Slade

I thought Harper getting annoyed at Tane hanging around all the time was very understandable so I didn't have too much of an issue her asking him to leave, although I think him having Archie on certain days is a good idea and works well. I did like the fact she put her foot down with him when he objecting to her helping Roo out re Eliza. I know you can argue it's not her fault, but I did think Eliza was fairly sociopathic and her receiving professional treatment was the best course of action. The description for the episode on Channel 5 seemed to indicate she was going to go out with a bang but as already mentioned, it was pretty anti-climatic. Roo certainly didn't deserve Eliza saying she was worse the the other foster parents she had. Whilst she has been in denial and still is, I commend Roo for how she's conducted herself. She showed her nothing but kindness and compassion and was always prepared to give Eliza the benefit of the doubt. Harper was the only other person also prepared to give her a shot as well. I found the conversation Roo had with Alf re Eliza quite gruesome. The experts saying that Eliza can never lead a normal life and thus never integrated into society. I agree that they should at least try and do something as, yes at some point she's going to be an adult and until she commits a serious crime there's nothing anybody can do until then. I do feel really bad for Roo and thought Alf was very harsh to deny her fostering someone else. I'm sad in a way. I thought Eliza was a fascinating character and whilst not necessarily the nicest person, I thought she was one of the best characters, certainly we've had since...Heather and found myself looking forward to any episodes she was in (Ah, that wonderful image of her above from Dan F). You never know maybe she and Heather might team up some day return to Summer Bay to seek revenge on all those who wronged them. Marilyn's attitude isn't a surprise, given (yet again) what happened with Heather. Leah's is going through her cycle of being a complete cow. Even Irene was getting fed up with her whining and blaming everyone but herself re Theo. It will be interesting to see how Theo and Sonny fair at Bree's. I have to admit I've quite liked the Cash/Eden stuff over the last few days. I liked that he went to the effort of getting the other characters for the surprise. I especially liked Mackenzie's reaction when Cash was trying to square getting the time off for Eden. Like Mackenzie I was also surprised Eden's mum was OK with her. When they first met I thought Eden's mum was going to say "You're the one who stole Levi from his wife" or something like that. I didn't know the actress was on Farscape or All Saints. I recall her from Wentworth.

I must have missed something but can someone confirm when Theo and Lacey actually slept together? All I can recall is them kissing but I didn't think it escalated beyond that.

I didn't really like the scenes with Eliza and Harper in the bush. I felt uncomfortable watching Harper in pain knowing that Eliza purposely didn't call the ambulance. I do agree that Eliza was doing this more out of curiosity than anything. I actually thought that was going to be it for her, but I am surprised there's been no follow up as yet. I was also surprised Harper coldly dismissed Tane after Archie was born and she was OK after her surgery. Not that I felt particularly sorry for him, but I do think she made the right decision changing her mind and allowing him to be part of Archie's life. I still continue to like the way Mackenzie fights Tane's corner. I actually felt even Dana didn't agree with what Harper was doing but your can't fault her for her loyalty to her sister. The storyline for me is frustrating because as I said all along Marilyn is the one who called it from the beginning re Eliza, but interestingly her attitude softened slightly towards the end of last week's episodes. I continue to be frustrated at Justin's attitude towards Sonny but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt as he doesn't have the full picture of what's happening. I was however unhappy that he was kept in the dark by Remi, Bree and Sonny re what was happening with Theo. I did wonder previously how far Gage was prepared to go and I would say that was pretty far. I definitely don't think Theo didn't deserved that, but I do also think he should have known better. The reason why I think Gage is quite dangerous is because how often controlled he is for the most part. It seems a theme with a lot of the River Boys in that they are fairly sociopathic.

I also find Marilyn infuriating and unlikeable. I'm like a broken record and I keep referring back to Heather because it's relevant here, but her attitude towards Eliza suggesting another foster family takes care of her just shows how she feels about people like that. You'd think given how Heather ended up, she wouldn't want someone to give up on a neglected child, but her methodology is just to palm them off onto someone else. And even then she was moaning to anybody who will listen to her, Alf, Irene, Leah, although at least Leah seems more objective about it. I was actually initially over the moon when I heard Marilyn was moving back in as I wanted to see Eliza wind her up some more, but then I was disappointed Alf talked her out of it. She didn't want to move back in because she's concerned for Alf and Roo. She moved back in purely because of Alf. If she was really concerned about Roo, she wouldn't have moved out in the first place. Whilst I didn't like his locking her up comment. I feel slightly differently about Alf. Personally I think Alf was just looking out for Roo and his response is understandable for the most part. Literally every person that's spent any amount of time around Eliza has raised concerns. Roo's softly, softly approach isn't working, because it just allows Eliza to keep manipulating her so I can see why he's adopting a hardline approach. Whilst he's mentioned Eliza is just supposed to be there temporarily, at least he doesn't want to just ship her off the the next family immediately like Marilyn does. It's difficult because I guess if Roo's being too soft and Alf's being too hard, there's possibly an in between, but it's hard to know what the in between is. I'm leaning towards no characters in the Bay will be able to do anything on their own and professional help will be required. Eliza does have a basic understanding of what's right and wrong as she knows when people have wronged her, but objectively, there's no empathy and she lacks boundaries. Thoroughly enjoyed the stuff with Eliza on Friday. The scene with Alf when he knew she was listening to his conversation and then confronted her and put his foot down was sublime. I don't normally like grumpy Alf but I did enjoy that. I quite like the fact there's straight talking through their interaction and Eliza knows she can't manipulate him. I love how Eliza continues to make Marilyn feel uncomfortable and particularly enjoyed her reaction when she realised Harper and Eliza had left. It's a shame Harper was around as she could have wound her up properly rather than simply be dismissive. I'm also enjoying how Eliza spending time with Harper is bothering Tane. I think Theo's been monumentally stupid. I don't think he would have been in this deep with the River Boys if it wasn't for Lacey. Not sure what Gage is going to do, but it's hard to be that sympathetic towards Theo.

I will also say that I didn't have much sympathy for Harper and certainly with regards to Tane, she really should have known better. I do feel she is definitely punishing him for being rejected and it's not right, but I have even less sympathy for him. I actually found his reaction quite amusing when Harper told him he wasn't allowed to be in Archie's life. He doesn't see her as anything other than a baby holder, so I'm actually glad that he was out of shape. I was actually pleased Cash stepped in. Again, Harper is in the wrong, but she was not going to listen to reason at that particular point and given she and Cash have a friendship that's pre Summer Bay, I don't realistically think he could have stood there without doing anything. I will say I pretty much loathed him when he went crazy and obsessed with keeping Eden safe, but I think he's been OK as of late.

For a moment, I thought Harper was going to go through with it, but I'm glad she changed her mind about the wedding because Tane wasn't going to. He wants the baby too much. I do think she did very well because this time she didn't let her emotions cloud her judgement. I'm glad Cash is still being a good friend to Harper and confronted Tane re his feelings. I certainly agree Harper should never have let it get to this point, although it is better to do it now than to jilt Tane at the altar or even go through with the wedding and realise it was a mistake. I quite liked Eden checking in on Tane. It's funny because I found her the most objectionable member of Lyrik previously, but I think she's the more favourable one at the moment.

As much as I'm enjoying Eliza's character, I'm also not convinced she was being honest with Roo when she quizzed her about the items in the box either. And again this highlights her inconsistencies. In one hand she can be quite controlled, such as antagonising Marilyn and manipulating Roo, but then she completely loses it with her in front of everybody. Whilst once again I have to preface by saying this is partly Harper's fault, I'm so sick of Tane seeing her a just a vessel for his kid that I was actually enjoying how it bothered him when Harper started spending time with Eliza, allowed Eliza to touch the baby bump and was disappointed she caved to the pressure from Tane and decided not to involve herself with Eliza anymore. Fast forward to the end of the week, I was glad after Cash read the speech Eden wrote for him said he couldn't say the words at the wedding as they weren't the truth. I also laughed at the rehearsal. It was the way the expression on Eden's face changed from being happy for them to the realisation Cash was right about Tane. It's also funny because literally every person that has been involved has expressed reservations about him. In saying that, Dana's attitude is still a little surprising. She was the first person who raised concerns about Tane and expressed these to Mackenzie at the time. Now her adopting the Bridezilla role seems to trump the red flags. Harper really needs to do herself a favour and end this farce. Tane won't because he wants his baby too much. I do think Friday's episode worked quite well with the various couples. One wedding that is only happening because of a pregnancy (Eden's comment showing how society has changed). Another couple where one partner wants to have a kid whereas the other doesn't (although Levi's done an amazing U-turn now). And then you have two people that want to get married because they are genuinely in love with each other (I'm assuming if Eden asked Cash, he would have said yes). The only other thing to mention I guess is with Theo and the whole River Boy racing stuff. I didn't like how Justin was blaming Sonny either. And I do also think it's interesting that Sonny is portrayed as impulsive and reckless, but despite not knowing too much about them, he's being the sensible one re the River Boys. That should show Theo how problematic this whole thing is. Whilst I'm not keen on them, I did enjoy Gage and Lacey winding Cash up whilst they were outside the Surf Club.

Poor Rachel. I miss her. I also enjoyed Eliza continuing to wind Marilyn up. The best part of it was how uncomfortable Marilyn looked. It was a similar expression to when Heather was first giving her looks. Eliza does seem to be quite inconsistent. I agree about her helping herself to other people's things such as the scan of Harper's baby, Alf's knife and Marilyn's money but then she loses it when it happens to her (Does she actually use the phone Roo bought for her?). Roo really is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It just feels as though it doesn't matter what she does, she's going to fail with Eliza because as mentioned, Eliza needs what Roo can't give her. I'm watching Harper during any scenes with Tane and just wonder why Harper is putting herself through this knowing full well, she's going to end up getting hurt.

When I heard about Dean/Ziggy's return, initially I thought it was going to handled as a one off storyline. I know they've done it a couple of times (Kyle featured in one of them). I really quite enjoyed the stuff with Mackenzie and Ziggy being taken hostage by the escaped criminals. It did remind me a bit of when the guys that ran Remi over kidnapped Eden and you had one of them who was quite prepared to do whatever was necessary and the other, who seemed to have remorse. Same here. The scenes with Dean and Levi were a lot better and I also enjoyed them. I wonder if it will be mentioned what charges Levi will face. I liked Tane's reaction to finding out Levi was able to turn things around with Dean. I have to say I was a little surprised Mackenzie wanted kids but thinking about it, it's hard to understand prior to Levi why she is still in the bay, so I guess that's naturally the next step for her. So Rose is gone now. Disappointment as I quite liked her and I don't like too many characters at the moment. I really liked the goodbye moment with Cash. They deeply cared for each other. As I mentioned shortly after Rose first came, I actually always wanted something to happen with them (Kind of like Mackenzie and Tane) but it just wasn't meant to be. Similar to Mackenzie she was also someone who didn't have much of a reason to be in the Bay. Not sure what to make of Theo. He warned Sonny about the River Boys, but now gets involved with them, takes a massive risk with the racing, all because he fancies the head River Boy's girlfriend (Go figure). I guess it is consistent in making bad choices when you think he did drugs because of Valerie. Really, really enjoyed Eliza putting the frighteners on Marilyn . I was actually disappointed Marilyn moved out. On a more serious note, I do have a lot of sympathy for Roo. Marilyn was out of line posing as her to speak to Eliza's former foster parents (We know from Heather, she doesn't have empathy for people like that), however Roo's smart enough to know there was truth behind what she said. And even if she discounts Marilyn, when Tane spoke to her after Eliza tried to get back into the Youth programme, he came across as very reasonable (despite Eliza's offhand comment about Harper being frightened of him). It must be hard for Roo because she probably feels Eliza been let down by the system, then dumped by one foster family, so she feels a duty to stick this out. But then you have a deeply disturbed young girl who actually needs professional help.

I didn't experience any of the missed episodes as I always watch via the Channel 5 website (I have to get out of the mindset it's not My5 anymore). I'm surprised more people don't do that actually. But I guess we're a different generation. Out of curiosity, earlier on in the week, I did watch part of the episode with Eliza and the bottle (I watched the bank holiday episode live on Channel 5 but I will almost never do that because I'm working). The episode from the website also had the cut scene. And a whole slew of them resurface. They really are like cockroaches. I wasn't enjoying the Dean/Levi stuff. I think Levi has done more good than bad. I do think what Dean is saying about once a cheater is correct in some cases is correct so I understand his concern. Even though he's being quite unpleasant, part of me respects the fact he's not pretending and is very open about his disdain towards Levi.

Up until the last 5 minutes of today's episode, I did think there was a different side to Eliza but with the look she gave Marilyn when Roo was hugging her and the fact Cash didn't seem too bothered when Marilyn tried to talk to him afterwards, I'm guessing Eliza's a badun and Marilyn's right...again (I was actually in stitches when I saw Marilyn's facial expression change, although I'm not sure it was the brightest move, unless Eliza was purposely trying to taunt Marilyn). It does feel that are recycling pieces of the Heather storyline. I would like to know a little more about her backstory, particularly her parents and how they were with her. It actually wouldn't surprise me if Eliza was responsible for her grandmother's death. Now that she's out of Tane's Youth programme, I wouldn't mind seeing her at Summer Bay High, although there aren't any characters her own age she can interact with. My thoughts after seeing the first couple of episodes with Eliza were Omen 4. I can't say I'm that pleased to see Dean, Ziggy and Karen again. Fair play to the producers for getting all the actors back. I do agree that Dean wasn't saying anything other people on the show and this forum were. Objectively, I can see how Karen is quite amusing but I still don't like her. Have to say Ziggy was being very mature about it, but that's only because she kissed Dean when she was still with Tane. At least they appear to have reconciled for now.

I've not read through any of the previous comments since I last posted so I don't know what people have said. I'm probably going to repeat what has already been mentioned and get the "I said that" from the usual suspects but I will just summarise my thoughts as of late anyway. I've thoroughly disliked Cash through this whole trying to protect Eden thing. He's messed Eden around and almost ruined Tim's life. Even though Eden kissed Cash, I did still have sympathy for her. I actually found Nerida less objectionable than Cash (that's how bad I thought he was). I wonder if she's going to end up at the same place as Heather. I think it says a lot about Tim actually. Nerida almost kills him and he's still sympathetic towards her (I did find it hard to get my head around her taking out Cash, Tim turning away from her the getting taking out himself and her taking out Mali at the Caravan Park). Furthermore, he was prepared to step out of the way so Cash and Eden could be together. Don't recall seeing any scars from Bree drilling a hole in his head. I was glad Remi had a go at Cash and I was loving his anti Cash/Eden stance as he was one of the few people that had the bottle to tell it how like it was and not just pander to them. I can't blame Eden for giving Cash another chance but I hope she's made the right decision this time. I have to admit they have settled down now and haven't been too bad as of late. Tane and Harper. It was clear from how Harper was acting previously that everything in her gut was telling her getting married to Tane is the wrong choice. I have to say Mackenzie's reaction to their engagement was priceless. She can be really funny sometimes (also her conversation with Theo when he said he and Abi were a thing for a day and a half). Levi's reaction upon finding out was amusing as well. Whilst I'm probably always going to dislike Dana, she was basically right about them and Tane specifically. So I'm surprised she's onboard now and back to referring to Tane as the demigod because he bought Harper a really nice engagement ring and wants to whisk Harper away to Japan for the honeymoon. Tane has admitted to Cash that he's not in love with Harper and he's only doing things because he's obligated to and for the sake of his kid which is admirable in one sense but not good in the long term for either of them. My sympathy is still very much with Harper because she's going to end up getting hurt bad, although it is partly her fault. I'm not sorry to see the back of Xander. I didn't actively dislike him as such but I didn't really find him to be a very interesting character at all. I honestly wish Dana would have gone with him as I'm can't stand her and still find her highly annoying such as the way she was acting towards Cash not wanting to be best man at Tane/Harper's wedding and how when Irene didn't want John involved in her recovery Dana brought John round to hers anyway. It's a shame having to put up with her and we're going to lose Rose, one of the few characters I actually quite like. Eliza. Oh boy. I actually think she's quite an interesting character. I should really reserve judgement but she comes across as...sociopathic. The first thing to note is how she interacts with people. She never says hello/goodbye or really thanks anybody for doing something. It doesn't feel like she's doing it to be purposely rude. It genuinely comes across as though there's a serious disconnect and doesn't have the capacity to engage like a normal person (e.g. walking up to Harper and touching her baby bump without asking) or have any remorse, empathy or compassion. There is also a concern that she started the fire at the last home she was at, but what's even more worrying is the obsession with cutting people open, blood, medical instruments since her conversation with Levi (although it was probably there before that). Given her lack of social skills it's be hard to see how she can be integrated into the show. In one hand, I do admire Roo for her dedication because she genuinely wants to help Eliza but even she knows that there is something seriously wrong. Literally every other person has pegged it, Marilyn (even excluding the stolen money), Leah (saying Eliza's different), Tane not wanting her to continue the Youth programme because he knows something seriously wrong with her. Hitting the guy last week because he threatened to tell Tane she stole the ultrasound picture is a huge concern when you factor in the fire. If she's this bad now as a 14 year old, if she doesn't get help, she's going to be very dangerous when she's an adult and someone is seriously going to get hurt. Roo is clearly out of her depth here, although I do hope Eliza sticks around for a little while as I want to see if it's even possible to change her. I'm going to have to find time to go through the previous posts to get people's thoughts on the above.

I did feel sorry for Perri's mum but I completely got where Perri was coming from and sympathised with his resentment towards her. I would probably feel the same as him actually. I thought the scenes between them were quite touching and emotional and whilst I wasn't too interested in his character, I am glad he decided to give her a chance and they left together. Hopefully they will both be happy now. I did also think with Perri going, Tane just wanted some booty call from Harper and once again I think he's out of order. I'm not keen on Tim. I find him quite smug but I wasn't happy with Levi thumping him. I know it's his sisters, but as mentioned Levi was being a little bit hypocritical. I'm assuming at some point Abi's going to have to decide between Theo and Mail. Part of me hopes it's Mali if only to wind Levi up. I thought Dana was OK the week before last week and I didn't mind her and Bree getting on. I was shaking my at her last week and her attitude for me sums up something you see more of now. Things didn't go her way and a male was involved, so it's sexism/misogyny by default. I'm glad John is giving her cold shoulder. She deserves it. I can't really blame Roo for wanting to have a go at Bree. I am glad Remi defended her like that though.

Harper purposely didn't remind Tane about the scan in the hope he would tell her he was going so she would feel better about herself. I keep sounding like a broken record but she really has it bad. Her Cheshire cat smile when he said he was going and reaffirmed his commitment to the baby highlights that. Also, ditching Dana (ouch) just so she could have some alone time with Tane. Can't really say I was that interested in Dana's reaction and the sob story with Xander though. Thought the Justin/Leah stuff for the most part was meh particularly the renewal of the vowels, although I did enjoy how Leah managed to squeeze a freebie out of the hotel manager and the late check out. I do agree that renewing after six months of marriage is a concern and it feels like they're trying to prove to each other everything's good. I didn't like the way Abigail spoke to Theo but at least she apologised. I was definitely on Abigail's side with Eden when went through her journal and the thing is Abigail was right about her. Eden not backing off as Abigail requested and acting like a dog with a bone just reaffirms Abigail's main gripes with her. I loved it when they were having the mediation session and Eden made the point about Abigail slating her but when it came to Levi, it was nothing that praise, with Eden storming off and Abigail saying Eden was making it about her again. Not sure how I feel about Cash leaving although apart from Eden there's nothing really for him in Summer Bay TBH.

I'm mostly enjoying the Bree centric stuff. She is still totally delusional and seems to be approaching things in an almost matter of fact manner. I have to admit I wasn't happy about her reaching out to Marilyn and asking to have a chat at Salt as it kind of felt like groveling, but given how the meeting ended with Bree making cynical reference to Marilyn's Tarot Cards and Marilyn storming off, I was pretty satisfied. I did find it slightly amusing when Mackenzie and Levi were commenting as Marilyn and Bree sat down to talk and then when Bree when to square things with Levi and Remi overheard her tell Levi to mention the chat to him. If Bree doesn't want to get help, it's hard to see where Remi goes from here though. Whilst Harper still can't make any progress with Tane, she must be loving having him mostly to herself.