Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

Red is right, there have been two murders so surely CID, or the Aussie equivalent, should have been brought in. Not knocking Emerson but I wouldn't have thought Yabby Creek cop shop would have the resources to investigate them thoroughly. Blindly taking Josh's word that Andy was with him all night doesn't ring true, did they ever ask Andy if he had an alibi? I still think at some point Andy will confess as long as the cops let Josh off with a warning.

Now the pressing matter of Jake is out of the way at least the remaining Braxton's/Barrett can start to mourn Casey properly. Kind of a surprise that Brax suggested Andy having Casey's old room, him and Josh or Kyle doing a swop would have been more likely. Liked Josh asking Ricky what Casey was like as a kid after he found his toy car because now he can never ask Casey himself. The tidying up Casey's room did give Ricky and Josh a chance to get to know each other and it did save Brax having to go through everything and the important things were left. When Andy was sitting on the bed later and looking out through the blinds I got the impression he was imaging looking though prison bars. I know it was never said out loud the ring was an engagement ring, but given the look of it not much else it could be. Brax had another 'talk' with Casey (who going by the dates on his headstone was still only 19) whether he should give it to Denny, though he was getting ahead of himself by talking about Case getting married and having children. He made it to the ultra scan just in the nick of time, I may be getting ahead of myself and hoping that Ricky doesn't have another miscarriage, but if the baby is a girl could the name they chose be Kacey? That would be the first girl Braxton since Darcey.

I know what John was saying about the period after the arranging the funeral, letting relatives know etc but as Red said Brax had no hand in any of it, it was left to Kyle, though John wouldn't know that. I can see how Brax would feel Indi selling the gym would be losing that last link with Casey, plus let's not forget Andy, Spencer and Maddy would be out of a job not to mention the other folk working there. Does Brax know enough about keep fit to be able to run the gym (or will he be a hands off owner) and is Angelo's making enough for him to afford to buy it?

I'm sorry but it was a moment when Maddy 'promised' Oscar she'd change, she's said it too many time to too many people., I was pleased to that Roo didn't buy her apology as she usually does. She 'promised' Josh she'd change too but he ran out of patience that is why he was 'stolen' by Evie. I thought Maddy was looking on E-Bay, whatever they have down under, to sell the clothes she bought, if she was stealing, sorry she'd call it 'borrowing' the money to start paying back Roo another wrong move by her.

I think Denny and Chris will just be friends from now on. What she and Casey had may have been sudden but it was real and her seeing the ring just made her think of what might have been.

Marilyn is hardly a feminist so it's not as though she'd feel she'd be losing her identity by becoming Mrs. Palmer, Gina had no problem with it. Bianca was a different matter but I think she kept her maiden name for professional reasons. Btw did you notice Roo's credit card had the name R. Stewart?

Sophie was definitely pushing Nate to sign those mortgage papers, as if that will guarantee anything. She did seem remarkably calm when she saw Nate giving a kayaking lesson to Hannah, good job she didn't do her usual popping up at the hospital later, that really would have made her flip out.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm not expecting Denny and Chris to get back together any time soon (if they're both still around in two years, who knows?) but I'd rather see her chatting to him than the rest of the family of cheating women.I don't really see Denny and Casey as "the real thing", I think it's more a case of the two of them thinking everyone they date is The One and building it up to something it's not.Not that it matters, there was no time for the bubble to burst so Denny will always have an idealised view of the relationship and see Casey as someone she would have been with forever.Still, I cringed at that scene on the wharf, with Denny turning on a sixpence from saying she thought marriage was far in the future to saying she would have said yes and the show trying to convince us Evelyn's a nice person.She had a chance to give a damn about Denny at the funeral and she didn't.

I'm still finding VJ's transformation into a Harry Enfield Teenager hard to cope with.Leah probably should have been a bit more supportive of him against Tyson, even if she does have to follow procedure.Despite a distinct lack of motivation, Tyson is coming across as a nasty piece of work and a bit obsessive.At least Nate wasn't taken in, which is a good job since he's going round and round in circles with Hannah and Sophie and starting to rival Josh in the love rat stakes.I notice that Leah also referred to herself as Leah Patterson when she introduced herself to Gray, so looks like she has dropped the Baker.

Ah yes, Gray.It's interesting to contrast his mundane "villainy" with Jake's panto villainy.He doesn't want to kill anyone, he's just a loser who keeps his kids around as tools and status symbols and is determined to stop them bettering themselves and leaving him behind, and a master of manipulation.It makes him far more relatable as a threat as he screws with Matt's head and does a good job of undoing everything he's worked towards.It's a shame that Sasha, who seemed to have turned into Dexter with her learning tools a few months back, now seems to have turned into April with her colour-coded study guides.She didn't deserve that serve from Matt though, who seems to be transferring his guilt complex to her.

[H&Alover]

Even, if, as she said to Evelyn she would have said yes to Casey's proposal it doesn't mean they would have married any time soon, if it happened at all.

Maybe Leah was the wrong person to be present at VJ's interview with Sophie, I know she's the counsellor, but what with her being his mum it didn't seem right. With most of the bullying we have seen in the past it has been going on for awhile and then came out in the open, but with VJ and Tyson it just came out of the blue for no apparent reason.

Yes, Gray, he may not come across as a physical bully, though we know he can be, but he's worse than that he's an emotional bully guilt tripping Matt to get him to do what he wants. He's playing a clever game and I feel for Sasha trying to keep Matt on the straight and narrow, he's not old enough or savvy enough to match him. Sasha only advised Matt on getting Ellie fostered he wasn't forced to go ahead, but Gray's playing with his mind has convinced him it was all her fault. Red, you've said the actor who plays Gray used to play Nathan, Irene's son, by the state of him the now looks as old as her.

Good luck Nate and Hannah 'forgetting' about your kiss, he said he's committed to Sophie and he loves her, but is that the same as being in love with her?

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm guessing Shandy has gone back to wherever she came from, I must have been in the kitchen when that happened?

Sorry meant to answer this before:Yes, Shandi left last week straight after the wedding, she had a goodbye scene with John, Jett and Marilyn.

Alf's episode count this week:Four, and he was credited on Tuesday for no appearance.

It's kind of worrying to realise that Irene's grandchildren would be almost as old as Matt now.Gray continues to manipulate Matt with annoying ease: It seems like he's the one who wants to change Matt and also the one who doesn't take Matt not spending time with him too well.Still, while she's well-intentioned, Sasha probably shouldn't have done exactly what Matt asked her to do and dictated when she spends time with Gray.And I cringed when she made that "Just you and me and the future" comment, it reminded me of when Maddy kept saying the wrong thing with Josh.

Spencer seems to be another one who falls hard and fast, and for more than one person at once, deciding he likes Amy on the basis of a photo and a few online chats.Chris was great as usual, especially his interaction with Alf.("Last time we were on a boat, you poisoned me.")And I loved the John, Marilyn and Jett stuff.John had good intentions, which I think is what got Jett fighting his corner, but he really should leave technology alone.When Jett burned those CDs without checking what the sound file was like, I knew it wouldn't be what he said but I was expecting it to be discordant sounds.When I heard John's "chumps" speech, I laughed out loud.A lot.No-one does pained expressions like John.

Jett once again proves a good influence on VJ.But Tyson has to be the most two-dimensional bully ever, there's been no build-up, no motivation, he just suddenly hates VJ out of nowhere and stuffs him in the boot of a car.(So...are we meant to assume Tyson's old enough to drive?Or maybe one of his henchmen is?)

[Angelica]

Red, I agree that Tyson is the most two dimensional character ever, and it makes no sense that it has escalated so quickly. It's a shame, because the bullying storyline could have been an interesting one. They could have developed Tyson a bit more before the Leah/Zac video - maybe have created some tension between Tyson and Leah to give some motivation to why Tyson would have escalated to the extent of abducting VJ.

I think Gray is a much more interesting villain than Andy Barrett ever was. He knows exactly how to manipulate Matt and you can see exactly how well he has played on Matt's insecurity. And Matt for all his bravo, is very insecure and very easily lead astray. In theory, they could have made Matt, Irene's grandson - I feel like it was a wasted opportunity there if they were bringing back the same actor.

Having accused Josh of being the new Romeo, I actually think that title should go to Nate. It is the same kind of persona - the supposed nice guy who is extremely weak willed, and ends up cheating due to an extreme passiveness and the inability to make any decisions or choices. It's hard to tell how Nate feels about either Sophie or Hannah - he seems to just be reacting to situations rather than actively choosing to be with Sophie over Hannah.

[Psychic Wombat]

I think the VJ bullying storyline is just to break the new actor in, I don't think it's any more than that. But, another kidnapping! Summer Bay is kidnap central, lucky hostage release expert Brax is on hand :-)

Talking of being held against their will judging by the trailor it looks like Spencer is getting into dangerous territory with 'Amy'. Brax may have to be be called upon again.

Feel for Matt, you can't choose your family but he really needs to cut his dad loose, he was crazy blowing that HSC exam. I don't know where Gray has been, probably the big house, but I don't think he's been in rehab. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he uses his fists again... Braaaaax!

[Brian]

Good episode Friday. Feel very sorry for Matt, torn between his dad and his girlfriend and both of them wanting him to spend time with them , Couldn't have come at a worse time for him with his HSC exams - the boy who says he doesn;'t study! This will be good character building for him.

Loved the CD that John produced. The lead up to it with John and Marilyn settling down on the sofa to listen was priceless. You could teel that something funny was coming. Bang goes their honeymoon.

Hope Spencer gets a good girlfriend. He deserves one after his recent bad luck

I want to shout out every time I see the new VJ. He just doesn't fit in, either with Jett or in school. He doesn't deserve what he's going through with Tyson & co though.

[Slade]

Is there anyone in the Bay that doesn't cheat on their partners? You could see something was going to happen between Nate and Hannah when Nate said a couple of weeks ago that he had feelings for her.

I think cheating is a big part of any soap tbh. Though going back to your point a couple of weeks ago, notice how Sophie turned up at the right time twice on Wednesday. This thing with her and Nate is all going to end in tears. I'm annoyed with Nate for kissing Hannah but I can't help thinking this is partly Sophie's fault as well. I think there is a part of her that is optimistic (just look how happy she was when she saw Nate in the hospital) but in her heart of hearts she's knows she's fighting a losing battle. When she was getting Nate to sign the papers for the mortgage it felt like it was almost another way to trap him in case he decided to run off. I don't think Nate's a bad person, just a weak one. Have to admit, I took great delight at Hannah's look of dejection when Nate said he wanted to give things with Sophie another go. Although I suspect it will be short lived.

[H&Alover]

The kidnapping of VJ was OTT, big jump from bullying to kidnapping and of course it had to come just as VJ had made peace with Leah thanks to Jett's words of wisdom. We didn't get to see who was going to be driving, but one of them had to be at least 17.

Gray certainly knows which buttons to push with Matt and he is family. I'm in two minds as to whether Sasha should back off a bit instead of playing this tug of war game with Gray over Matt. Part of him does want to do well but part of him feels he'd be betraying his dad by wanting to do better than him. I wonder if Gray when he was Matt's age had a chance to do well but had to leave school because either he had to support his family or he got Matt's mum pregnant with him.

Thank goodness for John and Marilyn, you can always depend on them to provide light relief. Marilyn's 'distress' at having their first argument was amusing. There's going to be a right panic now John has realised his (huge) mistake!!

[Red Ranger 1]

Brax treating the gym like some sort of shrine to Casey was vaguely disturbing but my biggest concern is who made Andy king of the castle, bossing Maddy around and trying to reorganise the place?I knew it was coming but I still groaned when Ricky convinced Brax to make Andy manager: He may have turned it down for now but he'll no doubt change his mind sooner or later.We're told he's turned a corner but he seems to keep turning corners and then he turns back again and ends up worse than ever.I'd rather trust Spencer to manage it and he's still at school.I cringed at Maddy trying to make out they spent nearly $600 on towels.I assume she's still working her way through the 500 she took.It does seem to have reached the point where she's just buying for the sake of buying, for that brief thrill: Her pleasure at her latest delivery didn't last long, I think she has got a bit of guilt in there even if not enough to stop her, plus she's scared stiff of Brax finding out.

I wasn't expecting John and Marilyn's panic dash, from the way they were talking last episode I expected the CDs to be all over the place but looks like they got them all.I'm not sure about Roo deciding to play one: I understand curiosity but what if it really had been what she suspected?Oh well, at least she didn't get mad and quickly destroyed it when she realised what it was.

Jett shows a lot of maturity, working out what happened to VJ and getting an important lesson in what it's like to be the one sat at home worrying.I'm trying not to judge Emerson too harshly, he's probably heard that "What if it was your son?" line a lot, but he did seem a bit blasé about it all.I get that Nate's medical knowledge could come in handy but why did Brax get to go on the rescue mission instead of Alf, John or Zac? Because it's his car?!