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Hollyoaks was a rollercoaster of emotions this last week! From tearful goodbyes to breakdowns to desperation, emotions ran extremely high in the village, setting the scene for a spectacular upcoming week. Many storylines are set to hit many different climaxes next week with some even being deadly. Hollyoaks does extremely well with their big umbrella storylines featuring stunts but they also lead into them and head out of them with strong stories too, giving viewers a reason to watch all the way through and not just for the one time extravaganza. Two casualties have been confirmed for the deadly upcoming Halloween stunt and while I have my picks, it could literally be anyone. Hollyoaks has never shied away from shocking twists when it came to murder. But enough about what’s coming next, let’s catch up on what you missed in the village!
Week in Review for Hollyoaks episodes airing October 24th – 28th.
Sail On
The Albright sisters said their goodbyes to the village of Hollyoaks this last week, with one leaving for good while the other remained six feet under. Jade Albright lost her battle to cancer only last week which meant beginning this week, emotions were still very raw for everyone who knew the teen well.
The Osbornes and big sister Sonia Albright had expected to have time to plan out a funeral for Jade, but due to a packed schedule the only free date was two days away. In a village constantly full of serial killers, one time killers and freak killer accidents, it made a whole lot of sense that the funeral homes and churches would be booked solid. I really enjoyed seeing Jade’s family kick into high gear to sort this out for her. Since last week when she was hospitalized from the infection that eventually killed her, the Osbornes were like a solid brick wall protecting her even though they were only her foster family. In the middle of the funeral preparations, the family had to deal with cleaning out some of Jade’s things like her weird vegan sandwich spread that Nancy and Darren Osborne knew no one but her would ever touch. The couple managed to laugh it off in the end but only after cursing the unfair hand Jade was dealt. The week before, the usually bubbly couple was finding it difficult to keep up the smiles in the face of losing Jade and now with her gone; it’s going to be their humor that will get them over this.
It’s Alfie Nightingale, Jade’s boyfriend that is understandably taking the loss the hardest though not outwardly so. Before Jade died, Alfie was already struggling with survivor’s guilt seeing his girlfriend waste away after his own cancer had gone into remission but this week he’s been showing zero signs of struggling. Every member of his family was worried about his coping methods that including locking himself into his room to try and perfect the artificial intelligence program using Jade as an avatar. He’d been entrusted to write the eulogy for her funeral but all he can do is frustrate over not being able to replicate Jade the way he’d imagined – so he dreamed her up instead. The only way Alfie made it through this week as his family fretted over him was by confiding in the Jade of his imagination. The mix of sweetness seeing Jalfie together again and utter sadness over Alfie’s delusion was heavy. Each scene between the two felt like dreamy, like it was from another world, and in a sense it was as it all came from Alfie’s head. I think Alfie just needs more time to accept what’s happened. Even the hallucination of Jade told him she’d leave when he was ready and encouraged him to move on with his life too. I just don’t think Alfie’s there quite yet.
Jade’s funeral was extremely touching – and a little silly as a choir of kids sang an acapella version of Little Mix’s “Black Magic”. But hey, Little Mix was Jade’s favorite group so it was a nice personal touch to the ceremony. They buried her in a woodland cemetery in what looked like some sort of straw coffin, adhering to her vegan lifestyle even in death. Sonia and Jade’s father Lionel arrived to the village right before the funeral, unaware that his young daughter had passed away. When Jade had resigned herself to reconnecting with her birth father in an effort to take the burden off of the Osbornes, she’d been writing him back and forth only Lionel showed up too late. His life had turned around since and he was now a recovering alcoholic who wanted his family back. I’d almost expected Sonia to tear into him for abandoning his daughters thirteen years back, but it was clear she was running on empty emotionally. Lionel was even allowed to participate in the funeral. In the end though, he decided that he couldn’t miss out on another daughter’s life and invited Sonia to move in with him – all the way in Belgium.
With no ties to the village, Sonia knew she had to go but it didn’t make deciding any easier. After pretending to be their daughter for months, somehow Sonia bonded with the Loveday family much to the disdain of the real daughter, Lisa. I wasn’t watching during the time the big identity reveal came about, but for the few months I have been watching again, Sonia has proved to be the bane of Lisa’s existence. Every bad thing that came Lisa’s way always tied back to Sonia trying to steal her life. Because of that, I was thrilled to see Lisa and Sonia have an actual talk (after a bit of a brawl) that provided some closure for the two of them. They both realized that with Sonia still in town and Lisa’s real parents idolizing the imposter over her, then Lisa would never truly get a chance with her family. So Sonia tearfully left Hollyoaks in hopes to reconnect with her father and for Lisa to reconnect with her parents. Hopefully Sonia’s story goes a little better as Lisa’s only seemed to go worse.
Saying goodbye to the Albright sisters was so hard this last week. I hadn’t realized that I’d fallen in love with them until they were both off canvas. Jade was one of the most honestly portrayed teenagers I’ve seen in any soap and Kassius Nelson played her like a natural – so losing her to such an awful disease was like a round of kicks to the gut. And Kiza Dean as Sonia’s emotional acting? Throw in a few punches to the gut too. The exits were both handled extremely well. Sonia’s could be seen as rushed but it was the natural progression of her story. The character had even lamented over not having any ties to the village anymore, there was really no reason for her to stay. She’s lucky her father conveniently arrived with that heavy handed (but enjoyable!) offer to move back in with him. I’m sad to see the two of them leave the show but there’s no doubt that these two ladies will move onto doing great things. Hopefully Sonia can pop back for a return some time too!
Bunny Boiler
Joanne Cardsley arrived in Hollyoaks already teetering on the edge, but her recent actions have screamed of even more desperation that usual. The lawyer first came to the village in desperate need of money, harassing Louis Loveday to pay her off unless he wanted her to spill the truth on their past affair to his wife. Eventually Louis paid the money – and soon the price of his sanity as well. Joanne returned, keen on rekindling their relationship and even going as far as to throw herself in front of his car for attention. Her obsessive nature hasn’t quelled though, just shifted focus onto Joe Roscoe.
We viewers have seen Joanne plot to break Joe and Mercedes McQueen up for weeks; going so far as to leave Mercedes to rot in jail, planting fake cocaine on her to get her sent back again after her release and breaking Joe’s window with a memento only Mercedes had access to. Joanne’s plan was well crafted and proved that yes, she’s very technically smart but she underestimated Mercedes from day one. Underestimating a McQueen can prove to be a dangerous mistake.
After making it seem like Mercedes physically assaulted, Joanne was riding on a high. Joe was in her corner and even took her advice to put out a restraining order on his ex-girlfriend. It really seemed like all was going her way. Until crossing paths with Mercedes, Joe’s son JJ Roscoe called out to her as mommy, breaking Mercy’s heart. She vowed to return to her old fiery ways but Mercedes took the high road, leaving the coffee shop so as to not cause a scene. Seeing this, Joanne got a sick idea that she could use in her twisted battle to win Joe’s heart. Whenever Joe left her alone with the children, she’d whisper suggestions to them, trying to brainwash them into calling her mommy instead of Mercedes. The lawyer wanted to completely erase all traces of Mercedes from the Roscoe family’s brains. When little JJ does in fact call her mommy (but only when Mercedes is around, he could have easily been referring to her) then Joanne really felt like she’d won once and for all. Losing her disapproving mother to cancer months ago, losing love after love and the happy ending she sought, Joanne couldn’t believe she was finally making it to where she wanted to be.
Depressed over losing the imposter daughter she really wanted, an intoxicated Simone Loveday got her car impounded while trying to race to meet Sonia at the airport. Real daughter Lisa Loveday was the one who phoned the cops, trying to keep her mother and other drivers safe on the road but blame predictably fell to her. Joe was working on the Lovedays impounded car when Mercedes strolled in after drinking it up with Simone. She laid into Joe, telling him he was taking in the wrong one, running through the list of things Joanne had done to make her look bad but he wanted to hear none of it. Louis Loveday was there though and he heard it all, offering a little warning to Joe about Joanne. When it came to his family, Joe took even the smallest bits of info seriously so he further pressed Louis later in the day. The teacher let the mechanic know all of the ways Joanne had attempted to sabotage his marriage, including her dangerous attempt at stopping his car – with her body. Hearing that from a spurned ex-girlfriend was one thing but to hear that Joanne might be a danger to bring around his kids from a respectable citizen of the village, then Joe had to hear this time.,
Enraged, Joe broke it off with Joanne immediately sending the lawyer crashing down figuratively and literally. They always say there’s nothing like a woman scorned but what do they say about an unhinged woman scorned? Joanne’s week ended on the lowest of notes, her scrambling on her knees outside the Roscoe garage while cursing both Joe and the Lovedays for spilling all of her tea. Joanne has been referred to by many a villager now as a bunny boiler, a cute nod Glenn Close’s sociopath in Fatal Attraction but I wouldn’t put it past her to boil some people too. There’s a big Halloween fire stunt coming in the next few days and I can almost say Joanne or someone Joanne wants will be boiled alive. Where is best friend James Nightingale to reel her back in again? Poor thing. My one true hope is that Mercedes gets in a good punch before she goes, if she does.
Freaky Friends
Nico Blake is not the friend anyone wants or needs in their corner. Poor Peri Lomax has to suffer day in and day out as not just the psychopath’s friend, but also her object of obsession. This last week she took her desperate obsession to a whole new level, kicking off what looks like a dangerous endgame for anyone connected to the teen killer.
Guilt ridden for the part she played in Maxine Minniver suffering a miscarriage, Peri did her best to ignore her friend all week long. Unlike Nico, the other teen girl had a conscience and was not at all twisted by the circumstances life had dealt her. Peri had grown up with her mother pretending to be her big sister, but after a bit of struggle, she accepted her reality and didn’t let it twist her outlook on life. Nico was born a discarded product of incest who suffered for most of her life, os in a way it’s a bit understandable that she’d be the way she is. What’s not right is her not finding any fault in herself for locking Maxine in an elevator, causing her to panic and miscarry her unborn child. That kind of pressure was too much for Peri who eventually told Maxine everything, expressing her guilt and remorse for what the two had done. Luckily Maxine knew of Nico’s behavior all too well and didn’t blame Peri for getting caught up. But she was going to make sure Nico couldn’t hurt anyone else. But the two teen girls disappeared later that day.
Consulting with baby daddy Warren Fox first, he and Maxine then took a trip to see Sienna Blake, Nico’s mother who was in prison. They both knew that Nico was the one behind Trevor Royle’s death and that Sienna’s husband had taken the blame for her, they also knew Nico had killed the latter’s daughter and now suspected her of killing her grandfather which Sienna was serving time for. Peri was missing along with Nico and Maxine and Warren wanted to bring Nico back to the village to own up to her crimes. But first Sienna would have to recant her confession. Unfortunately for them, Sienna was the world’s fiercest mother who would even excuse serial murders as long as her child was safe. Warren had to threaten Sienna’s daughter to get her to agree to take back her confession but even then, he and Maxine couldn’t put their trust in Nico’s mother. They’d still have to find her themselves.
While panic ensued in the village looking for Peri, she and Nico were hidden underground in an abandoned bunker. Peri had made the grave mistake of admitting to her friend that she’d spilled all of the beans to Maxine. Unaware that Nico got a little murderous when someone threatened her deluded way of living, she walked right into the trap laid in front of her and was knocked out by a poison Nico slipped into her drink. Somehow the teen killer managed to smuggle her friend’s body out into the woods outside the village to this bunker. Nico had just proposed the two of them move into a place together, living off of stolen money from the local convenience store but instead they got this humble abode. Something tells me that Peri is not going to be very happy playing this game of house. But let’s hope she can at least play pretend or else she might become her best mate’s next victim.
Seeing Sienna still taking the blame for her daughter’s crime was difficult to see. In many ways, Sienna is still immature thanks in part to her close yet unhealthy relationship with abusive father Patrick Blake. Family was everything to her. She’d always wanted a child of her own and after thinking she’d lost hers for so many years only to find her again, the emotionally stunted young woman that was Sienna would do anything to hang onto that pure image of her child. Even if it meant covering up murder after murder for her. But at some point we’ve got to get realistic, we’ve got to get help for both mother and daughter who have very different ways of coping with high stress but which stem from similar circumstances. Sienna and Nico are two of my favorite characters on Hollyoaks so I do want them to get better, to feel better about themselves too. They deserve it after going through so much.
Trust me on this! You do not want to be missing this show right now as it’s easily the most entertaining soap on the air! Please comment below with any questions about the show or tweet me, let’s get you addicted to Hollyoaks too!
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