redfiona99

Hollyoaks has done it again. Yes, I know I'm a bad person who only watches for one character (well two if we count Jacqui McQueen - http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/cast/girls/jacquimcqueen.html who is probably the best done version of that character type in this century) but Brendan!!!

( This time it's Hollyoaks that's doing things )

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I know it's overhyped and pointless but some part of me loves the thrill of Transfer Deadline Day. Although Juve, we don't have enough strikers to get rid of Quagliarella.

It's also 6 Nations opening weekend. Which I will be spending in the lab, but that's why they invented BBC Sport. I'll just have to remember my earphones or hope that colleague T leaves his computer unlocked (he's the one with the speakers and all users can log into all computers provided they're not locked).

The BBC keeps pushing the O'Driscoll's last ever 6 Nations angle. I wish they wouldn't. The knowledge that it'll happen one day makes me miserable enough already. I'm not as bad as my Mum though, she sent me a text message last night that read, "The agony - i.e. 6 nations - starts Saturday :/" I am dealing with it better than her. Just.

( Hollyoaks )

Unrelated, but the next person who says Jackie Chan can't act is going to get shown The Shinjuku Incident.

Dear f-list, we're friends, are we not? Therefore, you are unlikely to disown me after hearing my confession.

Damn it all, a soap has got me. It's not even one of the big ones. It's Hollyoaks.

Yes, I know the acting is of variable quality, but Brendan's back.

I feel some explanation is required. Hollyoaks is a UK soap opera set in Chester, it's aimed at teenagers, probably. It's now old enough that some of the original teenage characters have children of their own. Because Phil Redmond is the overall mind behind it, it tends to do fun things within it's parameters. In particular, it's very fond of magic realism, well, for a soap.

Now, it's normally been one of those shows that I watch because someone else in the house is watching it or because there's nothing else on. And then one day, it happened to be watching it when Brendan Brady (played with the required relish by Emmett J. Scanlan) (http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/cast/boys/brendanbrady.html) strode across the screen. And I was doomed from that point. It's almost like someone at Channel 4 went, 'you know that character type Red really pings for, why don't we make one of the ur-examples'.

Because he's utterly broken as a human being, and he knows it, and that's what he gets his strength from. Everyone else doesn't know how far they're willing to go to win (for values of win, his aren't always everyone else's) he does.

He's utterly horrible at least half the time, because, much like Owen the Slappable, if he's hurt, then he's going to hurt everyone else.

(By the by, if you follow the link to the character's page on the Channel 4 website, you'll realise that he's unspeakable and I should be cast into the pit for even liking the character but it's very much a case of fictional character likes != real people likes.)

Anyhow, long story short, too late his arch-nemesis du jour (he has a few, he's that sort of character) frames him for a series of murders and he's put in jail. He is now out of jail, sporting a great many bruises and a full beard. I suspect it of being a beard of vengence rather than a beard of sorrow.

The arch-nemesis and his girlfriend are on the outs and the girlfriend is moping in Brendan's bar. So he plays/is (it's not clear in the story yet) the helpful friend, and says that nemesis is undoubtedly sorry for everything that he's done, and girlfriend is all 'not the point, he keeps doing it', so Brendan says there's nothing to be gained from a constant cycle of revenge and how he's come round to the forgiveness side of things. Of course, this is where he drops his voice and explains the correct way to get revenge on someone - 'If you want to take a man to his knees, you find out what he loves the most, take it from him and watch his world burn down'. And then immediately pipes back up with 'but I don't do that any more'. Scene to be found from 1.50 to 3.15 here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJS7dNqCjU

I am, needless to say, all keyboard smash over the scene. Because it makes it quite clear that Brendan still is very much in the vengence business, gets the girlfriend onside because he's being nice, for once, and explains his most likely plan of attack. I look forward to seeing his vengeance.