Shortland Street - General Discussion

[justinate]

Well, that seems to have ended very quickly. It did feel like too much of a setup not to have the character return down the line, but for now Sage is boyfriendless as always.

[justinate]

TK's older daughter Gia (who is trans) is set to return, which is a surprise to me since she was written out so abruptly last time, practically mid-storyline. It does put a dent in my theory that Shorty is steering away from anything that could rock the boat at a precarious time for their funding - like a gay romance for Sage since historically Shorty has a problem with gay couples (that it doesn't with lesbians) dating back more than two decades. But given that anti-trans prejudice is even stronger at this moment in time, that doesn't seem to be the case?

[cupid]

Aug 13, 2024 10:36:32 GMT -5 justinate said:

TK's older daughter Gia (who is trans) is set to return, which is a surprise to me since she was written out so abruptly last time, practically mid-storyline. It does put a dent in my theory that Shorty is steering away from anything that could rock the boat at a precarious time for their funding - like a gay romance for Sage since historically Shorty has a problem with gay couples (that it doesn't with lesbians) dating back more than two decades. But given that anti-trans prejudice is even stronger at this moment in time, that doesn't seem to be the case?

They've brought her back as a full cast member which makes me think they're gearing up for a major and ongoing storyline around the M&P clinic, first shots fired this week.

[justinate]

Aug 17, 2024 19:10:12 GMT -5 cupid said:

They've brought her back as a full cast member which makes me think they're gearing up for a major and ongoing storyline around the M&P clinic, first shots fired this week.

Yes they weren't being subtle about Gia batting for the MPC - it was her father TK's brainchild and also in the news right now since the current NZ government is rolling back initiatives specifically like the MPC, but it doesn't quite ring true because Gia barely had a relationship with her dad, let alone one where she feels so strongly to fight his battles, plus she was never even mentioned in connection with the MPC the last time she was on. Her initiative was actually the Rainbow Clinic to serve the LGBTQ+ community, but like the MPC, that was never mentioned again after the originator of the idea left. At least we saw the MPC up and running with TK, Cece, Rahu etc. serving there, whereas the Rainbow was never actually launched?

[Jack]

Monique's attitude about Sage and Naz getting along was interesting in tonight's episode. Probably doesn't mean much as it's Shortland Street 😂

[justinate]

Chip is back in today's episode, in his ambo capacity, and he and Sage dance around each other again but thanks to Emmett, Sage makes it clear they're just friends. We'll see if that lasts.

They also introduced Thad's older brother Cornelius, and I wondered if he's queer.

Lastly, Nicole and Maeve's marriage is on the rocks. Maeve doesn't seem to care that Cassie was a heartbeat away from drugging up again, while nursing her grandson Knox, and the episode ended with the three of them moving out and abandoning Nicole alone.

[Jack]

Aug 30, 2024 6:22:02 GMT -5 justinate said:

Chip is back in today's episode, in his ambo capacity, and he and Sage dance around each other again but thanks to Emmett, Sage makes it clear they're just friends. We'll see if that lasts.

They also introduced Thad's older brother Cornelius, and I wondered if he's queer.

Lastly, Nicole and Maeve's marriage is on the rocks. Maeve doesn't seem to care that Cassie was a heartbeat away from drugging up again, while nursing her grandson Knox, and the episode ended with the three of them moving out and abandoning Nicole alone.

I'm pretty sure Chip and Sage will get together. Not sure what I even think about it. It's better than having Sage single and pining after straight men but I have a feeling that if they get together, it'll be a typical short lived relationship. Maybe they'd make Chip a regular, but it's just that whenever they specifically bring in a love interest for a gay character they typically don't last THAT long, because the writers don't actually value the love interest as interesting standalone characters. Whereas when they bought in Viliami for example he was introduced as a love interest for Madonna but obviously wasn't bought in just for that and had storylines outside of his relationship with Madonna.  Hopefully they'll surprise us!!! 

[justinate]

Chip has broken up with his boyfriend, offscreen. Honestly, the show's commitment to gay male relationships is laughably weak. But yeah, it looks like he and Sage will get together sooner rather than later.

[reece]

I think Sage and Chip have chemistry and are cute enough, but i'm really just happy that finally, over nine months into his run, he has a love interest. i wonder if at the very beginning, the writers thought about sage and nazar getting together but then changed their minds. i thought it was odd that sage's crush lasted so long

[Jack]

well Chip kinda sucks!!

[justinate]

Chip could've been a little more sensitive indulging Sage's fantasies in that moment, but honestly it's Sage whom I find ridiculous. He is patently unsuited to be a nurse and I'm feeling more and more inclined to believe he should never have gotten his job back after the stunt he pulled evacuating the hospital needlessly.

[Reece]

Sept 4, 2024 9:16:13 GMT -5 justinate said:

Chip could've been a little more sensitive indulging Sage's fantasies in that moment, but honestly it's Sage whom I find ridiculous. He is patently unsuited to be a nurse and I'm feeling more and more inclined to believe he should never have gotten his job back after the stunt he pulled evacuating the hospital needlessly.

Yeah, I was watching it last night thinking 'how is he a nurse???' he clearly doesn't want to see people die but that is the nature of the job. He's also been a nurse for a while so I don't know why suddenly he can't bare the thought of patients dying. I'm sure it's hard but surely he's used to it a little more now. I did feel bad for him about the choking patient dying though. I preferred him with Marty and Nazar in paeds. Not sure if he'll go back there or stay on E.D.

[carld2]

Sept 4, 2024 9:16:13 GMT -5 justinate said:

Chip could've been a little more sensitive indulging Sage's fantasies in that moment, but honestly it's Sage whom I find ridiculous. He is patently unsuited to be a nurse and I'm feeling more and more inclined to believe he should never have gotten his job back after the stunt he pulled evacuating the hospital needlessly.

Sage is just extremely obnoxious to me and deluded. Shutting the hospital down, faking a family death so he can watch a murder trial verdict, all this about the lucky coin.

I don't know how many characters can survive the cut to three episodes. He's not giving much reason to justifying staying.

(neither is Phil but that's a whole other topic)

[justinate]

Sept 6, 2024 0:48:48 GMT -5 carld2 said:

Sage is just extremely obnoxious to me and deluded. Shutting the hospital down, faking a family death so he can watch a murder trial verdict, all this about the lucky coin.

I don't know how many characters can survive the cut to three episodes. He's not giving much reason to justifying staying.

(neither is Phil but that's a whole other topic)

You raised a good point: I didn't consider the impact of cutting the number of weekly episodes on the cast numbers (not sure why it didn't strike me, considering that's what just went down on Hollyoaks), but you're right that Sage is an easy cull. The show's commitment to queer male characters is low even at the best of times. And honestly, if they're going to continue writing him this way, I won't miss him. (Would probably miss Chip more, if he had more of a presence to begin with.) Quite frankly, Phil (whom I dislike) has at least shown some moments of growth, like after that plus-sized patient of hers died. Can't say the same for Sage. Of course it's entirely possible for characters to have staying power without growth (or even regression) - just ask Harper, Nicole or Drew - but given everything that's going against him, Sage is not one of those characters.

I do hope Shorty does a better job of writing exits for the departing characters. Hollyoaks has been rubbish.

[Jack]

I understand that Sage's meant to be the 'comedic' character but if they wanted him to be funny then surely they'd think of better material than him walking in on Nazar naked and being the annoying flatmate cockblocking Monique and Nazar. I liked him last week and was warming to Chip and Sage together but now they're regressing again.

[justinate]

And the whole "drama" of Sage walking in on Nazar naked might've held some weight if it didn't, you know, happen totally offscreen. Are we supposed to understand that he is disturbed because he is attracted to Nazar again? Because he was acting like he was disgusted, and that's really not the reaction you would expect from a fully-grown adult male.

[Jack]

I occasionally wonder if the writers will explore them to be honest. I doubt they will at this point but they're often in each other's orbit, and given Sage's previous crush and Nazar's attitude about Will, I wouldn't be that shocked really if it turns out Nazar is bisexual or gay and interested in Sage. Out of the current main characters, Naz is the only person who would actually make sense as a love interest for Sage. I also remember Monique got a little possessive a few weeks ago when Sage was over and getting along with Nazar. At the same time it seems like the show is really desperate for Monique and Nazar to be a big thing so who knows haha

[justinate]

An eventual Naz-Sage hookup would be the slowest burn story ever on a show that usually burns through plots at breakneck speed.

In other news, Simon Arblaster (ex-Hamish) is going to appear in the new Spartacus spin-off, House of Ashur. I think he is the supporting cast member, not a regular. I think I spotted a couple of other Shorty alum on the cast, including the guy who played Ihaia until recently. Guess that's why he left the show abruptly while leaving us stuck with Phil!

[Jack]

Sept 25, 2024 7:59:26 GMT -5 justinate said:

An eventual Naz-Sage hookup would be the slowest burn story ever on a show that usually burns through plots at breakneck speed.

In other news, Simon Arblaster (ex-Hamish) is going to appear in the new Spartacus spin-off, House of Ashur. I think he is the supporting cast member, not a regular. I think I spotted a couple of other Shorty alum on the cast, including the guy who played Ihaia until recently. Guess that's why he left the show abruptly while leaving us stuck with Phil!

Yeah that makes a lot of sense as to why Ihaia left abruptly! I think the writers were wanting Ihaia to be a main character, or at least that's what it seemed like. They were setting up permanent storylines for him but then suddenly those storylines were dropped and he was gone. Ihaia wasn't the most interesting character but he was nice to look at (LOL) and much better than Phil. 

My theory is that they considered Nazar as a potential love interest for Sage when he first arrived but changed their minds. I remember being shocked when Nazar rejected Sage and said he was straight. I'd just assumed he was going to be Sage's love interest. 

[justinate]

Sept 26, 2024 6:32:45 GMT -5 Jack said:

Yeah that makes a lot of sense as to why Ihaia left abruptly! I think the writers were wanting Ihaia to be a main character, or at least that's what it seemed like. They were setting up permanent storylines for him but then suddenly those storylines were dropped and he was gone. Ihaia wasn't the most interesting character but he was nice to look at (LOL) and much better than Phil. 

My theory is that they considered Nazar as a potential love interest for Sage when he first arrived but changed their minds. I remember being shocked when Nazar rejected Sage and said he was straight. I'd just assumed he was going to be Sage's love interest. 

Well, Spartacus will be the better place to look at Evander (ex-Ihaia) since it appears he's going to be playing a gladiator. I wonder if they'll have any gay male characters. The main cast is overwhelmingly female.

Back to Shorty - there is nothing about Sage in the spoilers of the next 2 weeks but Nazar does have one line. I'm not really sure where they're going with these stories because they are all over the place right now. They're having some "event" hour-long episode in mid-October so maybe everyone's in a holding pattern until then?

[SSfannnnn]

I don't think they'll ever go there with Nazar. The writers are far too wrapped up in Monique and Nazar's 'love story.' There has been potential with him, such as with his initial awkwardness around dating Monique, the way it seemed like he had a secret to hide from Monique when his brother arrived, and his brother being so sure that Nazar would break Monique's heart and that it wouldn't last. But if they had the idea of him being gay or bisexual they would have hinted at it with this recent storyline, rather than only hinting at family stuff that might get in the way of Monique and Nazar's relationship. I think Monique and Nazar will break up eventually but I don't think it'll end because of Nazar being gay or anything.

[carld2]

Peter Burman interview (there are no spoilers - not a surprise as it's not as if Sage has anything to do).

gaynation.co/shortland-streets-peter-burman-talks-queer-representation/