Character Development
Most of Jack's storylines were central to his on-off relationship with Martha MacKenzie (Jodi Gordon). Viewers saw the couple go through marriage, divorce, a second marriage and Martha being widowed. Martha and Jack's first marriage is cut short because they argue to much, Martha leaves Jack. They start to lead separate lives, but Jack is there for Martha after she has an abortion, Martha who is feeling low at this point kisses him, Jack's girlfriend Sam Tolhurst (Jessica Chapnik) sees this. Of the situation during an interview with Yahoo, O'Brien stated: "I think Jack felt like "Oh this is nice, but I've moved on, I've finally moved on and found someone, but deep down he still wants Martha." O'Brien added that he believes Jack was always in love with Martha, even whilst with he was in a relationship with Sam. Both O'Brien and Gordon agreed that when Jack and Martha first broke up it was a bad time for Jack, as his life was spiraling out of control, he needed her, but she left him when he needed her the most. They later become friends in an unlikely turn of events, O'Brien believed it hard to understand how Jack could be so forgiving towards her.
Whilst the characters were separated on-screen, they had gained a fan base on the Internet that believed Jack should be with Martha and wanted the pair to reunite. Gordon herself backed the pairing, stating that she believed they should be together and perfect for each other. Whilst interviewed she said: "I actually love Jack and Martha together, I'm a sucker for romance so, I want want them to be together I want them to continue on, the timing is not right, they are not mature enough. Jack's in a relationship with someone else as Martha is, there just seems to be things getting in the way of them getting back together all the time." Gordon also hoped for a happy ever after type ending for the two characters if they were to ever leave the serial commenting: "If I had it my way, and I got to write the scripts then I'd make it happily ever after, Martha and Jack riding off into the sunset." Gordon has spoke of her understanding from the audiences point of view, that together Jack and Martha are "the ultimate couple". She also reiterated her belief that it would be to tough at the time of Martha's downward spiral for them to work together, but if Martha is to get through her troubles and have a happy ending, that it would be with Jack.
On-screen Jack and Martha later reconcile, he helps her through her hard times. Gordon believed that their relationship was at its strongest peak whilst she had breast cancer. During an interview with What's on TV Gordon spoke of the state of their relationship stating: "Martha and Jack have been through more than most and right now their relationship is as solid as it could be. But she's taking a big chance not being honest about her pregnancy."
Read more about this topic: Jack Holden (Home And Away)
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