Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

It was nice to see a lot of characters together.I felt Matt was being a bit too precious last week about not being told about the engagement, but the fact that no-one's spoken to him since and they all just assumed he'd come to the party felt a bit neglectful.Still, walking out and going and sleeping with a random wasn't the best way to handle it even before he finds out who she is.Did the writers have him randomly move out of Leah's place solely so he could have a one night stand with an older woman?Sadly, the promo implies yes.It's a tricky grey area: Matt's an adult so it's not illegal and he wasn't her student at the time so it's not professional misconduct, but I do believe that, unfair though it may seem, technically Charlotte should withdraw from the position when she finds out one of her students is someone she's been intimate with.(Maybe best not to sleep with younger guys in the town you're teaching in without checking their education status?)Her being Zac's ex seems like an odd detail, given that Summer Bay High is the first school he's taught in.

Anyway, I got a bit distracted from the party! There was some good reminiscences, Evelyn and Oscar's present was in good spirit and lots of great Madscar banter.(And now Maddy's beaten Matt at baseball! They're gonna be sporting heroes together! Liked her dress.) The Chris baklava storyline started out okay but failed to tie itself up with anyone (other than Roo) finding out about the switch so feels like a desperate attempt to give him something to do.Jett seemed surprisingly pleased at the idea of John and Marilyn following him, I was expecting him to get a look of horror at the idea.

Hannah still comes across as a hypocrite: She said she'd leave Andy and didn't, so what, aside from the ring and certificate, is the difference between her and Sean?Emma seemed to pick up on their conversation very quickly which leaves me wondering if Sean's strayed before and she knows the signs.

[CaptainHulk]

The Student/Teacher thing makes me think of the whole Brett/Davina thing in Waterloo Road (later recycled to Chris/Jess). The teachers had no clue they were gonna be their students but it didn't make it any easier.

[c120701]

The other odd thing is everyone was dressed up so smart for a party at Irene's - ok, it was great to see the Beach House full for an event again, but everyone would normally be more casual for a house party, almost as if it should have been at Angelo's, then they thought that it ought to be elsewhere due to Brax's "death" and to fit in the whole Matt/Charlotte story as they wouldn't have met at Angelo's then. Anyway, I think it's probably the first house party since Angelo's opened.

[H&Alover]

So Emma pops up out of nowhere and I echo Hannah's belief that the marriage was over all but in name but that wasn't the impression she (Emma) was giving. I supposing Emma tracked Sean down via the city hospital, would they give that info out wife/husband or not? How, if she had only just arrived did she know about Sean and Hannah's night together unless she'd hired a PI as he had done this kind of thing before. Her radar was working well, even though Sean and Hannah were doing a good job of acting casual at the party. Calling it an affair is stretching it, doesn't even qualify as a fling. So someone else, namely Josh, now knows and he is not going to be swayed by Hannah's argument she'll tell Andy in her own time, plus of course there is the small matter of Evie knowing and not saying anything, but to be fair it isn't/wasn't  her secret to tell.

Funnily I thought of Bianca when I saw Charlotte.  So far no law, Matt is 18, has been broken.  It's now they know who the other is the problems could arise, does she keep quiet, hoping Matt will do the same or fess up and risk losing her job which I suppose would be pointless if she is going to be around for a while. It brings up the whole position of trust thing regardless of Matt's age. It was a totally different thing with Casey and George they both knew who the other was.  You know I mentioned this long engagement will bring dramas, um is Charlotte the first, though credit to Zac he did introduce Charlotte to Leah as his ex. It must have been a while back, maybe at uni,  because he was involved in the prison service for a time. Before he got together with Bianca  Charlotte I felt a bit sorry for him, he looked like a spare part at Irene's.  I thought Leah and Zac would have known better about just assuming Matt would come to their party, I'd like to be asked. Chris was Chris as usual, trying to outdo Leah's baklava and failing.

Guess Emily Symons has to have some reason to leave at least for a while.

 

 

[c120701]

I think that was the first, maybe second reference to Marilyn having lived at the Beach House/with Irene since she returned. I think there may have been a reference to past games nights at some point.

I was pleased to hear the mention of Leah's baklava as it's been ages since they referenced her Greek heritage - I also liked that Irene used the pronunciation that Leah would use as it shows their friendship - I know Ada Nicodemou used to teach Danny Raco how to pronounce the Greek food names when he played Alex. 

 

 

[atrus]

So looks like Hannah's been caught red-handed by Josh - or more accurately, by the unfeasibly sensitive microphone on Josh's camera. I'm not really feeling much sympathy for Hannah at the moment, but I hope Josh doesn't hold it against Evie that she knew and didn't tell him. She was in a pretty difficult situation, after all.

Not sure I like Charlotte very much. Anyone else detecting hints of Angie Russell? She seems quite cold; lying clearly comes very easily to her; and she didn't even seem to flinch when Zac introduced her to Matt at school, which struck me as a little odd. It was only later when she started looking uncomfortable in his presence, and I'm starting to wonder if that was for Matt's benefit. VJ was funny though, with his jaw on the table (guess we can cross another character off our 'coming out any time soon' list); and I loved Matt's world-weary response to the entire situation - as if he's finally figured out that he's a character in a soap opera.

Glad that Jett has said he wants Marilyn and John to stay. Summer Bay without Marilyn is like champagne without bubbles.

 

[630si]

Well! The crime rates must have dropped in Summer Bay now hear River Boys are gone if Josh can leave a load of Locked off cameras lying around all day. Hannah deserves to be busted the way she has been though. She's been a complete cow and Andy deserves better. Who'dve thought we'd be team Andy 12 months ago eh!

Matt and the teacher need to be super careful not to draw attention to their fling. The obvious thing to do would be to report to the department the moment she found out but that wouldn't make for good TV. His reactions around her though will soon alarm Leah or Zac if he continues with the carry on. Must be awkward though! Funny that VJ fancies the blouse off her and Matt must be thinking 'tapped that!' 

The mothers meeting over a brew in Irebes was my favourite scene from the whole episode. It's these moments that add to the community feel and there's definitely more of an effort to reference the shows history as others have mentioned. It's these snippets of warmth and character interaction that make the show what it is I hope we continue to see more scenes like this one. 

 

All in all all a really enjoyable episode and next weeks looks pretty explosive too.

 

[CaptainHulk]

I'm surprised Matt's former crew haven't come to the Bay and gone after him for snitching but then they're  trying to get away from that kind of element...

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four (and he was credited on Monday for no appearance).Chris was only in one, although he was also credited on Wednesday despite not appearing. (I'm tempted to wonder why they made him a regular when they don't seem to be giving him anything to do, except apparently Chris' sling is down to Johnny Ruffo injuring his shoulder in real life so that might be a factor.)

I didn't actually think of Angie Russell, I started off thinking she might be another Sophie but to be honest Billie seems more in that loose cannon vein than Charlotte, Charlotte seems like something else.I agree that the way she didn't bat an eyelid when introduced to Matt felt strange: I originally assumed she hadn't noticed him at the end of the previous episode but now I'm not so sure.And warning him to keep quiet is the worst way to handle it.Then we get that little moment of her ringing someone about Zac and it's clear she's Involved In Something.Place your bets on the likelihood of her blowing up Zac and Leah's wedding in the finale now.So she and Zac dated in high school, suggesting they haven't seen each other for a long time.I'm glad Matt has moved back in, although it does make the fact he moved out solely as a plot device so he could sleep with Charlotte even more blatant.His bemused "There's a lot of things I'm struggling to believe right now" was great, as was Zac's reaction to Leah inviting him back.

I can't say I feel any sympathy for Andy, indeed when Emma called him a "great guy" I was left wondering if she'd still say that if she knew what we do, but I don't feel any for Hannah either so I'm enjoying seeing her secret get blown open.To be pedantic, we don't know for sure that Andy knows but that was definitely the implication and it seems like Josh gave him the recording, probably before he saw Evelyn.That looked like a simple polaroid camera to me, not one that would record speech, so that was a bit weird.Ironic that it comes down to that after all the worry about Emma telling him.Not sure how I feel about Emma, staying with a serial cheat seems a bit desperate.Evelyn finds out the problem with dating your aunt's boyfriend's brother: If they break up, you end up taking sides.

I found the John/Marilyn/Jett storyline very unsatisfying.The reference to Marilyn's tenure at the beach house was appreciated but the whole "If Marilyn leaves it'll be the end of the world" attitude didn't ring true.It feels like we're meant to have forgotten Marilyn's decade-long absence from Summer Bay: When VJ says Marilyn's been around forever, my response was "No, she hasn't" - she wasn't there when VJ was born or even when Leah came to town and has only been back five years, so from the point of view of him and indeed everyone apart from Alf, Irene and at a pinch Roo (who barely knew Marilyn in the 80s and only crossed over with her briefly) she's actually less of a permanent fixture than John and only slightly more of one than the Braxtons, who turned up less than a year later.The problem was it did feel like Jett wanted John and Marilyn to come with him, yet because it'd upset a few people he has to act noble and ask them to stay.His rationale that he wants a home in Summer Bay to come back to just about worked, and it's certainly true that John and Marilyn can't follow him around forever, but I just don't know why the whole thing was raised just to be dismissed in an awkward manner, except to give them a storyline in Jett's penultimate week.And it's now clear that we're never going to have a proper conversation between Alf and Jett about the pros and cons of Jett joining the military: They finally have some interaction today and end up discussing a false plot instead of anything important.

[630si]

I'm surprised Matt's former crew haven't come to the Bay and gone after him for snitching but then they're  trying to get away from that kind of element...

 

haha yes that does seem to have been forgotten / left alone.

 

I agree Red, Jett needs a sit down with Alf. And it could even help Alf with his therapy too!