Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Psychic Wombat]

Sophie doesn't really join in with anyone, I don't think she's made any friends in the bay as she see's all females as a threat. Nate isn't a great socialiser either, and his back story hasn't covered why he's in Australia. If it was a choice between Sophie and his canoe I wonder which he'd go for :-) Hated the soap cliche scene where Nate touches Hannah's arm and who should see it but Sophie, groan, how many times have H&A used that scenario!

Maddy should get over Josh before she turns into a bunny boiler, move on girl!

[Red Ranger 1]

Yesterday's episode:

The Braxtons' trust in Andy is bordering on ridiculous, Brax and Casey just seem to think that because they went more or less straight everyone's going to.That said, Andy did seem affected by Brax's words to him and even Hannah's rejection, which I was expecting to send him back to square one...didn't.Ricky continues to be schizophrenic, now she's the one looking for trouble.Casey continues to keep things from Denny, meaning she's bewildered at Andy wanting to be friends;fortunately for him she's enough of a doormat to take it, unfortunately for us this means endless scenes of them fondling each other while the other characters give them "Awww, aren't they adorable?" looks.If this is the happiness before it all goes wrong, I hope Jake hurries up and drops a boulder on them before we have to endure more bland and pointless scenes.

Matt deciding not to take his HSC when he's almost finished is just daft.Leah annoyed me again with the way she was quick to agree to Zac moving out, fortunately he thought better of it.He again usurps the school counsellor's role in dealing with Sasha but gets away with it by being good at it.Sasha inviting the Year 11s smacks of someone realising they've dropped all the main characters down a year without explanation so it'd only be Sasha and Matt there otherwise.

I actually felt sorry for Andy and thought Nate playing knight in shining armour was unnecessary, he wasn't being threatening.I'd probably be spitting at Hannah if she'd taken Andy back, but instead I find that when I'm not hating her I just don't care at all.On a similar note, if Sophie has to warn other women off Nate then she may as well give up now, they're obviously doomed.

[Angelica]

Sophie doesn't really join in with anyone, I don't think she's made any friends in the bay as she see's all females as a threat. Nate isn't a great socialiser either, and his back story hasn't covered why he's in Australia. If it was a choice between Sophie and his canoe I wonder which he'd go for :-) Hated the soap cliche scene where Nate touches Hannah's arm and who should see it but Sophie, groan, how many times have H&A used that scenario!

Maddy should get over Josh before she turns into a bunny boiler, move on girl!

I think this is the problem with Sophie. She has felt threatened by every woman that is in her age group, which means that she hasn't really made any real friends in the bay. Much like Phoebe, it means that her only storylines are related to her relationship (which is not good when the relationship lacks any chemistry and makes both parties look bad).

[Brian]

How can you feel sorry for Andy, Red? He's just rotten through and through, especially now he's in with Jake.

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't know, Brian, it does feel like Andy is Becoming the Mask so to speak and becoming less and less happy working for Jake.When he was with Hannah, I got the feeling he knows how much he's messed up.

If Hannah was meant to be respecting Sophie's wishes and staying away from Nate, then pretty much telling him about it kind of defeated the object.I seem to remember we did get some back story for Nate at one point, something about how his dad was Australian and he moved the family back there when Nate's mother died, but I didn't pay attention at the time and it's gone out of my mind.He seems to have forgiven Sophie but it's another storyline that's going round and round in circles.

So, having what's apparently only a few days to find dates and dresses for the formal is causing everyone headaches.I'm surprised that Hannah was so keen on the idea of Oscar going with Maddy, at least until she found out Maddy wasn't.Spencer once again shows what a decent sort he is by smoothing things over between Josh and Evelyn.A step backwards for Maddy, as she refuses to use Spencer to make herself feel better, then does it with Oscar.I can kind of forgive her since it was clearly a knee-jerk reaction to finding out Josh and Evelyn were going rather than anything calculated, making it seems like she's not bothered, but she'd probably have been better off taking Spencer up on his offer.

And Alf!

[Slade]

I think this is the problem with Sophie. She has felt threatened by every woman that is in her age group, which means that she hasn't really made any real friends in the bay. Much like Phoebe, it means that her only storylines are related to her relationship (which is not good when the relationship lacks any chemistry and makes both parties look bad).

I pretty much agree with this although she does seem to be getting on better with Leah now since she neutralised her as a threat by getting Nate to move out and trying to set Leah up with Zac. I do actually really like Sophie, despite her insecurities, paranoia and manipulation and would like to know more about her backstory rather than just Nate and her drug taking. I would love nothing more than for her and Nate to break up but the problem is with the character's current format without Nate she has no real purpose - The only reason why she took the job in Summer Bay was to be near Nate. I just hope she doesn't turn out to be another Natalie.

I actually quite enjoyed seeing Sophie warn Hannah of Nate even though it was a pretty silly thing to do as Nate was always going to find out. I think Nate enjoys spending time with Hannah because it means he doesn't have to be around Sophie. Even when Nate tried to assure her that the cheating wouldn't happen again he was only telling her what she wanted to hear. I do feel however if Sophie is not prepared to trust Nate then there's no point continuing the relationship.

I didn't think they were going to continue the storyline with Leah and Zac three episodes in a row but again I found Leah's awkwardness amusing. She was right not wanting Zac to move in initially and probably wishes Sophie had just kept her mouth shut. If Leah still continues to feel awkward it might be better if Zac moves out for the time being.

I was initially annoyed when Hannah was trying to talk Maddy into letting Oscar take her to The Formal and thought Maddy had gone up slightly in my estimation when she was honest about not wanting to go with him but when she announced to Josh and Evelyn that she was going with Oscar (just because Josh and Evelyn were going and Maddy wanted in) it just reaffirmed that she is completely selfish given what happened with Oscar before.

[haaf14]

Could someone please explain to me who is in year 11 and 12? Clearly Matt and Sasha are year 12 but I always got the impression the main characters were in year 12. Have I missed something? I thought the reason Maddy left school was because she didn't want to repeat the year as this was her final year.

[H&Alover]

Yes Alf has made a reappearance and going by what he said in respect of not having seen Shandi at the caravan park it seemed he hadn't been anywhere.

Of course Nate would wonder why Hannah was avoiding him and she didn't actually give anything away just told him to ask his wife. She really does need to start trusting him otherwise she'll push him away.

Must have been pretty chilly in Leah's kitchen that morning, her studiously avoiding talking to him then rushing off. Did seem better between them later. Sasha asking him to have a word to Matt about not doing his HSC wouldn't work, he'd only dig his heels in harder and quit school now.

Matt and Sasha and I think Spencer are in year 12, Oscar, Evie, Josh are in year 11 as would Maddy have been if she hadn't quit. Btw what's the ruling with pupils who have left? Oh I caught sight of a teacher who wasn't Zac the other night!!!! I felt sorry for Josh when he admitted he wasn't going to the Formal as he didn't have any money for a suit or shoes, glad he told Evie that she wouldn't be bothered about things like that. Mind you from the trailer looks like Brax and Casey sort him out in that respect. Spencer would have been the best person she should go with, he'd not be bothered she's only going to snare Josh, whereas Oscar who'll probably be more aware this time, will still feel hurt and humiliated.

Andy may have started off 'acting' wanting to be friendly with Brax and co, but the more he is with them the more he actually wants to be part of the family, he probably realises he's not quite trusted by them but they still want to give him a chance. Thing is Jake is no way as forgiving as Brax, but then he has own agenda and won't just let him walk away.

We saw the flashback of the scene we didn't see with John and Shandi. John ought to keep Jett in the loop as regards what happened between them rather then let Jett think he chased Shandi away. Always a tricky decision whether to keep ringing someone or leaving them alone to let them think things through.

[Red Ranger 1]

Could someone please explain to me who is in year 11 and 12? Clearly Matt and Sasha are year 12 but I always got the impression the main characters were in year 12. Have I missed something? I thought the reason Maddy left school was because she didn't want to repeat the year as this was her final year.

Prepare to be confused: Spencer and Maddy were clearly in Year 11 with Sasha at the beginning of last year, then when Josh, Evelyn, Oscar and Matt turned up towards the end of the year they were all in classes together, so logically they should all be in Year 12.Except...over the course of this year it's become increasingly obvious that only Sasha and Matt are in Year 12, while everyone else is in Year 11 somehow: They wanted Maddy to repeat Year 11, meaning she would have had two more years of school.As for your query, H&Alover, ex-students, non-students and students from other years can go to the formal if they're going as the partner of someone from the right year (eg Belle accompanying Aden, Liam accompanying Nicole, Sasha going as Dexter's nominal partner when she was in Year 10).

Maddy really did make a mess of things with Oscar: She should have been upfront with him and explained that she'd told Josh and Evelyn they were going together and did he mind, rather than making it sound like she was asking him out on a date in a rather flirty manner (which I think was a combination of her naturally being like that and her being a bit embarrassed and overcompensating rather than anything deliberate, but still). Spencer was right to have a go at her the way he did and she eventually realised that.Chris trying to go along as Spencer's partner was very amusing (insert insest slash here) and Maddy's "Don't bring him" was the funniest moment of the episode: I actually really liked that last scene between her and Spencer, they still spark off each other well.

I think Sasha and Phoebe should have left well alone when it was obvious that Matt's music was a sensitive subject.We do eventually get a tragic story behind it, but my main reaction is "Hmm."I mean, I can see why Matt would feel guilty but it's not really logical to stop playing because of that, Ellie's safe with her foster family so it's not like she'd get hurt again if he played.I kind of wish Sasha had pointed that out rather than just putting on a sympathy face.Kyle and Phoebe actually worked quite well together here, maybe it helps when they're not the focus of the storyline.

I really don't know what to make of Shandi here.Is she expecting John and Marilyn to break up so she doesn't have to deal with her?(Apparently Marilyn is but I don't think John would do that.)One dinner is maybe excuseable but she can't hang out with John and Jett and exclude Marilyn all the time and I hope they point that out to her.Nice to see Alf taking his rightful place as Marilyn's surrogate father and offering to give her away, something I realise he's never done before: He didn't make it to her first wedding and he was actually best man at the second one.

[Slade]

So the selfish one's back to using. Should I be surprised? Nope. So not only has she not given Oscar space like she should have done but she purposely gets him to go out on a date, lies about the fact that she told Hannah she didn't want to go with him before and then touches him on the arm just to give the added effect. Now he will be right back to square one and is going to get hurt again. Even if she does summon up the decency to tell him the truth, it's going to seriously damage his confidence. Nice one Maddy. You couldn't have done it any better!

It wouldn't surprise me if Shandi did that whole dinner thing just in order to humiliate Marilyn. Once again I felt really sorry for her. The whole thing is starting to become slightly uncomfortable viewing. And unless there is a change of attitude, I just want Shandi to be gone. Hell, I didn't even want her to come back.

Again a lot better from Kyle and Phoebe. Both times the common denominator for me has been the absence of the other Braxtons. So they obviously function a lot better IMO when they are away from them.