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Will William's Secret Be Revealed When Iolo Is Kidnapped On "People Of The Valley": SOAPS

Plus: The best and worst in soaps in 2015!

EastEnders (UK)

This was mostly about Mick and Linda’s wedding, so there’s not much to say. I think it’s weird that Paul would be giving Ben a Christmas present. But I’ve always found Paul’s attachment to Ben a little much. He's way too cute to be pining over the local closet case.

As for the wedding, Nancy looked fantastic. Who knew there was a pretty girl hidden under those shorts and track suits? But it's hard to believe that Johnny wouldn’t have been there for his parent’s wedding.

His absence is becoming more noticeable—time to recast!


Emmerdale (UK)

It only took six months, but Eric finally admitted he was at fault for Val’s death, having locked her in that mirror maze. Will he apologize for all the grief he caused? Probably not.

Well, can he at least shave now?

Debbie has always been awful, but her being okay with Ross giving her kid stolen toys for Christmas is not a sign of good motherhood. Speaking of which, they aren’t even trying to hide actress Charley Webb's very obvious pregnancy.

Did Debbie really say "Nobody gets away with betraying the family"? I mean Zack’s affair was stupid (and some lazy writing), but coming from her, it’s rich. Did she forget Cameron?

The thing is about this "Strangers on a Train" storyline is that none of these people, except for Robert, are particularly smart. I can’t believe the plot hasn’t unraveled long before this.

For example, Andy believing that Robert was going to just drop the fact that Ross shot him shows what an idiot Andy is.

I wish Finn would spend as much time on his own love life as he does on his brothers'.

Are we supposed to feel sorry for Ross because he "lost everything"? Until he goes to jail for attempted murder (only one of a very long list of crimes), Ross hasn’t lost anything.

Michael Parr is a terrific actor, but he can't make us buy any of the garbage his character is selling.

We saw that in scene after scene after he was revealed as the shooter. And he certainly didn’t care that Aaron went to jail for the crime. Which of course makes me wonder how soon it'll be before Aaron finds out. More violence and more crimes. Something to look forward to!

I did like Cain telling Debbie about Ross “not even you can go back to him after this”. She was offended, but he was speaking the truth. And I don't know what it was, but Cain looked awfully good in them jeans.

Keep driving, Debbie. No need to come back. I know the actress is going on an extended maternity leave, but I do love how soap characters can just drop everything and leave town when life gets rough.

So I guess Aaron will be the one to find out about Paddy’s affair first? This is an poorly crafted, contrived storyline. Paddy cheating for no reason whatsoever is utterly out of character. And that this show has three of these types of stories running at the same time is just lazy. The new producer can't get here fast enough.

Obviously there’s more to whatever happened between Gordon and Aaron than just Gordon smacking Aaron once. Given Aaron’s reaction to his father (and that the show is promising a dark story they’ve never done before), it’s going to get pretty ugly. Did Gordon sexually abuse Aaron? I’m thinking so.


People of the Valley (Wales)

Some background before the clip from last week:

Remember that storyline about Sion, Iolo’s father, having stolen that money from the church that he couldn’t pay back?

That was why Sion didn’t want Iolo and William together because he was afraid that William, a cop, would figure out what Sion had done so Sion tried numerous times to break them up. None of it worked and Iolo and William fell in love and moved in together.

A few months went by and Sion got the money to refund the church from his shady brother in law Garry, who forced Sion to hide a gun for him in return. The gun happened to belong to a criminal friend of Garry’s that Garry owed a favor. We learned a couple of weeks ago that criminal, Craig, is somehow tied to William, who does not want their connection revealed.

Uh-oh!

On Christmas Day, Sion had hidden the gun in the church for Craig to retrieve. However, Sion’s bratty teenage stepson Chester got ahold of the gun first, thinking it was a toy gun and accidentally shot his mother Britt!

See, that’ll get you some coal in your stocking.

Britt was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and Chester was arrested for attempted murder.

Here's where we pick up:

We barely ever get to see Iolo and William and certainly never in their own storyline. They’ve always been a backdrop to everybody else’s drama and that is no different here. I think Iolo getting kidnapped might be the most screentime he’s had in months and I have the feeling the events of his week are going to be the doom of his relationship with William.

When Iolo finds out what William has been hiding, I’m sure he’ll drop him instantly. And Sion will have gotten what he always wanted.

Of course, only Sion could be so selfish and self righteous that he’d blame William for everything when it was Sion’s theft that started this. Thankfully, William pointed that out.

But I don’t think Sion will stay quiet about William for too long. He’s hated William from the start and loves to control Iolo’s life. He'll tell Iolo the truth (or a version of the truth) just to get back at William and finally break them up.

I wonder if this will lead to a flare up of Iolo’s OCD?

At any rate, I do hope they don’t wind up splitting up. I do like them together... even if I don’t get to see them very often. But the show clearly doesn’t want to write for them.

I mean, this show drags out it’s stories as this overall plot has been running for well over a year. But Iolo was kidnapped and rescued in the span of one single episode. And a big part of the events took place off screen. Not much drama or suspense when plenty could have been milked from it.

BTW, I don’t like the show’s 'new' theme song, which from what I've been told is actually the show’s original theme from many years ago. Still don’t like it.


THIS WEEK IN SPOILERS

Coronation Street: Todd is looking for a new job, but is he willing to do the work to get it?

Emmerdale: Aaron is upset when he hears that Chas and Gordon are spending time together and punches a door in anger. He storms out and later takes a look at his open wound. Aaron grabs a knife, looking to hurt himself to deal with his emotional turmoil.

The next day is Aaron’s birthday, but he’s not in the mood to celebrate. Cain catches Aaron trying to hurt himself, but Aaron downplays it and convinces Cain not to tell Chas. Cain insists Aaron see his therapist if he wants Cain to stay quiet. Aaron agrees, but later lies to Cain about going to his appointment.

Meanwhile, Chas and Gordon secretly meet and she tells him she can’t see him anymore because it upsets Aaron so much. Gordon pushes Chas not to give up on them because he wants another chance with her.

River City: Patrick is disturbed by the darkness in Drew.

The Haves and The Haves Nots: As the new season begins, Jeffery has to deal with the ramifications of he and Candace murdering Quincy. Plus, Jeffery has bigger problems thanks to he and Wyatt's schemes landing Jim, Kathryn, David and Veronica in jail. What will they do when they find out that their own sons were behind their downfall?


TEASERS FOR NEXT WEEK

Emmerdale: Aaron learn about Paddy’s affair.

Hollyoaks: Harry is arrested for assault; Ste is suspicious about James, the new gay in town.

Neighbours: Nate is out for revenge.

People of the Valley: Iolo breaks up with William and throws him out of the house.

River City: Patrick is at a loss when Drew crosses the line.


BEST AND WORST Of 2015

Let’s be real: it was a tough year for those of us to enjoy seeing gay characters in soaps and dramas. If there wasn’t bad writing for gays, they were being killed off or simply written off. No US soap currently has an ongoing gay character in a front burner storyline.

Nighttime television is a little better as some shows not only had positively written gays, but they were used in important and relevant stories.

UK and foreign television, both in soaps and dramas, were much better in terms of writing good stories for gays. And even if you didn’t always love the stories at least they were visible.

With that in mind, here’s a look back at the high and lows of the past year in soapy drama.

What did I love and what did I, well, not like as much? Keep reading.

BEST STORYLINE: Will and Robbie’s Marriage Implodes, River City

Strong, powerful, and beautifully written, what best about this story was that we saw it all play out over time in realistic fashion, with all the beats touched upon. We understood why and how Robbie and Will wound up apart and why they both behaved as they did, even if we didn’t like it.

Following a long estrangement because of Will's abuse of Robbie, the couple reunited. However, even though Will had gone through months of therapy to get to the root of his abusive tendencies, they got back together too quickly and compounded that mistake by deciding to foster a troubled teenage boy, Finn.

When Robbie was hesitant at fostering, Will basically told Robbie he’d do it with or without him. Robbie reluctantly went along with it. Will threw everything he had into being a foster parent, neglecting his newly repaired marriage in the process.

As they grew distant, Robbie, more than once, commented that he and Will rarely had sex or spent time alone together. Will nonchalantly replied that their lack of a sex life was normal in a married couple with kids.

When Finn decided to go live with his sister, Will wanted to foster a new child right away, but Robbie made it clear he didn’t want to so soon, if ever. He wanted to focus on what was left of he and Will’s marriage.

Will however, pulled away even further and Robbie, alone and rejected, drifted into a one night stand with Patrick, the new guy in town.

When Will learned the truth, he threw Robbie out. Eventually, Robbie moved back in and they decided to give the marriage another chance, but it was obvious it was over. After months of angry silences and slamming doors, Robbie and Will decided to divorce.

And that led to, for me, the only flaw in this whole story. Robbie and Will’s divorce proceedings got ugly and during an argument, Will hit Robbie. Robbie pressed charges and Will wound up having to leave town to start over.

Needless to say, I hated that ending. I understand that Scott Vickers wanted to leave the show, but there was no reason to have Will revert back to his abusive ways, not after all he’d done to put it behind him. Why couldn’t Will have just left town to start over after his broken marriage, instead of being forced out in disgrace?

After all that character growth and beautiful writing, I just thought that was a cheap and lazy way to write out what had been a wonderfully complex character. Still, there’s no denying it was a terrific and strong storyline.

WORST STORYLINE: Alec’s Coming Out Drama; Shortland Street

I’m thinking that maybe Shortland Street should quit writing for gay characters. 2014’s duo gay plots lines of the Harry/Seth storyline and Jack’s coming out drama were pretty awful. But 2015's drama of Alex’s coming out woes was worse.

Alex’s story began pretty typically. He was dating Lucy, but was reluctant to get intimate.

It wasn’t long before Lucy became suspicious and after spotting Alec kissing another guy, she found out that the guy in question was Alex’s ex-lover Joe. However, Alex claimed that it was over with Joe and that he was no longer gay because he only found superficial, meaningless relationship with men so Lucy stuck with Alex.

Eventually, Lucy realized that Alex wasn’t that into her and was still in love with Joe so she dumped him. Alex went back to Joe.

In short order, it wasn’t long before it was revealed that Joe and Alex’s relationship was toxic and full of violence. The story built to an climax when during a fight Alex shot Joe. That incident led to Alex ending with Joe for good.

The problem with all this? It played out over a couple of weeks -- and most of every development of Alex and Joe’s relationship took place off screen, including the shooting. We only heard about it later.

There was no reason to care or invest in any of this because we weren’t seeing any of it. And then suddenly, Alex was written out, moving away to take care of his annoying sister Clementine who’d nearly been offed by a serial killer. Yep.

Awful, badly written and utterly forgettable. The whole thing just left a bad taste in my mouth.

As for Jack, he had a bit of story involving a cute romance with his math tutor, but the show botched that too. When SS begins to concoct the new season's gay storyline, let’s hope they don’t bother.

MOST HEARTWARMING SHOW: House Husbands

I think that several times this season HH had me tearing up as they followed Kane and Alex's attempts to have a child together.

The ups and downs of that story, finding a surrogate, only for it to not work out, then having a close friend decide to bear a child for them and that leading to a number of complications was full of comedy, drama and most of all heart.

The culmination of the dramatic season ended on Kane and Alex’s wedding (we’ll ignore that gay marriage is not legal in Australia - the show certainly seemed to) was full of the warm, emotional sweetness that makes this show a joy to watch. I worried that this show might not be back for a fifth season after hearing about slipping ratings. But no worries. HH was renewed and will return later this year.

I’ll have the tissues ready.

MOST DISAPPOINTING SHOW: A Place To Call Home

I hate writing this, especially since I’ve had a such a great affection for this show in it’s first two years. But maybe that’s why this past season of APTCH was such a disappointment for me. I have come to expect so much more from this drama.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of this past season, but our focus is on the show’s gay storyline.

And on that APTCH resoundingly failed.

Last season ended with James, after his attempt at reparative therapy, deciding to devote himself to his marriage and his family. When the show began this season, James met Dr. Henry Fox and it looked like James would finally find the love he truly wanted and we’d see that struggle play out.

Only we didn’t.

James’ storyline got little focus at all. It was more about how James and Olivia’s sexless marriage drove Olivia into an affair with an artist (though it was hot) and how Gino finding out about James being gay affected Anna and Gino’s marriage. There was even an arc about Regina using James being gay to blackmail George.

But James and Henry’s relationship itself got very little play and mostly developed off screen. Weeks would go by without any scenes between them and when we did get a scene it was mostly Henry offering to be James’ secret lover and James pondering it.

When they finally did get together in the final episode of the season, even that was not so much about James being with the man he cares for, but Olivia finding out so she could be hurt and outraged (despite her affair) and deciding to leave James.

We really have no idea how James and Henry feel about each other, if their relationship is just about sex or is it more. So much of James’ story was left untold or undertold and we know this show is capable of so much more.

Let’s hope James' character and his life gets the focus it deserves in the new season.

MOST GROUNDBREAKING: Connor and Jude’s Love Story, The Fosters

I never, ever thought I’d see a storyline like Connor and Jude. A sweet love story between two thirteen year old boys was something I never could imagine on my television. But the Fosters went there and they’ve done a wonderful job crafting this warm and engaging romance of two boys falling in love and dealing with the ramifications of coming out to themselves and their families.

I know a lot of people make a big deal about their first (on screen) kiss and it’s important, but that finger touching scene in the theatre was far more romantic to me.

However, I do think that Connor and Jude do live in a bit of a fantasy world. I don’t think it would be so easy for them to have an open relationship in school. That doesn’t quite ring true to me. And I wish we saw more of the story from Connor’s point of view. But it’s still an engaging and bravely told story that I hope will continue to unfold.

MOST POINTLESS STORYLINE: Todd’s Scar, Coronation Street

Like Todd’s scar itself, this storyline was much ado about nothing. Todd was on the outs with his family for his bad behavior. They were on the way to healing things and were supposed to have a family dinner, but his family blew it off.

Todd was beaten up by thugs resulting in Todd being left with a permanent scar on his face and blaming his family for not being there for him. That laid the groundwork for a long arc with a lot of potential for drama. But the story was pretty much a bust from the start.

First of all, Todd’s scar was barely noticeable. It was hardly disfiguring and could have been covered with a bit of makeup. And throughout the story, there was never any discussion of Todd having surgery to remove the scar. So Todd’s motivation was weak at best.

Second, Todd’s schemes against his family, most notably, his pretending to be his mother’s online secret lover and destroying Eileen’s real life relationship, was petty and ridiculously plotted.

When Todd's schemes were exposed, he was kicked out of family (again). Bruno Langely delivered some solid material during that reveal, but it certainly wasn’t worth the nonsense that got us to that. Todd has since been welcomed back into his family but again has little in the way of story. The show once promised us that Todd would get a storyline explaining why he came back from London so angry and bitter, but that story never saw light.

Maybe the show’s new executive producer, Katie Oates, who gave the gays on Emmerdale plenty to do will finally give Todd his time in the sun. He deserves it.

FAVORITE COUPLE: Lucas and Brad, General Hospital

Lucas and Brad are a wonderful couple. The actors have great chemistry, their romantic scenes are fun and sexy and hot. The screen just lights up when they are together. I love them and I love watching them. The Valentine’s Day episode and the episode where Brad proposed to Lucas were probably the most romantic scenes for gay characters all year.

The problem? They’re never on.

Months can go by before we see them together. Lucas does occasional scenes doing doctor stuff around the hospital or supporting his family, but we usually only see Brad every month or so. And then there’s their storyline if you could call it that.

For months, Brad was hesitant in planning he and Lucas’ wedding. Lucas was barely suspicious and we knew Brad was keeping a secret. When we found out what it was, I think I might have thrown something at the television.

Seemed Brad was married to Rosalie, a character had been walking around Port Charles with some dark secret for a year. Furthermore, they couldn’t get divorced or they’d go jail. That was revealed months ago.

And nothing has happened since then. We still don’t know the details of the secret. Neither does Lucas because Brad won’t tell him, keeping their relationship and this storyline in total limbo.

Worse, the show changed writers, Rosalie is MIA and Brad has been on once or twice since then with little mention of this storyline. Will this show ever resolve it? I really would like to see Brad and Lucas get married and an actual ongoing story for them. They are too wonderful a couple to be treated so poorly.

DUMBEST ROMANCE: Finn and Darren, Emmerdale

I was thrilled when I heard that Finn was going to get a boyfriend since the character is mostly ignored and usually plays supporting sounding board to his brothers Ross and Pete’s endless dramas. Unfortunately, Finn and Darren’s relationship was never about them. And when it was? Well..

The initial beat of the story was Emma and Val not wanting Finn and Darren together because Darren was HIV+. Those scenes were never really about the guys wanting to be together and work through things, but the women scheming to break them up.

Once they got past that, we had some ‘comedic’ scenes of Finn making a fool of himself while trying to win over Darren. And once he had Darren, Finn became inexplicably became bored and started finding ways to avoid the guy. The story, such as it was, ended with Darren dumping Finn to go back to the ex he never got over.

Okay.

Finn deserved better and so did the viewers. And since then Finn has gone back to having no story and no life other than worrying about his brothers or his mother. Awhile back there was a beat where Finn’s dad James noted that Finn was sort of wandering through life with no purpose. That's accurate. But when is the show going to do something about it?

BEST SCENE IN A COMING OUT STORY: Abel is accepted by his father, Les Miserables

Gay storytelling is a relatively new thing on telenovelas so the fact that gay characters are featured in a positive light is a groundbreaking thing in itself. Still the gay characters are almost always background or supporting and if they have romances, which doesn’t always happen for them, they tend to be very chaste in a genre that is all about hot and steamy sex.

Abel and Gonzalo, the gay couple on Les Miserables were no different. They had numerous scenes talking about how much in love they were, but not once ever touched. Not even a handshake.

Yet, the moment where Abel’s father Nacho, who’d always known his son was gay, but was waiting for him to be comfortable enough with himself to come out was a standout moment for me. The story that led up to it was awful, Abel had tried to kill himself after being rejected by Gonzalo, who was secretly dying of a brain tumor and didn’t want to burden Abel.

But Nacho’s unconditional love and acceptance of his son was beautiful to see and a reason why coming out stories still need to be written, especially in a genre with such a conservative audience.

BEST SHOW: London Spy

I said when this show was airing that it would probably be the runaway winner of Best Show this past season (even if, it’s not a anything like a soap opera) and there’s really no other show that came close.

Yes, London Spy did falter at spots, especially in it’s final two episodes, but nothing was as compelling and emotionally powerful as this mini-series about two men who fall in love and what happens when one of them is murdered.

Danny and Alex had one of those random meetings that changed both of their lives. Danny knew from the start there was a lot of about Alex’s life he didn’t know or that Alex didn’t talk about, but Danny didn’t ask too many questions, he just fell for the man he knew. Then after Alex is murdered, Danny had nothing but questions about the man, the mysterious life he led and why he was killed.

This series is full of wonderful scenes at times chilling and scary, at other times heartbreaking. The long, haunting scene where Danny finds out he is HIV+ is still a stand out for me. I simply can't forget it.

As Danny, Ben Whishaw is amazing in this show, giving one of the strongest acting performances I’ve seen in years. Whatever awards he’s eligible for, he deserves them all.

What I appreciated most about this show is that it never shied away it’s gay center, nor gay sexuality. That’s something we don’t often get in mainstream television shows.

Like I said, the show wasn’t without it’s flaws. It could be slow and meandering at times and it’s final episodes wandered about without much story left to tell. An episode shorter and this show couldn’t been a lot stronger.

The biggest flaw is, of course, why these unseen villains never killed Danny when they killed others around him. Still though, I’ve never seen anything like London Spy. But I do hope it’s only the beginning of strong and thoughtful series about gay folks. We could use them.

WORST SHOW: Days of Our Lives

There was no contest in who would be ‘bestowed’ this honor. Days won it handily. I can’t think of any show that offended or insulted me as much this show did, except when it bored and annoyed me a lot too. The year actually started off pretty well. Will betrayed his marriage by sleeping with Sonny’s ex-lover Paul, setting the stage for a juicy triangle. However, from that point forward, the story actually never went anywhere.

For months Sonny, Will and Paul played the same scenes and the same scenarios over and over. There was never any story progression or movement forward, even though the characters got tons of airtime. Then things got worse.

Thanks to awful stories centered on unlikeable characters (Serena’s elephant, most notably), Days suffered record low ratings. The writers were fired and fans wondered what this would mean for the show’s gays, who were front burner at the time.

It meant complete and utter destruction.

Will and Sonny’s marriage fell apart and Sonny left town (though actor Freddie Smith was leaving of his own accord). Both Paul and Will disappeared. Actor Guy Wilson, never a hit as Will, was fired.

Instead of sending their legacy gay character out of town or even leaving him in a long term coma, Will was murdered by the town serial killer, barely able fight for his life as he was strangled to death.

Worse, instead of this leading to some long term storytelling, Will was pretty much forgotten by the next week. Sonny couldn’t get out of town fast enough (I’m still pissed that Sonny was relegated to the second row during Will’s funeral) and Sami was more concerned in getting revenge on the DiMera’s for EJ’s death than mourning her first born son.

Will, who grew up on this show, has been barely mentioned since his death. Paul has made a few random cameos with no more than 3 or 4 lines of dialogue during each appearance.

Given that, it’s a mystery why Paul was even kept on given that the show fired every other actor brought on during the show’s last regime. Did they keep Paul so fans wouldn’t think that all their other actions regarding the gays didn’t reek of homophobia?

It didn’t work.

BEST AND WORST ODDS AND ENDS....

The BEST INTRODUCTION OF A NEW GAY this past year was Neighbours’ Aaron Brennan. I loved how the show shamelessly touted Aaron as the show’s new hunk and took every chance to show him with his clothes off.

And initially Aaron was a fun, light-hearted character as the gay stripper with the heart of gold. Aaron and his story have taken some serious hits since then, most notably in his chemistry free romance with super boring Nate. But hopefully in this new year, Aaron will go back to being the fun and sexy guy we were introduced to.

The SWEETEST COUPLE for me this year was Kalle and Lari from Secret Lives. I know that I’m not supposed to like then and I know they are very much doomed, but I’ve always been a fan of this May-December romance. They had a lot of drama this past season and will probably be over by the end of this year when Lari goes back to Elias, but I will always have fond memories of their very sweet love story.

The BIGGEST SURPRISE for me this past year was Jeffery and Landon hooking up on The Haves and The Have Nots. I never expected they’d have an on screen romantic scene and I thought we’d finally see some progression in Jeffery’s character. But instead, Jeffery immediately reverted back to the pathetic self hating gay in love with the straight guy who treats him like dirt. Sigh!

My FAVORITE CHARACTER this past year was How To Get Away With Murder’s Oliver. Maybe it’s because he’s the ‘normal’ guy amid all the craziness, but I just get a kick out of the this cute geek. I wasn’t a fan of the HIV storyline because I was afraid that Oliver and Connor’s relationship would be all about that. But refreshingly, they remained a fun and sexy couple.

The BEST NEW CHARACTER was Jake Vickers from the BBC cop drama Cuffs. Jake really wasn’t a trailblazer in terms of characterization and that’s why he was so appealing. He was a typical rookie cop who just happened to be gay. Jake was never defined by his sexuality, but it was never ignored either.

He had a messy romance with shifty lawyer Simon and a conflict with his partner Ryan, who was having trouble accepting that his teenage son was gay. Other than that though, Jake was written like any other rookie cop in any other police drama, an accomplishment within itself. Shame that Cuffs was cancelled and we won’t get anymore of this compelling character.

The TREND THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE is the absolute disappearance of any gay characters on any of the German soaps. It wasn’t that long ago when the German dramas led the way in gay storytelling, breaking ground and giving us beloved and popular couples. But the days of Christian and Olli (or Jo and Olli), Roman and Deniz and all those beloved German gay characters are long gone.

And finally, the STORIES I WANTED TO SEE MORE OF were the criminally ignored William and Iolo romance on People of the Valley and Ben and Paul’s love story on EastEnders.

THE STORY I WANTED TO SEE LESS OF? Anything involving Hollyoaks awful, horrible, repellant Ste Hay. Enough!

Like I said, it was a tough year in soaps and dramas featuring gay characters. And despite that, there are still more shows and stories to write about than ever before. And you can count on this column to do it’s best to bring you those stories and characters each and every week.

That’s it for this edition of Langford On Soaps. Please share your comments on the thoughts and opinions expressed in this week's column below. See you next week!

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