Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week: Five, for the second week running! Roo was in four. Weirdly, despite not appearing at all as expected, Leah was credited on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.Have they picked up Neighbours' confusing habit of crediting people who only appear in photographs, even when it's the same photograph as in earlier episodes?

Nate's declaration at the end of the previous episode is starting to feel like melodrama for the sake of a cliffhanger, as we step back down from "never" to "very unlikely".Leah's not brain dead but there's nothing the doctors can do except hope she comes out of it on her own.There's some great moments from Irene, and on the whole the characters are left in limbo, not sure whether to mourn Leah or not.The only problem is VJ, who hasn't really done enough since the recast to make me like him so every time he gets aggressive instead of feeling sympathy I just want him to shut up.The fact is, I believe more in the connection Zac and Matt have with Leah than someone who's known her his whole life.A pity.Sasha proves unwilling to celebrate when things haven't gone so well for Matt (unlike with Josh and Maddy...), but passing his HSC is surely something to be proud of.

Maddy frustrated me for a lot of the episode as she seemed to regress back to the days when she was stealing, going for a quick boost and refusing to deal with her real problems.If they've been in that hotel since we last saw them, it's odd Oscar didn't think to charge up his phone before.He finally reminds Maddy about his mother and tells her the contrast between them, something she needed to hear, and perhaps helps boost her low self-esteem: She's stronger than she thinks and she's got people that cares about her, whether she wants them to or not.The last scene left me with tears in my eyes again, a little moment of hope when for Leah and Matt hope is in short supply, as she reaches the conclusion that being cast adrift on her own and "living for the moment" isn't any way to end her life, and decides to face her fears.

[630si]

Very teary ending there with all the slo mo and music. I'm glad Maddy finally decided to go home. He should have shook her much sooner and as Red says charged his phone earlier. Never mind we got there! Also I was rooting for him as he chose himself and his own family over rating in the city playing games.

I was heartbroken for Irene int his episode especially when she got home and clasped the picture. Poor Sasha was shocked right out of her excitement and she now has gone into look after everyone mode. Irene and Matt are lucky to have her. The Roster to take VJ to the city was a great gesture and the whole thing felt like the community was pulling together. Particularly when they left the diner for the city. NB. Zack still hasn't seen Hannah and I'm now giving up hope with that one.

Matt not getting into uni was also quite touching and I do feel sorry for him. He's come such a long way since Mangrove River with all his hard work and Leah was such an advocate of his. I can understand why he didn't say anything when Sasha was so excited. I would've done the same. Leah would have believed in him and when he realises this im sure he won't give up. I'm with Red in that it feels more believable watching Matt and Zack go through this than it does VJ. Maybe it's because we haven't had the new actor on screen long?? I dunno.

[Slade]

Looks as though I may have misjudged Oscar. Hopefully now that he and Maddy are going back to the bay she can get cured and they can end this storyline.

Have to say although I like Leah, I feel completely indifferent to her situation. Maybe because she just went missing, turned up and has been unconscious ever since. It doesn't help that I would rather have the old VJ than the new one and I feel Zac should be spending some time with Hannah and supporting the twins.

[H&Alover]

Seeing how bad Leah is, will we be seeing Helen and Theo visiting her? Although I can understand his frustration, I still would have preferred it to be the old VJ in the role. Nice return to the old values of the bay with the rota of Alf, Roo and Irene taking it in turns to ferry Zac and VJ to the hospital. Though of course now Maddy is/will be back that could throw a spanner in the works. If Zac and VJ do up sticks to the city it would solve John, Maz and Jett's homing problem, they could rent the place until Leah comes home which of course she will in due course, they would have to let Matt stay there as he isn't going to uni.

He feels so disappointed in himself and probably reinforces his old beliefs that a boy from Mangrove River would never get into uni. He feels like he has let Leah down, but no way would she ever think that, she'd encourage him to try again. Sasha was great when he finally plucked up the courage to tell her, covering it with his old bravado and as soon as she saw how upset Irene was immediately put her own joy aside to comfort her.

Just how much did Maddy get for that violin? That hotel looked very swanky and she had all those plans for the next day. Maddy was anti getting their phones charged, probably because she would have been expecting tons of messages from Roo. Oscar stopped being all passive with Maddy and told her just what he should have said earlier, though of course he didn't know the Hannah situation then. His mention of his mum and although she was in a worse condition than Maddy wouldn't give up. He was right Maddy is a lot stronger than she is giving herself credit for, she is young and apart from the cancer very healthy with all that life guard training. His walking away was just what it needed.

[CaptainHulk]

Hell, If I was only in a photo and got a paycheck for it, i'd be happy!

[c120701]

Alf's episode count this week: Five, for the second week running! Roo was in four. Weirdly, despite not appearing at all as expected, Leah was credited on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.Have they picked up Neighbours' confusing habit of crediting people who only appear in photographs, even when it's the same photograph as in earlier episodes?

I assumed it was new rulings by the actors guild or something.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week: Five, for the second week running! Roo was in four. Weirdly, despite not appearing at all as expected, Leah was credited on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.Have they picked up Neighbours' confusing habit of crediting people who only appear in photographs, even when it's the same photograph as in earlier episodes?

I assumed it was new rulings by the actors guild or something.

Actually, Neighbours seems to have backed off a bit on that one, we've had a lot of episodes recently showing photos of past characters with a "Thank you" credit instead of them being in the cast list or nothing at all.

Kat is coming across as a good police officer so far, keeping an eye on the Braxtons.Her instincts were spot on so it's a shame Emerson obstructed her:He might be willing to literally let that household get away with murder but it doesn't mean he should encourage his officers to do so.It's a shame that Kat didn't fully twig that Ricky was having her on.And it is hard to see how Brax thinks his latest adventure is going to help his case.Nate was a total jerk towards Kat: Given that he's lucky not to be up on a culpable driving charge, you'd think he'd be more co-operative rather than taking his self-pity out on her. Shame she becomes the latest person to batter us around the head with the "The accident was not Nate's fault" message.

Maddy and Oscar's return felt a bit perfunctory.There was nothing wrong with Maddy's scenes with her family but basically we're back at the point we were at before she ran away, which makes me wonder what the point was.Even more pointless is Marilyn announcing they're moving out less than a week after moving in: Why?I did wonder if Oscar should have gone straight to his family instead of walking Maddy home, especially when she told him to, but then as soon as he turned up at the hospital he got sent away.(He felt a bit out of place at the caravan park, despite everyone's attempts to include him.And it's still not clear whether Denny knows exactly why Maddy ran away.)While her rant at the end was a bit over the top, I'm with Denny all the way here.Andy not only tries to make himself look popular by giving Hannah what she wants instead of what she needs but he uses it as an excuse to make her more dependent on him and move himself in.And Hannah is being massively selfish:She says she doesn't want to be a burden to her family, but instead of letting the hospital look after her, she's making them do it and thrusting Andy on them regardless of Denny's feelings.Nate should have stuck to his guns instead of letting Andy pressure him.

[Angelica]

Alf's episode count this week: Five, for the second week running! Roo was in four. Weirdly, despite not appearing at all as expected, Leah was credited on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.Have they picked up Neighbours' confusing habit of crediting people who only appear in photographs, even when it's the same photograph as in earlier episodes?

I assumed it was new rulings by the actors guild or something.

Actually, Neighbours seems to have backed off a bit on that one, we've had a lot of episodes recently showing photos of past characters with a "Thank you" credit instead of them being in the cast list or nothing at all.

Kat is coming across as a good police officer so far, keeping an eye on the Braxtons.Her instincts were spot on so it's a shame Emerson obstructed her:He might be willing to literally let that household get away with murder but it doesn't mean he should encourage his officers to do so.It's a shame that Kat didn't fully twig that Ricky was having her on.And it is hard to see how Brax thinks his latest adventure is going to help his case.Nate was a total jerk towards Kat: Given that he's lucky not to be up on a culpable driving charge, you'd think he'd be more co-operate rather than taking his self-pity out on her. Shame she becomes the latest person to batter us around the head with the "The accident was not Nate's fault" message.

Maddy and Oscar's return felt a bit perfunctory.There was nothing wrong with Maddy's scenes with her family but basically we're back at the point we were at before she ran away, which makes me wonder what the point was.Even more pointless is Marilyn announcing they're moving out less than a week after moving in: Why?I did wonder if Oscar should have gone straight to his family instead of walking Maddy home, especially when she told him to, but then as soon as he turned up at the hospital he got sent away.(He felt a bit out of place at the caravan park, despite everyone's attempts to include him.And it's still not clear whether Denny knows exactly why Maddy ran away.)While her rant at the end was a bit over the top, I'm with Denny all the way here.Andy not only tries to make himself look popular by giving Hannah what she wants instead of what she needs but he uses it as an excuse to make her more dependent on him and move himself in.And Hannah is being massively selfish:She says she doesn't want to be a burden to her family, but instead of letting the hospital look after her, she's making them do it and thrusting Andy on them regardless of Denny's feelings.Nate should have stuck to his guns instead of letting Andy pressure him.

I agree about the whole Denny thing. The show seems to be be making this about Denny not moving forward with her life, and her resentment of Andy for his contribution to Casey's death (i.e that Denny is the problem rather than Andy).

Before the accident, Hannah was not willing to enter a relationship with Andy because she didn't think he was mature enough to handle a relationship.

And now, suddenly, Hannah is happy to make a big decision like moving Andy into their house and to depend on him so completely, without batting an eyelid or a moment's hesitation. This would be a pretty big decision to make for longstanding serious relationship, let alone, one that was so rocky and unstable prior to the accident. If Hannah had not been in the accident, she would not be with Andy - it annoys me that everyone seems to be acting otherwise.

It is annoyed me that Andy pressured Nate into discharging Hannah, and that Nate caved so easily rather than taking the time to talk to Hannah and the family to try to figure out how exactly they were going to cope when they got home. At no point, did Hannah discuss the decision with her family (regardless of how Denny felt about Andy, it seems ridiculous that Hannah was so scared about burdening her family that she was hiding her diagnosis, and yet, was so flippant about the burden that would be inflicted on her family by going home with no plan except full reliance on a man she previously thought was untrustworthy.

This storyline is supposed to make me feel sympathetic to Hannah and Andy, but I dislike them both more than ever.

[Slade]

Oscar seemed to go into love sick puppy mode in the beginning of the episode which made me wonder whether he was bluffing about leaving Maddy in the city on her own last week.

Does Brax have Emerson on the payroll or something? Anyway thought what Kat was doing was bordering on harassment so I was glad when Ricky came up with a plan to try and get Brax out of Summer Bay without him being seen. Just hope he finds Sam and proves his innocence.

Hannah should not be going back home just yet. And I don't think Andy should have pressurised Nate into agreeing to discharge her. If I'm honest I wouldn't be too happy if Andy moved in. However, I'm so sick of Denny's constant whining that in a way I'm glad Andy's moving in just to wind her up. This isn't so much about Hannah after all. It's about Casey.

[atrus]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking for a while on here, and have been a little on-and-off with my H&A viewing over the last few years. But after Friday's episode, which I thought was excellent - particularly in the reactions to Leah's situation - I thought I'd drop in and join the discussion.

The show does seem to be a dual-headed beast at the moment. Yesterday we were back with the Braxton-and-friends contigent, which is almost like a separate prime-time crime drama and which I'm not nearly so interested in. It's a pity that Ricky is so singularly caught up in all that side of things, as I think she'd have a lot to offer if she had more involvement with the other, non-gangster characters in the show. I notice that this Constable Chapman character is being credited as a regular. I hope they're not planning a repeat of the Brax/Charlie storyline.

Hannah is also annoying me as she takes centre-stage in yet another 'never walk again' storyline, which I'd be astounded if they had any intention of following through with in the long term. And I'm really struggling to find very much to like about the Nate and Andy characters. In fact the three of them really just seem like total blank slates at present. Denny I like slightly more, but she could really do with some motivation at the moment beyond 'oh my god, they killed Casey'. Nonetheless, Hannah really ought to have asked her family before moving Andy into their home.

Some of the newer characters are being nicely fleshed out now, though. I was never really interested in Oscar as a character at first, but I've certainly warmed to him during the course of this storyline with Maddy - he definitely has a depth and maturity to him. Glad Maddy's back home as well, and that they seem to have decided not to 'do a Romeo' with her - for now, at least. I'm not entirely convinced by the redemption-by-cancer route they've taken that appears to be attempting to cancel out some of her less endearing behaviour of late, but I think a lot of that can be excused by youth, at least - and I do find myself liking her despite it all.

Mostly I'm now watching the show for the characters who largely weren't in yesterday's episode. Zac I took a while to like, but I'm coming round to (especially now they seem to have severed him from Hannah). New VJ, while obviously requiring us to suspend our disbelief due to the leap in age of the new actor, has been fairly solid too, I think. I know he doesn't look 15 or whatever he's supposed to be, but then none of the teenagers (except Jett) really look their age - if he was a new character it wouldn't have been so much of an issue. A longer break between actors might have helped.

I think Matt and Sasha are compelling characters, and of course I love Alf, Roo, Irene and the John/Marilyn/Jett unit. Lynne McGranger's performance on Friday took me aback a bit, reminding me just how good she is and how criminally underused Irene is in modern H&A. More generally there is some really very good acting in this show, even from the characters and storylines that don't hold my interest as much.