Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Brian]

I've just come back from a week walking the beautiful Dorset cliff tops in fine weather, then watched all this week's episodes today and read all your posts. No mention of the great conversations between Phoebe and Kat - we haven't had two lovely lassies interacting so well for a long time, then followed up by their drunken attempts to put their worlds to right. Great stuff! The other epic scene, in my opinion and as several of you have mentioned, was the daybreak Anzac memorial service, with several good lead-up scenes by both young and old, culminating in them all together in a respectful manner with appropriate words and music. Nice to see the school choir. Very tastefully portrayed.   

[Angelica]

What a speedy exit for Spencer. I did feel that he had the best scenes with Roo and Maddy which just goes to show, as Red mentioned, that he never fit into his new life with Irene in the same way that Chris did. I was worried Spencer was not going to say goodbye to Maddy until she turned up on screen, it was nice to be rewarded with a lovely scene between the two of them. After all, she was the reason he came to the bay in the first place. Nice scene with Matt too. I have always felt that the writers never knew what to do with Spencer once he broke up with Maddy which was a shame.

 

The dawn service was nicely done even though I guess one could comment on whether the actions of the teenagers other than Jett or the River Boys actually felt completely genuine. But it would be a shame for those thought to detract from the overall effectiveness of the dawn service.

 

I have the feeling that the introduction of Billie isn't really going to help progress Ash's character from his current remit as Brax's friend. And is it just me that suspects that the timing of Phoebe's and Kyle's breakup makes it likely that they will try to pair up Billie and Kyle.

​

[CaptainHulk]

It was a brilliant episode, River Boys or River Boys.

While not unmissable, H&A has held my interest since returning to C5 after its break. Alf being "Mr. Summer Bay" without saturating the action works.

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

It was a brilliant episode, River Boys or River Boys.

While not unmissable, H&A has held my interest since returning to C5 after its break. Alf being "Mr. Summer Bay" without saturating the action works.

 

​I have also been quite hooked by H&A since the return. The Anzac story has got me hooked. Although how long will it be before we are back to default? Braxton/Barrett/Ashford crime sprees, drug wars, kidnappings and beatings?

[H&Alover]

I've been off line since the 12th due to my router dying on me so haven't been able to comment on anything that happened last week.  I must say last Friday's (19th) was the best H&A I have ever seen!  It followed a very emotional week starting with Maz ordering the kids to go back into the memorial museum to look, really look at what was on show. From Josh (I think) looking at the photo of the soldiers and mentally comparing it with the shot of the school kids sitting outside to Matt seeing the photo of the soldier covering his face  with his hands like he did to Evie and Alf standing either side of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior without saying a thing to her patting Alf in the shoulder when  he was placing the poppy in the wall. It had me in tears  Then of course there were the scenes of the kids in the trenches and how after initial squabbles they all pulled together to go and find Alf when he went missing and the scene of him being airlifted off in the helicopter reminiscent of the video footage back in the museum.  Btw there were two more girls in the group, as seen in the photo on the link put up.

I felt sad for Alf, not often, if ever, you see Alf cry, when Tom died he was the only one who could really understand how Alf was feeling even though it was a different war, I liked Tom's brief friendship with Jett. Lovely how Jett had the idea of setting up their memorial for the dawn service on Anzac Day and how everyone got behind him.  Everyone , well the regulars, Josh, Evie, Oscar, Jett even Maddy in a small way got together. 

To me I think it's a generational thing as to why the kids were initially disinterested in remembering/commemorating Anzac Day.  To people of Alf's age they would have had grandparents who either fought in it or had husbands/brothers who did. Todays kids are that further removed from having any personal connection, no-one to talk to about it or who had memories about it. Remember Maddy said her granddad had died in WW11 so that is far as her personal memory goes back.

Alf being 'kidnapped' from the hospital was great and the service itself was beautiful from that first (and last) shot of the poppies and helmet and rifle buried in the sand, to Josh's sculpture, I think it was meant to represent the sun, the school choir singing, Jett's reading, the soldiers, either serving or veterans I'm guessing, being there as well, Alf scattering his granddads ashes,  not overly sentimental, just very, very moving. 

I thought the tribute by the River Boys was just them, remember their tribute when Rocco died, explains why we saw that shot of Brax in jail, knowing he was missing it. I like how Andy stepped up and represented him after running  it by Ricky.  Just because we haven't seen them do it before doesn't mean they haven't done anything like it before, they would have had lost parents/grandparents in later wars who they remembered.

Congratulations to all concerned, cast, production team, directing, photography, extras.  If that episode doesn't win some kind of award there really is no justice.

So Spencer has gone, surprised he couldn't have held out for one more day and attended the service but hey ho.  I was wondering if he would be saying goodbye to Maddy either off or on screen, glad it was on screen.  Chris is really going to miss him.

Talking of Maddy where did Tanya get off blasting Roo for not telling her about Maddy.  Maddy is old enough to decide who or doesn't know about her cancer.  Correct me if I'm wrong but since Maddy has been with Roo and Alf have we ever heard Maddy say Tanya had rung, written, emailed?

So Hannah is back on her feet, albeit shakily, so far TPTB have kept it realistic, maybe they have been reading the forum, so let's hope they don't suddenly have her running about and let her still take it slowly.

I loved Kat and Phoebe getting drunk whilst bitching about their love lives (or lack of).  True it did end up in Kat making a drunken advance on Nate but he very wisely turned her down and took her home.  The morning after the night before chat was great too with Phoebe getting the wrong idea about Kst and her going to see Nate.  Well there is no going back for Kat now following her snogging Nate in the Diner.

I know there was more going on, but those were the things that stood out for me.

[Brian]

Nice to have you back H&Alover and a very apt description of the best episode ever. I agree with all that you wrote, just what I thought, but could not put it into words like you did. Well done. I wondered what Josh's sculpture represented,

[atrus]

There seemed to be a lot of logistical manoeuvring today as regards who was going to hang out in the city with Alf, which felt more like production chess-piece arranging than plot. Does this mean we're not going to see Roo, Marilyn, Jett and indeed Alf for a while? It felt that way, although I might be entirely wrong.

Can I get interested in the arrival of a new River Girl? Not especially - not yet. I probably prefer Ash as a character to Brax, but it remains to be seen whether they'll continue to do the same old things with him; and until then I'm wary about them introducing family for him, as we could end up just going round in circles with a new bunch of badass characters.

[Slade]

I honestly didn't make the connection about Billie at first until it was mentioned in the actual episode.  This was the same girl that caused Ash to go after Dean which ultimately led to Brax ending up inside.  First impressions are that I don't particularly like her but I'll give her a chance.

And we have Evie going out of her way to help Matt again.  I'm pretty fed up with this storyline now.

Actually quite enjoyed the scenes with Irene and Maddy.  Irene is obviously feeling very lonely at the moment.  Maddy moving in could make for an interesting dynamic (and a welcome change) although I'm hoping Chris doesn't come back anytime soon.

[Red Ranger 1]

A decent start to the episode with more lovely Alf/Jett interaction and a proper look at the sculpture.There seemed to be a lot of selflessness among the caravan park trio:Alf knowing Maddy needs Roo, Roo torn between wanting to support them both, Maddy knowing Roo wants to be with Alf.And Marilyn still being part of the family despite having moved out felt apt.Maddy moving in with Irene could be interesting in the short term but a part of me is worried it's going to be a permanent move a la Spencer, which would be a bad idea.I don't think Chris has actually gone anywhere, wasn't he at the dawn service on Friday?I noticed people in the Australian Discussion thread for last week complaining that Maddy looked like a supermodel when she was meant to be ill: I'm not sure that was the case but either way, it was smart to see her dressed in frumpy clothes once she was out of her uniform. (Shame that it seems like she's going to stay 17 as long as Nicole did...)

Again, I suspect Ash seeing Billie was meant to be in the previous episode: There's a very awkward jump cut to her running which I suspect was meant to either open the episode or come immediately after the stuff with Alf and co.On first impressions, I actually quite like her.I don't think the surliness was overdone, although it might get wearing if she and Ash don't bury the hatchet sooner rather than later, but knowing their history it makes sense she wouldn't immediately fling her arms around him.Her calling Ash Marty was addressed well too.And it's nice to see Ricky supporting Ash, in another case of someone's family being extended.There is an awkward conversation to come though...

I couldn't really get interested in the Matt's gone missing storyline.Given that Matt's been pretty open about the fact he's going to Mangrove River whenever he does one of his disappearing acts, I'm not sure why Josh and Evelyn thinking of that was treated as a blinding flash of insight.

[H&Alover]

 

 

 

Thanks for your comments Brian.

Good to see they started off last nights episode with the tail end of the ceremony and didn't just jump to something different. I think the make up department have done well with how Maddy looks, depending if she has just had treatment or not, just the right rather drawn, pale look. I know I've been off Maddy a while back but lately she has redeemed herself especially as to her attitude over Alf and Roo and how much they have done (and have had to put up with). 

It was so obvious Roo wanted to be with Alf but was understandably torn between being with him and looking after Maddy.  Good old Maz stepping up to offer to be with him in her place, they do go a long, long way back, he's like a surrogate dad to her. Then Irene has one of her brainwaves which solves all problems. It must have been Chris who drove Spencer to their parents, I wondered who did. I may have been dim until now but I only noticed last night the bookcase in front of where the other downstairs bedroom used to be.

The week before last we were lead to believe we would be seeing Billie the end of last week which I feel now would have detracted from the actual service so it was a good decision to carry it over until last night. Yes she came across as aggressive but she hadn't seen Ash for six years and Dean had a lot to do with that and the way she felt towards Ash a.k.a. Marty, sounds odd hearing him being called by  a different name, funny how we get used to a character being known by a nickname when they have a real one. Rather like when someone uses Brax''s proper name. Seems Luke was still a serving soldier as he got a military funeral.  I'm glad he didn't blurt out right away about Dean being dead and waited until Billie told him she'd run away from him and was scared he'd find her. Nice introduction to Ricky who wisely didn't continue on questioning Ash about Kyle in front of Billie.

I know Matt hasn't been Mr. Popular lately but personally I'm glad Leah, Irene, Evie and even Josh are still worried about him.  Clever idea for Evie to ring Sasha to subtly ask if she's seen Matt since she left.  Admittedly not a giant leap to assume he'd gone back to Mangrove River, but then we should never assume.