Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Fiona's father convinces her to let Emma work in the kitchen, as she wants to drop out of school, and he's hoping getting an experience of working will scare her into going back to school. Emma however takes to the job and feels more comfortable there. While it's not touched on, it could provide an Aesop that education just isn't for some people, and Emma is clearly happier going out to work instead; especially in light of how college fees infamously ballooned in the 2010s.
Applicability: Philip actually does demonstrate some very mild symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome such as trouble making small talk, awkward in social situations, keeps private lists written around. He's never revealed to have it, and implied to be just shy from his abusive father, but the parallels seem to be there.
Dylan was either a nice subversion of All Girls Want Bad Boys for JoJo - or else a dreadfully boring Vanilla Protagonist who got in the way of Bobby and JoJo. Not helping matters was the fact that after JoJo chose him, he left her anyway assuming she picked him as the second choice.
Rebecca likewise was either wasted by not getting brought back for Season 2, or else too bland to be missed.
Cliché Storm: Jojo and Anthony. Let's see, girl marries a guy she doesn't know that well - he immediately turns into a controlling Jerkass and borderline abuser. Oh and he's foreign too.
Fiona's sister Emma. Many fans expected her to be a Bratty Half-Pint and were surprised to find her so likable. She's Wise Beyond Her Years and proves a hard-working reliable help in the kitchen (her father had suggested Fiona hire her to scare her into going back to school). She's also the one who calls Jojo out for her unprofessional behaviour, and helps Philip confront his abusive father.
Although the show was always an ensemble, Jojo was really just a side character in Season 1. Charlene McKenna's charisma led to her taking a bigger role for the remainder of the series.
The scenes between Kate and Fiona in Season 2. They meet in the park talking shadily about something vague, that has the same seriousness as murder or some major crime. Turns out she just had a fling with her husband.
The sparring between JoJo and Dylan in Season 2 is also treated with a lot of seriousness that doesn't quite warrant what amounts to playground style taunting.
One True Pairing: Geoff and Pavel, with numerous YouTube videos compiling all their scenes together.
Maeve debuted in Season 2 as an incredibly smothering and unsympathetic presence in Shane and Jojo's lives - her lowest moment coming when she has stormed her way into the kitchen and interrupts Geoff giving Jojo instructions by yelling at her daughter if she's going to let him talk to her like that (and is never apologetic about it). Season 3 softened her, focusing more on the charmingly embarrassing traits that made her entertaining rather than annoying - and giving her a nice subplot of going back to college to study.
Kate was not necessarily hated, but she debuted in the middle of a rotten storyline in Season 2, where she was meeting Fiona in secret and talking evasively about something as simple as an affair. She was integrated into the main cast in Season 3 and presented as an in-universe annoying character. They also gave her ambitions of opening up her own bar, showing that she wasn't the ditzy slacker she had been introduced as.
Rebecca - who didn't appear past Season 1 - was played by Dominique McElligot - who the next year starred in the critically acclaimed Moon and got a role in House Of Cards. She would later become more famous than ever as Queen Maeve in The Boys (2019).
Jojo's actress Charlene McKenna would now be more recognisable for Ripper Street.
Liam Garrigan would be known to Once Upon a Time fans as King Arthur.
Joe Doyle, who was the Butt-Monkey Richard in Seasons 1-3, achieved recognition for the series Salem.
Michael Malarkey, Jojo's new husband in Season 5, later joined The Vampire Diaries.
The Scrappy: Anthony, Jojo's husband in season 5. While technically an antagonist, he's disliked for his awful accent and cliched plot.
Screwed by the Network: Despite being fairly strong on the ratings, RTÉ has pulled the plug, due to budget concerns. Still, there's plenty of weaker shows that could have been axed instead. It was rumoured that the axe was due to RTE wanting to put more money into Love/Hate.
Seasonal Rot: Season 2 wasn't too well received, though did fine ratings wise. Season 5 was also very unpopular, with the story between Jojo and Anthony almost universally despised.
Sophomore Slump: Season 2 is viewed as the weakest, due to the sudden Lighter and Softer tone that the writers clearly couldn't handle at the time. The episodes had some rather odd plots - making Dylan very mysterious only for the reveal to be that he works a second job, revealing he has a daughter who never gets seen or mentioned again afterwards etc. The low point was the Melodrama hyping up something shady between Fiona and Kate, which was given the kind of Foreshadowing usually reserved for murder or something sensational. Turns out Kate just kissed her husband once. Season 3 got better at handling the drama.
Squick: How do you deal with an unruly snob customer? Easy, you lace his dessert with cum.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Any conflict between Dylan and Bobby who open a bar together is never explored - as Dylan doesn't find out about Bobby fancying his fiancee until he's been out of the country for several episodes.
2017 film Grave
Hype Aversion: Sort of. The film has been met with controversy for graphic content. However, many have also said that it’s fairly tame for a cannibal flick.
Moral Event Horizon: Alex has crossed it long ago, considering her method to "find her food" (jumping in front of cars so that the passengers are killed in the ensuing accident and she can "help herself").
