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In this week’s edition of Gays of our Lives, stories come together on A Place to Call Home; Coronation Street gets topical; Days of our Lives drops the ball with Sonny and Paul; plus spoilers and more!
PICKS AND PANS
A Place To Call Home (Australia)
What an awesome episode. Just about perfect. There wasn’t a scene that wasn’t riveting and intriguing. This was delicious soap that had just about everything. I love how the stories are coming together and being intervowen rather than a bunch of different plots that don’t touch upon each other. That was a big problem last season.
Ugh. The flashbacks of the beating were brutal and tough to watch. Horrific. And judging by Harry’s reaction when he got a glimpse of James, Harry still loves him.
That was a good scene between Roy and Sarah where she explained to him about Harry and James. Of course a man like Roy wouldn’t believe that ‘strong’ men like Harry and James were gay. That was a funny moment at the end where Roy said something about Harry giving him the eye and Sarah laughed and said ‘I think you’ll be okay’. Roy’s reaction to that was priceless. I do hope along the way here, Roy learns something positive about gay folks.
I also like Sarah admitting she was helping Harry because no one helped Rene when he needed it. I love the use of history. I miss Rene with his hot, crazy self.
That was a fantastic scene between George and Regina where she vowed to destroy him if he didn’t do what she wanted. But I can’t believe the entire house didn’t hear that shouting match. And George later putting her in her place was awesome.
I did like Elizabeth confronting Richard and how she got right down to things and didn’t mince words. I’m more convinced than ever now he’s going to wind up dead at the end of the season. Murder mystery coming for sure.
If I had a complaint it would be that we didn’t get to see Henry. Boo.
So after all this time, they reveal why Todd came back so angry and mean in one scene? It was a strong moment and it made sense, but I wish it had been more of a story instead of a blip. But at least Todd isn’t HIV+. I thought for a second that’s where they were going. And I guess it’s the changing times that Billy wasn’t freaked out that Todd had a relationship with a man who was positive. Interesting that PREP was so casually discussed. I thought I’d read it was hard to get in the UK though.
Frankly, I think Todd seems rather casual about the possibility of being HIV or having hepatitis. You’d think he’d be a lot more worried. And now I’m curious if we’ll ever meet this man from Todd’s past.
At least they explained why Todd suddenly went to work for Pat; he was pissed and hurt at losing Billy. But now he’s realized what he was doing and he’s trapped in this mess. Todd is in over his head. And I just think that when this does blow up and the truth is revealed, he’s going to be left holding the bag and everyone will blame him for the scam.
It’s nice he got back with Billy though. I really like them together. I wish Todd would tell Billy the truth. But maybe he thinks he’d be putting Billy in danger if he did.
Days of Our Lives (U.S.)
Ugh. This Paul/Sonny stuff is terrible. The story just makes no sense and it doesn’t seem like the writers have put any thought into it. First of all, why aren’t they together? They had this sort of vague conversation about why they can’t go there again, but never explicitly said why. Sonny said it’s not about Will awhile back, then what is it?
Sonny talked about their past and their chemistry, but none of that is playing on screen. There is no longing, no romantic moments, no fleeing glances. Nothing. You’ve got these two hot guys who are smoking together, but the show is not playing it at all. Like most of the scenes on this show, it’s people sitting around in drab rooms having dull conversations. It’s hard to believe this show used to excel at romance and action/adventure stories.
And what was that weird spat that Sonny and Paul had about their families and Paul’s job? That came out of nowhere and seemed solely designed to create ‘drama’ between them. So far, this new writing team isn’t doing anything that would make me want to watch. Sonny is back and we’re seeing Paul more often but the storytelling is dreadful. Blech.
The show really hasn’t done much with Johnny since he came back. I think they only brought him back because Nancy was leaving and they wanted more Carter children on the canvas. But I’m wondering if they have any plans for him. Hopefully not a romance with Ben. Not so soon anyway. Why not have him date Tom for a bit, see what happens? He really needs a story.
I get why Pam would want to confront Paul’s killers, but I can’t see why she would think murderers and kidnappers would be swayed by her tears. This can’t go well.
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I watched the scenes with them so far. We’ve seen this story a million times before so I expect it’s a coming out story/romance with David and Rhys.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve heard of this show but never watched it. Until now.
There’s a Welsh soap opera (Rownd A Rownd on S4C with English subtitles on the BBC’s iPlayer if you can access that) and currently Rhys (a mechanic) is attracted to David (a businessman) who has a hairdresser girlfriend (Dani). David’s been innocuous with Rhys so far (about four scenes together) but I’m assuming they’re going to have an affair. (I might be wrong.) The show’s on twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I was so mad at Regina getting indignant about how George treated her after she raped him. It made seeing her torn down at the end so much sweeter.
I can’t want Ste to get custody when he is already putting his current responsibilities onto Harry. When Ste can take care of himself without needing his teenage boyfriend to do everything for him, I might consider him ready to take care of other people.
I was surprised by Holly’s death. They didn’t even tease that someone was going to die (like they are with the next few weeks). She was actually tolerable recently (and Jai as well). For most of her return, she was doing horrible drug related things and then acting confusing and hurt when people got mad at her about it. I’m still not sad to see her go since tolerable isn’t the same as enjoyable. I did like seeing Aaron rushing back to England to comfort Adam. It’s a shame that they don’t have more scenes together.
I’m confused about how the legal system works in EastEnders. How does what Pam did or Ben before her risk the case? I could see it getting them into some trouble, but would a judge throw out a murder charge because the victim’s mother talked to the murderer’s mother?
Meanwhile, on “General Hospital”, Lucas (and mother Bobbie) being attacked by the hospital serial killer was completely retconned away when Paul ridiculously explained his motive. Apparently, it just never happened. I hate this show so much.
Emmerdale has been pretty good in the few weeks that Aaron was off the canvas. I hope the actress who plays Moira gets recognized at the soap awards next year.
On Hollyoaks, Mercedes is one of those characters who has had so many dramatic storylines and is so abrasive that I get character fatigue – kind of like with Sammy Brady on DOOL. Speaking of MIA, when John Paul came down the stairs holding that little girl (I think it’s Mercedes’ kid but am not sure), I wondered where the hell his own son is. John Paul being a dad to Matthew should be a big factor in his stories rather than an afterthought. And I felt bad for Jesse and cheered when he knocked Celine back even if I thought he should have been more upset than he was.
I hated the Mel story on People of the Valley and will accept a clumsy, illogical ending if it means we are done with it.
Is this the final season of A Place to Call Home? I remember they renewed for two seasons after they de-canceled the show in season 2. Also, the actor who do James was casted on another show (Outland).