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Much like a good disco song, Hollyoaks knows how to switch up the beat on its viewers! There’s always a lot going down in the small Chester village and you can always bet, it’s never the same as what happened the day before. Sometimes that’s a good thing and one can enjoy what the show has to offer while other times? Not so much. But each viewer is unique and there’s always bound to be something that resonates with them on this show. For me, this last week showed me that no matter how great or annoying it might be, Hollyoaks is always keen to try something different. In soap operas on our side of the pond, powerful women have shrunken down to shrews while men lead their lives. On UK soaps, each character has its strengths and weaknesses much like real people. What I noticed this week was that strong women or women seeking strength were heavily played while a pathetic, sad man was as well. It was such a contrast to what I’m used to that they became my highlights for the week! Let’s check it out!
Week in Review for Hollyoaks episodes airing April 24th – 28th.
No More Tears
Ellie Nightingale’s tragic journey has been a story to watch for the last few months. There were times when it had fallen off, swallowed up by all the other craziness that can go on in this littler village but when it took center stage again, the showrunners went full force. Unfortunately, Ellie’s case against rapist Nick Savage was dropped last week thanks in part to lack of evidence as well as discreditable witnesses in the form of boyfriend Freddie Roscoe. To say the least, things were looking pretty down for Ellie at the top of the week but by mid-week, there were glimpses of a new Ellie emerging that I cannot wait to meet.
Nick taking advantage of a drunken Ellie months back has been a hot topic in the village of Hollyoaks. People have clearly taken sides but much like in reality, the victim has been shouldering most of the blame. Nick has been getting dirty looks from some people but Ellie’s the one whose story has been torn apart, shot down and buried. With alcohol in play, the lines were certainly blurred but Ellie was in no state to consent to sexual relations and yet Nick pushed on. It shouldn’t matter if he’s a decorated nurse or not but people continue to cite that fact as if to prove he could never rape a woman. So while facing all of this, Ellie then learns that her case against her rapist won’t go to trial at all so imagine how awful she felt? Ellie had been on the edge for months now with binge drinking and even physically abusing Freddie, but this verdict proved too much for her to handle.
Almost luckily for her, Freddie accidentally stumbled upon a way for them to maybe let go of all the past’s demons. Like an idiot (that he’s always proven to be), Freddie had told the authorities that Lisa Loveday had seen Nick spike Ellie’s drink which lead to the rape. Lisa may be on Ellie’s side but she felt guilty about lying to the cops so she chooses to withdraw the statement Freddie forced her to make, thus ending the case before it could really began. When Ellie found out she of course flipped, blaming the two of them for letting Nick get away with rape. All of this is happening as Nick is celebrating his birthday across the village and the party turns into some weird, Innocent-of-Rape-on-a-Technicality Party instead. I get it, to Nick’s friends and family he was innocent all along but we as viewers saw most of what went down that night. He’s a slime ball through and through to me.
Tough guy Freddie had the right idea by stomping over the party to have a word with Nick but the conversation quickly turned violent. Enraged, Freddie knocked Nick out cold into the hot tub where he nearly drowned thus igniting a police manhunt for the mechanic. I cheered and laughed when a prone Nick went under that bubbling water, I think. It really was not meant to be a funny moment but it was definitely uproarious as the creep fully deserved it. From here, Freddie decides to flee but Ellie wants to tag along too. They make plans, Freddie gets half-brother Darren Osbourne to be the getaway driver and even decides to be a father for once by planning to take his daughter with him too – but at the last moment, the plans change. Freddie pushes Ellie away before driving off and while it hurts her, it was honestly for the best.
Freddie’s no good, he always has been and Ellie had no clue about half of the awful things he did before she came to the village. She was better off without him. This little scene is a great ending to the mess of a person Freddie was; sleeping with Ellie’s mother, holding up the hospital and killing his mother’s boyfriend, Freddie did it all and often got away with it. But in this scene he fesses up a bit, admits that so many of his messes all came down to him and were now catching up with him. I think the best part of the whole goodbye scene is that in that fleeting moment, Freddie does his best to instill some strength in Ellie by encouraging her to continue fighting and reminding her of her own personal strength.
Ellie’s in tears but she’s clearly receptive to Freddie’s pep talk as the next time we see her, she stands firmly against Nick the Rapist. He taunts her about Freddie fleeing and even goes so far as to call her a liar, telling her the whole village will be against her for what she did to him. What she did to him! Had this scene aired a few weeks back, Ellie would have collapsed right in the village center but instead she told Nick that she wasn’t done with him. And I could not have been more proud. I am so excited that the writers are investing in this story for the long run. Yes, sometimes in life these cases are easily dismissed and everyone is forced to move on but this is a soap opera! Mimic real life to a certain degree, yes, but also give me the retribution Nick is so owed.
I hope this newly empowered Ellie tears Nick to shreds!
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