Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[KIMIF1]

 I would have thought it only sensible for a new born baby to be taken inside, but then Brax was in the scene so of course there is bound to be criticism. In recent time I cant remember another new born baby being taken to a prison to compare with.

[H&Alover]

Glad the Matt story worked out OK (so) far and Matt not only didn't blame Leah but also didn't hold it against Kat who as he said was just doing her job. I wondered if it would have been awkward her being invited to dinner, but Matt showed maturity there, which proves he can do it.  I can understand his reluctance to dub in his old mates, it's not normally the done thing in that world. Nate had to do quite a bit of grovelling to get Kat to forget what he said, knowing how volatile and protective she is over her job surprised she gave in as quick as she did.

I loved how Kyle was with BB, are they really going to call him Casey, be interesting to see how Denny copes with that.   Even 'uncle' Ash was taken with him, and he is a sweetie.  Yes there are others around, but they are not Brax who would have been there full time, so in effect Ricky is a single mum. Kyle, Ash, Denny have their own lives and work and Ricky isn't the type to want to keep bothering them.  I think most mums have that problem when they first bring their new born home, especially their first, at hospital they are others around to help, now it's only too real.  I reckon BB was picking up on Ricky's nervousness which is why he wouldn't settle.  I can't remember a new born being taken to prison either KIMIF1.  Can't have been pleasant for Brax to see another man handling his son before him, but sadly parents do use their kids, even ones as young as BB to smuggle things inside. At least they got the decent screw.

I think I can see why Alf walked out on Maria, to him she probably wouldn't have a clue about what he is going through, not only is she a woman, no offence, but to him probably looked too young to appreciate his problem, but also not an ex serviceman/woman who would understand.  He must have felt uncomfortable lying to Roo though, pleased to see Alf offer some sort of apology to Irene.  Maria didn't  give anything confidential away to Roo, she had rung to speak to Alf and Roo was thanking her for helping Alf, he didn't stay long enough to divulge anything, her telling Roo he walked out wasn't giving away any secrets.

[Red Ranger 1]

 I would have thought it only sensible for a new born baby to be taken inside, but then Brax was in the scene so of course there is bound to be criticism. In recent time I cant remember another new born baby being taken to a prison to compare with.

Fair point, although in this episode Gunno then shows up in the internal visitors' room as well.Maybe it's their winter visiting room?It just seemed unlikely to me that visitors would be searched like that in full view of the prisoners rather than in a reception area.Maybe I'm wrong.Sorry you feel there's automatically criticism of Brax scenes because I'm going to do it again: Whether you approve of the concept of naming babies after dead relatives or not, whether you think it's honouring someone that meant a lot to them or ignoring the baby's status as an individual...when exactly did Ricky first have the idea?Because you'd have thought it would have come up some time in the last eight months, rather than her waiting until he was born and then Brax agreeing straightaway.Ah well, both Brax and Kyle seemed happy with the idea and it was always on the cards.

A quietly powerful scene of Alf talking with Maria on the veranda: Another example of why having the house back is a bonus for the show, because it's hard to imagine it having the same impact if they were sat around the kitchen table.I really hope we get to see more of this sessions, rather than the occasional "Right, I'm just off to see my counsellor" then in a few weeks it's all been sorted off screen.

See, this is how to make good use of Chris: Irene and Phoebe think the worst of him and assume he's got an ulterior motive for wanting guitar lessons, but in fact he just wanted to help a friend.I laughed out loud at the moment where he suddenly starts playing like an expert, and it's a shame that we never got a moment of Irene climbing down, not even after Phoebe put her straight.(But then Chris was reverting to type by then.)Unfortunately, the rest of the storyline involved people saying things they shouldn't.Billie should not have gone running to Kyle to tell him Phoebe was seeing someone else in the hope he'd turn to her.(What was she doing in the caravan park anyway?Visiting Marty?In her work clothes?)Kyle should not have then acted like a jealous boyfriend and gone to confront Chris.There was no need for Chris to tell Phoebe either, although I'll forgive him since he was obviously expecting Phoebe to think it funny like he did rather than go off on one.And Phoebe should not have then tracked Billie down to read her the riot act.Kyle and Phoebe really need to accept that if they're apart, they're apart, which means the other one has the right to move on without they or their new partners getting aggro.And Billie needs to back off and stop expecting Kyle to fall back into her arms, or she's going to end up making herself very unhappy.

[atrus]

Even though it happened prior to the miracle detox camp, narratively speaking I feel the ATM robbery story is a bit of a step too far for Matt. We've seen a lot of poor behaviour from him lately, and I think they should have rested his antics for a while as viewers start to lose sympathy. But at least he's remorseful about it and everyone now seems to be on the same page about how to resolve the situation, which is some consolation.

I too found it odd that the psychologist spoke to Roo about Alf walking out - it's not as if he's a child and Roo's his legal guardian, so anything that happened in the session should've been in the strictest confidence. But I enjoyed the subsequent scenes and also hope we see more of them, as anything we learn about Alf's past always makes for compelling viewing.

Brax and Ricky's performances made the crime contingent more tolerable today, and it was hard not to feel for both of them faced with the prospect of their son growing up without his dad around. It was a pity they felt the need to shoehorn the dreadful Gunno into proceedings, though.

[Slade]

So Billie is still in stalker mode.  She sleeps with Kyle twice and thinks she has full dibs on what he does.  I think her behaviour demonstrates precisely how selfish she is.  She couldn't give a stuff about him.  She just wants him to satisfy her needs.  If she really cared about him she wouldn't have told him that Phoebe and Chris were going out purely to mess with his head so he would sleep with her again.  Desperate or what?  In saying that I don't think Kyle came across that well either.  I'll be the first to criticise Chris but in this particular case he didn't do anything wrong.  What if Chris had said he was going out with Phoebe?  Would Kyle have hit him?  It just seemed a bit rich given that he slept with someone else.  I was actually glad Chris told Phoebe and I loved her confronting Billie.  Phoebe was right though the way she was acting...crazy just about sums it up.

I thought we hadn't seen the last of Gunno although I guess he's moved on from trying to injure Brax to try and bait him into hitting him so presumably Brax can have time added onto his sentence.

[CaptainHulk]

Again Matt is remeinding me of 1994 Tug mixed with some  2007-08 Aden.

[Angelica]

Really enjoyed Chris and Phoebe's scenes today. I think they work well together as friends. And sweet gesture by Chris in trying to encourage Phoebe in her pursuits to teach. I also thought Chris handled angry Kyle by using humour to defuse the situation. However,I was rolling my eyes at Kyle. He is in no position to be angry as he is not with Phoebe anymore, and he has slept with someone else as well. Even if Chris and Phoebe were together - technically they are both free agents. And I think Billie is showing her true colours - she is definitely not cool with nothing going on between her and Kyle.

Please can we get rid of Gunno. He is nothing but a cartoon villain.

[Red Ranger 1]

I also thought Chris handled angry Kyle by using humour to defuse the situation.

Actually, I think Chris' "humour" made things worse if anything, Kyle didn't seem to appreciate Chris claiming he was irresistible.If he hadn't put him straight that he and Phoebe aren't together, Kyle was probably wound up enough to hit him.

Anyway, today's episode and I really disliked Phoebe.She was the one that went storming out after Billie and picked an argument (justifiably or otherwise), and seemed to give as good as she got, yet here she goes crying to Ash that his sister's picking on her and then complains that he didn't tell her off enough.I'd have thought Phoebe was a big enough girl to fight her own battles, and it doesn't help that she treated Tamara in exactly the same way as Billie's treating her when she first turned up, blaming her for Kyle rejecting her.Seems Phoebe can dish it out but not take it, and I'm glad Billie didn't apologise to her.And then she contradicts her claim not to care about Kyle and Billie by going out of her way to "say hi" to him.That said, I think Billie probably was being manipulative by threatening to leave town...and she may well have pulled the same trick on Kyle by offering to move out.I'm puzzled by her saying she made it up about Phoebe and Chris, since she actually did seem them together:Did she know they were just friends and lie to Kyle about them being together, or did she lie when she said she made it up because she thought Kyle would sympathise with her more than if she'd just been wrong?Tessa De Josselin seems to have picked up the same technique as Kassandra Clementi last year: If the character lingers on you at the end of the scene, don't act like a soap bitch and give a cartoon smirk at the camera, look sad so it's clear you're not enjoying messing with people.I hope she was sincere when she told Ash she was glad to have family around.

Well, it brings a sense of stability to my universe to see that underneath the Saint Andy façade, Barrett's still as big a thug as ever.It's a shame Oliver didn't press charges.Andy and Hannah breaking up is probably a good idea: Frankly, neither of them's mature enough to make an adult relationship work.

[CaptainHulk]

Andy's being a bellend (when is he ever NOT ), This gives Hannah the out she's been crying for for a while. And besides that punch looked like Oscar or Jett could have taken it and laughed and walked on their merry way.

Billie is a naughty girl isn't she, but I have a feeling she would enjoy certain types "corporal punishment"  (Keeping it moderately clean)

And I'm going on record and saying this, Katrina is hot.

Chris is a guy while likeable, you have to be in the mood for.

[H&Alover]

So I'm not the only one who thinks Billie is a bunny boiler!   Just because Phoebe and Kyle have broken up doesn't mean they can't still have feelings for each other which they so obviously do. Billie was either jumping to her own conclusions when  she saw Chris and Phoebe together or she did 'decide' they were a couple so she could tell Kyle Phoebe had moved on so she could get in there. Billie must have known it would get back to Phoebe who's never been one just to let things go.  Wasn't it Denny though who told Ash to stop being so soft on Billie and effectively call her bluff about leaving the bay. Notice Billie apologised to Kyle, still wanting to keep on his good side, but only sort of, nearly apologised to Phoebe.

I think Andy is feeling insecure now Hannah is back on her feet and more than likely worrying she'll find someone better than him and, in his eyes anyway, have more in common with.  Not that I think Oliver is a good bet, seems too much of a player. Though I think Andy has done well to keep his jealousy/insecurity under wraps, it looks like keeping it all buttoned up wasn't a good idea, he just needed to say to her she seemed to have been having a good time, making a joke of it, but this is Andy so he hasn't got the knack of making light hearted comments without it coming across as a jealous boyfriend. Is he dumping her before she dumps him?

Maria is obviously one keen psychologist/therapist gong to the trouble of tracking Alf down at home. Alf, after initially, blowing her out, did seemed more relaxed in her company this time, I hope we see more of the actual sessions rather then just hearing 'Oh it went OK'.  Writing down his feelings (good and bad) of his time in Vietnam sounded a good idea, he can do it in his own time. 

There's pros and cons in Brax seeing his son, pro being seeing fit and healthy, con (big one) he's only going to see him once a week  for the next 20 years. I do hope he's not thinking of doing something stupid. They had to chuck Gunno in there just to rack up Brax's feelings of uselessness.  The thought of calling him Casey must have crossed both their minds ever since they found out it was going to be a boy, maybe they didn't want to jinx things until after the birth. Kyle looked initially a bit stunned but accepted it and once again worked his magic with Casey.  Ricky is definitely going to need to relax a bit because baby Casey is  picking up on her tension.

The exchanges between Kat and Nate were interesting, him keep having a go about her not being able to let work go and then  they both had to 'do' their jobs when Andy thumped Oliver, it is normally Nate that gets called on the help someone

Looks like Leah blows a gasket again today and it seems VJ asks Zac to fire her.