Yes I think they are. Also there is no such thing as a typical predator but I don't think nick is a predator even though if ellie didn't consent it was rape.

Hollyoaks do these storylines brilliantly. The consent issue is a massive one.

Hopefully this storyline is done well as it is a very important topic to discuss, however HO worked with a charity for JP's storyline and look how that turned out.

Hollyoaks do these types of storylines best when they do them in a way that doesn't favour one opinion over the other, and instead allows the audience to make up their own minds. Consent is a huge issue and Kirkwood was saying how it needs to be talked about, it's very rarely done on soaps and is an issue that affects lots of people, particularly students at Freshers week, so it's a good time to do it.

Tonight's episode was fantastic, one of the best soap episodes this year imo. It seemed to be spot on, with a good mix of humour/comedy with a dark and gritty storyline.

Hopefully they won't mess it up, people are praising it on twitter which is a good sign, and they are working with charities, but they did the same with JP's rape and that was awful.

Hollyoaks work with a lot of charities, must be 50-60 a year just for Stes story lines alone

that said bar the fact he went to prison his story line was ok, he was ashamed and would rather be treated badly than admit to what happened

Bryan Kirkwood's quote from this article.

Finally a good episode since the end of POV week. I must admit, I am more conflicted over this storyline as I thought I would be. I praise HO for doing this storyline as it is a difficult topic to discuss however, being the pessimistic I am, I don't have much hope for this storyline as HO have showen repeatedly that they can't do serious storylines sensibly.

Just catching up now. I know this will be a decisive episode, so I'll comment later properly

Just caught up with First Look HO. Possibly the best episode of the year! Incredible to think that reintroducing the uni/students can make such an immediate impression. This is the HO I know and love, away from the camp, sensationalist tripe and murderers lurking everywhere. Looks like they're finally taking the emphasis away from the hospital of death.

It goes to show that when Kirkwood and co take their heads out of the sand, they can really deliver. If they go back to basics and tackle the issues facing teens and young adults, the show really shines. Some of the gangster stuff can be good too, but just not constantly.

The cut to the after party set to that music was a great dramatic contrast to Ellie's situation. It was Sophie Porley's best performance since she started. Really looks like this will be her breakthrough storyline.

Even the lighter stuff involving Lisa, Harry, Zack, Holly, Cleo, Tegan, Celine and Jesse worked well.

I think it was a mistake to focus such an important storyline on lightweight characters that nobody cares a damn about. I certainly have no interest in watching a storyline featuring Ellie and Freddie that is going to trundle on for another eight or nine months.

Freddie and Ste sadly are the darlings of hollyoaks will always be the front of the show

I like Ellie but making this story focus on freddie too isnt great

I thought the same about the wallpaper

And isn't the guy who is walking around in the video a former HO cast member(for some reason the name "Alex Bell" comes to mind)?

Yes he was in hollyoaks, cant remember who he was, so I guess you are right

I love Mansun

Even better, daily...No, maybe hourly...:x 24

Does anybody know if they will revisit that night (possibly through flashbacks), to give more information about what really happened?

A very interesting episode. It was done very well to create a polarising opinion of the situation between Ellie and Nick.

I thought Ellie was way beyond the consent stage, however, I'm thinking sex didn't even take place, just some male bravado from Nick, but it is such a grey area hence why the story is being told.

I'm hoping this story is played out well, differently to Rhys/Jacqui/Gilly because that was done brilliantly last time, and this can put a new spin on a consent story.

It's a story that needs educating, and hopefully Sophie and Ben-Ryan can deliver the message that this story needs to deliver.

I'm hoping Hollyoaks does this story right, consent is so important and hopefully the message can be drilled in to every viewer

every episode

I thought last nights episode was boring and awful, apart from the obvious seriousness of the storyline with Ellie and Nick, the rest of it went by like a blur of pointlessness. Seeing Harry in that getup was just awful...ruined my eyes! Add to that we still had that boring awful Little Miss Upherself Cleo going on about Nathan AGAIN! Then we had nothing else of substance in that episode.

As for my thoughts, I think it's a little too early to say but if I had to take sides, who says they ACTUALLY had sex? Let's just assume they did, I feel you can't call him rapist without the full story, for all we know she did wake back up or he could have stopped...we just don't know

I hope Leela goes back to being single once Cameron gone.

There's two other people Ellie could talk to, Cleo abused and raped by her stepfather Pete and Sonja shes had abuse by man all the years on the street. I hope she takes talks to Neeta, Ellie knows her more. There's another she could talk to but doesn't know he's been abused her brother James. The two best people for Ellie to talk with are Neeta and James.

Yes her brother a criminal Lawyer a good person to talk to

When Ellie needs a lawyer her brother James be the one for the job.

also to give her advice as Im sure hes been involved in cases like that

I can see Joanna being Nick's laywer. If that happens one big court case to battle with James and Joanna.

Also with James being Ellie lawyer I can see him opening about what his dad been doing to him.

So much going on in hollyoaks, Jade/Aflie, Eva revenge on Jack, James bbuse with his dad and poor Ellie.

I would guess over time they would have to in order to stimulate further conversation and debate and throw up more questions.

I can see this SL going down the line that it will ultimately be Nick's fault because he is a new and throwaway character that we haven't engaged with much and established an affection for. What made the Jacqui/Gilly story so powerful was that it involved two well established characters.

Drinking impairs your judgement right? From our standpoint it looked like Ellie was more drunk than Nick although Nick was still heavily intoxicated and falling about. Nick knew Ellie was drunk but Ellie also knew Nick was drunk and if you are heavily drunk surely your judgement will be impaired to the precise capability and wants of the other person. How does one person know the other is too far gone to consent unless they realise they are unconscious (if both parties are drunk)?

The way I saw it, with Ellie saying "I'm so drunk" as the camera panned out - it was meant to imply. Stop kissing me, I'm too drunk to do this. Maybe I read it wrong. It wasn't clear and that's maybe where Nick got blurred lines.

Ellie must have been awake for Nick to act that way in the morning, although as in other soap rapes the rapist has always been 'oblivious' eg. Dean.

However, with Lisa shouting over and seeing him leave in the morning I can imagine the angle the storyline will go - no one will believe Ellie.

After all that I still feel on side with Nick however, because I cannot emotionally invest in Ellie, I cannot stand her. That possibly makes this 'is it? Isn't it?' Storyline, for me at least, a hard one.