I know that it is awful that two beloved ships look like they are sinking at the same time- but I think the fact that the bartsuggsy relationships have such strong parallels is going to be fascinating for the characters.
Victora will be conflicted as she will want to support and care for her brother despite the terrible thing(s) he has done. Just look at the way she stuck by him when literally everyone else in the village was a suspect in his attempted murder. But she will likely want to totally sack Adam off for making a similar mistake. Will she be able to stay mad at Adam when her biasses towards Robert would show that she should forgive him?
Aaron will be conflicted as he will see the actions of his best mate from a point of sympathy. Sure he makes a mistake- but he did so when he was upset and heartbroken and Aaron will recognise the fact that Adam is sorry and regretful. But will he be able to recognise the same thing in his husband? I have seen some people be perturbed by the fact that Aaron seems to be set up for taking Rob back very quickly, and I can’t help but think that it might be a conversation with Adam or Vic that makes Aaron think he ought to give Rob another chance.
Robert will be conflicted because he will want to eviscerate Adam for hurting his baby sister. He’ll want to put Adam so deep in the ground no archaeologist could find his bones. Similarly, Adam will think that Robert needs the shit beaten out of him and then to be removed from Aaron’s life forever. But neither man can be too pissed off with the other without judging themselves as well. I think this will be especially interesting with these two characters in particular as they both react badly to feeling guilty.
Each character has a reason to forgive the others and to not do so. Any conversation where advice is given can be switched to be about the other characters, and I think lots of these scenes will happen with an implicit ‘do as I say, not as I do’. I also think it is very interesting to be exploring these dynamics with the younger members of the village. As someone in my mid-twenties, I know that any piece of advice I offer can be immediately discarded by saying ‘well, Lizzie, how about you listen to your own advice for once.’ The reality is, very few of us younger adults have our lives together despite loud protestations that we do.
I still have faith that ED are throwing us the cliched storylines because they want to explore something different or new. There has to be a reason Adam cheats with Vanessa and not someone new (*cough* Bex *cough*.) But even if there isn’t some big soap-opera-master-plan I’m still going to enjoy seeing how the above dynamics develop on screen...
