Brax who helped. Yes Heath can still be hotheaded and go off on one when he doesn't read the situation properly (his reaction to the young therapist and thinking Romeo was going to fire him spring to mind) but he didn't get violent in those moments... yet he would of at the start. Without Brax influencing him then Heath is actually okay.

I think that Heath is lucky that he has had Brax looking out for him his whole life and it is thanks to Brax's influence that he currently in the position he is in.

In the two years that they have been on the show, every time Heath has gone directly against Brax's wishes/advice he has ended up in serious trouble or caused serious problems. Taking off with Jake's pills, smashing Hammer's car, striking up deals with Geoffrey King, pursuing the release of Danny from prison, challenging for legal custody of Darcy etc etc etc.

It is because of Brax that Heath was able to make the break away from drug dealing. Brax made it clear to him that he wanted Heath to stop and Heath on the most part has followed this request. He made it clear to Hayley when he supplied her with drugs that Brax would be extremely angry if he found out.

Brax also helped him during his rocky introduction to fatherhood. Preventing him from reacting badly at the hospital when Bianca and Rocco were both sick and encouraging Heath to spend time at Irene's when they returned home. Brax confided in Leah that one of his big motivations for keeping Danny away from his brothers was his worry about the negative impact that Danny would have on Heath's relationship with Rocco.

Brax has not always been able to keep Heath out of trouble but I believe he has tried his best on most occasions.

[Red Ranger 1]

You could argue that Brax at least contributed to Heath getting out of dealing drugs.But would Heath even have started if it wasn't for Brax?Brax talks about how if Danny had been around he would have used Heath as his sidekick and dragged him into crime but that's exactly what Brax was doing when we first met them.It seems Heath just swapped one head of the family who only saw him as a henchman for another.Brax also, knowingly or otherwise, allowed Adam to use Heath in the same manner, which resulted in him going to jail.When Brax eventually got out of the drug game(the first time), he didn't seem to make any effort to get Heath out as well, he just left him to carry on.He may have eventually made a token effort to get him to clean up his act but it was finding out he was a father that really set Heath on the road to be a better person, not anything Brax did.(Indeed, Brax seemed to find the idea of Heath being a father laughable at first and seemed happy to leave him in jail in ignorance.)

I wouldn't go so far as to say that Brax has ceased to be a positive influence on his family but the controlling aspect of his character is becoming ever more apparent.He makes sweeping decisions that affect everyone without consulting them:Who gets to live where, who gets what job.It's as if he doesn't know how to relate to them in any other way.On the rare occasion he does treat them as friends or equals, it seems to be because Heath or occasionally Casey has dragged him into it.

[Pierced Musie]

I always assumed that it was Brax who introduced Heath to most of the criminal activity through the years, which is why I have the opinion I do. It was obvious at the start that Heath looked up to Darryl and was disappointed in him when he decided to go legit to be with Charlie. Wouldn't you be disappointed if you had been influenced by someone for years to do things a certain(illegal) way, only for them to just drop it and move on without you? Did we ever see Darryl try to get Heath out of the criminal business in 2011? I can't remember now !

I'm not saying that Darryl is a negative influence completely but over the last couple of months I can see that without him completely controlling both Casey and Heath that those characters are changing for the better. I quite like that the changes in each Braxton has been subtle and has taken 2 years to show.

[shyongirl]

Brax shouldn't have fallen for it when Ricky said for him to keep a distance from Casey when he is grieving.

I feel disappointed him and Charlie are coming at the same time Casey gets

out of prison and has to deal with Tam and Kyle. It may take the shine off a

bit. A bit of excitement with heartbreak.

Librarian Note: This is the Character/Actor Discussion thread based on Australian paced episodes. Kindly refrain from posting spoilers in this thread - the Spoiler thread is the most appropriate place for it.

Edited June 8, 2013 by John
Capital letters added for names.

[Guest]

Chax may be back but I think it's only for a short time because Adam shoot Brax and I'm pretty sure in the end Brax will come back because in TV week I read that Brax tells Ricky he wants to be with her even though her brother shot him

[shyongirl]

Felt bad for Casey when he was almost crying when Ricky was there and Brax just shouted at him. Seems Brax is blind with love and forgetting his brother.

Edited July 3, 2013 by shyongirl

[shyongirl]

I have felt for Brax before but today did it for me. Being told he must keep a distance from Casey then leaving wasn't neccessary but he can't help but wants to so bad.

[shyongirl]

Amazing performance from Brax tonight.

[Jezz]

He was amazing on Wednesday's episode as well. Heartbreaking to watch!

Steve Peacocke is a star