Gays Of Our Lives Theater: It’s The End of the Road For Simon on "Doctors."

Welcome to another edition of Gays Of Our Lives Theater. You know, one thing I’ve learned is that soaps have their up and down weeks. One week a show can be gloriously wonderful and other weeks nearly unwatchable. And folks who read last week’s column know that it was a pretty darn good week in the world of gay soaps. This week, however, is a different story…

Hollyoaks

I spent most of the past week scratching my head and wondering if I went back in time or something, especially regarding Ste’s issues about being gay. Haven’t we, for months now, watched Ste try to drag Brendan kicking and screaming out of the closet, taking considerable abuse in the process? For Ste to now deny that he is gay is ludicrous and simply creates faux drama.

His denial and confusion made no sense, especially him saying that most of the people in his life don’t know he’s gay. Umm… who doesn’t know would be the real question. At last count, all the people in his world: Amy, Rae, Warren, Pete and Mitzeee know about Ste — and about Brendan too. So I can’t imagine who Ste was talking about when he made such a ridiculous statement.

And what is the rush with Ste and Noah’s relationship? They went from barely knowing each other to boyfriends in the space of a week and about 10 minutes airtime. And that's a shame because the actors have a bit of chemistry. Plus, Law Thompson is actually improving as an actor, and his Noah is a nice contrast to Brendan. They could have something here, so why not spend the time to make Noah an interesting character and a viable love interest for Ste? As it stands, it's pretty clear the show isn’t invested in this relationship. It seems to be designed merely to give Ste something to do until the show finds a way to bring Brendan back into his life.

And I have a real problem with Ste going from last week bashing Brendan over the head to these light, comedic scenes with Noah. Shouldn’t he be conflicted about what he did? Shouldn’t it have some emotional impact on him? There should be some sort of psychological throughline, but I guess that would be inconvenient to the show’s plot, so why bother? Never let logic and plausibility get in the way of story.

The previous week was an example of Hollyoaks at its best: sharp, smart writing, great acting, some neat camera work and touches of the delicious outrageousness that is this show’s trademark. But last week was the show at its worst. Stories told at blinding speed, inconsistent characterization and an overall laziness made the proceedings nearly unwatchable. But this is what Hollyoaks is like. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.