The actor from the bill who played the head of HARTE was he not a soccer hooligan in another episode a few weeks back?
Apparently Steven Hartley has been in Casualty three times before:
- 2006 as Professor Phillip Miller
- 2008 as Jarrod Brooks
- 2013 as Alan Rednall
Those of us who watched EastEnders in the 1980s will also remember him as Matthew Jackson (no relation to current day Jacksons), the abusive partner of Carmel, between 1988-1989. His character was a forerunner of those such as Trevor Morgan.
Apparently Steven Hartley has been in Casualty three times before:
- 2006 as Professor Phillip Miller
- 2008 as Jarrod Brooks
- 2013 as Alan Rednall
Those of us who watched EastEnders in the 1980s will also remember him as Matthew Jackson (no relation to current day Jacksons), the abusive partner of Carmel, between 1988-1989. His character was a forerunner of those such as Trevor Morgan.
His 2008 character was a very significant role - although he himself was only in one episode, he kicked off one of the most major storylines of that series. He was the paternal grandfather of Sharice, the little girl that Zoe looked after for a while, and beat up her mother (played by Amy Manson). That was how Zoe became aware of their situation.
Apparently Steven Hartley has been in Casualty three times before:
- 2006 as Professor Phillip Miller
- 2008 as Jarrod Brooks
- 2013 as Alan Rednall
Those of us who watched EastEnders in the 1980s will also remember him as Matthew Jackson (no relation to current day Jacksons), the abusive partner of Carmel, between 1988-1989. His character was a forerunner of those such as Trevor Morgan.
Thanks, I knew he was in it before, at the start I was wondering were we supposed to remember him? But then I suppose ex soap stars are always popping up on the show.
Has anyone else noticed that there is no image of Alicia in the opening credits?
I wonder why this is. Perhaps she's only going to be a short-term/recurring character, like Honey (who also doesn't appear)? I'd be disappointed if she is, I've liked her so far.
Can someone explain to me what the outcome was with the 25 year old guy - when he said sorry to Lily for lying to her?!
I know he said he'd been to the gym everyday, but then they found out he didn't have a gym membership!??
I think because he said he was really rich, but he didn't have a gym membership, aroused suspicion because it's odd. Then when she questioned him, he admitted that he was lying.
Has anyone else noticed that there is no image of Alicia in the opening credits?
I wonder why this is. Perhaps she's only going to be a short-term/recurring character, like Honey (who also doesn't appear)? I'd be disappointed if she is, I've liked her so far.
Meanwhile, we have shots like Jacob kicking the door down, Ethan lunging at Cal, Noel and Big Mac dancing and the whole team springing up from behind the reception desk to surprise Louise like some kind of kids' birthday party... they're not what Casualty are about.
Oh wait a minute. Silly soft soap. That is Casualty in 2015 (minus an odd episode of two).
I was rather hoping the return of the original title sequence and music at the beginning of this series would mean that the titles would get a look-in but no, we're stuck with this silliness.
Lofty and Dylan (and Dervla) should set up home together and have their own show.
I thought that was going to read 'and have puppies'. I'd watch that - Lofty and Dylan looking after a pregnant Dervla and bringing up pups.
A disappointing episode for me. The HART section just seemed an overly complicated way to get Dixie a new partner, as well as possibly testing the water for a spin off, the writers don't seem to know what to do with Lily which has her character flipflopping about like fish out of water and while I don't dislike Rita as much as some do the prospect of another workplace romance storyline fills me with, well 'dread' is overstating it but, enough pairings-up for a while, OK? Especially if we've got to put up with Superman and the Ice Queen having a dalliance at the same time - The character of Jacob is beyond smug and irritating and I've never understood Connie's appeal, even after the character transplant post-Romania.
Even the Dylan and Lofty scenes didn't quite gel for me - I'm not sure Beck has nailed the new almost human Dylan yet, although I have no doubt he will.
Has anyone else noticed that there is no image of Alicia in the opening credits?
I wonder why this is. Perhaps she's only going to be a short-term/recurring character, like Honey (who also doesn't appear)? I'd be disappointed if she is, I've liked her so far.
I'm guessing it's because they want to wait until the second new character
Jack, the new receptionist
has arrived before changing the credits to add both characters.
I loved the magnet Lofty got Dylan - such a Lofty thing to do
I did expect more to be said about the reasons why Lofty is so clumsy though.
That was a really sweet thing to do, but admitting the gift was from a Pound Shop (and Dylan's accompanying facial expression) cracked me up!:D Actually, I'm surprised that Dylan is aware that such things as Pound Shops exist! He doesn't strike me as someone who would ever venture into one...in fact, I'm struggling to visualising him going shopping, full stop!:D
That was a really sweet thing to do, but admitting the gift was from a Pound Shop (and Dylan's accompanying facial expression) cracked me up!:D Actually, I'm surprised that Dylan is aware that such things as Pound Shops exist! He doesn't strike me as someone who would ever venture into one...in fact, I'm struggling to visualising him going shopping, full stop!:D
I love Dylan and Lofty scene's. I thought that Dylan and Ethan would make a good 'bromance' and I was a bit dissapointed at first by the pairing, but not anymore. Lofty is a sweetheart and it's nice that he brings out Dylan's human side.
Jacob's character would have been good about 40 years ago.
Lofty's characteristics are not unique (Dillon springs to mind) but there's some sort of vulnerable-ness and lovability which isn't boring. It's great. Together with Dylan, it's fantastic to watch.
Has anyone else noticed that there is no image of Alicia in the opening credits?
I wonder why this is. Perhaps she's only going to be a short-term/recurring character, like Honey (who also doesn't appear)? I'd be disappointed if she is, I've liked her so far.
Well they made it quite clear on the show she was on a four month placement. Therefore if she was placed on the credits now we would know something must happen to make her stay on longer.
I still suspect she may be a short term character anyway.
Well they made it quite clear on the show she was on a four month placement. Therefore if she was placed on the credits now we would know something must happen to make her stay on longer.
I still suspect she may be a short term character anyway.
Well, they always stretch reality with new F2s anyway. They're supposed to spend a short stint in the department as part of their training, but obviously if they had to keep moving on to other parts of the hospital, they wouldn't be part of the programme anymore. They can handle it better on Holby City, as that focusses on numerous wards.
Of course, the most believable thing would be if she left Casualty after a few months, and then popped up on Holby City as the same character on a new rotation, but I doubt that will happen! Maybe they're testing the waters, as they do sometimes - employ Chelsea Halfpenny on a temporary contract, write the character out, and then if she's popular enough, give her a permanent position on the show in the future.
I have returned! I'm still recovering from my beloved Queen of the South FC being thumped by Hibernian at home yesterday, watching a 3-0 drubbing in-person is deeply depressing. Anyway, back to normal then –
The groundwork is laid for the Rita-Iain stuff – I don't mind them oddly, a curious pairing, but we'll see. I presume Dixie and Iain are now a comedy double-act? There's something ironic about an ex-Army Medic unsure compared to the specialists – or is it just a symptom of the anniversary? Is this HART thing real? Typical the Government would use a big concept to solve problems rather than address the bread-and-butter. The test scenario is a distraction, complete with horribly clichéd characters – since when was their not an elite unit with a nuts member – I wonder whether this is there to tee-up a longer-term question, just how temperamentally suited Iain really is for the high pressure nature of what it is that he does given his tempestuousness? Perhaps TPTB are setting-up some dread challenge for him? Some reckoning no doubt with Rita ringing her hands from the sidelines. And get in there Dixie!!!
Oh Lily, you are trying to hard! I've been the girl in the corner trying desperately hard to fit in and not and overcompensating. It's not just ambition, its as if she's using her career as a substitute for fulfilment she fails to get in her family environment and personal life. I presume that's why she's consciously or semi-consciously copying that other broken bird Mrs B so much. I should imagine the pretend Banker's condition should be a subtle warning to her – know your limits, be honest with yourself and others and using common sense. And as a kid, I did a lot of sports including swimming with a lot of land-training, I guessed his condition pretty quickly.... The lack of communication and empathy between Alicia and Lily, unhelpfully stirred by Louise, is problematical, she can be forthright under circumstances but mentioning the anniversary and that Lily was in the car might have been helpful. I would not be averse to seeing more of Alicia in the future, if that's still feasible of course – although you are right on that point dear George, Holby City always dealt with rotations better as a concept.
Dylan's slow recovery is truthful – the presumption that just because your symptoms are easing, doesn't mean he's actually beaten it – I assume this is going to get worse again. Nice to see that he's getting control though, getting on with Lofty again – they are a good combination, quiet, not showy/over-the-top or soap operatic, they balance off each other's weaknesses rather than exacerbating them as in some relationships. Patient Florence also furthers the pairing – sure, it's lamp-shaded as hell, but that's life, it does play to Dylan's strengths, his ability to show compassion in a dispassionate, intellectually detached sort of way. And Dervla returns! Odd detail though, moments after the Family Court reveal, they cut straight to Mrs B – sorry, awkward juxtaposition, given Mrs B and the custody business.
The awkwardness of the Connie-Zoe conversation – two women who never really be on the same wavelength and will never really recover from the disingenuousness that characterised their initial dealings. Not to mention the metaphorical car-crash that is Zoe-Max and the anniversary of the actual car-crash will no doubt be an unspoken reality for everybody – the year to hell and hand-basket from that point on for everyone, not least our Icy Queen.... Oh and its an annulment under fraud or deception Max, given that the marriage can't have been consummated and she was less than entirely honest that day, not divorce.
No Jacob, hurrah! LOATHE, DETEST AND DESPISE Jacob. I couldn't disagree with you more George, Jacob's very presence is enough to spoil whole episodes for me, in real life people like that get on my tits and I find him completely unprofessional with no respect for his superiors. That Connie is a hot mess is not in dispute, she should never have been brought back, I think her departure from Holby City was at least a year overdue, even if she is actually in the wrong. To work it has to be subtle and the viewer must be willing to try to see things from her point of view. Holby City's strength was that it could handle her ambiguity and that she was brilliant but utterly f**ked-up at the same time but Casualty just can't and she's only really been allowed to be negative/incompetent/unpleasant – her stories mostly revolve around how difficult/unlikeable/unemotional she is, not on what a truly epic change she made in her life just coming back to Holby and changing her speciality so late in-life and how she struggled with that, her grief about her father and that her life has not worked out the way she hoped for – which should have been more than enough material. It's not just that I think that Connie and Jacob will bring-out the worst in each other, it's that, Casualty no longer supports more morally ambiguous characters, it requires neat and tidy answers and doesn't know how to deal with people and situations which aren't neat and tidy over a sustained period of time without destroying the very thing that made them interesting/unpredictable to start with....
No Jacob, hurrah! LOATHE, DETEST AND DESPISE Jacob. I couldn't disagree with you more George, Jacob's very presence is enough to spoil whole episodes for me, in real life people like that get on my tits and I find him completely unprofessional with no respect for his superiors. That Connie is a hot mess is not in dispute, she should never have been brought back, I think her departure from Holby City was at least a year overdue, even if she is actually in the wrong. To work it has to be subtle and the viewer must be willing to try to see things from her point of view. Holby City's strength was that it could handle her ambiguity and that she was brilliant but utterly f**ked-up at the same time but Casualty just can't and she's only really been allowed to be negative/incompetent/unpleasant – her stories mostly revolve around how difficult/unlikeable/unemotional she is, not on what a truly epic change she made in her life just coming back to Holby and changing her speciality so late in-life and how she struggled with that, her grief about her father and that her life has not worked out the way she hoped for – which should have been more than enough material. It's not just that I think that Connie and Jacob will bring-out the worst in each other, it's that, Casualty no longer supports more morally ambiguous characters, it requires neat and tidy answers and doesn't know how to deal with people and situations which aren't neat and tidy over a sustained period of time without destroying the very thing that made them interesting/unpredictable to start with....
Could you not argue that Jacob is a morally ambiguous character though? It seems that the divided opinion on here would suggest so. I do realise that he's arrogant and thinks he's better than everyone else, I just also can recognise that he seems to be bloody good and talks a lot of sense. I'd say he seems quite complex in that regard, I'd like to know more about him.
With regards to what you say about him not having respect for his superiors, I'd question what any of his superiors have done since he arrived to gain his respect. I'd say that he has done more to earn respect from them than the other way around. (Although I do think that he and Rita have grown to hold one another in quite high esteem.)
EDIT: Thinking about it, I would say that they are trying (and not really succeeding) to make Louis a morally ambiguous, three-dimensional character. It's not really working though. We've had a lot of storylines this year trying to show how vulnerable he is and make us care for him. The problem is that in every single episode featuring Louis I have ever seen, he has never come across as anything other than a thoroughly unpleasant human being. It's all very well to show him addicted to heroin and make him more fragile, but he's been horrible for ages, even when he was a little boy lying that Josh had hit him. I sympathise with his situation, sure, but I think to make people really care about a character, the character has to have some endearing qualities, and Louis just doesn't.
Could you not argue that Jacob is a morally ambiguous character though? It seems that the divided opinion on here would suggest so. I do realise that he's arrogant and thinks he's better than everyone else, I just also can recognise that he seems to be bloody good and talks a lot of sense. I'd say he seems quite complex in that regard, I'd like to know more about him.
Jacob would be morally ambigous (or morally repellent) if the show didn't celebrate and excuse his terrible behaviour at every turn. Demeaning superiors by sexually harassing them in front of colleagues? It's just cheeky alpha male behaviour, those women needed to loosen up! It's incredibly lazy writing, trying to force the audience to like the character by having every other character talk about how wonderful he is while he goes around solving world hunger and weaving clothes for sick children from his own tears.
Jacob would be morally ambigous (or morally repellent) if the show didn't celebrate and excuse his terrible behaviour at every turn. Demeaning superiors by sexually harassing them in front of colleagues? It's just cheeky alpha male behaviour, those women needed to loosen up! It's incredibly lazy writing, trying to force the audience to like the character by having every other character talk about how wonderful he is while he goes around solving world hunger and weaving clothes for sick children from his own tears.
BIB: I haven't seen the latest one yet. Can't wait to see that bit!
We are never going to agree on this one George. I just find him arrogant without justification for being so and sexist – I don't think its just me (or Rebecca) being a girl and I'm no hard-core, axe-to-grind kind of feminist either, but I find it completely unacceptable to speak to any woman the way he routinely speaks to Connie – it doesn't matter if she's responsive to it – as if she should be grateful for his attention and that she doesn't know what she's missing. I don't believe most people would tolerate it in the real world. There are some conversations which should be kept private and coming-on to her in Resus is not acceptable.
I think there are two types of morally ambiguous character – they are messed up and there are good, complicated reasons why even when they do really questionable things, exemplified by Jac Naylor, but are not inherently evil and a properly morally dark where there really isn't a good reason, sociopaths for one. It seems likely Connie simply doesn't know how/never acquired the ability to sustain a healthy relationship with anybody and keeps seeking love/reassurance through her work and position and/or through the same kind of silver-tongued notional 'charmers' who then turn out to be less than ideal and therefore hasn't been able to sustain one with Grace (and by extension, off-screen, with Sam) when it counts. I would say that counts as damaged, maybe even a bit tragic in a way, she didn't mean to be iffy at parenting, she just became so.
Forgive me, but shouldn't respect for the position of an even moderately capable Clinical Lead and Clinical Nurse Manager be automatic? Professional respect and personal respect are two totally different concepts. The team respect the professional skills and expertise Connie brings without liking her and some like Charlie, probably Tess and possibly even Zoe have a pretty good handle on her without actually/necessarily liking her either. Putting aside Rita, being a Consultant in two different specialities (and the post-nominals on her door would tell him that) isn't enough for professional respect? You don't need to like somebody or think much of them as a person whilst still working with them effectively. There is a degree of arsehole behaviour you can get away with – if you really are all that – they have walked the line with Connie for 11 years and change – but a character only gets away with it if they can deliver the goods and are exceptional and being Medical Director younger than 40 suggests is she. This is life and death – he either respects the NHS's practices, structures and hierarchy – the very system he works for – or he doesn't and he doesn't seem to have much time for the rules as if he knows better. I don't see brilliance from Jacob, certainly not enough to merit allowing him to play the maverick when he feels like it. What I see is a Gary Stu we are being told to like – which is very different indeed. It's possible to argue that he mishandled the gang situation and didn't notify Security which allowed the stand-off to happen last week. Playing Connie and Rita off against each other to get his gang strategy adopted, manoeuvring them to get hired, counteracting their staffing plans vis a vis Lofty and generally wandering around like he owns the place and function together because they have to is not remotely respectful either to them or their positions and I think sends a signal to the audience and to junior characters that its alright to act as an arsehole and do whatever you like if you can get away with it. It doesn't resemble any workplace I've been in.
I do think they are likely to bring out the worst qualities in each other.
With Louis the damage was done a long time ago. Gregory Foreman has a doomed mission on his hands, not that he hasn't done his damnedest to make it work, Louis is just too far gone to work....
It's all a bit Princess Di.
I remember how Jeff's death was a minor shock a year ago, but subsequently bored by how he was beatified for months within the show. Now no one really gives a damn a year later. Dixie went on that ridiculous course and wittered on to the "sweet'art" patient instead of rapidly removing the bricks from his chest.
Wotsisname stole a pile of money off his brother Ethan not long ago. No Progress since!
Dylan was a decent character actor who has been demoted to Lofty's mate and is now "vulnerable".
I still watch, but it is pants.
Jacob would be morally ambigous (or morally repellent) if the show didn't celebrate and excuse his terrible behaviour at every turn. Demeaning superiors by sexually harassing them in front of colleagues? It's just cheeky alpha male behaviour, those women needed to loosen up! It's incredibly lazy writing, trying to force the audience to like the character by having every other character talk about how wonderful he is while he goes around solving world hunger and weaving clothes for sick children from his own tears.
Yes i agree.
I don't think that Jacon is being written (or acted) as morally ambiguous at all. I think we are clearly meant to like him, see him as a breath of fresh air who gets things done and is honest, tells it like it is and gets the 'right' result by reading people correctly - like when he got Connie and Rita to support his gang policy. In case we are in any doubt of this, they show him being wonderful in every way, intelligent, strong, handsome sense of humour, multi lingual etc, etc, etc. Plus we have other characters telling us how wonderful he is - not to mention Oliver Kent in back stage interviews. He is, as somebody said a while back, the current Casualty equivalent of Adele on Holby city who is equally wonderful at everything and adored and supported by other characters, despite most of the audience disliking her.
Now, i don't think the audience being split on whether they enjoy watching a character makes that character morally ambiguous. It just means that many find the writers portrayal of such a character annoying or grating - which is very different in my opinion.
Comments
Apparently Steven Hartley has been in Casualty three times before:
- 2006 as Professor Phillip Miller
- 2008 as Jarrod Brooks
- 2013 as Alan Rednall
Those of us who watched EastEnders in the 1980s will also remember him as Matthew Jackson (no relation to current day Jacksons), the abusive partner of Carmel, between 1988-1989. His character was a forerunner of those such as Trevor Morgan.
His 2008 character was a very significant role - although he himself was only in one episode, he kicked off one of the most major storylines of that series. He was the paternal grandfather of Sharice, the little girl that Zoe looked after for a while, and beat up her mother (played by Amy Manson). That was how Zoe became aware of their situation.
I know he said he'd been to the gym everyday, but then they found out he didn't have a gym membership!??
Thanks, I knew he was in it before, at the start I was wondering were we supposed to remember him? But then I suppose ex soap stars are always popping up on the show.
I wonder why this is. Perhaps she's only going to be a short-term/recurring character, like Honey (who also doesn't appear)? I'd be disappointed if she is, I've liked her so far.
I think because he said he was really rich, but he didn't have a gym membership, aroused suspicion because it's odd. Then when she questioned him, he admitted that he was lying.
Meanwhile, we have shots like Jacob kicking the door down, Ethan lunging at Cal, Noel and Big Mac dancing and the whole team springing up from behind the reception desk to surprise Louise like some kind of kids' birthday party... they're not what Casualty are about.
Oh wait a minute. Silly soft soap. That is Casualty in 2015 (minus an odd episode of two).
I was rather hoping the return of the original title sequence and music at the beginning of this series would mean that the titles would get a look-in but no, we're stuck with this silliness.
I thought that was going to read 'and have puppies'. I'd watch that - Lofty and Dylan looking after a pregnant Dervla and bringing up pups.
A disappointing episode for me. The HART section just seemed an overly complicated way to get Dixie a new partner, as well as possibly testing the water for a spin off, the writers don't seem to know what to do with Lily which has her character flipflopping about like fish out of water and while I don't dislike Rita as much as some do the prospect of another workplace romance storyline fills me with, well 'dread' is overstating it but, enough pairings-up for a while, OK? Especially if we've got to put up with Superman and the Ice Queen having a dalliance at the same time - The character of Jacob is beyond smug and irritating and I've never understood Connie's appeal, even after the character transplant post-Romania.
Even the Dylan and Lofty scenes didn't quite gel for me - I'm not sure Beck has nailed the new almost human Dylan yet, although I have no doubt he will.
I did expect more to be said about the reasons why Lofty is so clumsy though.
I'm guessing it's because they want to wait until the second new character
That was a really sweet thing to do, but admitting the gift was from a Pound Shop (and Dylan's accompanying facial expression) cracked me up!:D Actually, I'm surprised that Dylan is aware that such things as Pound Shops exist! He doesn't strike me as someone who would ever venture into one...in fact, I'm struggling to visualising him going shopping, full stop!:D
Yeh Dylan shopping is weird to think of
Jacob's character would have been good about 40 years ago.
Well they made it quite clear on the show she was on a four month placement. Therefore if she was placed on the credits now we would know something must happen to make her stay on longer.
I still suspect she may be a short term character anyway.
Well, they always stretch reality with new F2s anyway. They're supposed to spend a short stint in the department as part of their training, but obviously if they had to keep moving on to other parts of the hospital, they wouldn't be part of the programme anymore. They can handle it better on Holby City, as that focusses on numerous wards.
Of course, the most believable thing would be if she left Casualty after a few months, and then popped up on Holby City as the same character on a new rotation, but I doubt that will happen! Maybe they're testing the waters, as they do sometimes - employ Chelsea Halfpenny on a temporary contract, write the character out, and then if she's popular enough, give her a permanent position on the show in the future.
The groundwork is laid for the Rita-Iain stuff – I don't mind them oddly, a curious pairing, but we'll see. I presume Dixie and Iain are now a comedy double-act? There's something ironic about an ex-Army Medic unsure compared to the specialists – or is it just a symptom of the anniversary? Is this HART thing real? Typical the Government would use a big concept to solve problems rather than address the bread-and-butter. The test scenario is a distraction, complete with horribly clichéd characters – since when was their not an elite unit with a nuts member – I wonder whether this is there to tee-up a longer-term question, just how temperamentally suited Iain really is for the high pressure nature of what it is that he does given his tempestuousness? Perhaps TPTB are setting-up some dread challenge for him? Some reckoning no doubt with Rita ringing her hands from the sidelines. And get in there Dixie!!!
Oh Lily, you are trying to hard! I've been the girl in the corner trying desperately hard to fit in and not and overcompensating. It's not just ambition, its as if she's using her career as a substitute for fulfilment she fails to get in her family environment and personal life. I presume that's why she's consciously or semi-consciously copying that other broken bird Mrs B so much. I should imagine the pretend Banker's condition should be a subtle warning to her – know your limits, be honest with yourself and others and using common sense. And as a kid, I did a lot of sports including swimming with a lot of land-training, I guessed his condition pretty quickly.... The lack of communication and empathy between Alicia and Lily, unhelpfully stirred by Louise, is problematical, she can be forthright under circumstances but mentioning the anniversary and that Lily was in the car might have been helpful. I would not be averse to seeing more of Alicia in the future, if that's still feasible of course – although you are right on that point dear George, Holby City always dealt with rotations better as a concept.
Dylan's slow recovery is truthful – the presumption that just because your symptoms are easing, doesn't mean he's actually beaten it – I assume this is going to get worse again. Nice to see that he's getting control though, getting on with Lofty again – they are a good combination, quiet, not showy/over-the-top or soap operatic, they balance off each other's weaknesses rather than exacerbating them as in some relationships. Patient Florence also furthers the pairing – sure, it's lamp-shaded as hell, but that's life, it does play to Dylan's strengths, his ability to show compassion in a dispassionate, intellectually detached sort of way. And Dervla returns! Odd detail though, moments after the Family Court reveal, they cut straight to Mrs B – sorry, awkward juxtaposition, given Mrs B and the custody business.
The awkwardness of the Connie-Zoe conversation – two women who never really be on the same wavelength and will never really recover from the disingenuousness that characterised their initial dealings. Not to mention the metaphorical car-crash that is Zoe-Max and the anniversary of the actual car-crash will no doubt be an unspoken reality for everybody – the year to hell and hand-basket from that point on for everyone, not least our Icy Queen.... Oh and its an annulment under fraud or deception Max, given that the marriage can't have been consummated and she was less than entirely honest that day, not divorce.
No Jacob, hurrah! LOATHE, DETEST AND DESPISE Jacob. I couldn't disagree with you more George, Jacob's very presence is enough to spoil whole episodes for me, in real life people like that get on my tits and I find him completely unprofessional with no respect for his superiors. That Connie is a hot mess is not in dispute, she should never have been brought back, I think her departure from Holby City was at least a year overdue, even if she is actually in the wrong. To work it has to be subtle and the viewer must be willing to try to see things from her point of view. Holby City's strength was that it could handle her ambiguity and that she was brilliant but utterly f**ked-up at the same time but Casualty just can't and she's only really been allowed to be negative/incompetent/unpleasant – her stories mostly revolve around how difficult/unlikeable/unemotional she is, not on what a truly epic change she made in her life just coming back to Holby and changing her speciality so late in-life and how she struggled with that, her grief about her father and that her life has not worked out the way she hoped for – which should have been more than enough material. It's not just that I think that Connie and Jacob will bring-out the worst in each other, it's that, Casualty no longer supports more morally ambiguous characters, it requires neat and tidy answers and doesn't know how to deal with people and situations which aren't neat and tidy over a sustained period of time without destroying the very thing that made them interesting/unpredictable to start with....
Adequate episode, nothing more, nothing less....
Could you not argue that Jacob is a morally ambiguous character though? It seems that the divided opinion on here would suggest so. I do realise that he's arrogant and thinks he's better than everyone else, I just also can recognise that he seems to be bloody good and talks a lot of sense. I'd say he seems quite complex in that regard, I'd like to know more about him.
With regards to what you say about him not having respect for his superiors, I'd question what any of his superiors have done since he arrived to gain his respect. I'd say that he has done more to earn respect from them than the other way around. (Although I do think that he and Rita have grown to hold one another in quite high esteem.)
EDIT: Thinking about it, I would say that they are trying (and not really succeeding) to make Louis a morally ambiguous, three-dimensional character. It's not really working though. We've had a lot of storylines this year trying to show how vulnerable he is and make us care for him. The problem is that in every single episode featuring Louis I have ever seen, he has never come across as anything other than a thoroughly unpleasant human being. It's all very well to show him addicted to heroin and make him more fragile, but he's been horrible for ages, even when he was a little boy lying that Josh had hit him. I sympathise with his situation, sure, but I think to make people really care about a character, the character has to have some endearing qualities, and Louis just doesn't.
Jacob would be morally ambigous (or morally repellent) if the show didn't celebrate and excuse his terrible behaviour at every turn. Demeaning superiors by sexually harassing them in front of colleagues? It's just cheeky alpha male behaviour, those women needed to loosen up! It's incredibly lazy writing, trying to force the audience to like the character by having every other character talk about how wonderful he is while he goes around solving world hunger and weaving clothes for sick children from his own tears.
BIB: I haven't seen the latest one yet. Can't wait to see that bit!
I think there are two types of morally ambiguous character – they are messed up and there are good, complicated reasons why even when they do really questionable things, exemplified by Jac Naylor, but are not inherently evil and a properly morally dark where there really isn't a good reason, sociopaths for one. It seems likely Connie simply doesn't know how/never acquired the ability to sustain a healthy relationship with anybody and keeps seeking love/reassurance through her work and position and/or through the same kind of silver-tongued notional 'charmers' who then turn out to be less than ideal and therefore hasn't been able to sustain one with Grace (and by extension, off-screen, with Sam) when it counts. I would say that counts as damaged, maybe even a bit tragic in a way, she didn't mean to be iffy at parenting, she just became so.
Forgive me, but shouldn't respect for the position of an even moderately capable Clinical Lead and Clinical Nurse Manager be automatic? Professional respect and personal respect are two totally different concepts. The team respect the professional skills and expertise Connie brings without liking her and some like Charlie, probably Tess and possibly even Zoe have a pretty good handle on her without actually/necessarily liking her either. Putting aside Rita, being a Consultant in two different specialities (and the post-nominals on her door would tell him that) isn't enough for professional respect? You don't need to like somebody or think much of them as a person whilst still working with them effectively. There is a degree of arsehole behaviour you can get away with – if you really are all that – they have walked the line with Connie for 11 years and change – but a character only gets away with it if they can deliver the goods and are exceptional and being Medical Director younger than 40 suggests is she. This is life and death – he either respects the NHS's practices, structures and hierarchy – the very system he works for – or he doesn't and he doesn't seem to have much time for the rules as if he knows better. I don't see brilliance from Jacob, certainly not enough to merit allowing him to play the maverick when he feels like it. What I see is a Gary Stu we are being told to like – which is very different indeed. It's possible to argue that he mishandled the gang situation and didn't notify Security which allowed the stand-off to happen last week. Playing Connie and Rita off against each other to get his gang strategy adopted, manoeuvring them to get hired, counteracting their staffing plans vis a vis Lofty and generally wandering around like he owns the place and function together because they have to is not remotely respectful either to them or their positions and I think sends a signal to the audience and to junior characters that its alright to act as an arsehole and do whatever you like if you can get away with it. It doesn't resemble any workplace I've been in.
I do think they are likely to bring out the worst qualities in each other.
With Louis the damage was done a long time ago. Gregory Foreman has a doomed mission on his hands, not that he hasn't done his damnedest to make it work, Louis is just too far gone to work....
I remember how Jeff's death was a minor shock a year ago, but subsequently bored by how he was beatified for months within the show. Now no one really gives a damn a year later. Dixie went on that ridiculous course and wittered on to the "sweet'art" patient instead of rapidly removing the bricks from his chest.
Wotsisname stole a pile of money off his brother Ethan not long ago. No Progress since!
Dylan was a decent character actor who has been demoted to Lofty's mate and is now "vulnerable".
I still watch, but it is pants.
Yes i agree.
I don't think that Jacon is being written (or acted) as morally ambiguous at all. I think we are clearly meant to like him, see him as a breath of fresh air who gets things done and is honest, tells it like it is and gets the 'right' result by reading people correctly - like when he got Connie and Rita to support his gang policy. In case we are in any doubt of this, they show him being wonderful in every way, intelligent, strong, handsome sense of humour, multi lingual etc, etc, etc. Plus we have other characters telling us how wonderful he is - not to mention Oliver Kent in back stage interviews. He is, as somebody said a while back, the current Casualty equivalent of Adele on Holby city who is equally wonderful at everything and adored and supported by other characters, despite most of the audience disliking her.
Now, i don't think the audience being split on whether they enjoy watching a character makes that character morally ambiguous. It just means that many find the writers portrayal of such a character annoying or grating - which is very different in my opinion.