Who deserved a better ending

[project90]

Which character do you think deserved a better ending? 

[James Martin]

Pippa in 1998.  It was very low key.

Seb & Jade could have had a better exit.

[j.laur5]

Kyle and Colby .

[project90]

2 hours ago, James Martin said:

Seb & Jade could have had a better exit.

Nick & Jade fixed it for you lol over 20 years and I'm still not over this

 

I'll put in will and gypsy whilst they had an amazing official exit both had awful returns and since it was last time we saw them on screen that's what counts right?

[adam436]

On 25/06/2025 at 21:53, James Martin said:

Seb & Jade could have had a better exit.

I'd agree with that. I wasn't a fan of either character, but making Jade a non-Sutherland served absolutely zero purpose whatsoever other than the novelty of having Christie Hayes play both twins for a few weeks. It was forgotten pretty quickly after that. There were other ways to have Jade go on a downward spiral to lead to Seb's paralysis. 

[joany208121]

Harry Reynolds

Joel Nash

Charlotte Adams

Nick Smith (I actually liked Seb’s exit) 

Beth Hunter

Miles Copeland 

Maddy Osborne 

Hunter King

Jasmine Delaney

[CaptainHulk]

On 25/06/2025 at 12:53, James Martin said:

Pippa in 1998.  It was very low key.

Seb & Jade could have had a better exit.

 

Made up for it in 2000 when the family had to get back to wherever they all lived now and the ghosts of the house via archive sound clips the night before Rhys and Co moved in.

[adam436]

3 hours ago, joany208121 said:

Harry Reynolds

Joel Nash

Charlotte Adams

Nick Smith (I actually liked Seb’s exit) 

Beth Hunter

Miles Copeland 

Maddy Osborne 

Hunter King

Jasmine Delaney

That's a good list. 

I'd say Tom, Natalie and Joel all had terrible exits, but the cast turnover was so high in 2000 they probably just wanted everyone gone as quickly and quietly as possible ready for the new era. 

Charlotte was a punching bag for the writers for most of her stint, so it was kinda fitting she went out like that. She was a pretty forgettable character though that she could have had a one-episode exit storyline and it would have been just as memorable for most people. It gave Josh West and Jade some new material to work with though, but overall it wasn't very impactful when you compare her to other deaths.  

Nick's exit felt far-fetched - never acted before and suddenly he's cast in a Hollywood film.

Beth Hunter's exit was an odd one too - it made sense for her to die, but she was absent for months beforehand. Did Clarissa House not want to die onscreen? Were the producers hoping they could win her back after some time away? Did Clarissa take some time off and decide not to return? Was it a timing thing for the storyline (i.e. the same day Kit's baby was born)? 

Jasmine's exit was subject to Sam Frost's immediate exit, but I agree they probably still could have done something better than reuniting with Robbo's family.

I've got no strong opinions on the others you mentioned, either because I was never keen on the character (Harry, Maddie) or I don't remember much about their exit (Miles, Hunter). 

 

2 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

Made up for it in 2000 when the family had to get back to wherever they all lived now and the ghosts of the house via archive sound clips the night before Rhys and Co moved in.

I wonder if that was part of the 2000 story - a response to feedback from 1998. Pippa's exit felt weirdly temporary too - she was going on a roadtrip around Australia, and then we find out via Ian later that they've settled. That would have contributed to her low-key exit in 1998 - when all the kids were still living in the house with new caretakers, it doesn't have the same impact as Pippa walking through an empty house reminiscing etc.

The Early Years was launched in 1998 too, so the producers' were at a place where they wanted to celebrate the past in 2000. Maybe had that attitude been around in 1997 when the writers were crafting Pippa's exit, we would have seen the likes of Jack, Carly, Sophie, Frank and Steven back for her exit.

[christine king]

Nick and Jade - they should have left together. I will never forgive the writers for that.

[adam436]

May I ask why people liked Nick and Jade so much? I'm not critising, just trying to understand as I watched that era and was only a few years younger than them at the time, but I can't really recall anything that special about them. 

There was quite a bit of musical partners with that group though between Duncan, Kirsty, Kane, Seb, Jade, Nick and whatever guest characters came through, and Nick and Jade were certainly one of the more long-running couples of those, but I don't recall anything that "magical" about them. I'm also probably biased because I wasn't keen on the Sutherlands overall except for Shelley and Max, but Nick/Jade and any pairing that came out of that group of characters (except the Kirst and Kane drama) just seemed like the standard run-of-the-mill teen couple.

Anyway, I still agree that Jade deserved a better ending than finding out she wasn't a Sutherland and then barely being mentioned again. She could have left with Seb, who left around the same time, or reunited with Nick off-screen. Seb was my favourite of that teen group, so I think he deserved better than ending up in a wheelchair too (or leaving with Jade, but I'd have taken that over the wheelchair exit!).