Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

I actually thought the fire was really well played out and everyone had good reason for their actions.The window might not have bars but it didn't have any glass segments large enough for them to crawl through either: Breaking it would have got them fresh air but I find it wholly believable that Matt and Oscar were panicking and it just didn't occur to them.It did seem like they could have just run out of the house before the beam came down (as they ended up doing) but again they were probably too scared and didn't know which parts of the house were safe.Similarly, Billie manages to get into the house the same way Maddy ran away from a few minutes earlier, but I think Maddy was just too scared to go inside and just hoping to catch a glimpse of them coming to reassure herself.While the "redeeming herself by saving people from a burning building" thing is a cliché, I was impressed with Billie here, showing some level-headedness at last...assuming she wasn't more involved than is immediately clear.

The aftermath was full of lots of brilliant moments: Matt and Oscar's bonding (I personally don't think there's been any animosity between them for months, they seemed to genuinely become friends around the time Sasha left when Oscar brought Matt back to the farm to cheer him up, but it was a good moment of renewed respect all the same), Maddy taking on a big sister role for Evelyn by reassuring her at the hospital and getting her some clothes, Hannah thanking Billie and her numb response (self-loathing or guilt?), the hug between Maddy and Oscar (even if they did make sure Matt got one too) and her joke about him knowing where her room is, and the raw emotion of Leah and Zac in the gutted house.Leah knows she should be grateful that all her loved ones are safe, but in terms of material possessions she's pretty much lost everything.I am shocked that we seem to have genuinely lost Leah's house, which has been a part of the show longer than Leah herself, way back to the 90s.Longer, indeed, than the Stewart house, a comparable loss that we had to weather around the turn of the century.But on the plus side, the caravan park house is full again right after Alf and Roo comment on how sparse it is.First mention of the attic room in ages but why is poor Matt exiled to a van?Roo's willing to share with Maddy, can't Alf have one of the boys in with him?(He's just put Oscar and VJ in the smallest room in the house, after all!Well, maybe second smallest but if so then the smallest is vacant...And Evelyn's back on the couch!)I can kind of understand that things were at breaking point with Hannah, Evelyn and Oscar living together and none of them would want to go back there, but it'd be nice to see the option at least raised.I actually thought Nate handled things okay but I was annoyed that Alf and Roo got there straightaway but it took an age for anyone to think to tell Ash his sister was in hospital.

So, arson is confirmed.King's got to be a suspect for the reasons suggested yesterday.There does seem to have been more time for Billie to go there than was immediately apparent (Leah and co didn't seem to have shopping bags with them when they ran into her in the recap and Billie had had time to go home and change), but I really hope it isn't her, just as I really hope she survives, and would she even know where VJ lives?(I thought at first that the show wouldn't have her injured so severely if they were going to make her the villain of the piece but maybe they would if they wanted to keep her sympathetic?)The promo suggests those two options get explored quickly so anyone else?Hmm...Matt's one-time partners in crime maybe?They've been pretty quiet since he turned queen's evidence...

[CaptainHulk]

Alf would probably wake up and catch Oscar sneaking to Maddy's room and be like "You'd better getting up in the night for water or to bleed the flamin' lizard, boy...". No doubt the floorboards would be creaky as hell

Matt's used to his own space, sort of reminiscent how in the early days of the Fletchers settling when Bobby lived in a van outside.

Surely Evie and Maddy could share like so many female combos before them? (Carly/Lynn, Carly/Bobby, Fin/Sophie, Sally/Shannon, etc)

That house had so many memories. It was the old Nash House and stayed in that family til Travis sold it to Leah. They should have had some Leah/Vinnie or Leah/Dan clips (or some voice playbacks) to really sell the finality, Sounds like cheap nostalgia to some but that'd be kind of Poignant. 

 

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

God, while more dramatic, this episode reminds me of once upon a time way back in 1994 when Sam Marshall almost frazzled to death and was rescued by Adam Cameron, I remember that ep like yesterday and was talking about it at school with my friends the next day. Amazing that 21 years later I am yet again watching a house fire in the same TV show.

[c120701]

Maddy is sharing with Roo, hence Evelyn is on the couch.

I did wonder having seen the destroyed internal wall that if we get the house back they'll lose the seperate kitchen which I'd be sad about too and think perhaps I'd rather lose the house all together than that happen. Ralph bought the house for Leah & VJ didn't he? Leah was talking as if she'd been working for years to buy it/pay the mortgage.

[Angelica]

The last 2 episodes have been really good. I actually watched the Tuesday episode on 5* because I was so intrigued to see what happened with the fire. It has been a while since I was last so interested in a story.  I guess now we know why they had Oscar and Evie move in with Leah now.

I did find myself shouting at Matt and Oscar to break the window but all in all, I enjoyed the fire scenes. I do hope that we do get some mention of Vinnie from Leah but I thought Leah's devastation at the loss of the house, and all the memories associated with it very moving. Loved the Fire brothers chat, and generally liked the teenagers interactions. I definitely think that one of the good points of the show this year is the way the teenagers have interacted more with each other outside of their romantic relationships.

I guess prime suspects have to be either Billie or Charlotte. However, even if Billie isn't responsible for the fire, I am not sure Billie can be redeemed in my mind just because she performed a heroic act. But then we know H&A like to try to redeem characters pretty quickly (e.g Andy) these days rather than making the characters work hard to earn it. I remember how long it took them in comparison to try to redeem Kane back in the day.

I wondered if Nate may have felt guilty because he potentially may have missed picking up on her condition (given that he attended to everyone else relatively quickly but we never saw him interact with her until she became unstable),

[CaptainHulk]

God, while more dramatic, this episode reminds me of once upon a time way back in 1994 when Sam Marshall almost frazzled to death and was rescued by Adam Cameron, I remember that ep like yesterday and was talking about it at school with my friends the next day. Amazing that 21 years later I am yet again watching a house fire in the same TV show.

It's not Nostalgia bias talking but I preferred the 1994 fire as the show as shot on standard video back then and made stunt work like fires, explosions, etc seem a bit more dramatic.

This fire was done just right but the aftermath of the 2015 fire is more devastating as Leah's lost 15yrs of memories in that place.

 

[Homeandawayfan.]

God, while more dramatic, this episode reminds me of once upon a time way back in 1994 when Sam Marshall almost frazzled to death and was rescued by Adam Cameron, I remember that ep like yesterday and was talking about it at school with my friends the next day. Amazing that 21 years later I am yet again watching a house fire in the same TV show.

It's not Nostalgia bias talking but I preferred the 1994 fire as the show as shot on standard video back then and made stunt work like fires, explosions, etc seem a bit more dramatic.

This fire was done just right but the aftermath of the 2015 fire is more devastating as Leah's lost 15yrs of memories in that place.

 

How I wish H&A would go back to standard videotape, the filmic look makes the sets and exterior scenes look dingy. Same for the outside scenes in Neighbours. I hate videotape shows going to that rubbish filmic look which makes everything seem fuzzier on screen and duller.

I reckon Billie did it, she is a loose cannon.

[Red Ranger 1]

I was seriously worried about Billie in the first half of this episode, given that she's occupying that uncertain guest status.So...did she start the fire?Because on the face of it, she seems to be telling the truth about dropping her bag at the scene (and I really wish Leah and co would remember her doing it), so if that's the same bag that turned up at her house with the incriminating evidence in it, then something very weird seems to be going on.I kept waiting for the moment where Charlotte found out Billie was a suspect and it never came, but her comment about "The girl who saved you?" does indicate she knew who Billie was.(Was she actually watching the house to see her drop the bag?!)I was disappointed that Ash walked away from her, especially since he promptly decided Phoebe was The Most Important Person In His Life, even though I kind of understand it.Matt should have told the police about King, and certainly not suddenly decided she's okay because she's (apparently) not an arsonist.It feels like we're missing all the important scenes: Ash and Nate are in the same room for the first time since Ash accused him of assaulting Billie and not a mention of it.Not the time perhaps, but that shows it should have happened earlier.

It was good to see the community rallying around Leah and Zac, even as things get worse for them.Did the insurance company not send a reminder?Ash and Phoebe is very eye rolling.It looks like Kyle did them a favour by breaking up with her since it's given them carte blanche to be together without their conscience being troubled.

[Slade]

I guess prime suspects have to be either Billie or Charlotte. However, even if Billie isn't responsible for the fire, I am not sure Billie can be redeemed in my mind just because she performed a heroic act.

You're right.  Committing one good act should not be a free pass to forgiveness.  I think you made the point before that show tried to get viewers to try and forgive and forget without letting them decide for themselves.  I think this happens with all types of characters not just the ones who commit criminal acts.

I was initially impressed with Billie yesterday and pleased that she came out of the coma but that turned to disappointment upon hearing that that she did in fact start the fire.  I didn't want to believe it.  The only positive thing I can is that she didn't mean to kill anyone, which is why I assume she ran back in to rescue Oscar, Matt and Zac because she knew she could be up on a murder charge.  I think this just reaffirms that she is indeed a very spiteful, malicious and disturbed person.  She clearly needs help and I'm not sure Ash is equipped to deal with her although I hope he still supports her.  I'd imagine she's going to be in a lot of trouble for this and it's no more than she deserves.  This is almost on par with what happened with Nate.  She's seriously affected the lives of several people and she refused to tell the truth.  She couldn't even be honest about what she did when Ash asked her.  Funny thing is I actually think she meant it when she told Nate she was sorry.  And I'm sure she'll be sorry about starting the fire after the next time she tries to ruin someone's life because she thinks they did something out of turn.

I feel for Leah and Zac.  You could argue through no fault of their own they forgot to renew the policy and now they have no insurance.  Where does that leave them?  Surely Evie and Oscar have to move back to the farm now.

Once again enjoyed the Matt/Charlotte stuff.  My concern with Matt would be that apologising and making up with her then telling her that the photos are gone...perhaps he still thinks he may have a shot if he buys his time.

I quite liked the stuff with Ash and Phoebe.  Wouldn't mind seeing these two together.  Kyle's jealousy and anger is as amusing as always.  Particularly the way he was looking on as they embraced.  He was also in denial earlier on.  Didn't want to believe that anything was going on with Phoebe and Ash so thought she was just supporting Ash earlier on at the hospital when Billie was in critical condition.  She was of course but it was more than that.

[CaptainHulk]

God, while more dramatic, this episode reminds me of once upon a time way back in 1994 when Sam Marshall almost frazzled to death and was rescued by Adam Cameron, I remember that ep like yesterday and was talking about it at school with my friends the next day. Amazing that 21 years later I am yet again watching a house fire in the same TV show.

It's not Nostalgia bias talking but I preferred the 1994 fire as the show as shot on standard video back then and made stunt work like fires, explosions, etc seem a bit more dramatic.

This fire was done just right but the aftermath of the 2015 fire is more devastating as Leah's lost 15yrs of memories in that place.

 

How I wish H&A would go back to standard videotape, the filmic look makes the sets and exterior scenes look dingy. Same for the outside scenes in Neighbours. I hate videotape shows going to that rubbish filmic look which makes everything seem fuzzier on screen and duller.

The thing is Neighbours HD video look looks better when you watched on a HD Channel (5HD).