Shortland Street - General Discussion

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New clip courtesy of Anthony:

[carld2]

I was hoping they might keep Hamish as more of a gray character for a while longer...

The show is starting to pick up a little in quality, and interesting stories, but is tough for me to watch because of the material for characters who are often there for lighter or warmer supporting material. Dawn is just insufferable, Damo and Desi are just kind of on their usual island I don't want to visit, but most disappointing is the decision to have Marty - sorry to be crude - just dicking all the women in his flat while waiting to be back into storyline with Esther again. The relationship with Samira is SO rushed, and you know it isn't going to go anywhere. It just degrades both characters.

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Anthony is a little behind, but today's episode had a wedding with Jack and Hamish in attendance - and Hamish caught the bridal bouquet, which was actually hastily fashioned out of a funeral wreath by Leanne due to a mix-up in the flower deliveries.

If the (non-spoiler) speculation is right about Hamish's arc coming to a head during the show's 30th anniversary, and given the show's typical breakneck pacing, I fully expect poor Jack is going to find himself becoming a widower in a couple of months.

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[carld2]

Mar 28, 2022 9:22:03 GMT -5 justinate said:

Anthony is a little behind, but today's episode had a wedding with Jack and Hamish in attendance - and Hamish caught the bridal bouquet, which was actually hastily fashioned out of a funeral wreath by Leanne due to a mix-up in the flower deliveries.

If the (non-spoiler) speculation is right about Hamish's arc coming to a head during the show's 30th anniversary, and given the show's typical breakneck pacing, I fully expect poor Jack is going to find himself becoming a widower in a couple of months.

Considering how much Jack has felt like a bystander in this story, it would be fitting if he did not find out about Hamish's duplicity until after Hamish was dead.

[carld2]

I can understand why Anthony did not include those clips, but in the tedious, tedious buildup to the Desi and Damo wedding, her drag queen friend Steve, who was briefly on last year to lead up to the guys getting in drag to help raise money for an lgbtq center (probably the most fun episodes the show had all year), made a quick return. I'm glad the show remembered him.

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Mar 29, 2022 9:48:15 GMT -5 carld2 said:

Considering how much Jack has felt like a bystander in this story, it would be fitting if he did not find out about Hamish's duplicity until after Hamish was dead.

I actually suspect (just my own speculation, not spoiler-based) that Jack will learn the truth as Hamish's life is in mortal danger and ends up leaving him to die. Cue the guilt, tears and abstinence for another year.

Can they just pull the trigger and have Marty turn gay for Jack? C'mon, give us this one thing. Marty's already been drawn into Esther's suspicions of Hamish and we can go from there. I know it isn't fair of me but Esther has turned almost as insufferable as Dawn and it would serve her right if the man she's been stringing along winds up with her brother-in-law instead.

[carld2]

Mar 29, 2022 11:20:43 GMT -5 justinate said:

Mar 29, 2022 9:48:15 GMT -5 carld2 said:

Considering how much Jack has felt like a bystander in this story, it would be fitting if he did not find out about Hamish's duplicity until after Hamish was dead.

I actually suspect (just my own speculation, not spoiler-based) that Jack will learn the truth as Hamish's life is in mortal danger and ends up leaving him to die. Cue the guilt, tears and abstinence for another year.

Can they just pull the trigger and have Marty turn gay for Jack? C'mon, give us this one thing. Marty's already been drawn into Esther's suspicions of Hamish and we can go from there. I know it isn't fair of me but Esther has turned almost as insufferable as Dawn and it would serve her right if the man she's been stringing along winds up with her brother-in-law instead.

That makes sense (about Hamish and Jack and the outcome). And more misery, which is all Jack gets.

I know it will never happen, but anything with Jack and Marty would have to be better than the recent stuff with Dawn, Samira, and Marty, which just made the characters look awful (and such a sour way for Samira to leave the show). I still have my doubts they will ever even have Esther and Marty together. He feels like he has taken Eddie's old role.

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Mar 29, 2022 12:08:33 GMT -5 carld2 said:

I still have my doubts they will ever even have Esther and Marty together. He feels like he has taken Eddie's old role.

That figures, because when Eddie was introduced I was convinced he would become a love interest for Jack and it never happened either.

[carld2]

Mar 29, 2022 12:39:57 GMT -5 justinate said:

Mar 29, 2022 12:08:33 GMT -5 carld2 said:

I still have my doubts they will ever even have Esther and Marty together. He feels like he has taken Eddie's old role.

That figures, because when Eddie was introduced I was convinced he would become a love interest for Jack and it never happened either.

I was just thinking that it would be interesting if they had Viliami fall for Jack. He has a rugby star career in his past, is close to his nephew - all things that would probably endear him to Jack and also cause conflict. Madonna has been on and off with him and given her faith I imagine she would truly be in turmoil over whether to accept his happiness with another man and not with her. And he's probably the most gorgeous guy on the show.

I guess I will keep deluding myself.

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Mar 29, 2022 14:00:13 GMT -5 carld2 said:

I was just thinking that it would be interesting if they had Viliami fall for Jack. He has a rugby star career in his past, is close to his nephew - all things that would probably endear him to Jack and also cause conflict. Madonna has been on and off with him and given her faith I imagine she would truly be in turmoil over whether to accept his happiness with another man and not with her. And he's probably the most gorgeous guy on the show.

I guess I will keep deluding myself.

I guess I've gotten my pick for most gorgeous man (Simon Arblaster/Hamish) to be Jack's boyfriend, but he's basically a ticking time bomb so I really can't enjoy a second of their romance knowing, from the moment of his arrival, that he's responsible for Jack violently losing another sibling.

Oh well, hopefully they get to bang all over the place (and I don't mean bang bang you're dead, LOL).

I suspect Vili will end up cheating on Madonna with Vivian and blow things up especially since he's becoming Chris's friend too. I don't mind that because Madonna is as awful as Dawn. And who knows, maybe we'll get something fun out of it like Chris returning home unexpectedly to interrupt V&V's sexy times and Vili having to flee naked. Probably not either, since the show has become somewhat prudish of late.

I really wish they'd bring back one of Chris's sons (Finn is my top choice) and have him fall in love with Jack. It would be interesting to see Chris's reaction - he's always been very accepting but would he be if one of his own kids swung that way? Also, it would help this show break its last taboo - which is that men who hitherto identified as straight discovering same-sex attraction. They've done it so many times with women but the one and only time they attempted it with a dude, he ended up saying he was never attracted to Jack in the first place but didn't want to disappoint him. Talk about a kick in the teeth.

[carld2]

Mar 31, 2022 4:26:55 GMT -5 justinate said:

Mar 29, 2022 14:00:13 GMT -5 carld2 said:

I was just thinking that it would be interesting if they had Viliami fall for Jack. He has a rugby star career in his past, is close to his nephew - all things that would probably endear him to Jack and also cause conflict. Madonna has been on and off with him and given her faith I imagine she would truly be in turmoil over whether to accept his happiness with another man and not with her. And he's probably the most gorgeous guy on the show.

I guess I will keep deluding myself.

I guess I've gotten my pick for most gorgeous man (Simon Arblaster/Hamish) to be Jack's boyfriend, but he's basically a ticking time bomb so I really can't enjoy a second of their romance knowing, from the moment of his arrival, that he's responsible for Jack violently losing another sibling.

Oh well, hopefully they get to bang all over the place (and I don't mean bang bang you're dead, LOL).

I suspect Vili will end up cheating on Madonna with Vivian and blow things up especially since he's becoming Chris's friend too. I don't mind that because Madonna is as awful as Dawn. And who knows, maybe we'll get something fun out of it like Chris returning home unexpectedly to interrupt V&V's sexy times and Vili having to flee naked. Probably not either, since the show has become somewhat prudish of late.

I really wish they'd bring back one of Chris's sons (Finn is my top choice) and have him fall in love with Jack. It would be interesting to see Chris's reaction - he's always been very accepting but would he be if one of his own kids swung that way? Also, it would help this show break its last taboo - which is that men who hitherto identified as straight discovering same-sex attraction. They've done it so many times with women but the one and only time they attempted it with a dude, he ended up saying he was never attracted to Jack in the first place but didn't want to disappoint him. Talk about a kick in the teeth.

Oh I don't expect it to happen - I can't even remember if he and Jack have interacted. Just wishful thinking.

That would be a good story idea for Jack.

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Yeah, I'm going to add to my spec - Hamish's storyline will come to a bloody climax on his wedding day to Jack, which will also be the show's 30th anniversary.

[justinate]

So Louis is really playing with fire - in today's episode, it was revealed that the wealthy boyfriend of the girl he's sneaking around with, is connected to the Iron Dogs.

(The episode also had him predictably caught mid-tryst but sadly, as has become all too common, Louis gets to slip on some baggy old boxer shorts before he hides. Ah, for the good old days when he'd have been naked. But this is like the actor's 4th or 5th opportunity to be nude so I assume he is the one shutting it down.)

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[carld2]

Apr 4, 2022 7:21:21 GMT -5 justinate said:

So Louis is really playing with fire - in today's episode, it was revealed that the wealthy boyfriend of the girl he's sneaking around with, is connected to the Iron Dogs.

(The episode also had him predictably caught mid-tryst but sadly, as has become all too common, Louis gets to slip on some baggy old boxer shorts before he hides. Ah, for the good old days when he'd have been naked. But this is like the actor's 4th or 5th opportunity to be nude so I assume he is the one shutting it down.)

I noticed in the bedroom scenes with this plot device fling, the actor has the bedcovers up to his chest. I notice he's a bit more filled out of late, so if he is not as interested in taking off his clothes, I respect that, but I won't complain if he changes his mind...

This whole story seems so rushed - usually even though Louis can think with his dick, he's more introspective than what we've had here. But a lot of the show feels very plot-driven to me at present, and shaky.

If we didn't know the Hamish and Jack story was winding down I would wonder if Hamish was going to start becoming abusive toward Jack now that Jack seems to worship him. I still feel like this story could have gone on a bit longer, but hopefully the conclusion will be worth it and lead to something interesting for Jack.

[kevvoi]

New clip courtesy of Anthony:

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