Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[CaptainHulk]

With him gone, maybe this Wanksta Era is finally over. 

(Wanksta = Wannabe Gangster for those not too hip with the terminology, Listen to the 50 Cent (who probably has less than that in his account right now lol)  song he did for 8 Mile)

[H&Alover]

You know I'd completely forgotten the connection that Josh had to Brax!  No great meaning to the fact Josh and Andy hadn't had much dealings with Brax, Kyle and co, happens that way sometimes. Josh and Andy have been spending a lot of time over at the farm house so it's been like ships passing in the night. Would also explain Andy's reaction, he had been pushed aside when the big reveal happened, now he's got to try and fill Brax's shoes as big brother which he wasn't very good at before. Good for you Evie telling him to step up to the plate. Nice little scene between Andy and John about being macho and not talking about feelings. Phoebe has been doing a great job having been tasked with letting people know and now John has taken on the baton to let people know as well. I can understand why Irene was reluctant to tell Zac and VJ what with Leah being operated on but VJ had been very close to Brax at one time, plus of course Leah did have a crush on Brax too.  I don't envy Kyle telling Heath and Bianca but good move to tell them first then take Heath with him to tell Cheryl.  As an aside has she met Casey yet?

Of course you have to have an emergency after a brain op, it's in the handbook!!!  While we don't expect the surgeon, in this case Sean, to be constantly by his patients' side he did seem to disappear.  You do get guys and women like him, even though he himself admitted what happened to Leah was very rare, they never let themselves be less than perfect, but they are only human. 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week: Four (and he was credited on Wednesday for no appearance).Kyle was also in four, although he wasn't credited on Thursday.Marilyn and Chris only appeared in one each, Roo didn't appear at all although we were given an explanation.(Despite this, she was credited on Thursday and Friday anyway, and Chris was credited on Thursday despite not appearing.)

I forgot to mention yesterday that Leah's name is written as "Leah Patterson-Baker" on her patient board, the first time that surname's been used outside the end credits for a long time.I did find Zac and VJ were hassling the hospital staff a bit too much last episode, and Zac definitely crossed the line by grabbing Sean like that.Good job Alf was there to keep things in line.There's a lovely moment where Irene looks to Zac as if expecting him to tell VJ to go and have some food and instead Zac says they're both staying with Leah.So, despite all the emergencies her period on life support was a lot shorter than the previous one and it looks like everything's going to be okay.After several tense moments, it's a relief. Andy and Sean's meeting:Well, he handled it better than when he met Oliver but it still felt like he was marking out his territory somewhat and acting as though he wanted Sean to stay away from Hannah.(Does he even know their history?)

I love everything with Maddy and Oscar here, managing to be sweet and funny at the same time.Matt surprisingly proves a better matchmaker than Evelyn, partly because he actually spoke to them and found out what they wanted.The scenes of him as a third wheel were great (and it's nice to see Maddy having a brain again and coping with the maths homework), and then the whole conversation after he announced their feelings, from the awkward confirmation through to the way they fumbled through a reunion.(Oscar's cluelessness is believable, he really hasn't had a lot of experience with this sort of thing.His feeling the need to point out they needed to be closer together in order to kiss was great.) I hope things work out this time.

Kat certainly seemed to be under pressure with everyone treating her like she's personally responsible for what's going on with Brax.The toast at the end fell a bit flat: I guess the idea was to say goodbye to the character, but again "He's not really dead!" and is that all the memorial he's going to get?His family aren't there because they used up their three episodes at the start of the week, and the gathering seemed rather thin on the ground: No Marilyn, no Phoebe, no Evelyn...even Chris can't be bothered to turn up and he was in the episode.

[CaptainHulk]

Maybe because Matt, while a tool, isn't nearly as annoying as Evie when it comes to fixing up people. Seriously, that girl needs to get with it.

I say The punch Andy gave Oliver was worse than the one Cain gave Robert on ED a few weeks back. 

Everyone Professional or otherwise usually refers to Leah as "Patterson" more than "Patterson-Baker" these days.

 

[Angelica]

It is sad. While I am not particularly a fan of Brax, and grew to resent everything the Braxtons have come to represent, I still feel that it was a shame for his character to have such a lacklustre ending. He has been a pretty iconic character for the past 4 years. It was hard to feel anything while knowing that Brax was still alive, and in this position due to multiple ridiculous choices. The goodbye from Summer bay lost any poignancy because of that fact, and it was ridiculous that the people attending the goodbye drink didn't include the people closest to Brax (I guess due to the fact they had already had their 3 episodes for this week). Josh's and Andy's grief would have felt more heartfelt if we had been given any inkling that either of them had thought of Brax since he went to jail.

While I don't particularly want Maddy/Oscar together, I do admit that their reunion was sweetly done and awkwardly teenage-like. Matt was perfection this episode. His facial expression when the two were trying to flirt about Maddy's highlighting was comic genius. While I liked Matt/Sasha, I do feel his character has become much better developped since her departure.

While I have no interest in Hannah/Sean, I do feel their backstory has made Hannah seem more of well rounded person rather than just her persona as Andy's girlfriend. If they showed us more of the Hannah who clearly stuck by her sister when she was unwell, I might grow to like her character.

[Slade]

So we have effectively the ending of an era.  I think in terms of departure where you could argue it wasn't the best for his fans, it could have been a lot worse.  At least the writers have left his exit open in case some day he returns to clear his name.  One thing I really didn't like was Brax laying the burden on Ash to keep quiet about him still being alive.  Ash has to face Ricky with her kid every day with this secret.  I know you could argue Brax is doing it to keep her and his child safe but it just puts Ash in virtually an impossible position.  I did quite like the residents reaction hearing about the news of his apparent death.  It seemed to affect most of them to some extent.  Was good to see Alf at the goodbye.  I assume he is still grateful to Brax for giving the money to help Pippa.  Would have liked to see Leah's reaction as at one point she was in love with him.

I think Evelyn was right to have it out with Andy about not supporting Josh re Brax.  So whilst she did the right think re Josh just watching yesterday's recap made me think it was a shame she couldn't do the right thing by her own brother previously.  Her stupidity in that particular moment (I still cannot fathom why she did that given all the stuff that happened before) basically telling him to go for it set the motion.  And then we have Matt pushing them together which also annoyed me although to be fair to him, he was simply acting as a catalyst.  I said before that their reunion was inevitable.  So after being an utter cow for months the writers give us some cancer storyline in a pathetic attempt to get us to like her (Yes because half the town thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread).  Well it hasn't worked!  Their whole relationship is an absolute joke and was founded on pure desperation.  And we're now probably going to have to sit through weeks of this 'true love' nonsense.

I find Hannah's ex quite annoying.  Didn't like his attitude towards Leah's surgery and I don't like the way he's hitting on somebody else's girlfriend although I'm not sure Hannah and Andy are suited now anyway.  I was hoping that Zac would have decked Sean although I wouldn't have wanted him to get in trouble with the police.  Sean's not worth it.  Alf annoyed me when he told Zac to calm down.  This coming from someone who bit another guy's head off earlier in the week for actually trying to help him and make things easier for him.

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

We may one day see Darryl Braxton back in the show. Hopefully there will be better writers then and he is written as a more rounded character. Call it insane but it is going to feel a bit weird with just one Braxton standing. The Braxton era is gone but it will never ever be forgotten.

The local hospital must have a "Summer Bay Residents" wing.

[CaptainHulk]

^ I was thinking this in 2004-08 (The Emergency Era) where the likes of Dr. Joel and Nurses Julie and Gloria probably thought "Christ, you again?!" whenever the teens were admitted!

[Homeandawayfan.]

That was a time of the show that was my virtual non viewing phase due to my work schedule. God I missed out on a great era. I only bobbed in and out of H&A from 2001 to 2009. Ditto for Neighbours.

I have liked the Alf storyline recently. Makes a break from Fishface Maddie Osbourne lol.

[Red Ranger 1]

I have liked the Alf storyline recently. Makes a break from Fishface Maddie Osbourne lol.

Hmm, much as I like Alf and enjoying him having screentime, I like the lovely Maddy just as much and don't really fancy a break from her...Yep, I know I'm doing it again, sorry.

Today! And again those of us frustrated by the occasional romanticising of the Braxtons' lifestyle have a hero in Ricky, who explicitly insists they need to draw a line under it all. "That kind of life has brought us nothing but pain." The fact that Kyle and Ash wanted to start it all up again was somewhat frustrating: I guess it's in character for Kyle (who did go after Casey when he killed Danny, after all), but Ash knows that Brax faked his death to stop Gunno going after his family and he wanted to batter the hornet's nest with a stick again? Hopefully they listen to her.On the subject of a memorial, did Kyle talk to Heath and Cheryl about how they thought about the idea?(I really don't want to know their thoughts on organising a hit.)Perhaps I'm finding my British stiff upper lip attitude clashing with Aussie emotionalism again, but I'm with Ash on letting Ricky handle it her own way instead of worrying that she's not upset enough, some of us do put a brave face on and carry on.(Yet Ash's reaction shots suggest it's meant to be guilt talking.)Phoebe crossed the line a few times here, being a concerned friend does not mean pushing the issue.A lovely little scene between Alf and Ricky though, reminding her of what she's still got.

Oh, Zac.Should have trusted your instincts instead of listening to Chris.A shame, because VJ's support of the idea was lovely.Did no-one learn from Kyle's mistakes?I get that people just tend to go along with Chris' flights of fantasy, and Marilyn and to a lesser extent John are the type to get caught up in the romance of it all, but you'd think Irene would try and be the voice of reason.Heck, Phoebe's standing right there but instead of pointing out that not all women appreciate that sort of thing she just stands there grinning like a loon with the rest.I'm in several different minds about Zac's proposal but I do feel sorry for him getting turn down like that.