Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

Maddy came out two of her favourite phrases "I promise" and "I'm sorry" , but I'M sorry I don't believe it anymore! The only good thing was she acknowledged she had a problem, but is she going to do anything about it? What did happen to those clothes she bought, did she and Phoebe take them back, if so what happened to the money she spent on them? She certainly didn't pay Roo back. I guess Andy could be thinking if the discrepancy is found out by Brax he'll think he, Andy, was behind it.

Brax and Nate had to be the most mismatched pair to go looking for VJ, even arguing about which way to go, though Brax would know the terrain better. Considering the worst wound Nate got was that branch in the stomach, he got off lucky, no broken bones sustained after that tumble. Given how badly hurt Nate was I did like the banter between him and Brax arguing about sport. I suppose it was inevitable Brax brought up the fact of Nate and Ricky sleeping together, but as Nate told him she was never really interested in him. Then to bring a serious note Brax telling Nate not to die on him. The same thought occurred to me Red about how the 'old' VJ would have had difficulty carrying Nate out, but seeing as the 'new' VJ is as tall and strong as Brax there wasn't any problem. It must have taken them a while, they had to find a more accessible path up to where Nate fell, then trudge back to where Brax had parked the jute, it was still daylight when Brax made the call to say they were safe, but dark when they arrived back at the Surf Club. That was a touching scene of Brax sitting at Casey's grave with Nate's blood still on his hands and 'telling' him he couldn't let anyone else die. Seeing as Sophie had taken the class to the art class she didn't have any idea what had happened to Nate until she got the phone call. Josh did act like a real idiot randomly accusing the artist guy of sleazing on Evie. Did anyone manage to actually see what Oscar's drawing was of, because I certainly couldn't? He seemed to come out of his shell a lot more by telling Sophie about his feelings about himself.

Once the search got going it was as well organised as it usually is as was the sense of community coming out with everyone pitching in, even Maddy managed to put her problems on the back burner, briefly, by taking refeshments to the Surf Club. Tyson certainly can't be allowed to get away with it and his actions will probably see him getting expelled.

I think Denny has made a good call by returning the ring, it would always be a reminder of what might have been and the waiting for news of VJ, Brax and Nate brought it all back. Perhaps she was going to 'talk' to Casey but backed off when she saw Brax. Hannah was just as worried about Nate but of course couldn't tell anyone.

[Red Ranger 1]

Did anyone manage to actually see what Oscar's drawing was of, because I certainly couldn't?

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me, I was going to say...no, I didn't.It looked like a blank sheet of paper to me.To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if nothing happens to Tyson, was it Roo that was defending him already?I think Roo would have noticed if Maddy hadn't given her any money back, maybe she returned the dresses but didn't get a full refund?Trying to look at Andy covering for Maddy objectively...She needs help and she needs a wake-up call but I can't see Brax being the one to give it to her, he'd be better off letting Roo or even Oscar know.Maybe I'm letting my sympathy for her get in the way, but if she loses her job then she's pretty much got nothing and she's likely to be worse than ever.

Anyway, today's ep.I wondered what had happened to Marilyn's prediction about Phoebe's career taking off.It kind of seems to be happening a bit quickly but part of me hopes Phoebe does go.It's interesting that last time this sort of thing happened I wanted her gone because I didn't like her, now I think she's better off out of it and it'd be the best thing for her.Which leads us nicely to Denny.We almost got there but no, Ricky manipulated her into taking the ring back.I really didn't like the connotations of that.Ricky says it means she's part of the family, but Denny's got her own family, she doesn't need theirs.Being part of the family got Casey and Charlie killed and I can't help thinking that if Ricky really cared about Denny and about what Casey wanted then she'd let her move on and get as far away from their world as possible.Instead it feels like taking the ring back means she's just been inducted into the Mafia.

Chris and Spencer had some good moments as usual, with Chris getting line of the episode with "Flat tyre, really?I would have gone for alien abduction."I take it we're meant to assume that that man got the message that Spencer ostensibly sent to Amy, but frankly if I hadn't had the subtitles on drawing my attention to the fact that his phone buzzed I'm not sure I'd have noticed.

Matt is doing a fairly good job of standing up to Gray, who's increasingly bitter.The brief showdown between Gray and Sasha wasn't really as threatening as the promos suggested but still a sign that he should be given a wide berth, especially when drunk.I'm glad Matt finished his exams:I saw speculation on the Australian threads (or possibly the spoiler section) that he's going to repeat, which I hope doesn't happen.Gray turning up with Ellie at the end worried me somewhat:I can't see her foster parents agreeing to him taking her out of school, especially if he turned up drunk as Sasha suggested, which leaves a very high probability that he's basically kidnapped her.If so, I can't see that ending well.

[Dan F]

Did anyone manage to actually see what Oscar's drawing was of, because I certainly couldn't?

Oh yes, thanks for reminding me, I was going to say...no, I didn't.It looked like a blank sheet of paper to me.

Darkened it so it can be seen better:

[Brian]

No speculations please Red.

I don't want to see Phoebe go. She brightens up Kyle's life so much and he has had to cope with a lot lately. But I can understand her wanting to get out of the Braxton house. i can never understand why Kyle did hot go through with renting a place for him and Phoebe, as they were talking about some weeks ago. It would have kept her happy and he would still be near his precious family. He really hasn't got anyone else but himself to blame. But Phoebe has got to go and play to fulfil her ambition and Kyle can always go to see some for her gigs. I hope they stay together.

I feel sorry for Spencer. He doesn't have much luck with girls and brother Chris does not help at all. Why doesn't he just go away?

Are we to assume that Josh and Evie are back together after that smile she gave him? It certainly was a good idea of his to draw that picture of her to get back with her. I didn't know that he was that good an artist.

The Gray/Sasha/Matt storeyline will be interesting now, but we only have one more episode to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are we going to do for the next few weeks????????????????????

[Blaxland 89]

I've just tuned into a modern episode and seen the second actor to play Nathan is playing matts dad. So frustrating. If the actor still wants to work in the show why not still cast him as Nathan and cast matts dad with an actor that hasn't been on the show before.mIt would give Irene stuff to do and give the show some much needed continuity. Makes it even less likely for Nathan to come back anytime soon.

I'm surprised this info wasn't in the news section

[Light of the Bay]

Wow, that's a surprise! TPTB have clearly had no plans for Irene as a character for a good few years now so it's not really a surprise, though it is a shame.

[H&Alover]

Cheers for that Dan F, doesn't make sense to me but it did to Oscar.

So no mention of how Nate is, going by what Ricky and Denny were saying it was only the day before, are we going to have to wait until the New Year?

Funny how the advice Phoebe was giving to Matt was something she'd be needing to take herself. It certainly worked with him, it needed to be someone not directly involved to give clear advice. I was like you Red, I didn't like Phoebe at first she seemed too clingy wanting Kyle all to herself, but I've warmed to her and I'll miss her, she's good for Kyle. But this chance is too big to pass up, if she did eventually she'd resent Kyle for it, even though he isn't stopping her. Kyle isn't ready to leave his family just yet, it's too soon after Casey. He can always take time out while she is on tour and meet up with her.

Good for you Matt, telling Gray you want to study and do the HSE for yourself, he was not a happy bunny about it, he didn't like losing control over Matt, Ellie is easier to manipulate. Rehab obviously didn't work, depending of course how long he stuck it out for, he could have been anywhere the last few months. At least now they are they done, apart from waiting the results, he can relax. Natural he'd want to be with Ellie he hasn't seen her for a while. You have to give Gray that, he knew bringing Ellie along would sway Matt into going to the beach with them. I'm with you Red as regards your speculation.

I liked those scenes between Spencer and Chris, it needed Chris' scepticism to keep Spencer grounded. I didn't hear the guy's phone ring, I suppose he must have had it on silent, not silly is he? From the trailers we saw that the 'exclusive' t-shirt design isn't, but how Chris (and who was that with him) make the connection I don't know.

I guess surfing is a way Denny can still feel connected to Casey without getting into deep emotionally wise, but yes, too soon for Ricky to be giving the ring back. One more night to go.

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, thanks for the image, Dan, I did wonder if it was the lighting.

Alf's episode count this week:Four.

I absolutely loved that scene between John and Jett on the bench;that skateboard clearly brought back memories of the surfboard that Xavier sent last time Jett was going to be adopted.John tries to promise Jett everything will be all right, but Jett knows John might not be able to keep it, a very real moment.Moving the adoption to the Palmer house probably had some practical reasons behind it but it kind of worked on an emotional level as well.

Well, yeah, not a surprise to find out what Gray had done.There were some odd cuts in this episode:Last episode ended with Matt and Ellie leaving Angelo's, this one starts with them going back in, then we cut awkwardly from Chris alone at the beach house to Sasha alone at the beach house.Anyway, there's some lovely bonding stuff between Sasha and Ellie, and Emerson, who's had a pretty hard time of it lately, gets some respect back by handling the situation efficiently and with the minimum of upset, and having enough of a human touch to let Matt come along.I was kind of hoping that that would be the last we saw of Gray but then he was in the promo.That must be one of the few occasions the police have rocked up at Angelo's and it's got nothing to do with the Braxtons.Talking of which, I'm really not sure about the Kyle/Phoebe storyline.It seemed a bit all over the place and confused, not least when Kyle tells Phoebe not to go and then...tells her to go.(I'm guessing she's doing the gig but not going on tour?)Moving out would at least mean Phoebe doesn't have to live with a murderer, but I think Kyle would have been dragged into the business with Jake whether they were living there or not.And it's the same problem as last time:There's no obvious place for them to move to, so I suspect they'll end up carrying on living at Chez Braxton.

I'm really not sure what to make of Spencer's storyline.It all felt a bit 20th century.I'm not saying that internet predators have gone away and the dangers of meeting someone in real life that you only know as words on a computer screen should never be understated but there's an almost charming naivety in the way that the cute blonde Spencer thought he was talking to is actually, shock horror, a man is treated like something no-one could ever have thought of.It doesn't help that Spencer looked like he could take that guy easily and did, resulting in a rather odd cliffhanger to go out for the year on: Are we meant to be worried that Spencer's traumatised or that he'll get in trouble for injuring Keith, as the credits call him (quite badly judging by the promo)?Still, it was nice to see Chris getting to play the hero, despite a few convenient moments (Internet predators can be identified with a quick google search and he and Alf just seem to guess what the right motel room is), and briefly working with Sasha.

So that's it for two weeks: Not sure a break's needed but I guess the days of carrying on over Christmas are long gone and this was the shortest break we were likely to get away with.40 episodes of the 2014 season waiting for us in the new year.Does anyone in the know know if the rumour of Channel 5 losing the European premiere were true?I know RTE overtook us when we had that break in May, are we still behind them or did they have a break later on in the year?

[CaptainHulk]

Weren't RTE ALWAYS slightly in front?

[Brian]

So it looks as though Phoebe will be staying after all. Good. Pity we didn't see more of them singing together. About time Kyle realised she won't stay chez Braxton for ever. I hope he gets a place sorted out quickly.

Good scenes with Matt and Sasha. She has been in a difficult position lately and tried to get the best for Matt.

So what are all these spare blokes going to do now - Chris, Spencer, Oscar? Hook up with Maddy, Denny? I presume that Josh and Evie will be back together.

Nice to see Jett setled at last.

Enjoy the Christmas season everyone - be back in only 2 weeks.