Chris (Johnny Ruffo)

[CuriousCase]

I have to say I shed a tear for poor Chris near the end of last night's episode, when he said "I just want Hannah back".

Really? Ruffo was woeful in those scenes, as was Tai Hara. Two badly acted characters grieving for another badly acted character in Hannah made me laugh more than anything else.

That said, Chris was a good addition when he does all the light hearted stuff with John and Irene. Still, I'd rather have actors instead of musicians or models on the show. Not sad to see off Hannah and Oscar, and won't lose sleep over Chris or Andy, either.

Time for Home and Away to start casting actors again. Good to see that with James Stewart being cast... His character's sister seems decent enough, hopefully his brothers follow suit.

[Pantherboy]

Really? Ruffo was woeful in those scenes, as was Tai Hara. Two badly acted characters grieving for another badly acted character in Hannah made me laugh more than anything else.

That said, Chris was a good addition when he does all the light hearted stuff with John and Irene.

Respectfully, CuriousCase, I was referring to the character of Chris being so upset over the death of Hannah, when I said "I shed a tear for Chris", not making a judgement on the caliber of the acting. Personally, I could never laugh over that type of scenario, no matter how bad I thought the acting was. Having said that, I think you are being quite harsh on Ruffo here. He isn't the greatest actor in the world, (the same could probably be said for a lot of the cast!) but IMO he did a good job here & it was one of his strongest scenes. I appreciate where you are coming from CuriousCase, & agree with your point that Chris is good doing the lighthearted stuff, but in this case, again, I respectfully disagree. As for Tai Hara/Andy, I have never been a fan, & like you, won't be sad to see him leave.

(I hope I don't cause any arguments here - Having lost both parents separately in recent years, I was a bit down on Monday after "visiting" them at the cemetery after Mother's Day on Sunday - & for the same reason, not looking forward to the funeral scenes on Wednesday night's episode. Sorry, for the downer!)

[Dazzle]

No apologies necessary Pantherboy, and I'm sorry to hear you've been feeling down.

I completely agree with you about Chris. I find him very endearing and feel for him if he's having a hard time, irrespective of Johnny Ruffo's acting (which I think is OK and certainly not the worst on H&A). I don't like Hannah much either but that makes no difference to empathising with the loss of a character I do like.

[Perdita]

I have lost both parents within 6 months of each other over 20 years ago and have downers on certain dates, I can empathise with you and hope you feel more uplifted again soon

[tammyy2j]

I actually think Johnny's acting is quite good compared to others on the show

Sorry to hear that Perdita and Pantherboy

[CuriousCase]

Eh... There is a reason why Johnny Ruffo was excluded from the funeral ep... If the 'Chris can't face the funeral' plotline was something to be taken seriously, they would have included a scene or two in the episode to show him at home grieving in his own way - as they've done in the past. But, of course, they knew Ruffo hasn't the chops and didn't write him in on the ep.

[Pantherboy]

Eh... There is a reason why Johnny Ruffo was excluded from the funeral ep... If the 'Chris can't face the funeral' plotline was something to be taken seriously, they would have included a scene or two in the episode to show him at home grieving in his own way - as they've done in the past. But, of course, they knew Ruffo hasn't the chops and didn't write him in on the ep.

I have to disagree. IMO the main emphasis of this funeral episode was to show the families pain, in particular Evie's grief for her twin & aunt, & also Zac's grief. It was a perfectly legitimate plotline, of course, for them to have Chris not being able to face the funeral (& wanting to be on his own) & they may have decided that to also include Chris & his despair at the funeral may have taken away from Evie's scenes etc (which I must say Philippa acted out so well, particularly when she was kneeling down between the two coffins). Rather than focussing on Chris' story as well, apart from Tank saying that he believes the blast was his fault etc, the other main emphasis in this episode was Andy's grief/guilt - where we saw Andy brooding in the background at the funeral & then having another crying scene, with Josh back at their house. Having a separate/extra scene with Chris also "grieving in his own way", might have been considered overkill. Just because they didn't show Chris moping around at home IMO doesn't mean they think his acting ability wasn't up to it. Having said that, I would have liked someone at the wake to have said that they were going around to check on Chris to see if he was ok - like Evie told Josh to go & check on Andy - but unfortunately it didn't happen. You obviously aren't a fan of Ruffo's CuriousCase, & that is fine, no problem (I am not a fan of his singing!). Like I mentioned previously, I don't think he is the greatest actor, but IMO he is certainly not the worst either. We will probably have to agree to disagree on that.

While the funeral episode was about the families grief, Tank's involvement in the explosion, & then Andy's pain/guilt, I think we may see a separate episode coming up shortly dealing more with how Chris is handling things - the TV Week soap diary for next Monday 16th, says that "John suggests a positive way Chris can channel his grief over Hannah". It will be interesting to see how Ruffo handles these scenes. (A while back we saw Chris punch Andy when he found out he kissed Evie, where I think John & Alf broke them up. There were photos around last year of filming at Palm Beach of a separate occasion where Chris punches Andy again, near the surf club, & he was standing over him - this time Chris is in his lifeguards gear & from memory John & Leah are also there. These scenes haven't been shown on air yet. I wonder if this may happen in Monday's episode? & might be what prompts John to suggest another way for Chris to "channel his grief"? We will see.). With Irene AWOL at the moment, I also hope that at some stage we will get to see a scene with Irene comforting Chris & vice-versa, but won't hold my breath!

EDIT & SPOILER ALERT: The episode I mentioned above with Chris punching Andy actually went to air tonight (Thursday). John takes Chris to the cemetery to say goodbye to Hannah - I think Ruffo did OK.

[CuriousCase]

I have to disagree. IMO the main emphasis of this funeral episode was to show the families pain, in particular Evie's grief for her twin & aunt, & also Zac's grief. It was a perfectly legitimate plotline, of course, for them to have Chris not being able to face the funeral (& wanting to be on his own) & they may have decided that to also include Chris & his despair at the funeral may have taken away from Evie's scenes etc (which I must say Philippa acted out so well, particularly when she was kneeling down between the two coffins). Rather than focussing on Chris' story as well, apart from Tank saying that he believes the blast was his fault etc, the other main emphasis in this episode was Andy's grief/guilt - where we saw Andy brooding in the background at the funeral & then having another crying scene, with Josh back at their house. Having a separate/extra scene with Chris also "grieving in his own way", might have been considered overkill. Just because they didn't show Chris moping around at home IMO doesn't mean they think his acting ability wasn't up to it. Having said that, I would have liked someone at the wake to have said that they were going around to check on Chris to see if he was ok - like Evie told Josh to go & check on Andy - but unfortunately it didn't happen. You obviously aren't a fan of Ruffo's CuriousCase, & that is fine, no problem (I am not a fan of his singing!). Like I mentioned previously, I don't think he is the greatest actor, but IMO he is certainly not the worst either. We will probably have to agree to disagree on that.

While the funeral episode was about the families grief, Tank's involvement in the explosion, & then Andy's pain/guilt, I think we may see a separate episode coming up shortly dealing more with how Chris is handling things - the TV Week soap diary for next Monday 16th, says that "John suggests a positive way Chris can channel his grief over Hannah". It will be interesting to see how Ruffo handles these scenes. (A while back we saw Chris punch Andy when he found out he kissed Evie, where I think John & Alf broke them up. There were photos around last year of filming at Palm Beach of a separate occasion where Chris punches Andy again, near the surf club, & he was standing over him - this time Chris is in his lifeguards gear & from memory John & Leah are also there. These scenes haven't been shown on air yet. I wonder if this may happen in Monday's episode? & might be what prompts John to suggest another way for Chris to "channel his grief"? We will see.). With Irene AWOL at the moment, I also hope that at some stage we will get to see a scene with Irene comforting Chris & vice-versa, but won't hold my breath!

EDIT & SPOILER ALERT: The episode I mentioned above with Chris punching Andy actually went to air tonight (Thursday). John takes Chris to the cemetery to say goodbye to Hannah - I think Ruffo did OK.

Just watched the ep - yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. He was terrible, and what Phillipa Northeast had to do yesterday was much more challenging. The producers and writers were right in having Ruffo attempt to break down in a scene by himself, as opposed to having Evie bawl her eyes out in front of other actors and extras.

[CuriousCase]

I have to disagree. IMO the main emphasis of this funeral episode was to show the families pain, in particular Evie's grief for her twin & aunt, & also Zac's grief. It was a perfectly legitimate plotline, of course, for them to have Chris not being able to face the funeral (& wanting to be on his own) & they may have decided that to also include Chris & his despair at the funeral may have taken away from Evie's scenes etc (which I must say Philippa acted out so well, particularly when she was kneeling down between the two coffins). Rather than focussing on Chris' story as well, apart from Tank saying that he believes the blast was his fault etc, the other main emphasis in this episode was Andy's grief/guilt - where we saw Andy brooding in the background at the funeral & then having another crying scene, with Josh back at their house. Having a separate/extra scene with Chris also "grieving in his own way", might have been considered overkill. Just because they didn't show Chris moping around at home IMO doesn't mean they think his acting ability wasn't up to it. Having said that, I would have liked someone at the wake to have said that they were going around to check on Chris to see if he was ok - like Evie told Josh to go & check on Andy - but unfortunately it didn't happen. You obviously aren't a fan of Ruffo's CuriousCase, & that is fine, no problem (I am not a fan of his singing!). Like I mentioned previously, I don't think he is the greatest actor, but IMO he is certainly not the worst either. We will probably have to agree to disagree on that.

While the funeral episode was about the families grief, Tank's involvement in the explosion, & then Andy's pain/guilt, I think we may see a separate episode coming up shortly dealing more with how Chris is handling things - the TV Week soap diary for next Monday 16th, says that "John suggests a positive way Chris can channel his grief over Hannah". It will be interesting to see how Ruffo handles these scenes. (A while back we saw Chris punch Andy when he found out he kissed Evie, where I think John & Alf broke them up. There were photos around last year of filming at Palm Beach of a separate occasion where Chris punches Andy again, near the surf club, & he was standing over him - this time Chris is in his lifeguards gear & from memory John & Leah are also there. These scenes haven't been shown on air yet. I wonder if this may happen in Monday's episode? & might be what prompts John to suggest another way for Chris to "channel his grief"? We will see.). With Irene AWOL at the moment, I also hope that at some stage we will get to see a scene with Irene comforting Chris & vice-versa, but won't hold my breath!

EDIT & SPOILER ALERT: The episode I mentioned above with Chris punching Andy actually went to air tonight (Thursday). John takes Chris to the cemetery to say goodbye to Hannah - I think Ruffo did OK.

Just watched the ep - yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. He was terrible, and what Phillipa Northeast had to do yesterday was much more challenging. The producers and writers were right in having Ruffo attempt to break down in a scene by himself, as opposed to having Evie bawl her eyes out in front of other actors and extras.

[Dazzle]

Just watched the ep - yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. He was terrible, and what Phillipa Northeast had to do yesterday was much more challenging. The producers and writers were right in having Ruffo attempt to break down in a scene by himself, as opposed to having Evie bawl her eyes out in front of other actors and extras.

I haven't seen the episode but I remember thinking that Evie's reaction to the news of Denny's death was some very bad acting.

As far as doing it in front of other actors and extas, there are always loads of people out of shot anyway so I don't see the difference in how many other actors are in the scene. They're all used to acting in front of many people.

I may well agree with you that Chris' reaction is bad when I see the episode, but I still don't think he was deliberately written out of the funeral and shown breaking down by himself because the H&A team consider him a bad actor. Maybe he was unavailable to film the funeral scenes (in court perhaps? ). Pia Millar who plays Katarina is the worst actor in the show at the moment in my opinion and she's not kept out of emotional scenes (the same goes for others I consider poor actors such as Andy, Maddy, Ash, Phoebe, Hunter).