Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Three episodes of formulaic Alf/Maddy scenes was worth it for that scene on the beach.I think she was possibly the only person who could have spoken to him like that:Irene's "tough love" approach didn't work, Nate's matter of fact approach didn't work, Roo tried something similar but couldn't personalise it the way Maddy did.Ever since this cancer storyline started, Maddy has turned into a character who can make me cry to an extent that I don't think I've felt since Sally left.It's just a shame that after this apparent breakthrough Alf realises he's had his three episodes and goes away until next week.

Ash is starting to recover from an episode as a Brax-clone with a nice awkward chat with Denny, a relationship I'm still holding out hope for since there do seem to be residual feelings there.Phoebe seems to be cast in the role of agony aunt (how about her for Matt?).I'm wondering if Andy and Hannah are now reaping the problems of how they got back together.Hannah became dependent on Andy when she couldn't walk and seemed to fall back into a relationship with him almost out of convenience's sake.Now that she doesn't need him any longer, could it be she's realising she doesn't like him like that after all?Trying to talk it over with him didn't do much good since he simply stomped out.

I am more inclined to sympathise with John than Marilyn, since his concern does seem to be mostly that this is another passing phase that Jett has plucked out of the air without really giving it any thought.Marilyn, meanwhile, seems to be given cause to regret her already dubious "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them" speech when faced with the reality of the situation and I'm not having a lot of sympathy for her.

I meant to mention this at the time, but Irene said to Leah the other week that she's known her for 15 years. So with that in mind, whenever I see VJ, I'm not sure what I'm meant to think is Leah's backstory. Was VJ born before she moved to the Bay?

​No.And this falls under the banner of "things we're not supposed to think about", like wondering why Roo looks nothing like she did in 1988.VJ was born in 2001 but he's 16.Only possible explanation for this:He fell into a time warp in 2007 and emerged two years older.

All I have to say is... "You'll only be five minutes."

Some sex life those two have then.

​To be fair, he did add "Fifteen at most."

[H&Alover]

True here Red he did qualify the five minutes!

I think Ash may have  been overreacting regarding Kyle and Billie as maybe he didn't have much say in her relationship with Dean and he wants to nip it in the bud.  I'm glad Billie spoke up and said it was her throwing herself at Kyle, he wouldn't have believed  it from Kyle. At least Kyle managed to explain to her that he's not ready to get involved in any way just yet and Billie agreed to just be 'friends' though as has been said on here the look she gave Kyle as she left the house suggests she is still holding out hope. Going to be slightly uncomfortable for a wile, unless they keep out of each others way as much as possible. Not sure if it was on this thread or the Aussie one but it has been remarked about the comparisons between Billie and how she reminds them of Nicole. I did like her girl-to-girl chat with Ricky bemoaning their choice of men.   Oh and Ricky had been to visit Heath (the brother who doesn't count as family anymore as he lives in the city) and Bianca.

Hannah prevaricating about telling Andy the truth had to stop sometime before he had really settled in and she said things she could never take back.  She did try and let him down gently and once he's had a chance to think, he'll hopefully  accept it. She does still love him, but it's as she told fluorescent Phoebe  she felt trapped in her wheelchair, now she feels trapped by Andy, it's a big house but still comes across as overcrowded, there's Hannah, Oscar, Evie, Denny + Josh and Andy part time.  Stunned Hannah and us viewers, with his planning rotas, doing the washing up, hanging pictures!

If Phoebe was trying to blend in she certainly failed by wearing that dress, nearly went and got my sunglasses!  I kind of like how she is getting more involved with others than the Braxton's (well OK I know Ricky is an honorary Braxton).

Alf has always been a private person as regards his feeling and showing them, does seem odd that there didn't to appear to have been a photo of Alsa on show anywhere.  I know I keep banging on about the generation gap but once again it seems to have been just that that helped with Maddy getting through to Alf by liking her cancer to his PTSD.  Her saying would people think her weak for accepting help with her cancer.  So where Roo's cajoling and Irene's tough love didn't work her plain reasoning did. I know we are unlikely to see it but I hope Alf apologises  to Irene.

Josh let the cat out of the bag to Matt about what Evie was up to, Matt playing Candy Crush!!!!  He may have laughed off the suggestion but, to me at least, the look on his face said he wouldn't rule it out but imagines Maddy is out of his league.

Marilyn did overreact and had a pop at John which was totally unfair, him ringing her wasn't going to make a lot of difference. Jett does seem very convince this is what he wants to do but as Red said he did want to be a doctor not long ago. Her reaction only got Jett's back up and brought about the universal cry of teenagers all over the world 'I'm 16 you can't tell me what to do' Well actually they can, you are still under their protection. Like a lot of parents it's OK for other people's kids to go off and fight but not your own, but getting way ahead of herself, he may, hopefully, never have to fight.

 

 

[Slade]

    Fit as Billie is, I can't be doing with this storyline!

​I actually thought she was a lot better on Tuesday, owning up to hitting on Kyle and stopping Ash from kicking his head in but I do see where you are coming from and I do find her annoying.  I'm the same with Maddy.  No way am I going easy on her just because she's hot.

Evelyn was even getting on my nerves continuing her crusade of getting Maddy and Matt together but I do quite enjoy seeing Josh react to all of it.  It's like he thinks she's going overboard but can't be arsed to argue with her so is just resigned to letting her get on with it.

I did think Alf's storyline was being well done for the most part but then we have that dreadful scene with Maddy and now everything's OK.  It was reminiscent of that equally awful scene all those years ago when Tasha was going frantic in the hospital and doctors and other people tried everything, Jack comes along and everything's fine.

Well I was glad Hannah told Andy and I felt he was a little childish at first but it was good that he could see things from her perspective.  I actually think the relationship will work a lot better if they aren't living together.

Now that they've changed Oscar's role to something that doesn't center around Maddy, I'm finding him a lot better now.  Some of his one liners are even quite amusing (Did he dye his hair btw?).

Similarly after finding Phoebe quite annoying (and really enjoying seeing her reaction upon finding out about Kyle and Billie) now that she isn't with Kyle I really enjoyed her today.  She was headstrong, quite witty and even slightly amusing.  The only thing I didn't like about her was she was almost telling Hannah to break up with Andy.  I felt like she was projecting her own failed relationship into her advice, although I still haven't decided whether that was some sort of test.  And for me that's how her and Chris differ.  Both came to the bay for one person but where Chris is redundant, Phoebe IMO has taken a more active role.  I even liked her playing Agony aunt to Kat.

Amazing how Kat took the moral highground previously and now that she's feeling all lonely everything is forgiven and she wants to forget about the fact that Nate put her entire career at risk.  I'm surprised she hasn't question why Nate did it given the history between him and Ricky.

Well I guess we know what's wrong with Leah now - Was that actually caused by the accident or did the accident just reveal what was there anyway?  That's unfortunate.  Problem with aneurysms is that they are like a ticking time bomb.  You never know when it's going to rupture.  Alan had one all those years ago and it even ended up killing him.

[c120701]

Alf may have a photo of Ailsa in his room, which Maddy may be unlikely to see. It is odd that they don't have any out. You'd expect Roo to have photos of both Martha's, maybe Duncan and Alf to have photos of Ailsa & Ric. It'd be nice to have Morag, Colleen and Celia too.

[Brian]

Billie reminds me more of the Mighty Mouse we had on last year (or the year before). She just turns up out of the blue with a rucksack and expects to find somewhere to stay and fit into Summer bay life. And cause trouble between two local lads with her hot personality. We'll see where this one goes - in a house with Kyle will cause problems galore and where will she work, or will Ash keep her. Another waitress at Angelos? Or is Phoebe going back there? Where is her money coming from or does she have a lot saved up? good to see her as the local agony aunt - a different aspect of her personality. She's doing a much better job with it than Evie with Matt and Maddy.

2 medical dramas going on as well - will Alf and Leah get the treatment they need? Both have many concerned friends/relatives around them with advice, although they don't want to know or hear it from them. Alf did the right think going away for a few days - not so easy for Leah to do same.

Marilyn is the one who annoys me at the moment. She is not Jett's mum and she is being utterly selfish. John is in a hard place - probably rather proud of Jett, but dare not say so. Hope Jett sticks at it - we can do with a teenager with some guts. . 

[Dan F]

Alf may have a photo of Ailsa in his room, which Maddy may be unlikely to see. It is odd that they don't have any out. You'd expect Roo to have photos of both Martha's, maybe Duncan and Alf to have photos of Ailsa & Ric. It'd be nice to have Morag, Colleen and Celia too.

​That's actually something I was going to mention at some point and has bugged me for years - when Alf talks about the great love of his life, it's always Ailsa - you have to feel a bit for Martha who never gets a mention, despite being married to him for around 16 years I think we only saw her pic once in the early years (not including the obvious flashbacks).

Still, it's nice that Ailsa has been remembered when so much from the past 27 years hasn't been in recent times.

[atrus]

I am more inclined to sympathise with John than Marilyn, since his concern does seem to be mostly that this is another passing phase that Jett has plucked out of the air without really giving it any thought.Marilyn, meanwhile, seems to be given course to regret her already dubious "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them" speech when faced with the reality of the situation and I'm not having a lot of sympathy for her.

​Yes, John's position is certainly the more coherent, which came across again today. He's basically saying 'give it time, think about it properly', whereas Marilyn is saying 'never ever will I accept this'.

I think what isn't really being explored in depth at the moment - although it's coming across in Emily's performance, I think - is an element of conflict in what Marilyn sees as the morality of the situation, despite her speech on Anzac Day. She seems more than just concerned about Jett's wellbeing, and it feels like part of it is that she's disappointed he would make that choice in the first place. It came across especially in the way she compared it to boxing - almost like she disapproved of the violence per se and that it was somehow beneath Jett.

Anyhow, I get the feeling it's all going to culminate in Jett having a chat with Alf, and making a decision one way or the other based on that - and John and Marilyn simply having to fall in line and accept what he decides. Ultimately, if Jett truly has his heart set on the military, neither of them are going to be able to stop him in the long-term.

In some ways, you could see similar themes being explored in the Nate/Kat spat. I felt Kat should really have been over her annoyance with Nate by now. Almost by definition, doctors and police live by a slightly different moral code. Come to think of it, civilians in general and police live by a slightly different moral code. So if she's going to date one, she's going to have to accept that it may take time for him to modify his behaviour around her.

I'm inclined to agree with Phoebe; if Hannah feels like Andy is really that annoying/smothering, then I'm not really sure they're destined to be together.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think these last few episodes have shown up how immature Hannah is.It's like she's gone full circle: She hooked up with Andy in the first place because she was bored of family life with Zac and the twins and wanted something for herself, and now that she and Andy have become "boring" and serious she wants something for herself again.So frankly I think Phoebe had a point here.I loved Chris trying to involve himself in the girls' stuff again.

Once again, I'm left feeling that it's a bit rich for Kat to accuse Nate of dragging her into this, when it was more a case of her barging her own way in.Oh well, she's forgiven him now. The way Nate kept flipping between her storyline and Leah's felt a bit awkward.So now we know what's wrong with Leah but she's burying her head in the sand:Hopefully she'll have a chat to Zac and VJ and think things through.

Was Jett aged up a year just to facilitate this storyline?It was nice to see John playing the role of mediator for once, even if it went as well as when Marilyn tries that sort of thing.I do understand his concerns given that Jett seems to have come up with this idea after very little thought.I understand Marilyn's point of view since ultimately she is worried about her son's safety (and with good reason, this isn't exactly a safe time to be in the armed forces) but dismissing Jett's wishes and coming up with spurious alternative careers isn't going to get her anywhere.

[H&Alover]

Brian, Marilyn may not be Jett's birth mum any more than John is his birth dad, but they have adopted him so are his parents in every other way.  John does seem more attuned to the fact that Jett does have a history of changing his mind about what he wants to do, whereas Marilyn, after initially seeming to  want to talk about it calmly, then gets all het up again. So you're 16 Jett, but John and Marilyn do still have a say in what you can do.

Further to what you said Dan F about photos, and Ailsa being the love of Alf's life, not nice for Roo either!  Does seem odd there are no Stuart family photos about considering how the Fletchers always had photos of the kids they fostered on show. If not Alf's thing, you would have thought Roo would have some around.

I loved the way Oscar faced Andy and made him promise not to hit him in the face if he told him something! 

So Hannah doesn't want Andy to move In neither does she want him to move out, he wasn't the only one confused!   Maybe continue with the arrangement they had, he lives there part time but still keeps his room at the Braxtons?  In that case what happens to Billie?  I like Agony Aunt Phoebe, her advice worked with one 'client' (Kat) but not with the other. I thought that Slade, she did seem to be wanting Hannah to break up with Andy.  I like how she's into the whole Baby Shower thing for Ricky, and yes a breast pump is way too personal, so liking Chris wanting to get in on it.

Good job Nate and Kat are back together  and she's realised she was overreacting a tad and throwing a good relationship away in the process, well done there AA Phoebe.

Alf's solution to his problem is a whole lot less invasive than Leah's is going to be. He can take it at his own pace, whereas Leah can't and won't have any control over what happens to her once she goes under the knife. It could be the aneurism has been there a while and the accident just triggered it or it caused it.  Can understand Leah being reluctant not to have the operation, apart from the usual warning 'there is a risk in every procedure/operation' unlike an operation on another organ, heart, lung, liver, the brain is who you are.  Anything goes wrong it can change your whole personality, leave you brain damaged, in a coma, yes I know she has just been in one, but that was due to the accident, but this is something you would be agreeing to happen to you.

Would be even more awkward for Kyle if Billie started working at Angelo's, he and Phoebe have only just got over the problem. Do we have any idea  of how old Billie is, early 20's perhaps?

[c120701]

Alf may have a photo of Ailsa in his room, which Maddy may be unlikely to see. It is odd that they don't have any out. You'd expect Roo to have photos of both Martha's, maybe Duncan and Alf to have photos of Ailsa & Ric. It'd be nice to have Morag, Colleen and Celia too.

​That's actually something I was going to mention at some point and has bugged me for years - when Alf talks about the great love of his life, it's always Ailsa - you have to feel a bit for Martha who never gets a mention, despite being married to him for around 16 years I think we only saw her pic once in the early years (not including the obvious flashbacks).

Still, it's nice that Ailsa has been remembered when so much from the past 27 years hasn't been in recent times.

I suppose they explained that by Maddy/Roo saying he isn't one to reminisce and no regulars in the Bay now, except Roo, possibly Palmer (depending how long he's meant to have lived there) remembering her. He might also be resentful of her hiding the secret of Bobby's parentage from him, but I doubt that. 

That's one thing they always did well with Pippa, they always had her refer to 'when Tom died' or 'when Tom and I brought you to the bay' as well as Michael.