Max Connors

Maxwell (Max) Connors
First appearance	Broken Hearts and Crustaceans
Last appearance	Half-Life
Portrayed by	William McInnes
In-universe information
Position	editor of The Pearl Bay Oyster

Max Connors (born (estimated) 1964) is a fictional character on the popular Australian television drama SeaChange, portrayed by William McInnes.

Character

Max Connors grew up in Pearl Bay with his parents, Margaret and Len, and his brother, Stephen (Squid). He showed promise as a writer from a young age, evidenced by an essay he wrote about the annual Pearl Bay Pork Festival when he was 10 years old (2.07). Max spent twelve years as a foreign correspondent in many war zones, winning esteemed writing awards and witnessing several horrific events (such as an entire Cambodian family - friends of his - being murdered by the Khmer Rouge). He doesn't talk about these very often, preferring to hide behind his wit and "stiff upper lip" demeanour, but it is revealed by his former boss that he eventually had a breakdown as a result of his exposure to such human tragedies. Max is often found stirring up trouble (sometimes as a way to avoid the pain in his past), and smirking in the background while it unfolds in front of him. Sharply intelligent, sarcastic and often biting, it is obvious Max is a frustrated idealist who has become cynical after seeing so much of the evil present in the world. In an effort to suppress the strong emotions that are always just under the surface, his sometimes appears callous. He has many friends around Pearl Bay, and is well respected and liked by almost everyone, except Bob Jelly.

Seasons

Second Season

Max and his wife, Elena, arrive in Pearl Bay during the third episode of Season Two, "Broken Hearts and Crustaceans". Old friends of Diver Dan, they take up residence in his boat house, much to the dismay of Laura Gibson, who is still holding out hope that its former owner will return. Max and Laura do not immediately warm to each other, but the rest of the town is happy to see him again. At the end of the following episode, "Sink or Swim", Elena dies of a brain haemorrhage, and Max is left a widower. He spends much of the season dealing with his grief, and though he briefly tried to leave (2.07), he manages to settle back into Pearl Bay.

Throughout much of the second season, Max is seen struggling to write his first novel, for which he has already received and spent the advance. He succeeds in writing only the first sentence before giving up completely (2.10), his novel eventually being rejected by the publishers (2.13). Instead, Max and Carmen Blake begin a newspaper for the town together, The Pearl Bay Oyster. At first, Max treats it like a joke, but it soon becomes a serious job for him, though he sometimes uses it as a tool for his own mischief (such as issuing a denial over allegations that he and Laura slept together, knowing that it will only increase speculation, and then a retraction of the denial - all in order to annoy Laura (2.12)). Numerous times during the season, Max investigates local goings on(such as a shipwreck from years ago (2.08), a dead man in the wall of a house (2.10), etc.) and exposes them in his newspaper.

Despite not getting off to a good start, Max and Laura forge a strong friendship, largely thanks to Laura's extreme persistence in the face of Max's grief-stricken rudeness. She is arguably the person who most helps him overcome his wife's sudden death. Many townspeople believe there is more than just friendship between the two, especially when Max is caught climbing through Laura's window one morning in the episode "Other People's Opinions" In reality, he passed out on her bed as a result of drinking alcohol while taking antihistamines because of severe allergies to a cat. They are merely close friends, though near the end of the season there are indications that both have romantic inclinations towards the other, but nothing is stated explicitly. In the final episode of the season, "Law & Order" Laura is contemplating leaving Pearl Bay, but decides to stay, due in part to Max's telling her he wouldn't like it if she left.