Darryl 'Brax' Braxton - Steve Peacocke

[jodlebirger]

With regard to too much being forgotten about Brax and Heath being a 'real man', who started most of the trouble that Brax had to clear up?

Heath was the one who smashed Hammers car which resulted in Stu Hendersons tattoo being cut off.

Heath was the one who took some of Jake's drugs which resulted in Brax being stabbed

Heath was the one who raided Jake's plantation and Brax had to get police involved to save him from being shot

Heath was the one who told on Jake to get shorter sentence which resulted in Hammer kidnapping Charlie, she shot him to save Brax and Jake shot her for that so ultimately Heath had a hand in that too;

It was Heath that got their father out of jail which resulted in Casey being involved in a armed robbery and killing Danny

The above are probably not in the correct order and I expect there are other things I have omitted, Brax is no angel by a long way but he is certainly no psychopath either. It seems that just because Heath has suddenly become a 'family man' he is forgiven everything, even been given a happy exit from the show.

In the beginning Brax was quite ruthless OK, but most of the things he has done have been to sort out problems caused by his brothers and Mother and to keep the family together. He has put his family first and done what ever it has taken to protect them, even if it wasn't always the right side of the law but is crucified for doing so.

This is a bit nonsense, because you have forgotten the whole lines.

It was Brax who was the main factor to the lead up, when Heath smashed Hammer's car... but Brax is more speculated and calculated and his actions are always somehow covered up... So we are supposed to think that Brax is the hero.. but when you really are watching the details, you see that it is Brax is really the bad guy.

And Brax actions against Jake and his brother, and that resulted in Charlie's death...

When Angelo was kidnapped by the Braxtons, Brax was the brain behind the actions. And he ordered Heath to do things to Angelo so he wouldn't be able to testify. He was too much of a covard to do things himself, because then he wouldn't be able to let Heath take the blame. But the less calculated but hot head Heath messed up things. He hit Angelo with a shovel, but Brax told him to "finish" the job... Heath took him to the hospital.

Brax was the one who took the restaurant away from Angelo, not Heath!!

Brax is always being a bully when something is up, Heath has learned to react more like a "normal person" now. But Brax is getting worse and worse.

Like when Charlie died, he had just lost his girlfriend of 3 days (and 6 months of arguing if they should be a couple or not), and he was acting like he owned Charlie and like he was the victim. Ruby was the sister/daughter and she was never like Brax.

He acted aggressive towards the doctors when Casey was hurt multiple times.

Brax is the one who never want to call the police, when they are threatened.

He threatened and almost abused a half badly injured Tamara when she had escaped from Adam.

Brax is more manipulative towards his girlfriends than Heath has been towards Bianca (Bianca is the dominating one there).

Brax is trying to run his brothers lives and the writers justify it with this "Brax is so" protective thing, but being manipulative has nothing to do with brotherly love.

And so on... the list is long.

I am not saying that Heath was an angel, but Brax was the brain against his actions a lot of the times. And Heath has changed, and Brax hasn't.

[Lila_Q]

As much as I (usually) like him I also think that Brax is mastermind behind everything and that most of the time he is portrayed as hero even if he is not. However I think that it was partially Charlie's fault for ending up the way she has. As police officer she should've known that there was no way that leader of the gang is not involved in gang's business - he made her look like an idiot and some gullible high school girl. She kept going back to him over and over again. This whole "Jake problem'' started when Brax impulsively decided to leave the gang (as if that was that easy) and when Heath took over problems started. After Charlie died Ruby told him once that he was not the only one Charlie loved (when he had a go at Leah for wearing Charlie's perfume), but Ruby had her share of doing stupid things. And I agree that most of the time he is trying to manipulate/influence his brothers - when they have a problems he is winging that they expect him to help; when they tell him to back off he is chasing them around the town and call for a family meeting. I don't believe that he puts family first all the time - he had no problem leaving Heath behind to go to the city with Charlie, or to let Casey deal with his problems so that he could live happily with Ricky.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Lila_Q

[Fyn3]

It was Brax who was the main factor to the lead up, when Heath smashed Hammer's car... but Brax is more speculated and calculated and his actions are always somehow covered up... So we are supposed to think that Brax is the hero.. but when you really are watching the details, you see that it is Brax is really the bad guy.

And Brax actions against Jake and his brother, and that resulted in Charlie's death...

I think your dislike of Brax may have clouded your memory of these events jodlebirger. KIMF1 is exactly right, Heath was the one who instigated all of the trouble with Jake Pirovic and Brax and Casey were the ones who paid the biggest price. Brax had nothing to do with bringing Jake into their lives. Heath decided to go out alone in the drug trade after Brax walked away. He was unorganised and didn't really know what he was doing and decided to use Jake Pirovic's turf. Brax begged him not to but Heath went ahead anyway. Brax organised the police to step in when he found out Jake's gang were planning to kill Heath and the boys. Heath turned "dog" against Jake to get out of gaol early which again put him in the firing line of Jake's Boys. Brax stepped in (once again) to help Heath and managed to scare Hammer into walking away. Brax begged Heath to lay low but Heath couldn't help himself and went and smashed the car which ignited the war. On top of that, Heath then stole some of Jake's drugs which Tegan gave him to hide. Brax reacted to protect his family. He certainly didn't cause the problem or go looking for trouble. That was Heath!

When Angelo was kidnapped by the Braxtons, Brax was the brain behind the actions. And he ordered Heath to do things to Angelo so he wouldn't be able to testify. He was too much of a covard to do things himself, because then he wouldn't be able to let Heath take the blame. But the less calculated but hot head Heath messed up things. He hit Angelo with a shovel, but Brax told him to "finish" the job... Heath took him to the hospital.

That was not what happened at all! Brax did not know Angelo found the drug crop, he was with Charlie. Heath saw Angelo and hit him on the head with the shovel. Heath called Brax to come and help and when Brax got there, he told Brody to take Angelo away from the site in his car. He did not tell anyone to "finish" the job. Brody took him to hospital but got caught. And no one kidnapped Angelo.

Like when Charlie died, he had just lost his girlfriend of 3 days (and 6 months of arguing if they should be a couple or not), and he was acting like he owned Charlie and like he was the victim. Ruby was the sister/daughter and she was never like Brax.

So he was not entitled to mourn Charlie's death because Ruby was closer to her than him? Ruby's relationship to Charlie was completely different to Brax's but they both loved her and her death torn them both to pieces. They both dealt with their grief in their own way.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Fyn3

[KIMIF1]

If I remember correctly, Brax even asked Heath to go to the city with him and Charlie as he was worried about leaving him to his own resources.

He had always put Casey first no matter what from when he was seventeen, I think he was entitled to think of himself for once without it being thought of as selfishness. What was he supposed to do, give up his own happiness I take it.

With regard to him chasing his brothers, if he hadn't bothered Heath would more than likely be dead and Casey certainly wouldn't have got much education he would have probably finished up at the fish factory with his mother

Another thing, I would have thought it a good thing for Brax to leave the gang which he did for Charlie and certainly wasn't impulsive he knew it was something he needed to do for her. The decision Heath made to raid Jakes place was entirely his, he was trying to show the boys that he was the strong one and that Brax was weak and made a mess of it as usual.

Edited July 28, 2014 by KIMIF1

[Lila_Q]

If I remember correctly, Brax even asked Heath to go to the city with him and Charlie as he was worried about leaving him to his own resources.

He had always put Casey first no matter what from when he was seventeen, I think he was entitled to think of himself for once without it being thought of as selfishness. What was he supposed to do, give up his own happiness I take it.

With regard to him chasing his brothers, if he hadn't have bothered Heath would more than likely be dead and Casey certainly wouldn't have got much education he would have probably finished up at the fish factory with his mother

I think regarding Casey - Brax chose his happiness at the wrong time, he should've waited a bit until situation settled down. He put Casey first every time before and to put himself first this time was completely out of Brax's character (and for what he stood for) - but they needed to add more drama to it. I can't remember Casey getting education - Bianca pulled strings to get his HSC trial exam results recognised.

As for Brax leaving the gang - for someone who was the leader of 'notorious' (as they said) gang, Brax should've known that it wouldn't be so easy to leave. I think that he didn't think that through very well. Charlie told him how Casey looks up to him and he decided to leave without thinking about consequences. He should've thought about what would happen if Heath takes over and what would he have to do to clean Heath's mess that's why I said it was impulsive. He came to the Bay and got into 'legal business' and he was trying to gain respect of people, and not to be just another River Boy. He wanted out to give Casey better life and apparently because of Charlie (who still didn't want to be open about their relationship), but it is small town and it was tough gang and before you know he was back in.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Lila_Q

[Fyn3]

Yes, Brax definitely tried to get Heath to move to the city with him even though he knew Charlie wasn't happy about it. He didn't want to leave him behind.

As for the Casey/Ricky situation, that was a tricky one. I agree that Brax could have waited a bit longer before moving Ricky into the house, especially considering how low Casey was at the time. I think that Brax thought that Casey would get over his hatred towards Ricky a lot quicker than he did. He knew that Casey was directing all his anger at the situation with Tamara at Ricky and didn't take it seriously enough. But his tough love approach backfired when Casey moved out. Brax never intended for it to become a choice between the two - he loves them both. Brax was pretty miserable about his divide with Casey that whole time and jumped on every opportunity to get him back to the house.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Fyn3

[Lila_Q]

Yes, Brax definitely tried to get Heath to move to the city with him even though he knew Charlie wasn't happy about it. He didn't want to leave him behind.

As for the Casey/Ricky situation, that was a tricky one. I agree that Brax could have waited a bit longer before moving Ricky into the house, especially considering how low Casey was at the time. I think that Brax thought that Casey would get over his hatred towards Ricky a lot quicker than he did. He knew that Casey was directing all his anger at the situation with Tamara at Ricky and didn't take it seriously enough. But his tough love approach backfired when Casey moved out. Brax never intended for it to become a choice between the two - he loves them both. Brax was pretty miserable about his divide with Casey that whole time and jumped on every opportunity to get him back to the house.

I agree Brax didn't think Casey would move out, but he shouldn't have asked her to move in. I was a bit surprised Ricky decided to move in after everything she's done, IMO she should've given them space. I reckon I would respect her more because of that. That was completely selfish act IMO. She came to the Bay to divide them and at the end she succeeded.

[Fyn3]

I agree Brax didn't think Casey would move out, but he shouldn't have asked her to move in. I was a bit surprised Ricky decided to move in after everything she's done, IMO she should've given them space. I reckon I would respect her more because of that. That was completely selfish act IMO. She came to the Bay to divide them and at the end she succeeded.

I hate it when Brax and Casey are divided more than anything so I agree with you to a certain degree but I have to defend Ricky in this scenario.

When Adam was manipulating her, she had a clear agenda to separate Brax from his brothers which I was hating. But in the aftermath of Brax's shooting I thought it became clear very quickly that that was Adam's agenda and not hers. She tried to leave Brax numerous times because she didn't want to come between him and his family. She tried to walk away from him at least four or five times. He kept begging her to stay and he eventually got sick of it and gave her an ultimatum - stay or walk out the door and never come back. Brax was adamant. But once Ricky moved in she became more and more guilty seeing the strain her presence had placed on Brax and Casey's relationship and how upset Brax was and she tried to sneak away so he couldn't stop her. Tamara caught her and convinced her to stay. Ricky won me over around this time.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Fyn3

[Lila_Q]

I agree Brax didn't think Casey would move out, but he shouldn't have asked her to move in. I was a bit surprised Ricky decided to move in after everything she's done, IMO she should've given them space. I reckon I would respect her more because of that. That was completely selfish act IMO. She came to the Bay to divide them and at the end she succeeded.

I hate it when Brax and Casey are divided more than anything so I agree with you to a certain degree but I have to defend Ricky in this scenario.

When Adam was manipulating her, she had a clear agenda to separate Brax from his brothers which I was hating. But in the aftermath of Brax's shooting I thought it became clear very quickly that that was Adam's agenda and not hers. She tried to leave Brax numerous times because she didn't want to come between him and his family. She tried to walk away from him at least four or five times. He kept begging her to stay and he eventually got sick of it and gave her an ultimatum - stay or walk out the door and never come back. Brax was adamant. But once Ricky moved in she became more and more guilty seeing the strain her presence had placed on Brax and Casey's relationship and how upset Brax was and she tried to sneak away so he couldn't stop her. Tamara caught her and convinced her to stay. Ricky won me over around this time.

I'm really struggling with her character. Sometimes I like her, sometimes I don't.

I think it's because IMO she knew what she was doing when she came to the Bay and I'm not convinced she was completely manipulated by Adam. She knew Adam and I don't know what she thought he was going to do at the end. Adam blamed Brax for leaving him to die, and actually Heath was the one who left him (same family different brother), so it's not like he lied about being left for to die. She had so many opportunities to come clean but she hasn't, they would've been better off knowing who was behind it all. Also Jamie was also 'manipulated' by Adam but he ended up in jail, and she got away with it. Tamara said she remembered something that could help her at the trail - she needed Tamara for the trail she would have even if she moved out, she didn't have to stay at the Braxton's house. Her trial didn't have anything to do with her living arrangements. I think I'm starting to have a problem that all criminal activities done by main characters happen to be justified and forgotten, I'm hoping they will change that when RB leave (Jesse, Roman, Ruby, Kane, Will have done wrong things but they paid for that).

I actually liked her when she came to the Bay, I thought she was better match for Brax that Nat and Charlie, but after all that 'revenge' storyline and aftermath I just don't like her all the time.

I look forward seeing Brax without Heath. Tonight's episode was bittersweet, Brax was both happy and sad that Heath's leaving, I really liked their brotherly bond.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Lila_Q

[KIMIF1]

Ok Brax may have come on a bit strong with the Doctors perhaps, but no way was he bullying them. The anxiety of whether Casey was going to pull through talking.

With Tam here again he wasn't bullying her, he was desperate to find out where Ricky was being held again it was a case of life or death.

As regards him being a coward that something he cannot be accused of, who was it faced Danny when Heath got him out of jail - that was another mess Heath caused and ran away from.

Just because Heath suddenly becomes 'family friendly' he is made out to be a saint and Brax the sinner.

On Ricky I liked here in the very beginning but when it became obvious what she was doing I changed my mind a bit. Have liked her for some time now, I think they really suit each other but if she goes back to Nate even for one night I think that would be it for me.