Henry Collins

**Henry Collins** is a main character in **South Bay**, the American version of the popular Australian soap opera Southland. He is the son of Justin Collins and the brother of Taylor Collins. He made his first appearance in May 27, 2004, before leaving in 2006 with his family. He returned in 2010. As of his 2012 return, he has been played by actor Amadeus Serafini.

The youngest child of Justin Collins, Henry first appeared as a child, regularly being used as an accomplice for his older sister Taylor's schemes to break up Justin and new girlfriend Marie. Eventually the children accepted Marie and she married Justin in 2006. As a child, Henry has few storylines of his own, outside of usual childhood mischief. Though he did struggle with not having a mother. After leaving South Bay, he lived with his father and step-mother, until 2010 when the family returned to South Bay. Though this move started out fine, Henry soon started to struggle at school and with his mental health. He later started having hallucinations and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia.

## Early Life

Henry was born in 1993 to his father Justin and his unnamed mother. He was the hyperactive younger brother of Taylor, who often bossed him around and used to love dressing him as her little 'sister'. When Henry was seven, his mother passed away from cancer.

## 2004-07: Arrival in South Bay

Henry first appeared in South Bay in 2004, when his father introduced Henry and Taylor to his new girlfriend, Marie. Henry initially liked Marie but was manipulated by Taylor into trying to split the pair up, which almost worked, until Marie had a conversation with Henry and he confessed out of guilt. Marie would later break up with Justin, not wanting to upset Taylor and Henry, but they would eventually reconcile.

After Marie moved in in September 2004, Henry was happy to have a mother-like figure in his life. In 2005, he had some trouble with some boys at school who teased him for not having a real mom and he became very clingy with Marie, making Justin realise he needed to talk about their mother more.

Later that same year, Henry got stuck in a well and had to be rescued.

In 2006, Justin and Marie got married, with Henry serving as the best man. In September 2006, Henry, alongside his step-mother, sister and father would leave the show for a fresh start.

## 2010-11: Return and Schizophrenia Diagnosis

Henry made a return to South Bay in July 18, 2010 as a teenager, with his father and step-mother.

He soon started causing trouble, throwing parties and inviting over local kids to use the pool without asking, almost getting his parents in trouble with the police. In September, Henry stole a car and went joyriding with some of the popular local kids, which resulted in them all getting arrested and Henry becoming very unpopular.

Henry started at the high school in September, but was considered to be an outsider. He quickly became close with Jodie Lang, as she too was an outsider. It didn't take long for Henry to get in trouble again, this time with his teachers who accused him of smoking. He was also regularly criticised for his work, causing him to become disillusioned with school. Him and Jodie started smoking weed and drinking, bonded together through their hate of the school.

In January 2012, whilst skipping school, Jodie and Henry would discover the body of gangster Robbie Baker on the beach. Henry found himself deeply effected the violence, yet equally disturbed and started struggling mentally with what he saw. He pulled away from his family, listening to screaming music day and night, doing little else other than hanging out with Jodie and smoking weed. Soon, Henry started to become paranoid and was convinced that the person who killed Robbie was coming after him. His confidence, had everyone else convinced and they went to the police. This didn't stop the torment and Henry started to become even more paranoid, believing that everyone was against him. When there was no evidence that anyone was following him, Justin accused Henry of smoking too much weed and threatened him with an intervention. However, nothing changed and he started to express even more worrying symptoms.

In May 2012, after writing a disturbing 'manifesto' for an english assignment, his father was called into school where he accused him of smoking again and threatened to have him sent to rehab. Later than night, Henry stole his fathers gun and car, and ran off with Jodie. The pair stayed in a motel briefly, having a nice time, even visiting a bar, where Henry threatened a guy who said something about Jodie with the gun. It didn't take long for Jodie to realise someone was seriously wrong with Henry as he started talking about listening devices and violent thoughts.

Meanwhile, at home, Justin and Marie realised Henry was gone and broke into his room, which had been dead bolted from the inside. Inside they found a treasure trove of disturbing images, including newspaper clippings, drawings and song lyrics about death, murder and suicide. They texted Jodie, who became concerned and tried to leave. Henry tried to stop her but she ran off. He sought solace in the bar, where he violently beat the man from earlier than day. Police were called and Henry made a run for it, heading for the roof a multi-story carpark. Standing on the edge, his father arrived just in time to talk him down and he was arrested. He was then transferred to the hospital, where a toxicology report showed that he was sober and doctors made the decision to section him.

Whilst under doctors care, Henry was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia and held at the hospital for several months.

## 2012-13: Recovery and Relationship with Jodie

After receiving treatment and returning home, Henry decided not to go back to school, not wanting to be the subject of rumours. He instead started helping out his dad at the garage, though it was clearly not what he wanted to be doing with his life. Whilst working with his dad, it was clear Justin was still having some difficulty discussing Henry's mental health with him, causing friction between the two. Every time Henry did something wrong or muttered something to himself, his dad thought he was losing it again. In September 2012, the pair got in a big argument when Justin accused Henry of putting diesel in a gas engine, though Henry swore he didn't. After Justin made a comment about Henry's illness, Henry stormed off. Justin eventually realised he had been the one to make the mistake and apologised, finally talking to his son. During this time, Henry's step-mother Marie grew distant from Justin and was drawn towards her old flame.

Around the same time, Henry started mending his relationship with Jodie and the pair began dating. He also started to explore music more and joined the band created by Dustin Jones, despite initial hesitation on Dustin's part. However, Jodie's uncle Peter Lang was not happy with Henry dating her and made attempts to split the pair up, including applying for university on Jodie's behalf, which she was accepted to. Eventually Jodie made the decision to leave in May 2013.

The following weeks were hard for Henry, who struggled mentally with the break up. After a long night of smoking and drinking out of town, he passed out in a park, causing his family to worry. Upon his return, he had his medication adjusted and found some normality, going back to helping his dad at the garage and writing more music. His music started to gain some attention as he played gigs across town.

## 2014-16:

In 2014, Justin and Marie's relationship broke down. Henry tried to support his father but only made things worse. His father began drinking and ended up hitting Henry in the face. Eventually, Henry supported him in finding help.

In 2016, Justin was killed in an accident, sending Henry into a spiral.

## 2017-19:

In 2018, Henry's ex-girlfriend Bree was killed in a car accident by Bobbie Fischer. Henry found the body and was accused of killing her, with a lot of South Bay turning against him. Bobbie used this to her advantage and messed with Henry's medication, leading him to believe he had killed her and had forgotten. He was arrested, pending investigation, but was let go when Luke Weaver provided him with a false alibi, believing Henry couldn't have done it.