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In this edition of Gays of Our Lives, we take a look at the new sci-fi drama Class, a spin off classic series Dr. Who. It’s about a group of teens attending a high school where creepy crawlies are always killing off the students. Hailing a gay lead character, it got our attention, but is this show worth a peek? Plus, Emmerdale had it’s disaster week and (SPOILER ALERT!) Robert and Aaron survived. But will they survive the aftermath? Also, the latest on A Place To Call Home, Hollyoaks, Neighbours and (blech) Days of our Lives. And lots more!
GAYS OF OUR LIVES: PICKS AND PANS
A Place To Call Home (Australia)
James’ memories of Harry are back. Yay! Can’t wait to see what happens next. I like Henry and James together, I do. But James and Harry looks to be much, much messier. Sort of like the movie Maurice without the nudity (darn it).
Gino leaving his wife to unclog the sink? Seriously? Loser.
I guess I didn’t realize that George didn’t know that Henry was gay and he and James were lovers. I thought for sure they had discussed it. Hmm.. Anyway, George’s reaction was typical straight man. I like that Anna had no time for it. But George was decent enough to make up for it by welcoming Henry into the family. I also like that Anna is shipping James and Harry.
Sarah’s wedding gift to Jack was very special and really sweet. Reminds me when I thought they might make a nice couple. But I’m glad that Carolyn and Jack are finally married, even with Richard still hanging around looking to cause trouble.
I have the feeling the guy out to kill Sarah is going to wind up shooting the wrong person.
I don’t blame Regina for getting her groove on with the dirty cop. He’s a bastard, but hot.
I don’t remember Anna being told she could never have children. I just assumed she didn’t want any. I guess that happened back in season 1 when she miscarried and didn’t tell Gino she was ever even pregnant?
It is realistic she might have doubts about her marriage and want more than to be the good wife and mother working on the farm. I’ve thought Anna was always destined for more than just Gino and the life he could offer her, no matter how much she loved him.
Class (U.K.)
I’m a big fan of Dr. Who so I was interested in this spinoff of the show, especially since they promised a gay lead. And this show is entertaining enough. It’s bit more gory and deals with sex more than the mother show, much like the much missed Torchwood did. I like the characters, especially the super hot Ramy Elsayed as Ram and Katherine Kelly as the bad ass teacher Miss Quill.
They keep things interesting, at least so far. And about that gay guy, Charlie, assuming he is gay? What I mean is, he hinted that sexuality is different on his planet so maybe where he’s from having a male lover isn’t viewed like it is here. Perhaps same sex relationships are the norm, and not the outlier, if you know what I mean (and I don’t mean that same sex relationships aren’t normal, okay?). I’d be curious to see the show address that at some point.
There was a lot of exposition and set up in the first two episodes, so much so that things moved a bit too fast and plot details and plot logic was ignored and/or simply not addressed. Some plot points happened off screen and we’re just to assume that this or that occurred as the story rushed forward, leaving story holes and continuity all over the place. These kids and some of the other characters get a lot thrown at them and except for Ram, everybody accepts in stride. I mean Ram’s father seemed hardly fazed that his son is chasing evil creatures and now has a mechanical leg. Though I like the relationship between Ram and his dad and hope to see more of that to keep the show grounded somewhat.
Now while I enjoyed the show, there really isn’t much different or unique about it in terms of character or story. We’ve seen it all before, done better and done worse. And that’s okay. It doesn’t have to change the world and I don’t think it wants to. The mythology and the mysteries are intriguing. It’s a nice way to kill an hour. Sometimes that’s enough.
ADDITIONAL EPISODE
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Are you serious? You don’t think Aaron would kidnap someone? Aaron is no saint and I wish people stop acting like he is. Also what do you mean “bisexual now?” Robert has always been bi. lol
What do you mean “bisexual now?” Robert has always been bi. lol
In the photo above for Hollyoaks, James didn’t have sex with rentboy,”Chico.” They only slept together, as in actual sleeping without sex. They made a point of that the next morning when Chico (Kevin) got his money. James later had Chico pretend to be a doctor on the phone when James lied and told JP that he’d started therapy and prompted JP to verify by calling the doctor.
I did. It only made me mad that Justin and Colin never got a real reunion at the end of that show.
Did you notice that the coach in Class was Justin from 6Degrees?
Robert made reference to Jackson when he was giving Aaron the what-for that time before Robert learned about Gordon, so the show implied that Robert knew. I don’t recall any on-screen conversation where Aaron told Robert about him.
I do think they should mention him, I just don’t think it’s an attempt to claim Aaron’s had no one since Robert.
I don’t think it was that necessary either, but I don’t think it’s that out of character for Jack or his relationship with Robert. A lot of fans seem to think Jack was a saint and a perfect father. He never was.
I don’t know the history (I wasn’t watching then, though I have seen Jack in various clips I’ve watched over the years), but it still seemed unnecessary. I mean, as far as I know, Robert had plenty of issues with Jack already, there was no need to pile this on top.
I can’t recall them ever discussing him. The last time I really remember Jackson being mentioned was when Aaron first came back, Adam (who was spiraling because he had just found out James was his dad) made some crappy remark about him and Aaron got pissed.
But Jackson’s not Adam or Ed, Jackson was Aaron’s first love, the major love of his life before Robert, someone who he even might still be with if Jackson hadn’t died. I’m not saying they need to talk about him all the time, but you think his name would come up, especially now if Aaron’s readying to make this bigger commitment to Robert.
Sorry. I meant to get to get this show. But I have so many to cover I just didn’t have time. I’ll be sure to give it a look. Thanks for the tip.
Finn goes to visit him in the hospital next week, and Joe Gill, who plays Finn started following the other actor on Twitter, so perhaps there is a story there.
Have Robert and Aaron even ever discussed Jackson? My memory is poor so I’m sure someone will recall it as I do not.
“Also, it kinda seems like Jackson has been completely wiped from Aaron’s history, so Robert will be the only man he ever loved.”
They’ve repeatedly mentioned Aaron’s old feelings for Adam and have also mentioned his being in contact with his ex-boyfriend Ed. If they want us to think he had no one until Robert, they aren’t doing a good job of it.
The problem with the Jackson story is it was self-contained misery porn. The only people on the show who really interacted with him were Jackson and his mother. I do wish they would mention it, but I don’t really think they’re ignoring it or acting like Aaron never loved anyone until Robert.
“So Robert is bisexual now? And Aaron knew? Funny since it’s something that they never talked about as early as a few weeks ago when Robert made a snarky remark about gays. I guess my problem with it is that I don’t see why Robert had to label himself as anything. As for the story that Robert told about his father, that’s really out of character for Jack. Jack Sugden was a nice, compassionate guy. He would have never treated Robert like that.
An even bigger problem is that in the past, we were led to believe Robert explored sex with men after he left the village. Now they want us to believe it was happening while he was a teenager on canvas (involved in major romances with women) only we never saw it and no one talked about it. I know soaps do stuff like this all the time, but I expect better from Emmerdale. Fans were upset about it and I don’t blame them. Thing is, all that was really unnecessary. It added so little to the story. I don’t know why the show would mess with all that history for no reason. Just seems dumb and pointless.”
I’m genuinely confused. Why do you think Aaron knew that Robert was bisexual? We were shown Aaron being annoyed and confused at Robert being bisexual and Robert arguing with him about being bi not meaning he’s going to cheat or have random people.
Using your logic in the second paragraph, they never should have made Robert anything but straight, because we never saw him with men and no one ever talked about him being with men in his years away.
The time period when Robert talked about his time with a man wasn’t a time he was interested in any woman. It was right before he went away to Spain and came back obsessed with losing his virginity to a woman and finding a girlfriend. So it isn’t that hard to believe. It makes more sense to me than the idea that he was 100% straight until he was offcamera.
Where was this nice, compassionate Jack? The Jack who repeatedly hit Robert? Or got physical with his wives? Jack wasn’t a saint, or even close.
“How did everybody get out of the hospital in time to attend James’ funeral? Rhona was in critical condition. Aaron nearly died as well. Hard to believe they’d be out in a week, much less a day or so.”
They never said it was a day after. It was supposed to be several weeks.
” If we’re going to be real about it though, the show wanted Robert to be Aaron’s savior, as part of the character of Robert’s reclamation project for all the murders, attempted murders, kidnapping and other crimes he committed while courting Aaron.”
If we’re going to be real we should also mention that Dominic Brunt left the show for months to work on one of his horror movies. Robert reclamation project may have been part of it, but they also needed a reason for Paddy to be estranged from everyone enough to leave the village.
You do know that Jack hit Robert more than once over the years, right? When he found out Robert scared Victoria over his affair with Katie, and years earlier, when Robert was about 14, and he argued with Jack about adopting Andy. They basically said that Jack “leathered” him once when he caught him with a guy. That isn’t comparable to what happened to Aaron, and the show never said it was. I’m confused at the idea from some that Jack was this saint of a man or a father. He had a bad temper and he showed it over and over. He hurt his wife Sarah’s arm badly the day before she died. He smashed a huge cabinet of plates and dishes down near DIane when he was angry with her. He got physical with Robert. It’s not like they were saying he was beating the hell out of Robert over and over.
A lot of people have been saying Van Guy is intended for Finn. I do hope that’s true. He needs a story line of some sort.
Hey, Anthony, have you been watching Skam? It’s a Norwegian show. It’s third season is centered around Isak, a teen just trying to figure out things (..i.e. gay stuffs). if you’ve never heard of it, here’s the link to the show .. http://skam.p3.no/
…and here’s a link to the translated videos …
The show comes out in “real time” ..so we know there will be an episode this Friday, if not before.
You don’t have to cover it or anything, but I thought you might enjoy it.
Thank you for remembering that Jackson existed. It’s way too important a part of Aaron’s story to ignore. It also surprised me that Chas was so keen on the engagement, but I won’t be surprised if she’s against it next week. And then all happy about it again the week after that.
In all the Emmerdale drama last week, I think we also got a hint at a new love interest for Finn – that guy in the van that he went to help after the crash. His family even made a big deal of what a hero he was for saving that guy when they were sitting around the hospital room before James died. This would be such a welcome development. The Robert/Aaron episode sounded like an attempt to fill in some blanks in their story that needed to be addressed – even if they didn’t jibe with history. Aaron being abused by Gordon didn’t jibe, either, but they went with it. I may be alone in this, but I still find this marriage talk out of character and awkward.
On People of the Valley, I agree about the repetitive conflict between Tyler and Iolo. They look good doing it, though, so I’ll keep watching. The problem with Gaynor’s decision about Tyler’s honeymoon is that she doesn’t raise these concerns to Ffion who takes a day off whenever she finds something better to do than go to work.
I’m down to watching only Sonny-related clips from Days of our Lives, and they are painful to watch. Freddie Smith seems bored and unwilling to put any effort into his character. I can actually hear him thinking about his lines when he’s acting. We know he’s better than this. Paul has been pining for Sonny and promising to wait for him ever since he appeared on the show, and now that Sonny is single and showing an interest he decides to date other guys. On the other hand, right now I find Derrick more interesting than Sonny so it does make some sense.
I’ve only seen assorted clips from last week’s “Emmerdale”, but I did see a lot of the Robron fans on Twitter being furious about Paddy not jumping for joy when Robert talked to him about marrying Aaron. Sure, Paddy was just as cheat-y last year as Robert, but Paddy never tried to murder Robert or threatened his child. I dunno why Paddy is just expected to get over that, though I’m sure he will.
And yeah, the retcon about Jack Sugden rang way false to me. Why not just say that, in the years away from the village and the family, Robert felt the freedom to explore his sexuality more? That makes much more sense than tarring Jack just to give Robert and Aaron another point of commonality.