Characters that didn't reach their full potential

[project90]

Which characters  could have been great but just didn't get there because there wasn't a strong enough actor, bad writing or just not on screen long enough. 

[hapitoby]

At the top of my head - Skye, Oscar, Hannah, Spencer, Jai, Geoff, Annie, Ryder, Kyle (kinda...I feel like they wanted him to be different from the Braxtons but he was exactly the same as it went on).

[j.laur5]

Matt Page- In his final 10  months it did seem like he was in background a lot but I guess they gave him a more realistic approach  towards the end like him taking responsibility for his sister and then slowly getting together with Evie. 
 

Kyle Braxton -He had enough storyline’s but his character could have done much better if he shared more scenes with other characters outside the Braxton's circle.

Hunter King-I think they could have gave him more interesting storyline towards end like perhaps having Hunter become friends with Dean and join Riverboys for bit and relook until his bad boy side again without obviously going too crazy. 
 

Dean Thompson-His character now is in background lot more and I think I preferred Dean more as bit of bad boy. 
 

 

[adam436]

7 hours ago, hapitoby said:

At the top of my head - Skye, Oscar, Hannah, Spencer, Jai, Geoff, Annie, Ryder, Kyle (kinda...I feel like they wanted him to be different from the Braxtons but he was exactly the same as it went on).

Oscar, Spencer, Jai, Geoff and Kyle all suffered from the "nice guy syndrome". The current writers tend to favour the "bad boys" like the Braxtons, Ash. the Paratas, Dean, Robbo, Aden etc. which means the "nice guys" get sidelined usually. Mason is another who would fall into that category. Hannah just suffered from being caught up romantic stories

The majority of mine didn't reach their full potential because they didn't stay long enough, but some of them also suffered from a lack of interesting storylines. 

A few more: 

• The late nineties teen gang - Tegan, Liam, Stephanie, Casey, Aaron. Other than Justine and Joey, they all lasted less than two years so there was so much more that could have been done with them
• Stacey and Phil - Phil had potential as the local neighbourhood doctor, that has become a staple of the show for the last twenty years. Stacey hung around doing very little for most of her stint, particularly after Phil died. 
• Seb Miller - other than his eating disorder, he pretty much just got sucked into romantic storylines. Perhaps another "nice guy" who just got forgotten next to the more rebellious Nick and Kirsty, but I feel like having Stewart and Fisher blood should have meant he was just more effectively. 
• Edward Dunglass - made a massive impact in a short period of time, but I am adding him here because he was so short-lived. 
• Brody Morgan - the recent revelation that the character was intended to be gay may have had something to do with it, but Brody was a complete waste. Breaking down his marriage to Ziggy so quickly seemed odd that you have to wonder why the writers even went there in the first place 
• The Nash family - in hindsight, they were pretty there just to "bridge the gap" between Pippa and the Sutherlands, but I feel they had so much long-term potential. Joel was a strong father figure, a former Summer Bay resident and I could see him being a long-term local policeman, in a similar way Frank Gilroy was to A Country Practice. Tom also suffered from the "nice guy syndrome" I described above, and also pretty much just got sucked into romantic storylines from the start. The Nashes had a big year in 1998, but come 1999, Joel and Natalie were pretty much dropped to supporting roles and Gypsy emerged as the breakout character, so I think Tom got sidelined somewhat. I assume Joel, Natalie and Tom were axed to make way for the Sutherlands, so for me, the Nashes, or at least Joel, is definitely the biggest "what could have been" of Home and Away. 
• Shauna Bradley - again, mostly got bogged down in romantic storylines. Maybe if Judy Nunn had stayed on, Shauna would have been used more effectively. I don't even recall too many scenes between Shauna and Alf/Duncan after Ailsa died (though I haven't seen 2001 episodes since then!), so she just felt like another run-of-the-mill 20something by the end.
• Lynn Davenport - it was a shame to lose a member of the original Fletcher line up so early on. She definitely had the least interesting back story of the original Fletcher children, but it's a shame the producers chose to write her out so early. Coming from a big family, Lynn's siblings could have been an avenue for introducing future foster children into the show. 

[hapitoby]

7 hours ago, j.laur5 said:

Matt Page- In his final 10  months it did seem like he was in background a lot but I guess they gave him a more realistic approach  towards the end like him taking responsibility for his sister and then slowly getting together with Evie. 
 

Kyle Braxton -He had enough storyline’s but his character could have done much better if he shared more scenes with other characters outside the Braxton's circle.

Hunter King-I think they could have gave him more interesting storyline towards end like perhaps having Hunter become friends with Dean and join Riverboys for bit and relook until his bad boy side again without obviously going too crazy. 
 

Dean Thompson-His character now is in background lot more and I think I preferred Dean more as bit of bad boy. 
 

 

He was there for about a year after Brax left - plenty of time to him engage with others but he was still stuck in the family circle. As much as I didn't like Pheobe, they did the opposite with her and gave her more to do once the Braxtons left - though they pretty much just threw her with the Morgans.

 

2 hours ago, adam436 said:

Oscar, Spencer, Jai, Geoff and Kyle all suffered from the "nice guy syndrome". The current writers tend to favour the "bad boys" like the Braxtons, Ash. the Paratas, Dean, Robbo, Aden etc. which means the "nice guys" get sidelined usually. Mason is another who would fall into that category. Hannah just suffered from being caught up romantic stories

The majority of mine didn't reach their full potential because they didn't stay long enough, but some of them also suffered from a lack of interesting storylines. 

A few more: 

• The late nineties teen gang - Tegan, Liam, Stephanie, Casey, Aaron. Other than Justine and Joey, they all lasted less than two years so there was so much more that could have been done with them
• Stacey and Phil - Phil had potential as the local neighbourhood doctor, that has become a staple of the show for the last twenty years. Stacey hung around doing very little for most of her stint, particularly after Phil died. 
• Seb Miller - other than his eating disorder, he pretty much just got sucked into romantic storylines. Perhaps another "nice guy" who just got forgotten next to the more rebellious Nick and Kirsty, but I feel like having Stewart and Fisher blood should have meant he was just more effectively. 
• Edward Dunglass - made a massive impact in a short period of time, but I am adding him here because he was so short-lived. 
• Brody Morgan - the recent revelation that the character was intended to be gay may have had something to do with it, but Brody was a complete waste. Breaking down his marriage to Ziggy so quickly seemed odd that you have to wonder why the writers even went there in the first place 
• The Nash family - in hindsight, they were pretty there just to "bridge the gap" between Pippa and the Sutherlands, but I feel they had so much long-term potential. Joel was a strong father figure, a former Summer Bay resident and I could see him being a long-term local policeman, in a similar way Frank Gilroy was to A Country Practice. Tom also suffered from the "nice guy syndrome" I described above, and also pretty much just got sucked into romantic storylines from the start. The Nashes had a big year in 1998, but come 1999, Joel and Natalie were pretty much dropped to supporting roles and Gypsy emerged as the breakout character, so I think Tom got sidelined somewhat. I assume Joel, Natalie and Tom were axed to make way for the Sutherlands, so for me, the Nashes, or at least Joel, is definitely the biggest "what could have been" of Home and Away. 
• Shauna Bradley - again, mostly got bogged down in romantic storylines. Maybe if Judy Nunn had stayed on, Shauna would have been used more effectively. I don't even recall too many scenes between Shauna and Alf/Duncan after Ailsa died (though I haven't seen 2001 episodes since then!), so she just felt like another run-of-the-mill 20something by the end.
• Lynn Davenport - it was a shame to lose a member of the original Fletcher line up so early on. She definitely had the least interesting back story of the original Fletcher children, but it's a shame the producers chose to write her out so early. Coming from a big family, Lynn's siblings could have been an avenue for introducing future foster children into the show. 

Very well put. Mason was so recent and I forgot about him - which really says how wasted he was. He was my favourite Morgan when they arrived but quickly faded into the background. His nice guy syndrome even affected his relationships where he was treated as a rebound -evie and Olivia. Or Lara who just used him for info for the syndicate. 

 

Lucas was someone that also was a background and "nice guy" character. The only stand out moments was when he acted out and became a bit rebellious i.e. hating living with the hunters, post break up with Belle, when Tony slept with Naomi.

 

[SunlightLurker]

Gemma Parata. The matriarch of the family, she was within a few months the other woman in the on the rocks Maggie and Ben relationship then flown to New Zealand in an underwhelming departure that focused more on Colby keeping Nikau, Ari and Tane from leaving. It meant it fell on Ari then Tane depending on who was in trouble at the time to be the leader of the family unit, and Mia never really filled the role Gemma did. Beyond the family's early housing crisis and keeping Ari and Nikau from butting heads she didn't really have much to do.

[Homeandawayfan.]

Alison Patterson. Then again she was so unlikeable, the character had no more mileage left in her and she was alienated by the community so did a bunk and has never return, although practically half her family have featured since, her cousin Vinnie etc.

[ter06]

Terri Garner - I loved her back in the 90s and she was around for a good few years. Had a few notable storylines including sleeping with Tom Nash! She also killed Saul! She was important enough to be recast and have her own house but I always thought they could have done more with her 

[adam436]

I'd say Celia Stewart is another one. She started off as a one-dimensional Christian do-gooder/busybody who was a polar opposite to Alf but the writers slowly developed her by giving her a tragic backstory, taking Roo and Craig Barnett under her wing and falling for Morag's friend Nigel. That development was thrown out the window though, and she pretty much just ran the grocery store from Alf's bait shop,bickered with Alf and Morag and got caught up in comedy subplots (the hot dog van, the goldfish funeral). Not hard to see why she was written out. 

What more could have been done with her? She could have becoming a foster parent (seeing it as her "Christian duty"), which could have brought out a different side to the character. Was it ever confirmed Les died or did he just never return? What if Les resurfaced after all those years? I imagine it would turn Celia's world upside down, especially given Les' death pretty much defined her life for the following 20 years. 

[j.laur5]

32 minutes ago, adam436 said:

I'd say Celia Stewart is another one. She started off as a one-dimensional Christian do-gooder/busybody who was a polar opposite to Alf but the writers slowly developed her by giving her a tragic backstory, taking Roo and Craig Barnett under her wing and falling for Morag's friend Nigel. That development was thrown out the window though, and she pretty much just ran the grocery store from Alf's bait shop,bickered with Alf and Morag and got caught up in comedy subplots (the hot dog van, the goldfish funeral). Not hard to see why she was written out. 

What more could have been done with her? She could have becoming a foster parent (seeing it as her "Christian duty"), which could have brought out a different side to the character. Was it ever confirmed Les died or did he just never return? What if Les resurfaced after all those years? I imagine it would turn Celia's world upside down, especially given Les' death pretty much defined her life for the following 20 years. 

It was actually Fiona Space choice to leave and she said interview that she wanted to move to Melbourne and thought show was only going last couple of years.

I think Celia was type character that did not too much of storyline’s as she definitely was type character that work well as town figure. 
 

I love that quote when Ailsa said to Alf that Barbara is  most normal one out of you  sisters .

I think Alf thought so too as notched in early years that  Alf quiet often spoken down to Celia and Morag and not with Barbara .