Shortland Street’s return for 2023 left me feeling cheated

This story contains spoilers for Monday night’s episode of Shortland Street.

OPINION: Sorry Shortland Street, but I feel cheated.

Last year’s cliffhanger was a chaos-filled hour. Lives were on the line, bush fires were raging, murderous churches were brutally attacking youth pastors and a hospital exploded in flames.

The scene was set for a continuation of the chaos on Monday night’s return of the country’s most disaster-prone hospital. And we had so many questions.

How would a hospital drama continue when the hospital is in fiery ruins? Was this the end of Nicole? Or would an heroic rescue save Nicole from being trapped in the burning IV bar? Would Harper ever return and would Esther and her baby survive, or leave fiancé Marty grieving?

And would Maeve go down for Rebekah’s brutal attack of pastor Scott, all in the name of Brightshine?

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Monday could have given us so much. What it gave us was a leap forward five weeks – to a time when almost all had been resolved off-screen, with the chaos just a memory.

I feel cheated. A bit lost. Pretty confused. And also, sorry Shorty, but kind of bored.

We catch up on a few happenings since the fire. Chris Warner is in the hospital driver’s seat again and daughter Sass is back, helping Dad prepare for all things work-related.

The hospital staff are working out of local hospitals Central and St Cath’s. Everyone is miserable in their temp roles. New bosses are mean. Everyone is pining for good ol’ Shorty.

The hospital – last seen literally engulfed in flames – is apparently days from opening (some very quick rebuilding happened in those five off-screen weeks, it seems).

Rebekah, repping Brightshine church, has somehow completely taken over the town, with billboards, TV appearances and fliers being handed out everywhere.

And with TK sick, his daughter Tilly is now apparently involved in ram raids and has just been in a car accident. It seems a random sub-plot to add after all the chaos from December, but here we are.

Just a month on from disaster, everything is far too normal

Last seen literally exploding in flames, Shortland Street hospital, from the outside, looks exactly the same.

If not for everyone’s whining and pining, Warner’s heartfelt speech about a reopening and David Kearney’s announcement that “Shortland Street is over”, you’d never guess it had just been ground zero of a massive fire that threatened the town.

When we’re given a glimpse, the hospital looks the same, at least from the outside. A few fire clues remain: A single burnt out car hasn’t been removed for some reason. A few charred signs (arguably what would have been the easiest to clean up) are left behind. A padlocked fence stands between Warner and his hospital, but otherwise everything seems very normal.

Only it’s not. David Kearney waited until the hospital was ready for opening before revealing it was, in fact, not reopening at all.

One may wonder why this wasn’t announced before all the work, and money, went into getting an entire hospital open-ready after a massive fire. Those kinds of fiscally irresponsible decisions could be why the hospital is in so much trouble in the first place.

Nicole’s IV bar also had a very quick refit after last being seen engulfed in flames (with Nicole trapped inside, but don’t worry, she’s fine – we don’t know how she got out, but she’s fine).

The bar is darker, rockier and a bit edgier than it was before the remodel, but at least everyone has somewhere to drown their sorrows while they moan about how St Cath’s and Central aren’t nearly as good as the one hospital that plays host to chaos and disaster every Christmas.

So many unanswered questions

Esther is back after spending the cliffhanger on the edge of death. And the baby? Who knows. She and Marty are marrying in a couple of days, so maybe we’ll find out then. Right now she seems fine. She’s just grumpy and missing Shortland Street.

With Harper last shown ditching the kids and Drew while a bush fire raged – they don’t warrant a mention on Monday’s episode.

That stupid Brightshine storyline.

This storyline seems destined to continue well past its use-by date. Monday’s episode saw Warner getting ready to make a deal with the devil, and team up with Rebekah to reopen his beloved hospital. It unfortunately set the scene for Brightshine’s murder church-cult storyline to carry on for a while.

And with Maeve seen sitting in a prison cell as the credits on 2022’s first episode rolled, she is obviously taking the fall for the death of pastor Scott.

No doubt more lives will be endangered, there will be dramatic heroics and Maeve’s name will be cleared at the eleventh hour, bringing Brightshine to its knees in the process.

We can only hope the process will be swift.

Also, is nobody ever going to mention the fact Waverley returned to the Street after years away, accidently started a bush fire that caused all kinds of chaos, then high-tailed it out of town the first chance she got?

C’Mon Shorty, give us more.