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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 437993" data-attributes="member: 23">Hollyoaks 6632-6634  / Hollyoaks Later 2025 Special  / 6635 20 - 27 October 2025 I decided to go all in and watch a couple of episodes before the crossover hoping to contextualise things and... it was exhausting!Absolutely. If there was one thing the two earlier Hollyoaks episodes achieved, it was for me to understand that we weren't going to be going deep. From what I can see, it's a "plot"-driven series where stuff just happens and it's best not to think about it (not that there's time). I was glad to get to Brookside Close for a brief respite and some welcome familiarity.The strangeness of Sheila and Billy now residing at Number Five was nothing compared with the zany goings on in Chester, so my happiness at seeing Sheila back in her rightful habitat wasn't going to be diminished.So nice to see a Sheila/Bobby reunion, but it was also fun to watch Barry and Billy share a scene after so recently watching their uncomfortable final handshake. Overall I think it covered just enough ground to tick the nostalgia box without going overboard and explaining too much.It's a nice touch that Jacqui Dixon's daughter was played by Alexandra Fletcher's daughter, looking and sounding very much like Jackie herself when she first arrived on the Close (before she went upmarket and changed the spelling of her name). And of course it doesn't pay to think that Jacqui is now not-Jacqui on Hollyoaks.I had no idea who the blonde woman with Tinhead was and when I looked it up I recognised the name Nikki Shadwick but could not tell you a thing about the character.It made sense to have representation from different Brookside eras, though. Judging from the soul-destroying responses from Hollyoaks and late-era Brookie cast in this video, it seems everyone bar one only remembers the sensationalist pap from the Nineties onwards (fortunately, Louis Emerick saves the day): [MEDIA=youtube]8gkxyJgrJok[/MEDIA]It was interesting to see one of the terraces at the bottom end of the Close  (Number Two) used as Gemma's home. It makes sense for the character, but I suspect the choice was more logistical, based on where they could get permission to film interiors. I thought the character looked a little young, and indeed the actress wasn't born until 1993, when OG Gemma would have been seven or eight years old.The contrivance behind Mick and Sinbad being brought back was the elephant in the room. Thankfully, after a couple of episodes of Hollyoaks this was water off a duck's back.Sir Phil's little walk-on was nice. "Story of my life, mate: one drama to another"  was the line of the week.I wish I'd heeded this. The end of the episode immediately before Later left me curious to see more of the Brookie stuff, and I thought I'd watch this in order to then see how it crossed back over to the regular series (where I knew Billy would be reappearing), but can't say I enjoyed watching.Based on what I've seen, Hollyoaks is an exhausting series to watch. Even bearing in mind this seems to be some kind of "event week", there's just too much going on to care. The first couple of episodes I watched had about half a dozen back from the deads, and people getting shot left, right and centre. Jacqui Dixon's groom had knocked up about four different women who were all pregnant at the same time (if we include the one who was wearing the fake bump). And that's notwithstanding the plane they dropped onto the wedding. Then there are the convoluted love triangles and quadrangles, and every other character is gay (the one that looks like Rylan had about four different guys clamouring after him across the two versions of the show, at least one of whom was supposed to be dead, of course). It feels it's trying too hard to shock and push boundaries, which comes at the expense of character. The Scum-like rape was particularly distasteful because you just know it's going to be sold as addressing an important issue when it's really just screaming for attention and ratings.I also found the performances varied greatly. Some are decent, some really are not. Others seem to be going for camp. It's easy to tell the ones who have been on the show more than a few years because they look tired.  Sparky white veneers, tans, filled lips and botoxed foreheads don't mask this. They just look artificial and tired.Added to this is the culture shock of jumping forward three and a half decades and finding the way people talk quite different. Most of the under Forties frequently start sentences with "OK" or end sentences with "yeah?". There are also Americanisms all over the place with characters saying "I'm done with this" or asking for a "vodka tonic" (instead of the more self-explanatory "vodka and tonic").  These are, of course, an accurate reflection of the way these expressions have become assimilated into British culture, but it still felt glaring when watched back-to-back with 1990 Brookie, a time when regional language had stronger identity.One fun thing was seeing how text messages or missed calls have been worked into the story, appearing on screen as characters read them (I've seen this done elsewhere in newer series or films, but it's good to see it works in soap as well). I can fall into the trap of thinking that mobiles have spoilt a lot of soap tropes, but I liked seeing how they're used to become part of the drama.Anyway,  I'm sure there's  a market for this outrageousness, and perhaps I would have been up for it at some point (certainly, I loved Sons and Daughters and Melrose Place when they got OTT), but I needed a lie down in a dark room after a few episodes.</blockquote>

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