UK Neighbours Spoilers – Hendrix turns to illegal gambling to get cash
Next week on Neighbours in the UK, Hendrix’s job at Lassiters comes to an abrupt end, leading him to turn to gambling as a way of paying his rent. Little does he know, he’s playing against a nefarious criminal.
House rules
After an accident in the laundry room at Lassiters leaves Terese passed out, Hendrix ends up quitting the new job that he’s held for only a matter of days.
Even though Terese doesn’t see the accident as his fault – after all, she told him to leave the laundry room, and it’s not his fault the door locked behind him as he left – Paul thinks otherwise.
Hendrix feels terrible, and all he wants to do is apologise to Terese. However, Paul gets to him before he can, and chastises him for his irresponsible behaviour. Paul tells him he can’t be trusted in the laundry room any more, and will have to scrub toilets instead – but Hendrix throws the offer back in his face and quits the job he’s only had for a single day.
Susan is gobsmacked that he’s quit so soon. Their arrangement was that he has to have a job if he’s to stay with them, but Hendrix assures her that he’ll get another one asap.
Wine, maybe, or high end retail – something more to his liking. As Susan reminds him, those jobs tend to require some kind of experience, so he needs to be realistic and start at the bottom of the ladder.
With Karl and Susan off to Queensland for Christmas, he promises her that he’ll have a job by the time she gets back.
Of course, his tastes are too sophisticated. He’s no desire to work at Harold’s, at Greece Monkeys, or a Christmas retail temp job. He’s not “that desperate”.
He gets a job interview at a high end clothing store in Eden Hills, but it turns out experience is necessary, and he’s knocked back. “The system is rigged,” he complains to Jay, as he reluctantly accepts he’s going to have to go for the job at Greece Monkeys after all.
So when Jay comes up with a more left field idea for earning money, he’s all ears.
Cards! Specifically Blackjack.
“It’s a mug’s game,” says Hendrix, rejecting the idea as stupid. “The house always has the edge.”
But Jay already has a solution. He knows how to count cards, meaning in his eyes, he always has the edge.
He proposes that Hendrix learns to count cards as well, and the two of them go to games together. It’s a lot harder to determine that someone’s cheating if two people are winning; so by going into it together, they’re in a good position. If nobody finds out – which no-one will, Jay confidently assures Hendrid – it’s basically free cash.
Casinos are a no-go: Jay isn’t 18 yet, and casinos have multiple decks which make it impossible to card count. That leaves them with underground card games. Thankfully, when Jay was hanging out with the infamous Oli, who accompanied the boys to schoolies, he happened to mentioned some local guys who run underground games.
Hendrix isn’t happy about relying on Oli for a way in, but he’s up for it. The first game is that night at Lassiters – $300 to get in, with Jay spotting Hendrix’s entry.
Unfortunately, it transpires that one of the members of the card game is Kane Jones (Barry Conrad), the man who first got Ned involved in the fight ring from last year. He was sent to prison for his part in proceedings, but now he’s out on parole and back in town.
Of course, neither Hendrix or Jay have any idea who he is or what he’s capable of.
Hendrix warms to the game quickly, and starts enjoying himself. He’s taking secret hints from Jay as to whether to hit or not, and is winning time after time. His fellow gamblers, who initially assumed from Hendrix’s mannerisms that he’d never even played blackjack before, are stunned. Kane, with no idea that Hendrix is counting cards, is impressed.
Hendrix walks away with enough money to pay the fine he got for driving without a licence, and tide him over until he gets a job. With a taste for the money, and with nobody realising that the pair knew each other, they agree to go back for another round.
With the two of them there, it’s not meant to be suspicious… but is Hendrix playing a little too well? And what will happen if Kane discovers the two of them know each other?
Will they, won’t they?
Elsewhere, Jane keeps awkwardly avoiding Clive, ducking away whenever he goes to even talk to her. Even though they agreed to forget about their drunken night together, she’s struggling to put it behind her and act normal. Eventually, he manages to catch up with her at Lassiters, and tries to get to the bottom of her odd behaviour.
“It would be mad to let one night ruin decades of friendship,” points out Clive. He suggests the two of them share a coffee at Harold’s and try to get back to normal, but Jane still feels too awkward being on Sheila’s terrain, so they agree for Clive to pop to Number 32 that afternoon.
Not long before Clive is due to turn up, Sheila pops to Number 32 unannounced to ask for Jane’s help, leaving Jane scrambling to hide the preparations she’s made for her afternoon with Clive.
Sheila still pining for Clive’s affections, and asks Jane if she’ll use her friendship with him to get some inside info. Sheila makes it clear she wants Clive back, and wants Jane to help make it happen. Awkward.
When Sheila eventually leaves and Clive arrives to spend the afternoon with Jane, it’s clear there’s still a connection between them. Their feelings seem to extend to more than just a one night stand.
When they organise another catchup later this week, Jane casually responds with “it’s a date.”
“Can it be?” asks Clive sheepishly, before confessing that he hasn’t stopped thinking about her for the past few days. After what happened between them, he has a feeling that there’s something between them.
It seems Jane feels the same, as they’re suddenly emerging from the Number 32 sunroom after having fooled around together again. Jane is still nervous about hurting Sheila’s feelings, but Clive wants to just set the record straight with Sheila and be able to move on with his life.
He soon sets about doing exactly that. As they meet outside The Waterhole, Sheila tells him that she misses him, and that she only ended things to punish herself. But Clive reminds her that she falsified a medical report and that led to their breakup, and he’s forced to let her down gently.
“We can’t go back, I just need you to understand that. And I hope that we can still stay friends.”
She’s devastated, and struggles to hold back the tears as she drives away. But will Sheila listen, leaving Clive and Jane free to pursue a relationship?
Does that really seem like the Sheila way…?
Here’s the full spoilers for the final week of Neighbours in the UK:
Monday 11th January (8513)
Dipi starts organising a Christmas celebration for the whole family, including Kirsha.
Paul finds Amy’s determination an appealing trait.
After causing an accident at work, Hendrix is on the job hunt again.
Tuesday 12th January (8514)
Jay and Hendrix get in on a game of blackjack with a former Erinsborough nemesis.
Jane’s connection with Clive is growing fast.
Wednesday 13th January (8515)
Aaron is upset that David hasn’t moved on from his disappointment with Nicolette and is now avoiding spending time at home.
Unable to deny their chemistry, Jane and Clive decide to give their relationship a go in secret so they don’t hurt Sheila.
The rightful owner of the lottery ticket calls Nicolette wanting to meet.
Thursday 14th January (8516)
Roxy hasn’t heard anything from Kyle after her latest sexy video and begins to fear that he’s reconnecting with Georgia.
Jane questions whether exploring things with Clive is the right thing to do, but a discussion with Roxy reminds her not to sabotage something good out of paranoia.
Chloe guilts Dipi into hiring Nicolette after initially refusing to.
Friday 15th January (8517)
Ricardo makes Nicolette a shocking proposal, choosing to hide it from Chloe and Aaron.
Amy is awarded the contract for designing Lassiter’s new uniforms, but after receiving a mysterious message, she confesses to Shane that she’s in trouble.