Gays of our Lives (April 06, 2009)

What the show did worst: The fast pace of the storyline pretty much killed all the momentum of the John Paul/Kieron/Craig triangle. After months of building up the romance between John Paul and Kieron, the show tossed it away in a few episodes by killing off Kieron to facilitate James Sutton’s exit from the show. Then John Paul reunited with Craig before they abruptly left town. John Paul didn’t even go to his ex-fiancé’s funeral!

The show never gave this fantastic triangle the chance to play out

As for the bisexual love triangle between Kris (Gerard McCarthy), Ravi (Stephen Uppal) and Nancy, it was doomed from the start with no chemistry between any of the players and none of it written or played with any depth. The entire story felt played for shock value, but was done so blandly and so limply that even with all the sex you were still bored.

All that sex, not much action

Random Thoughts: What is the future for gay/bisexual characters on Hollyoaks? Right now, it’s hard to tell because the show is in the midst of a major overhaul. Gerard McCarthy’s Kris is on his way out and who knows if the show will keep Ravi. Whatever the future holds, Hollyoaks needs to stop worrying about shocking the viewers with ‘moments’ and focus on long-term storytelling with people we care about. Of course, that’s a lesson all soaps should learn, but it seems pretty imperative at this juncture for the once mighty Hollyoaks.

Overall Rating: 1 and ½ half Nukes.

As you can see, it’s not looking so good for many of our favorite European soaps right now. But with any luck, we’ll soon be back to those halcyon days where we had a variety of compelling, passionate gay storylines to follow on each of these shows.

GOOL THEATRE
This week we bring you the latest clips from Clara Sheller as it speeds toward its season finale, plus a turning point in Kris and Ravi’s relationship on Hollyoaks and plenty of advice giving and patient listening for Olli and Christian on Forbidden Love.

First up: Hollyoaks. With Nancy no longer a factor, Ravi and Kris continue with their own relationship. Or can it even be called that? Are these two really supposed to be together? I guess we’re about to find out.

Whew! It’s finally over. That’s what I thought at the end of this clip. Kris finally called their relationship for what it was: just sex. These two have nothing else in common and even really don’t know each other even after all the sex they’ve had. And let’s face it, Ravi is clearly uneasy with Kris’ more ‘feminine’ side. So his persistence in having a relationship with him feels more like desperation than his having any real feelings. Thankfully Kris called that for what it was.

Ravi came out to his family and called it quits with Kris…
all over dinner. No muss, no fuss!

However, I’m not exactly sure what message we’re supposed to get from Ravi coming out to his family. While it was nice that he could come out to them without their particularly caring (not that they seem to care for Ravi in general), not so nice was their treating his bisexuality as him again just being indecisive. On the other hand, the character is so non-committal in general, flitting back and forth between one thing and another, you have to wonder if his family doesn't have a point. But is confusion about bisexuality the message Hollyoaks wants to send to an audience already often puzzled by bisexuality as it is?

I’m not sure where the character goes from here, but he is in desperate need of some fleshing out. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether the current writing team is capable of doing it.