I stumbled upon Hope Street on BBC One when Series 1 first aired and I loved it from the beginning. The characters were people I could relate to and were likeable, along with some great storylines. Unfortunately some of that good was undone in Series 2. Again there was some great storylines and plot points as well as some brilliant acting (special shout out to Ciarán McMenamin) but the Siobhan/Finn relationship soured the Series. The number of emotional u-turns done by Finn must have the guy dizzy. It almost completely erases the existence of Leila and what she meant to him so you could honestly watch the second series without knowing anything of the first.
The cliffhanger at the end of the last series wasn't 'was Finn going to die?', (he's the main dude, of course not!), it was the question posed by Concepta - 'Airport or Hospital'? Basically 'Leila or Siobhan'? No-one races to a Hospital for a non-urgent appointment, the conversation could have happened when she got home so it could be assumed that he was going after Leila. Now there's a million reasons why an actor can't appear in a series but this feels like a door could have been left open. Not only was the door slammed shut in Leila's face; it was bolted, padlocked and the key thrown away. Almost as if the writer's went for one thing and then changed direction at the last minute. (Don't get me started on some of the inconsistencies from one series to the next....)
Please go back to being a nice watchable drama, and not a soap opera that gives the audience whiplash with decisions being constanly changed. I loved Hope Street before and I want to love it again. It is a great show that can showcase the best of Northern Ireland but it needs to make decisions and stick to them. Hence why I gave it a fair 6, (8 for series 1 and 5 for series 2).
The cliffhanger at the end of the last series wasn't 'was Finn going to die?', (he's the main dude, of course not!), it was the question posed by Concepta - 'Airport or Hospital'? Basically 'Leila or Siobhan'? No-one races to a Hospital for a non-urgent appointment, the conversation could have happened when she got home so it could be assumed that he was going after Leila. Now there's a million reasons why an actor can't appear in a series but this feels like a door could have been left open. Not only was the door slammed shut in Leila's face; it was bolted, padlocked and the key thrown away. Almost as if the writer's went for one thing and then changed direction at the last minute. (Don't get me started on some of the inconsistencies from one series to the next....)
Please go back to being a nice watchable drama, and not a soap opera that gives the audience whiplash with decisions being constanly changed. I loved Hope Street before and I want to love it again. It is a great show that can showcase the best of Northern Ireland but it needs to make decisions and stick to them. Hence why I gave it a fair 6, (8 for series 1 and 5 for series 2).