Hollyoaks confirms two major returns as killer stages unexpected comeback
Old wounds are reopened and conflict is rife for the McQueens as Hollyoaks welcomes back two members of the beloved clan next week.
The comebacks come in the wake of Prince (Malique Thompson-Dwyer) throwing Mercedes (Jennifer Metcalfe) – who was recently told her chemo is working – a ‘screw you cancer’ party.
The event is intended to be a surprise but our Mercy walks in amid preparations and – upon learning that the party was a brainwave of Freddie Roscoe’s (Charlie Clapham) – she urges her loved ones to carry on organising.
But the attention soon shifts for the former pub landlady as she receives a text message – which leaves her acting very suspiciously.
Later in the week, the party gets underway at Casa, with Myra (Nicole Barber-Lane) delivering a heartfelt speech. But things soon come to a pause.
Why? I’m not tell you everything but what I can reveal is Mercedes and Myra are informed by Donny Clark (Louis Emerick) – who is on active police duty – that Bobby (Zak Sutcliffe) has escaped the secure home and is suspected to have done so in a social worker’s car!
He’s resourceful is that one.
A voicemail from Mercedes confirms a plan to meet with Bobby and later the mother and son duo reunite at their former home – The Dog. In emotional scenes, Bobby breaks down, apologising for everything that he’s done.
Tony Hutchinson (Nick Pickard), meanwhile, learns of Bobby’s escape and he’s left upset – and he’s not the only one, with Goldie McQueen (Chelsee Healey) staging a comeback, determined to make Bobby face the music for what he did her to her big bro Sylver (David Tag).
Worried about the impact his sudden escape will have on his sentence, Mercedes encourages Bobby to hand himself in.
And with the construction work set to commence at The Dog where Bobby is hiding out and Donny watching Mercy like a hawk – not to mention our Goldie on a mission! – the big question is: just how long will the teen be able to avoid the long arm of the law?
Elsewhere in the village…
Jez is on edge as Dodger plans to meet with Tori’s former social worker, who is spooked himself, confiding in Dodge that, prior to his death, Dennis was being harassed by a member of the Blake clan.
Will our hero Mark be the one to take down serial killer, who last week confessed to the killing of Dennis?
Dodger might not have the chance as the tide is turning where Martha is concerned, with the matriarch simply having enough of keeping Jez’s secrets. Amid being blackmailed, Jez is left shattered as his mum brands him a narcissist, telling him that his actions make him hard to love.
Over at the allotment, the killer keeps a hostage.
Elsewhere, Diane Hutchinson (Alex Fletcher) and Marie Fielding (Rita Simons) battle it out to win Tony’s affection.
Verdict
Hollyoaks has really upped the ante over the past few months in delivering the hard-hitting drama we all know and love with deliciously camp moments peppered throughout.
If the spoilers for next week are any indication to go by, things are not slowing down as we inch closer to the highly-anticipated 30th anniversary in October.
I had been holding out hope that we’d see Bobby return someday and, given a significant amount of time has passed since he was last on-screen – not to mention the time jump providing an extra year of story potential – now feels like the perfect moment to bring him back.
His comeback is sure to set the cat among the pigeons and his dynamic with Mercedes was always a good one, with star Jennifer Metcalfe having done some of her best work in recent years when her alter-ego was fretting about her murderous son.
With powerhouse Waterloo Road star Zak Suitcliffe now in the role – not to mention the imminent return of Goldie – the stage is set for what promises to be a very fiery story, and it’s exactly the kind of narrative that the McQueens will thrive in.
