Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[CaptainHulk]

I just find Andy hard to feel sorry for.

[Red Ranger 1]

Worryingly, for anyone who felt Home and Away should be more like Neighbours, it seems to be encompassing all its faults: The characters are a mixture of the unlikable and the bland, with even the characters I really like lacking any real spark or realistic reaction in favour of doing what the plot requires of them.I have never been able to accept Andy and Hannah's "great love": It was bad enough when people were all happy that they were on together but now we're meant to be sorry that they've broken up and instead I'm tuning out their scenes.At least the old Andy would have had the decency to have revenge sex, the new one just cries a lot.Josh forgiving Evelyn was inevitable and actually I don't mind that much even if she is a hypocrite.(Teens changing partners all the time is no excuse for cheating.)I'm not sure what Zac was encouraging Andy to do.Evelyn and Oscar moving in with Leah and Zac is something I've been championing since the end of last year, shame that pointless lodger Nate scuppers it.(I'm reserving judgement on Matt.)

Maddy seems to have picked up Evelyn's matchmaking, or maybe she's just returning the favour.I was wondering who she'd fit Matt up with but it looks like he's not going to turn up so I guess we'll never see her.Matt and Charlotte...what the heck?Just how twisted must they both be to even contemplate this?Was the first time that good?Is Matt that desperate?It's made him look like a sleaze and goodness only knows what it's made Charlotte look like.A nutcase if she's willing to risk her career for a quick thrill.

Jett's farewell...I'm sorry to say I found it a bit underwhelming.It may be because of the blandness going on elsewhere or it may be because he's never actually been that close to most of the characters involved: When they were all crowding around with their present box, I was left thinking that he hardly knows the other teens except VJ and even then...I found myself wondering what the scene would be like with Felix Dean, which I haven't done in ages, but I'm not sure it would have been any less awkward.Given that he was half-expecting a surprise party, I'm surprised he didn't seem to twig the "You really really have to meet VJ for a milkshake."

[CaptainHulk]

Trust me, If H&A was like Neighbours, I'd end up chucking one. I just want a few more laughs in H&A without doing it to excess (example; 1989 for about a whole month was total Panto with the Bunyip stuff that dominated the show, I recall a good friend of mine on the rewatch saying whoever came up with it should be shot and I didn't disagree with him).

I like shows borrowing ideas but not becoming clones of each other.

Yes, Jett deserved a better send off. That was totally pony. (Cockney rhyming slam for Pony and Trap = Crap, to anyone outside UK jurisdiction).

I'm finding Charlotte somewhat Underwhelming.

That little boost we had a few weeks ago seems to be vanishing.

[Slade]

Oh dear.  This is worse than I thought.  Andy really does love Hannah.  I can't believe he didn't sleep with Emma because if that was me I would have.  I thought the scene where he was crying was cringeworthy and I absolutely hated it.  Still like Evelyn did last week I did like him sticking up for her and telling Josh not to blame her and to give her another chance.  I thought Josh would come around.

Finding the stuff with Matt and Charlotte quite fascinating and am actually enjoying the interaction between the two.

And let's not forget the skipping...

[630si]

Red is absolutely right! Jett's exit was a bit flat. Well, it was pancaked. 

The Hannah Andy break up would have had so much more impact on the audience had they not been on and off so much. It's a running joke in our house at how every relationship is on and off. Especially Andy and Hannah. I'm glad Andy told Josh to stop being daft about Evelyn knowing. She was in an impossible situation. On the other hand, I understand why Hannah slapped her. Hannah will have been physically sick by that point and her world crashing down and she's at her constantly. It's a reflex to shut her up. Evie should come round eventually. 

This leads me onto Leah's  tardis. Just how many rooms is she meant to have in that tiny bungalow?! Oscar and Evelyn at hers, I just don't see it. I think Oscar will stay with Hannah. 

I'm enjoying the Matt/miss storyline. I like the naughtiness and breaking the rules. It's a shame Maddy has found out so quick though. Again the reveal and climax of the story would have much more impact on the viewer If they'd build it up s bit more and lengthen it out. Just my opinion.

[Red Ranger 1]

Jett's farewell improved in his actual last episode but it's never a good sign when you not only leave on a bus but do it about ten minutes from the end of the episode.My favourite moment was the little scene with John in the back garden, which was beautiful in its simplicity, with the way John tried to give him clichéd advice and then they just lapsed into companionable silence.Other moments...I could appreciate the sentiment behind them but felt they were a bit pat in their execution.Given the way Alf's been feeling the effects of his own military service 40 years on, you'd expect him to show a bit more concern about Jett potentially going through the same thing rather than saying he's restored his faith in the young generation.And Jett calling Marilyn "Mum" during their last on screen conversation really is straight from Soap Cliché 101: If they wanted it to mean anything, it should have happened months ago.

More lovely facial expression from Maddy during the blind date and Oscar bravely trying to carry on the conversation when it was clearly past the point of no return made me smile. So I was wrong, we actually did see Matt's date and she seemed quite nice, if not necessarily suited to him.Matt's early attempts to put her off were eye-rolling, although I appreciated the sincerity of his eventual apology.Matt really does come across as someone with a lot of growing up to do, who doesn't even seem to understand the situation he's found himself in.He gives Charlotte a flower in public and then can't resist bragging to Maddy.It really does make you wonder what's going through Charlotte's head that she's willing to risk her career for the occasional bunk-up.Another lovely moment for Maddy, as her teasing of Matt about his "crush" suddenly gives way to deep concern as she realises exactly what's going on.

Oh, Billie.I feel deeply sorry for Nate and hope it gets cleared up quickly, and that was a huge shocking moment.I must have a thing for crazy women though, because I just can't bring myself to hate her, even though I hate what she's done.It really is hard to tell how much is genuine and how much is her being a good actor.We still don't have definitive proof that she was behind the posters and it's hard to tell whether she meant it or not when she warned Chris not to get involved with her: Is there actually some self-hatred in there under the misplaced feeling of betrayal? And yet she clearly planned to set Nate up in advance, given the way she put Chris in place as a witness.It's going to be hard to come back from this.Or maybe not, actually, people have come back from worse.

[atrus]

Thank goodness we had a well-earned break from the travails of Handy today. I didn't get round to commenting yesterday, but the self-pity was getting too much to bear - especially on Hannah's part, but also Andy's. It's a shame because I think I'd actually like Andy by now if it wasn't for the fact that I still can't get past the complete U-turn on pretty much every aspect of his personality that was orchestrated just to keep him in the show. That said, I'm glad that he had the maturity to tell Josh to forgive Evie. To be honest I'm more curious about the impact on Bay living arrangements than the Handy split itself: what with Zac, VJ, Matt, Nate and now the twins going to be living at Leah's house, it feels like she's competing on the waifs and strays front with the Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe. Or even Pippa Ross.

Well I get why Matt would feel uninterested in Videogame-Hating, Pop-Liking, Social Networking Girl when he's just laid his teacher, but it's no excuse for rudeness. If he knew he had zero interest in the double-date (and I think he more or less did), he should have simply told new matchmaker-in-chief Maddy where to go, rather than turn up and humiliate the poor girl, and embarrass everyone else. I actually felt that his apology was fairly lacklustre and possibly insincere, and it just made things worse when he flounced out, flinging his money on the table; couldn't he just have sat there politely for another half-hour and made conversation?

Meanwhile, I can't even really begin to understand Charlotte's actions, let alone condone them. Yeah, Matt's technically an adult; but she ought to know far better, and show a modicum of professionalism by not ravaging him in a classroom, at the very least. After he started flirting again, I assumed she'd rebuff him sharply - but in fact she didn't seem to take very much convincing at all, and I don't believe that she can be having serious romantic feelings for him already, even taking the truncated soap relationship buildup factor into account. So yes, it seems like cheap thrills is her motivation; and therefore I've lost pretty much any sympathy I might potentially have had for her. It also leads me to suspect that she may have done stuff like this before; and I'm sorry but if teenagers, albeit of legal age, are your thing, then you shouldn't be working in a school full stop. When you're in a position of trust like that, you have to be able to draw a line and stay absolutely on the right side of it.

Jett's goodbye was nice, if a little overcooked at times. He's almost the archetypal example of a H&A bad-boy-turned-good, but with him entering the show so relatively young, they've done a really good job of emphasising the surrogate parent aspect with John, Gina and more recently Marilyn, and how that's turned him into an upstanding citizen - and I think his arc has therefore felt a lot more authentic than some comparable stories. I found John's spontaneous bursting into tears a lot more emotional than Marilyn's, somehow, I guess it's because (1) he only did it once; and (2) Jett has been with John a lot longer, back to Gina-times. I did groan a bit too at the Marilyn/Mum moment, although on reflection I think it was probably justified - he'd just called John 'Dad' and I think he felt a need to express to an emotional Marilyn how much he was going to miss her too, whether or not he genuinely thinks of her as a mother figure yet. But yes, it was disappointing we didn't get more discussion about the military in the otherwise nice scene between Jett and Alf; and I would have liked to have had a little bit more with VJ too, who was conspicuously not in Jett's last episode so had to rush in a goodbye in the previous one. Their farewell was nice all the same, though, despite the recent casting change which has obviously made their friendship more difficult to sustain on-screen.

Billie, Billie, Billie. One by one, those bunnies are being brought to the boil. I must admit that while she's making the show more watchable, I do worry when we have storylines like this and the message they send - as I honestly believe it's a very rare woman indeed that will feign some kind of sexual assault just to score a point. Perhaps I'm naive, or perhaps I should just get into the spirit of television. Do we actually know whether she's telling the truth about those posters of Kat that appeared? I may have missed a reveal, but I'm wondering if it actually wasn't her and she really resented the accusation, hence this latest evil ploy. Not that it would be the slightest excuse for that kind of behaviour.

 

[Slade]

I actually didn't mind Chris as much today.  He wasn't being as gormless as he normally is and I initially liked the scenes with him and Billie.  He seemed more down to earth and appeared to gracefully accept her lumping him into the friends category.  However Billie proved what a thoroughly disgusting individual she is.  She's already aware that Nate doesn't like her and that stunt she pulled at the gym feigning that fact that he assaulted her was done for no other reason but pure spite and malice.  And I really hope she gets what's coming to her.

I felt a bit sorry for that girl.  Matt humiliating her on the date like that was Maddy's fault.  He didn't want to do it but she wouldn't listen.  I actually felt quite awkward watching it.  I'm still enjoying the scenes with Matt and Charlotte although I find myself once again with this program struggling to get my head around a character's thought process.  Even though you could argue that it's wrong I could maybe understand if Charlotte was teaching Matt for a few months and they gradually bonded over that time.  But this is someone she met at a bar and had a one night stand with.  Is it really worth throwing everything away for that?  Matt was very stupid telling Maddy about Charlotte because invariably she's going to be suspicious and give them funny looks any time they're in the same vicinity and no doubt Oscar will pick up on it and Maddy will be forced to tell him.

[Angelica]

I just find Andy hard to feel sorry for.

I know what you mean. I think because the whole thing has so obviously been constructed to make us feel sorry for us. However, all I can think is a) so happy that Hannah/Andy are over and b) at least old Andy would have been more interesting and slept with Emma.

I know what you mean, Slade. I am really struggling to understand Charlotte's thought process (it doesn't help that she hasn't really been developed beyond her fling with Matt so far). Charlotte and Matt just seem so casual about the potential repercussions of their affair. And Charlotte managed to pick the most immature school boy in Summer Bay High. I was surprised that Maddy was so keen to set up Matt on a blind date after her hissy fit when Evie did the same with her and Matt. However, liked the Matt/Maddy scene (though it probably emphasised that they have more chemistry with each other than their actual partners).

Another person I am struggling to understand is Billie. She seemed so reasonable with the whole Kyle thing even though Kyle treated her quite badly. So I don't understand why she is acting so psychotic with Nate, who at least tried to be more considerate of her feelings. These type of storylines always make me uncomfortable because in real life, there is an issue with low percentage of reported assualts actually leading to charges and convictions.

Jett's exit was underwhelming. I think they really missed an opportunity with the Alf/Jett conversation.

[H&Alover]

I'm glad they didn't go down the revenge bonk cliché path.  I'd much rather see Andy give Sean a well deserved and overdue thump, that's much more his style. Could Sean love himself anymore, Emma finally sees the light and dumps him so he straight away goes trotting round to Hannah expecting her to fall at his feet because he is now free (well not quite, he is still married) if only on paper. Zac had asked Andy to go and see Hannah to at least hear more of what she had to say, unfortunately as happens in soaps, timing was all wrong. At least Andy wasn't bitter about Evelyn not telling what she knew, like he said to Josh he'd lied enough for him in the past and Hannah is family. As an aside I don't like his hair when it's all slicked down like that.

I was thinking the same 630si, when did Leah's house turn into the Tardis? I know it's  her house, but it's not as if it's just her and Zac living there, there's VJ, Matt, and Nate to think about, what will the sleeping arrangements be, I'm guessing Matt & VJ already share a room, is there room for Oscar, where will Evelyn sleep, will they all take turns on the sofa? If I remember correctly, there are three bedrooms - Leah and Nate's, VJ's and a spare.

Admittedly, Jett's party was a bit of a damp squib, I preferred the quite goodbye he had with Marilyn and John.  That bag was soo Maz and John was dead chuffed with his t-shirt.  The little talk John and Jett had was beautiful, but kind of surprised no mention was made of Gina  who was the first person in the bay to see the potential in Jett when we first met him just three short years ago. She would have been so proud of him and well pleased her faith in him was justified.

Good to see the interaction between Jett and Alf at last, have you noticed Alf always seem to chose the beach to say his goodbyes to someone he thinks a lot of, true there wasn't a lot said, but Alf is a man of few words, but what he does say means a lot more than a big flowery speech.

Sandra, Matt's blind date was a bit on the bland side, but that is no fault of hers, just so not Matt's type, even if Charlotte, the scarlet lady hadn't been on the scene and on his mind. Matt seems to be making most of the moves, or is he, is Charlotte just a very clever manipulator.  Maddy was very quick to spot what's going on and I noticed Matt didn't tell Charlotte about it when they are supposed to be very discreet. I did have the thought maybe Matt is just a means to an end and when the affair is discovered Zac will be fired for not noticing what was going on in front of his eyes, but as she would lose her job, it would be cutting her nose off to spite her face. I've had the same thought atrus, maybe this isn't the first time she's done this, seemed very practiced at playing various people.

Billie doesn't just have  a crush on Nate, she's become obsessed with him. I think part of what she was saying to Chris was true, about staying away from her as she's not safe to be around, but part of it could have been setting him up for later. Interesting to see Kat was more wiling to believe Billie was sorry for the trouble she'd caused them than Nate was.