Red Ranger 1

Alf's episode count this week:Three, and he was credited on Tuesday for no appearance. I agree that it seems at times as though Roo is trying to convince herself when it comes to Eliza.Even at the end of this episode, she doesn't have the full story and continues to believe that Scott provoked Eliza.I do think Tane's oversimplifying when he said that Eliza enjoyed hitting Scott: I don't think she's sorry, but I'm not sure how much enjoyment she got from it.I definitely don't think Tane should give up on Eliza after one session, but setting ground rules is the right idea.She didn't exactly seem receptive though.As with a lot of what she does, it's hard to tell to what extent she was genuinely hurt by the idea of Roo giving up on her and to what extent she's manipulating the situation. Abigail was being very irritating and needy and seemed to have forgotten her assertion that she and Mali need to stop being in each other's pockets, expecting him to neglect his work and spend time with her.I'm surprised he was won over so easily.It's a shame that poor timing means Mali ends up moving back in (which neither of them really agreed to!). I certainly take Levi's point that he needs to meet Dean some time if he's going to have a life with Mackenzie, but he seems to be assuming a lot.Nice to hear that Imogen seems to be doing well.

Without looking it up, which I probably should do, my brain is thinking it was Harper that found Irene after she fell down the stairs? I think John was keeping his distance from her at the time? It's increasingly hard to get a handle on Eliza.Her fascination with Harper's pregnancy almost makes me think there was something similar in her history that's triggered this.I'm not really sure how to describe her demeanour.I wouldn't call it cold, which suggests a deliberate rejection of feelings towards others.And she doesn't seem to be getting any enjoyment from it.Yet there also seems to be something bubbling just under the surface, some emotion she can't quite access.She's very matter-of-fact.It's hard to know what to make of Roo's determination to give her the benefit of the doubt, especially since we know Marilyn's probably right.Is she in denial or just erring on the side of caution? Remi gives an explanation to Sonny, who seemed to accept it and extend his own olive branch to Bree. While I think a lot of it was boredom, he was rather generous with Theo, helping him out just to be a friend. So Remi's off to meet Bree's mum, will we get to see it?

Well, I guess we finally got an answer to what Irene's problem with John is but it wasn't a particularly satisfactory one.Given that Irene was pushing John away when she was at her lowest, he'd almost be the last person who'd remind her of all that, rather than Leah or Marilyn. Frankly the whole thing just feels like a weak plot device because Shane Withington's name came out in this week's holiday draw. It was hard to have much sympathy for Sonny.As Remi said, it's time he learned to hear the word no. I guess I have some empathy for him feeling that everything goes Remi's way and nothing goes his, but I feel like that's only half the story.Remi's had a lot of things fall into his lap without having to work for them, but he's also had to work hard for other things, whereas Sonny just seems to spend his whole time expecting handouts.He did manage to charm Justin anyway, and he's probably not a bad person underneath it all, but Remi's reasons for wanting to be there for Bree are just foreign to him. Moving forward a bit with Rose's leaving then.Turns out Bree is fine with being left on her own.I did wonder if she'd ask Remi to move in, but I suspect he wouldn't want to leave the band, even when they're not a band.

Still no real clue as to why Irene's avoiding John, even though he's now clued in.She doesn't seem to dislike him, so is she worried he'll somehow disrupt her routine?Dana dragging John back there against Irene's wishes could backfire badly, although it seems to be holding so far. A good chunk of the episode seemed to consist of characters telling things we already knew, with Abigail filling in Kirby and Rose on her new role, but it was all handled in a friendly manner and I guess it's good to build these relationships. Cash being referred to as the perfect cop was a bit laughable.I kept waiting for someone to add "Except for a few months ago when he persecuted an innocent man, led his stalker right to him and ended up on an attempted murder charge, but I'm sure he's got over that." After that reference to the River Boys last week, we suddenly have one turn up, even if they couldn't be bothered to give him a name (presumably Bongo or something), so that seems to be rattling along.

The show's been slightly schizophrenic on the subject - one minute Leah's talking as though she's been visiting Irene regularly, the next she claims she hasn't seen her in months - but given that Irene's been invited to Tane and Harper's wedding, I'd say she's been kept up to date on at least the major events in Summer Bay.Anyway, it was nice to see Dana showing her caring side with Irene, but it seems like Leah's not the only one in two minds.Last week, Irene seemed to be listening to John more than anyone, yet suddenly she doesn't want him anywhere near her.I know she snapped at him last time she saw him but it still seems out of the blue.Is she embarrassed? I wasn't sure if Mali was being oversensitive about Abby hanging around all the time or not, but she did admit she was struggling to trust him, so. Anyway, at least she's doing something proactive about it in keeping a bit of distance from him, and it helps solve the staffing crisis caused by Xander's departure.Mackenzie and Levi having everyone walk in on their "catch-up" was good comedy.I would have liked to have seen the reactions to Eden taking Cash home, but unfortunately her housemates aren't in the episode.

Alf's episode count this week:Four. Well, John got despatched quickly (and didn't get credited, so I'm guessing that scene was moved from the previous episode), so Irene's left being bombarded by the rest of the stalwarts(minus Roo, who hasn't managed three episodes in ages).Leah seemed to go back to pushing her frustratingly quickly, although it was probably smart to try and stop Marilyn being a motormouth.She really didn't seem to realise that Irene having a routine and things to do is exactly what she needs and leaving her alone is the least relaxing thing you can think of. When Rose said Abigail needed to either trust Mali or keep him under surveillance 24 hours a day, Abigail apparently went for the wrong one.To be fair, while she was vague, Levi deciding Mali was pressuring her to move back in really was just him jumping to conclusions. Mali and Abigail seem to have come to an agreement by the end, although that doesn't seem to have stopped her keeping tabs on him.

Rose is doing the farewell tour then, having chats with Mali, Kirby and Dana, and indeed Abigail, here.I'm glad she and Dana seem to be parting as friends after a couple of rocky patches recently.Abby setting a test for Mali was rather daft and, like most men would, Mali chose to believe what she was saying rather than looking for the subtext.Kirby wouldn't spill the beans and Rose was reluctant to either but eventually had to admit there were trust issues between her and Mali.I guess it's up to Abigail how she deals with it. Meanwhile, John and Leah attempt a second intervention with Irene.Leah backs off pretty quickly but I liked their silent moment of reconciliation later on, sometimes no words are needed.So John's got Irene over the line and back in the Bay but she didn't seem too happy with the realisation that Dana's working and she's going to be on her own all night.I can see John ending up staying with her!

That would be Episode 2236 from 1997, when Chloe gets attacked by a groupie of her rapist Brad Cooper.

I did appreciate the opening chat between John and Dana, with him commending her for being a grown-up about her break-up with Xander (eventually!). After that, Dana definitely seemed to be looking for something to focus her energy on and has chosen the wedding.She was blunt with Cash in a way that Tane perhaps wasn't willing to be, and I guess her current "Love, who needs it?" attitude may have helped there.She was a bit lucky she was allowed to harangue Cash while he was at the station on duty, even if it was a slow day (River Boy drag racing aside)! Some nice scenes between Cash and Rose as well.I'm not clear why Cash is suddenly unsure about being senior constable again (or, indeed, why they'd want him after his recent performance!), does he think he has other things to focus on? Ironically, in the end it's John (who seemed to be everywhere today) who gets the news of Rose's course first. And we see Irene, for the first time this year and the first time in months! She seemed her old self when first greeting Leah and John but she seemed to quickly unravel.Still, no reason why she couldn't just go to the wedding and go back to rehab afterwards, is there?

I've never had a credit card but it seems like these days everyone just uses contactless, which has always struck me as a thief's dream come true.

I admit it's been a bit vague at times but it sounds like Remi and Sonny grew up in the same neighbourhood and so Remi would likely have already known him when he first met Eden. Eliza certainly seems to have her obsessions, which came before eating and sleeping here, and there are times when it feels like she's saying what she thinks she's supposed to, but there does feel like there's something genuine about her hugs to Roo.Nice to hear that Tane's youth programme, not seen since he first met Perri, is still going on off screen, even if it didn't exactly enthuse Eliza. Cash probably should have listened to Remi and just decided to put up with the tension and go to the party, but it took another shove from Tane to get him there.Not that Remi seemed to exactly be living up to it himself, although I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the session work was genuine.I do appreciate him telling Cash he hopes that he and Eden last: Remi doesn't actually want her to get her heart broken again, he just can't see any other outcome.I did smile at Bree apparently thinking "He didn't do that for me!" when Sonny said Remi sold his bike.A notable lack of Kirby at the party, even though she was there setting up for it last episode! As for Cash refusing to give a speech, I mostly think that if he's supportive of Tane and Harper getting married and willing to stand alongside him when they do, he should be able to come up with a speech that's both honest and appropriate.

It felt like a case of one step forward two steps back with Eliza, as, having been vaguely social last episode, she reverts to not really engaging with anything.She's obviously got a certain amount of morbid fascination, but I do wonder if there's some deeper psychological reasons why she doesn't seem to be able to find any joy in anything.Roo continued plugging away, although Eliza wearing pyjamas to breakfast was an odd thing to latch onto! I'm glad Alf spoke up for her anyway, and I'm not really sure what Marilyn was hoping to achieve with their chat. One step forward and two steps back between Cash and Remi as well.So, it seems the real issue isn't that Remi was drunk when he extended that olive branch, it's that Remi only did it for Eden's sake and still doesn't trust Cash.Which is...fair enough frankly? I feel like Cash should extend the same courtesy and put up with Remi for Eden's sake, rather than acting as though focusing on their relationship in a bubble is enough.So Levi and Sonny hadn't met before, even though they were apparently both around when Remi and Eden first knew each other? Hmm, yeah, that's fair enough, you wouldn't necessarily meet the brother of a friend of a friend.Sonny comments on Eden and Levi talking again, so presumably when they last knew each other it was mid-rift.

Alf's episode count this week:Two. Having been critical of Alf yesterday, I was pleased with him today.He made an effort with Eliza, even going so far as stepping in when Roo wanted to give up and drag her off home and pointing out they need to get her out of the house.I wasn't keen on Roo apologising to Levi for Eliza yesterday, but she handled things better with Harper today, even if Eliza wasn't exactly co-operative.Eliza stealing the knife isn't a good thing but it's most likely it's down to a curious fascination rather than a sign she actually intends to use it. Marilyn gets stuck in a scene just to be sneering and dismissive towards John. I notice she didn't feel the need to butt in when Tane and Levi said much the same thing. Justin was ultimately proved right but has to learn to back off and let Theo make his own mistakes.Theo might be less inclined to carry on looking for cheap parts if he didn't feel he had something to prove, although he should perhaps see it as a sign to be more cautious.

My feeling is that they wouldn't have made a point of giving Xander last scenes with Mackenzie, Rose and Dana if they thought he was coming back. Well, Eliza's not one for making friends easy, is she? Roo seemed to jump very quickly from telling Eliza she's going to school, to deciding to home school her. I did wonder about them bringing in a school age character when we don't see the school anymore, then it occurred to me that we don't actually need to see them at school: Plenty of UK soaps have school age characters who we never or hardly ever see in school, they just head off to school in their uniforms and then come back. But perhaps that way of thinking hasn't made it across to their Oz counterparts, given they felt the need to come up with an excuse for not showing Eliza in school. Marilyn's obviously struggling with someone who's not immediately run over by her supposed charm but you'd think Alf would have been around the block enough times not to get immediately jittery.Is he seriously expecting Roo to send Eliza back? Incidentally, how long is she meant to be there for, if it's an emergency placement? Seems to be the week for thinking you're being cheated on, with Abigail jumping to conclusions about Mali and Rose.At least it got smoothed over quickly again. (Incidentally, I'm fairly sure Bree's known Rose longer than Mali has. She's certainly been around longer.) I hope Justin isn't too high-handed with Theo over the car part.

Well, I guess that answers the question of who's running Salt at the moment: Levi did promise Mackenzie he'd keep an eye on it.Eden probably should have let Abigail finish before assuming she'd be useless.But hey, at least it seems to have brought this often fractured set of siblings closer. I have to side with Mali over Kirby here, she shouldn't have been sat scribbling her in her notebook when she had work to do, including the phone call that he took the class purely so she could handle. But anyway, it seems Sonny's comments have inspired her. Even though she was being less obviously obnoxious, I was still annoyed at Dana stealing Xander's robot and hoped Rose would call her out on it. Otherwise, just a lot of set-up for Mali to decide to play white knight.