Thoughts about "Hollyoaks" - January 2019

Below are my thoughts on January 2019's "Hollyoaks" - this is not sequential.

Maxine became so ill on New Year's Eve, as the alcohol she drank was dosed with GHB. She got better, but there was trouble both at the Dog in the Pond, and later for Grace. Thankfully Maxine became well and was released.

Mercedes was a mess and using cocaine. The drugs were found, but the police were paid off. Joel became like Robin Hood, stealing from Liam to help the poor. Goldie flirted with a priest making things uncomfortable. Prince needed to get away after Lily's betrayal. Myra was upset with Mercy for not taking care of her mother, who had to be hospitalized. Breda held Louis hostage after what he did to Leela and baby Daniel. After discovering that Louis would always love Simone, Breda killed him. Simone left Hollyoaks with Martine's air miles for a free flight to Jamaica, and Zack went to Paris to be with Holly.

James and Romeo have started to build a father/son relationship. James chose Romeo, over Harry, who returned to the village, as James didn't feel right about Harry also being in his apartment. Romeo discovered this, and was okay with Harry being with them. James and Marnie were back on track finally. Romeo told James the truth about what Mac did to Cindy, switching out her medication, as Alfie was acting weirdly. Alfie was just excited, and planned to leave the village for an internship in Washington DC. Yas would have gone with him, but realized that Alfie would always love Jade, due to Mac's interference. Alfie found out what Mac did to Cindy, as in the background James and Marnie tried to get Cindy out of the hospital. Alfie decided to leave, but not before disavowing Mac. Thankfully Cindy could say goodbye to Alfie, and Tom was there as well, Alfie even got a hug out of James.

Kyle and Nancy became involved romantically, as Nancy was lonely and Kyle loves her. Darren found out and was confused by it. Laurie sabotaged Sienna at school, and has started to harass her. Sinead thinks that Sienna is after her man, but Sienna is happy with Brody.

Johnny continued to get closer to Ste, and Ste's evil step-father returned. He threatened Ste, and wanted Ste to steal from the bean. Scott nearly lost his job over this, but got it back as it wasn't his fault about the break-in. Diane attacked Lilly over her behavior with Romeo. Sinead and Scott cheered her up, by them having a group "Survivor" dance ala Destiny's Child.

Mac and Donna-Marie conspired to get Cindy's house. Mac changed her pills to vitamins, and she had to go back into care. Romeo was disgusted by this, but felt stuck. He wanted to tell Alfie the truth, but didn't want to ruin his sister Juliet's life, as this would put Donna-Marie back into the oldest profession.

The big story for the beginning of the month, was the end of Buster. The trial took place and unfortunately Brody's claim was thrown out, as it was proved that Damon lied, as Damon was too far away to hear the conversation between his parents. Ollie's claim continued, and the courts believed him. One of Buster's colleagues (who was in the pros, and had been mentored by Buster) tried to convince Ollie not to testify, but failed. Imran went in court, and admitted how Buster tried something on him, but he fought back. Buster was found guilty and sent to prison, and other young men came forward about what Buster did to them.

Those were the highlights for Hollyoaks January 2019. The "original" members of the Loveday family are gone, though at least not all of them died. I was very glad that Alfie got a happy and hopeful ending after being able to confront his father for his crimes.