Gool Theater: Two Soaps, Two Dead Gays. Will It Ever Change?

Welcome to this week’s edition of GOOL Theater. This week we’ve got clips and commentary on Emmerdale, EastEnders, People of the Valleyand UK medical drama Holby City. Also, Spanish soap Fiscia o Quimicasays goodbye to their gay characters and news on some changes to the upcoming gay drama on Days Of Our Lives. Plus spoilers on all your favorite gay dramas and soaps!

Holby City

Let me give a little background on this clip. Holby City is a long running UK medical drama and earlier this year they introduced bad boy doctor Antoine Malick, who ruffled more than a few feathers with his arrogance and egotism even though he was a great doctor. One of his female co-workers found him appealing, but was disappointed to learn the good doctor was openly gay.

Meet Holby City’s newest gay, Dr. Antoine Malick

Malick didn’t have much of a love life as he was focused on his medical career. Malick began to butt heads with fellow doctor Dan Hamilton, and it wasn’t long before they became heated rivals at the hospital, which only seemed to intensify after Dan learned that Malick was gay. Dan meanwhile had a very slow moving, chaste relationship with Chrissie, a nurse at the hospital.

When an old friend who was having problems with his knee showed up at the hospital, both Dan and the patient were eager to get him treated and out of the hospital, though Malick was certain that the patient’s problems were much more serious than Dan was saying. That’s where we begin.

I’m of two minds about this storyline thus far. I really like Malick and find him a compelling character. It’s no secret to readers of this column that I like the bad boys so naturally Malick would be of interest to me. It’s even better that he’s a person of color as we have so few such characters on television. And who cannot like that Malick looks so delish without a shirt! Back to the story, Malick and Dan’s battles at the hospital have been compelling as the actors have chemistry. The scenes together are intense and combustible because there’s so much going under the surface.

The confrontation in the locker room and the kiss that took place there was terrifically done, full of passion and heat and rage. I think I especially loved the self-satisfied smug look on Malick’s face after Dan had run out. It was as if he knew that eventually it would come to that and he enjoyed finally pushing Dan until he broke.

My problem as you would expect, is that we have seen this type of storyline so many times before. Nearly every soap with a gay storyline seems to have the supposedly straight guy put a sudden move on the gay character, followed by the character rushing back to the safety of his straight relationship.

If the usual template is followed from here there will be weeks of denials and more fighting. I suspect that Malick and Dan will eventually embark on a secret affair, Chrissie will find out, there will be more denials and fighting and at some point Dan will accept who he is. Still, despite the tired storyline, the characters are complex and appealing and the writing is solid enough to make me overlook that.

Emmerdale

You know, this storyline has always been bleak and depressing, but no more than this week as we march on to Jackson’s ultimate fate. Jackson’s happy demeanor, his near giddiness as he prepares to end his life as Hazel and Aaron look on in silent horror and agony is painful to watch. The writing is strong and the acting is top notch as always. But as I’ve said before, it would be so much more powerful if there weren’t so many holes in the storyline and a failure to address various issues, such as getting Jackson professional help, even if he didn’t want it.

I also find it interesting that as they plan Jackson’s suicide, Aaron has never mentioned his own attempt to kill himself, unless I missed a scene. You'd think that Aaron would mention that he too once thought of suicide as the only solution to his problems and it turned out he was wrong. Of course, Jackson and Aaron’s situations are very different, but it’s not realistic that Aaron's own flirtation with suicide is not even discussed as part of this storyline.

It was nice to see Adam and Aaron together again…

I did like the scenes with Adam and Aaron, and it was nice to see a bit of the cocky bad boy that Aaron used to be before he came out and began crying all the time. I also enjoyed Aaron and Jackson going out for the evening without Hazel hovering around. Still, Aaron and Jackson’s relationship, despite the endless declarations of love, remains cool and remote as ever. Aaron’s marriage proposal was delivered with the warmth of Aaron asking Jackson how he liked his coffee. I know the writers, actors and producers insist that this is how Aaron would behave in a relationship, but that explanation seems all too convenient to me.