Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[atrus]

I find it interesting from all the above discussion how divisive Chris is as a character. I think he's great personally - clearly very flawed as a person, but then all the best characters are IMO. I thought his Toadstool Risotto was genius - a great way to create some drama: just make Chris do something ridiculously foolish. I suppose the one criticism I'd level at him is that he's tended to be quite extraneous to the main storylines and has often just seemed to subsist with little C-plots of his own. (Even that, I quite like about him, to a degree.) But I felt that putting him with Hannah has rectified that a little bit.

Poor Phoebe. A lot of emotional news to have to cope with all in one go - first that she has twins, then that one's died, and then that the other is severely ill. Nice scenes with Kyle, Ash and Andy; but unfortunately, you know that whenever the BraxtonsPlus men are having a rare love-in, there's going to be tears at bedtime tomorrow. And probably fisticuffs too.

So just as Denny finally declares herself a member of the Andy Barrett Fan Club, she comes a cropper at the hands of an increasingly unhinged Miss King. I genuinely thought she was having a nice, positive exit - if a little drawn out, as I said the other day - and then wham! What a cruel and unusual fate. I suppose this will now be the test of just how much of Hunter's psychosis is hereditary. My bet: nearly all of it.

[Slade]

On 11/8/2015, 4:08:55, H&Alover said:

I think I meant to put the bold in italics, but whatever. I guess we are all entitled to our opinions, that's what makes a good forum, we can disagree about something/someone but still be grown up about it.  Chis is someone we will have to agree to disagree about.

Twas I who bolded that part of your post.  Reason being I wanted to respond to all of it but place particular emphasis on the statement about Chris not being a bad person with regards to disliking him.

20 hours ago, Changelo shipper <3 said:

Oh don't get me started! Yeah he's just so self-entitled and self obsessed and I've really had enough now. I mean from that thing with the wild mushrooms in the Diner last year to meddling with Zac's proposal, to the thing with Nate and the pink snuggie and then all the stuff about how he wanted topless waiters at Zac and Leah's fundraiser to amuse himself *SELFISH* to this now. HEY HARRINGTON: IF IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS DO EVERYONE A FAVOUR AND KEEP YOUR BIG FAT NOSE OUT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I summarised some of what you mentioned in the Chris discussion thread a while back and one poster in particular didn't like what I had to say, particularly as it happened just after the bus crash and I said I'd wished Chris was in a coma instead of Leah.

Speaking of Chris it took Nate two seconds to figure out it was him that told Kat and I really hope Nate gives him a piece of his mind when he catches up with him.  In saying that I'm not entirely sure I liked Nate playing the hero again although I think he did the right think making Kat aware she was still over the limit.  Judging by the scene in the diner when Kat caught Nate holding Ricky's hand I'm assuming something is going to happen with them again.  And Kat is clearly nowhere near getting over him.

Felt a little bit sorry for Phoebe regarding the death of one of her babies and the heart defect of the other.  However as harsh as this sounds, it's good news for me in the sense that hopefully there won't be anything to tie Phoebe to Kyle so she can go out with Ash properly eventually.  Although this might actually draw her and Kyle closer.  I do think it was a shame in one respect as they seemed to be getting on and there was a slight bromance developing.

An even bigger shame is Denny.  I felt she was at her best today and reminded me of why I used to really like her.  I enjoyed all her interactions with friends/family and she seemed fun, happy and lively.  I really liked her goodbye with Andy.  They've come a long way since Casey died (and add her as another member of the ever growing AB fan club).  With regards to the scene with Charlotte I can understand her trying to take the safe initially but when Charlotte accidentally hit her in the face with it, I don't understand why Denny didn't just call the police.  Although you never can tell I'll assume Denny's dead, which is disappointing as it means there's no chance of her returning.  Going by the preview, I'm not sure whether it's the safe or the body.  I'll assume that latter.

[TessyBear]

16 hours ago, atrus said:

I thought his Toadstool Risotto was genius - a great way to create some drama: just make Chris do something ridiculously foolish

Maybe. This is a soap opera at the end of the day. They thrive on drama, cheap, serious or otherwise. I know I'm not always gonna like everything that goes on but I think there was a more believable, less stupid way TPTB  could've featured more drama at that time. I don't know the whole history of this I have to admit. Did Irene let him make a special dish? He probably hassled her till she gave in to him knowing Chris. Anyway my point is that EVERYONE KNOWS YOU DON'T PICK LET ALONE EAT WILD MUSHROOMS. IN A DINER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.  I know Leah got poisoned and had to go to hospital. I think that was the one when the announcer said at the end "I bet you'll have fun eating your dinner now" or something along those lines. *Deep breath* Anyway at the time I didn't judge much coz I saw like two isolated episodes and I didn't know Chris that well (oh those were the days!!) Now I can fully judge and berate. 

Uh huh. Sasha and Denny first encountered James this year! Thanks. Really recent then!!

I liked and enjoyed and thought it was cool how Denny got to say goodbye to so many different characters in so many different scenes! Eat that Neighbours!!! The scene with Oscar and Evie and Uncle Zac was really cool in pearticular!! I don't know where Leah was today?? We saw VJ and Zac but no Leah. Maybe she went to see Marilyn...

I also thought that Denny's goodbye to Ash was good and Nate too. If a little random with Nate no? Like I mean they're friends right but not close friends? Still was nice he said goodbye to her.  Just a good good leaving eppy for Denny until the last minute or so...

All that stuff that was dumped on Phoebe today really really SUCKS.  I mean why create this whole paternity storyline just to dump all that rubbish on her in the end??? TPTB sure are pulling out all the stops with this. I'm glad lovely Hannah was there to support Phoebe at the hospital! I hope everything ultimately works out for Phoebe coz I like her and it'd just be soooooooooooo mega crushing if her other baby now dies too. *cry* 

Just btw my smilies list seems to have completely vanished in the "reply" option writing space thingy.  I can't remember all the codes sadly.  

Good scenes again today between Ash, Kyle and Andy! So cute how proud "Team Daddy" were when they'd finished off the cot!!  

The stuff with Nate/Ricki/Kat was... Was nice to see Ricki on the beach hanging out with lil Casey!! It was good that Kat apologised to Denny. The stuff with Nate and Ricki in the Diner sure did seem innocent. Bad timing for Kat to walk in then.

Yeah so onto the end and...

16 hours ago, atrus said:

I suppose this will now be the test of just how much of Hunter's psychosis is hereditary. My bet: nearly all of it.

Lol! Fun comment!! I liked Charlotte at first. She seemed cool and she's certainly very beautiful!! She was interesting and her relationship with Andy, brief as it was was kinda sorta going somewhere at one point it seemed. All the stuff with Matt wasn't so good but I still managed to retain a bit of respect for her. Don't think she's gonna get her money back from Zac when he finds out what she's done huh? Aaaaaahhhh wait!!! Maybe then Charlotte and Hunter'll get run out of town by everyone!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is as long as TPTB aren't just gonna be monsters and have Charlotte get away with killing Denny because she was supposed to be off travelling in Europe anyway so no one would be any the wiser anyway. Although when they don't receive a text her family'll probably be worried and so the trail to expose what happened and whodunnit will begin... It never rains but it pours huh??

14 hours ago, Slade said:

but when Charlotte accidentally hit her in the face with it, I don't understand why Denny didn't just call the police.

Ooh good point!! Then Denny could've left the ultimate hero and lived to return another day!!! Alas this was not meant to be. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Home and Away!!!!!!!!! Shame on you. Two wrongs do not make a right. Especially when it's things as bad as this. I can't believe Charlotte defended both hers and her son's decisions again in this ep. to Denny.

H&A's a bit like the Aussie version of Hollyoaks - not shying away from any issues. H&A is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cooler of course. They have the beach and you know many characters I actually like and respect and find interesting, genuinely lovely, fun etc!! But the boldness of these two shows is certainly very similar. I mean have there ever been any murders in Neighbours? Well there was the thing with Steph and Ringo ooh and Danni and Matt but neither of those were as cold blooded as this with Charlotte and Denny. I'm not making excuses for Steph and Danni just to be clear. I would never ever do that. I'm just saying that Charlotte's actions were really cold at the end there. *bbbbrrrrr*

 

This was a BIG FLIPPIN DEAL of an episode!!! Lots and lots of BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG drama. There were some good character scenes in between and story development scenes. Good friendship/family scenes with Hannah and Phoebe, everyone Denny went to see and Ash and Kyle and Andy too! But ultimately the stuff with Phoebe and Denny is what sticks with me now.  

[Red Ranger 1]

On ‎08‎/‎11‎/‎2015‎ ‎18‎:‎14‎:‎18, Angelica said:

 It feels like the writers seem to be compensating for the criticisms of the platonic nature of Maddy/Oscar even when in a relationship, by suddenly making them obsessed with hooking up all the time. Like all their interactions seem to involve people walking in on them on the sofa at the mo.

It's not really anything new: We had Denny walking in on them on the sofa at the farm not long after they got back together, and Matt moaning about them kissing by the lockers. It's just that the show spent ages treating them like supporting characters, so it's only now we're actually seeing them as a couple.

Anyway, today where they seemed to be doing their best to give Denny farewell scenes with pretty much every character.The result was that some of them felt very rushed and muted.The one with Hannah didn't really ring true, especially since it's easy to forget that they're sort of family.I'm glad she had the proper farewell with Zac, Evelyn and Oscar at the house, since I thought at first that all we were going to get was three lines at the Diner.(What was VJ doing there though?He doesn't say a word and I can't remember him ever speaking to Denny.)Chris was a notable omission, although I guess they did have a moment last week.And shame that Alf's out of town, I can't remember their last scene.

And then we get that shock twist end.Well done to the show for keeping it out of the promos for once, even if it has been plastered all over the soap mags.It makes it even more galling that Denny told Andy he'd turned out all right (which is nothing new, she's been a paid up member of the Andy Barrett Fan Club since round about the time she begged him to move back in with them) when...he hasn't.He sided with Hunter and Charlotte, and once more it's innocent people that suffer, as Denny acts the way a normal decent person would. It's a shame that the scene relies on everyone being stupid in order for it to work.As Slade pointed out, Denny proves herself Too Dumb To Live by not getting the heck out of there and getting help when Charlotte hits her in the face, instead lunging for the safe against all sense of self-preservation.And Charlotte decides to draw as much attention to it as possible, instead of waiting till dark or having a 10 second conversation with Denny then ushering her out instead of putting the safe where she can see it.Watching knowing what's coming up, there are so many moments when Denny could have avoided her fate.And I think I'll leave further discussion until tomorrow.

It felt like Hannah and the doctor (played by the first actress to play Terri Gardner, regular police officer of the 90s, by the way) realised there was something wrong with the twin very early on but just stood there while Phoebe rabbited on and got quite excited about the idea of having two babies, which seems rather cruel.Of course, now Phoebe's doing the same thing to Kyle and Ash.Watching them together, I'm again left thinking I'd rather Phoebe pushed off and left Kyle and Ash to have fun together, since both of them are a lot more interesting and likable away from her.And I'd probably feel more for the storyline if it wasn't just Phoebe I was expected to feel sorry for.

I keep forgetting about the Kat storyline.Nate was the wrong person to talk to her but that doesn't mean that what he said wasn't right.Of course, Kat's probably right about him and Ricky as well, despite his attempts to act the innocent.

[H&Alover]

Perhaps the  reason some people on here don't like Chris is because he hasn't any serious storylines, they've all been funny or jokey ones, just a thought.

Not often you get a character saying goodbye to so many people in just one episode, but they were all well done, the one with Zac, Evelyn and Oscar was especially nice with her thanking them for taking her into their family.  Liked the scene with Andy and Kyle and the brief one with Ash.  For those of us who did read what was going to happen in the TV mags all her speeches, especially the one with Ricky about her (Denny) missing Casey's first birthday came across as more poignant. It might be a while before anyone realises she is missing seeing as I don't think she said where she was heading for first, they may give it a few days then just decide to call her to see if she landed safely. 

It had to be didn't it, the towel Charlotte wrapped the safe in fell off so Denny saw it!  After the original tussle she could have left, but would Charlotte have let her she's covering for Hunter who Denny rightly guessed had stolen it and has now shown she'll do anything to keep him out of prison, I know we saw Denny lying there with her eyes open, but did Charlotte even check for a pulse, however faint, no as in most cases like this in soaps she naturally assumes she's dead. There was blood at the back of Denny's head and there is a  point just behind the ear which if hit at the right angle and not even with a lot of force can kill instantly.  So how is Charlotte gong to move the body, the stairs are very open to view, wait until the middle of the night?  That'll mean she'll have to sit there with a dead body in the flat, she'll have to get rid of Denny's backpack too so that's three things!  We thought Hunter had problems but he hasn't killed anyone (even if it was by accident) - yet!  We do see Zac ask Charlotte if Denny came to see her about Hunter working in the bait shop but she denies seeing her.

At least Kat made it to work safely.  Ricky telling Nate about what happened means Chris will be getting a two pronged attack for not keeping his mouth shut. I suppose it shows he does care about Kat by going to see her after Ricky told him about her being hung over.  No way was she going to listen to him, though she knew herself she wasn't fit to be at work.  It was that woman getting breathalysed that brought it home to her, very wise decision to get  a lift home. If it was an innocent touch of hands it just confirmed Kat's suspicions imaginary or not.  Doesn't look good for her tonight.

I know there are people on here that don't like Phoebe but what's happening to her shouldn't happen to any woman.  She may have not being pregnant before but she was right to trust her instincts in listening to her body, even if it had been a false alarm like last week.  Hannah did know something wasn't right by the look on the doctors face, but at that moment Phoebe was just taking in the news she was carrying twins! It was down to the doctor to break the sad news, but as Phoebe said the previous week the heartbeat had been strong.  Then came even worse news that the surviving baby had a congenital (not genetic like I said last week) heart defect as well as possible other health problems. Phoebe asked the questions other mums must ask when given news like that was it something I did/didn't do? It  must have been so hard for Phoebe to keep smiling while saying goodbye to Denny so she went away happy.  Of course Ash and Kyle have to know, she's going to need their support, it was just seeing them looking so chuffed after putting together the cot was not the right time. They are all going to feel it, and need to be there for each other.  Loved the teasing by Andy and Kyle looking so lost as how to put it together, Ash is going to teach him/her all things mechanical and Kyle will teach him/her how to play the guitar. She is totally right to ask for a second opinion, though it may not differ from the first one.

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't know.Maybe I used up all my anger last episode or maybe it was just really badly written but...I just couldn't connect with the fact that Denny's dead.Maybe it's the fact that no-one knows apart from us and Charlotte, so we don't seem anyone mourn.Or maybe it's that we didn't really see enough of the body.However gruesome it might be, or unsuitable for the time slot, I think we needed to see the stark reality of that shallow grave, not have it all off screen.It doesn't help that this is the sort of thing that has people starting threads about whether she's really dead or not: I guess Charlotte returning to the grave was there to show the body's still there, but instead it looks like she just dug up a bag.As a result, Charlotte becomes the protagonist by default, to the point that it feels like we're meant to worry she's been shot at the end.Personally, I'd be happy if she was dead, justice for Denny and no more protecting Hunter, and only care about the possible repercussions of Kat.(After all, no-one would know she's killed once.)The soft underscores on Charlotte and Hunter continue to worry me.I'm all for villains having depth and motivation and people they care about, rather than just being bad for the sake of it, but the show often makes the mistake of thinking that that means they're not villains anymore.If Hunter had gone to the police and confessed everything, as he supposedly intended to last week, I might respect him.It'll take more than a personality transplant and an apology to Zac to redeem him.

So, surprisingly given my views last episode, it was the Phoebe/Kyle/Ash storyline that really engaged me, especially once the boys were fully involved.I loved the use of Chris as well, slipping into supporting Hannah's cover story without batting an eyelid, showing that in a true crisis he can actually be counted on.For perhaps the first time, I found myself empathising with everyone.Kyle didn't cross any lines and his desperation to cling onto even the tiniest bit of hope is very believable.Ash does his best not to influence Phoebe but when asked he states a valid opinion.The only thing I didn't like was Hannah pressuring Kyle to agree to an abortion when Phoebe hadn't even decided she wanted one...and in the end, she didn't.It's a very risky course of action which could increase their pain and heartache, but it's their decision to make and they need to be able to live with the knowledge that they gave their baby every chance.

[Slade]

17 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Perhaps the  reason some people on here don't like Chris is because he hasn't any serious storylines, they've all been funny or jokey ones, just a thought.

It's not so much about the storylines, I just find his personality so annoying and very little to like about him.  Besides he had a serious storyline for a couple of episodes when he was depressed but I still found him just as annoying then because instead of acting like a clown he was just being totally self-centered.

I'm really not happy that Charlotte killed Denny.  I liked Denny and thought she was cute.  So I'm disappointed we're never going to see her again.  However I am still liking Charlotte's character.  There does appear to be some level of guilt but what we've experienced is an extreme level of selfishness which overrides that.  This has all come about because Charlotte didn't want to lose Hunter despite everything he's done.  Although the killing was an accident I can understand Charlotte wanting to cover it up.  It happened during a criminal act - perverting the course of justice - so it will be hard to claim manslaughter.  And I guess from Charlotte's perspective it's worth the risk.  I have to say Charlotte's been pretty careless but that is probably down to her not thinking entirely straight after killing someone and rushing things to evade being caught.

-She went back to the burial site in broad daylight (although I can understand that because it would have been hard to find the keys to the baitshop and the log book in the dark)
-She didn't use any gloves when she disposed of the body or when she put the keys and manual back in the bait shop
-She covered up Denny's blood stain on her floor with a rug where a safer option would have been using something to file away at the wood
-She buried Denny's body and safe in the same location?  I'm not so sure about this.  She couldn't have been that stupid surely.

Initially when I realised that she was going to dispose of the body I would say my reaction was shocked but not surprised.  I have to say it wouldn't have been easy to move Denny into the car, carry her out then dig a hole large enough to bury her in but Charlotte clearly had an incentive.

Even though it was clearly a ploy by the writers I actually didn't mind Hunter in that episode.  He seemed genuine about making more of an effort with Zac and Leah although there's still the issue of everything he's done before.

It was almost worth the stuff happening with Phoebe just to get amusement at Kyle losing it like that again and once more trying to act like a control freak re the baby.

[Psychic Wombat]

I'm a bit confused as to why Denny went to see Charlotte before leaving the bay, it's not like they were great buddies. I'm also confused why H&A decided to kill Denny off in such a random way especially when we had Feebe's baby drama unfolding. It's like it was personal.... Now Charlotte instead of explaining it was all an accident involving a slippy floor to the police has made things ten times worse. And the police are surely going to trace the soil on her boots to the shallow grave in the bush eventually. But on the bright side at least she and Andy have something in common now.

I can't say I take in the Chris character much, he just seems like a child, I doubt he even shaves.

Funniest line recently was Zak suggesting Hunter take on Dennys job at the bait shop, yes, I thought how long would that last before he burnt it down!

[pembie]

I liked Denny's exit its the most interesting thing to happen to her character At least people will remember her exit  Just a shame there wasn't more of a mystery of who murdered her. She didn't need to fight Charlotte for the safe though I guess with Charlotte killing her pathes the way for Charlotte to turn even crazier. Even though If you think about it was because of Hunter  Denny died. 

[Red Ranger 1]

13 hours ago, Psychic Wombat said:

I'm a bit confused as to why Denny went to see Charlotte before leaving the bay, it's not like they were great buddies.

Funniest line recently was Zak suggesting Hunter take on Dennys job at the bait shop, yes, I thought how long would that last before he burnt it down!

Kinda answered your own question: She went to offer Hunter the job.As for Denny being killed off...I guess we may never know whose choice it was for her to leave but this does kind of feel like the final insult to a very mistreated character and actress, constantly shunted about for the sake of the favoured characters (having a dead end storyline with Casey without any thought about what would happen to her afterwards, breaking up with Ash just so Phoebe could have a "Who's the daddy?" storyline) and even her death isn't about her, it's to further a storyline that she's barely featured in.Far from making her memorable, I have to keep reminding myself she's dead.

We're at that stage where my posts are starting to resemble sermons, which is never a good sign.In a sense, the show's to be applauded for not making one person responsible for everything bad that's going on and coming up with easy answers and scapegoats.Problem is, it feels like they're saying no-one's responsible, and that it's just bad luck that people get hurt or killed or have their homes destroyed because other people make "bad decisions".Hunter burns down a house, robs from people, frames Billie and puts Marilyn in a coma because he's never had a decent parent figure to teach him right from wrong and keep him under control.Charlotte kills Denny because she's trying to protect her son.Andy protects Hunter instead of everyone else, making him partly responsible for what's happened to Marilyn and Denny, because he reminds him of himself.Those are bad choices that had terrible consequences for innocent people and at some point they should be held responsible for them, and not just by feeling bad about it.Will they?Who knows? But there's a slight glimmer of hope for the values of basic decency: Kat insists on following the law, despite the consequences to herself, and as a result Charlotte's breaking and entering is on record and may well prove useful in future...

Elsewhere, the show does at least acknowledge that Roo has replaced Denny as the person who wanders around other people's storylines giving random advice.I'm tempted to wonder why someone as dull and unfaithful as Nate has two women fighting over him.It's telling that I cared so little that I don't even remember why he and Kat broke up.The left field revelation that they're back together, when he and Ricky seemed to be thinking about each other, seems like him taking the path of least resistance.

I'm surprised Marilyn's woken up so quickly, I was thinking "She's in a coma" was the new excuse for maternity leave.Not that she's herself exactly...So, looks like amnesia, nearly 20 years of it.Maybe they should ask Kyle's advice, it's only two years since he was helping Tamara with the same thing.