This is the third time I am writing this as it kept refreshing and then deleting everything i had previously typed!
I re-watched the original series in anticipation of the return. I can't say i felt the same about this one as I did the original. I missed the re-appearance of some great characters like Coby, Frankie, Jake, Matt, Sammy, Retta, Emma- it would have at least been nice to have their storylines tied up by mentioning what happened to them all since the actors did not return. What makes the rafters the rafters is all the extra people they take under their wing and consider family. Something was lost by keeping it just the nuclear family characters.
At first, i was really unhappy about their being a different actress playing Rachel but I did get used to her by the end of the series. Wasn't the same though, it would have been better to not have the character feature at all, and just have her communicate via letter, email or phone with updates.
Also what happened to Rachel and Jake? The last we see is Jake slipping an engagement ring on her finger while they are on the couch and she seems pretty chuffed with the idea and then ... there is a cursory mention and that's it. That was a relationship that viewers became invested in, so that lack of effort was very disappointing!
Carbo's character did my head in. In the original he turns out to be quite an endearing character with lots of character development. He had none in this return series, he was completely one dimensional.
Unlike a lot of others on here, I didn't mind Ruby and I feel that it was fitting that someone of her generation could be worried about the state of the environment. I do think it was a shame to use such cliche and ridiculous words like "woke" and "lit" as that just cheapened an important message.
Although I was happy for Julie to go to university and study, i would have liked to have seen it tie more in with her writing or journalism, or at the very least pairing the writing and sustainability thing together.
And lastly, i don't know if i would have rated this return a 7 had i not seen the original and already become invested in the characters. It didn't have the mix of lighthearted humour and drama, it was often just drama and left me feeling quite negative. I understand that marriages do not always run smoothly but that in itself was not written smoothly either, as it went from them dancing on a hill, celebrating their dinner, sleeping together to them wanting to live in different places. Dave had also said in the original that home is where Julie is, so that went back on that too. I think something fell down in the writing this time around. And although it was lovely to see these guys, all coming together, older- could not get over how deep Nathan's voice had gotten- i don't know if we were really better for it as an audience, i don't feel like i really benefited from their being a return, it could have just left it at the lovely wrap up they did on the final season of the original.
I re-watched the original series in anticipation of the return. I can't say i felt the same about this one as I did the original. I missed the re-appearance of some great characters like Coby, Frankie, Jake, Matt, Sammy, Retta, Emma- it would have at least been nice to have their storylines tied up by mentioning what happened to them all since the actors did not return. What makes the rafters the rafters is all the extra people they take under their wing and consider family. Something was lost by keeping it just the nuclear family characters.
At first, i was really unhappy about their being a different actress playing Rachel but I did get used to her by the end of the series. Wasn't the same though, it would have been better to not have the character feature at all, and just have her communicate via letter, email or phone with updates.
Also what happened to Rachel and Jake? The last we see is Jake slipping an engagement ring on her finger while they are on the couch and she seems pretty chuffed with the idea and then ... there is a cursory mention and that's it. That was a relationship that viewers became invested in, so that lack of effort was very disappointing!
Carbo's character did my head in. In the original he turns out to be quite an endearing character with lots of character development. He had none in this return series, he was completely one dimensional.
Unlike a lot of others on here, I didn't mind Ruby and I feel that it was fitting that someone of her generation could be worried about the state of the environment. I do think it was a shame to use such cliche and ridiculous words like "woke" and "lit" as that just cheapened an important message.
Although I was happy for Julie to go to university and study, i would have liked to have seen it tie more in with her writing or journalism, or at the very least pairing the writing and sustainability thing together.
And lastly, i don't know if i would have rated this return a 7 had i not seen the original and already become invested in the characters. It didn't have the mix of lighthearted humour and drama, it was often just drama and left me feeling quite negative. I understand that marriages do not always run smoothly but that in itself was not written smoothly either, as it went from them dancing on a hill, celebrating their dinner, sleeping together to them wanting to live in different places. Dave had also said in the original that home is where Julie is, so that went back on that too. I think something fell down in the writing this time around. And although it was lovely to see these guys, all coming together, older- could not get over how deep Nathan's voice had gotten- i don't know if we were really better for it as an audience, i don't feel like i really benefited from their being a return, it could have just left it at the lovely wrap up they did on the final season of the original.