Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[c120701]

On 29 January 2016 at 6:06 PM, CaptainHulk said:

And Olivia  is using both names to keep the memory of both Lachie and Chloe alive.

Plus if they'd have just had her name be Olivia Richards I'd have been excepting Lesley-Anne Down to play her and we'd have all been complaining about SORAS then.

[CaptainHulk]

Back to Maz; She's always liked the "Older Boys", hasn't she?

Phil (Hubby 1), Don and now Palmer!

Her relationships with Lance and Adam who IAF, were closer to her own age never lasted even a quarter as long!

[atrus]

17 minutes ago, c120701 said:

Plus if they'd have just had her name be Olivia Richards I'd have been excepting Lesley-Anne Down to play her and we'd have all been complaining about SORAS then.

It would have been worth it.

[c120701]

5 minutes ago, atrus said:

It would have been worth it.

Well it would explain why they needed her to have been living in England.

[H&Alover]

On ‎30‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 3:21 PM, Slade said:

On ‎30‎/‎01‎/‎2016 at 3:21 PM, Slade said:

Not sure about Olivia.  Part of me thinks she could be interesting but the other part feels she is trouble.  Again deciding to "borrow" something although VJ shouldn't have gone along with it.  But he didn't dare to go against her because he fancies her.  She's another blonde character in the bay where I think don't be fooled by the angelic features and the cute face.  And I dunno, kind of feels like she was manipulating VJ but I'll probably end up liking her unlike the other blonde one.  I did like the part where she referred to Leah as highly strung.

Absolutely loved Kat's rant to Nate and Ricky.  I couldn't stop laughing through that whole scene.  I also really liked the awkward expressions from some of the other characters.  As much as I love drama, objectively I don't think it was the time or place although she was drunk so wouldn't have been thinking of that.  The best part was Nate's "You what" when Kat accused him of being responsible for what happened to Sophie.  That clearly hit a nerve.  It was big of Kat to apologise to Nate and Ricky afterwards.  I was undecided initially whether she should have done but I think she was probably out of line, not so much for what she said but humiliating them like that (although I'm not complaining).  She should definitely apologise to John and Marilyn though.

I agreed with Kat that Nate did hurt people but I don't think he was responsible for Sophie going "crazy".  There was clearly an underlying problem and you could argue he was just a catalyst.  I also disagreed with her when she said Nate was manipulating her.  I think the issue is that Nate is (like a lot of males) weak  He decided to give things another go with Kat because he thought nothing was going to happen with Ricky so he was trying to move on even though he wasn't really into her.   I think he tried but he couldn't force himself to love someone else..  He was going to do the right thing and finish with her because he decided that he wanted to be with Ricky but her brother died.  How could he tell her then?  it would have completely destroyed her so I could see him going to the funeral with and supporting her on that day and obviously just as he was about to tell her the truth she figured it out which goes back to my point about her knowing that Nate always wanted Ricky.  And if for arguments sake Nate was manipulating her then she allowed herself to be manipulated, she knew that Nate and Ricky slept together.  This should have set of the alarm bells but she still decided to put that aside and even accepted that they were best mates, constantly texting each other.

 

I think you make some valid points and I agree with some of what you've said but personally, I've enjoyed this storyline.  I think the older you are the less susceptible you are to being depressed and love-struck after short flings/romances have gone bad for you but I believe this sort of thing can happen to anyone.  I don't think it matters what line of work Kat is in.  Her being professional in work doesn't necessarily translate to her personal life.  Once you're actually in the situation it's sometimes hard to think objectively, clearly and rationally.  And you follow emotion rather than logic and reasoning.  The only example I can immediately think of with regards to H & A was there was a counselor quite a few years now who was in a physically abusive relationship.  If I can recall I think she took her boyfriend back even after he hit her (can't remember how many times).  If that had been one of her clients I'm sure she would have advised him/her to get out of the situation but she didn't because she wasn't thinking like a counselor.

 

 

Agree there Slade, just because Kat is a professional grown up has nothing to do with her personal life. In fact professionals are the worst for falling for the wrong type as they are less likely to admit they have, unlike us other mortals. Kat has had bad experiences with men before, her last boyfriend was a two timing cheat who also physically abused her. It took her a long while to trust Nate and the when she does he ends up cheating on her with Ricky.  She forgave him and took him back when he convinced her it was over and he does it again, though this time round he did the right thing as soon as he thought it was the right time as in after her brother's funeral.  Sophie had problems from way back so he wasn't totally responsible for her cracking up. His timing by saying he still cared for her was way off though! Her wrecking John and Maz's non ceremony wasn't good but as again as you said Slade she was in no state to think clearly, but the real apology should have gone to John and Maz.

Chris almost came across as his usual  jokey self, but he spoke a lot of sense this time (loved the little tale about Marilyn not allowing anyone else to get the caramel slice because she saved it for John and it inspired John to get those round the world tickets (how'd he afford them btw, I didn't think they had that much money to spare)? 

 

[CaptainHulk]

Yeah, they were pretty much in the brown stuff financially c.2014-15.  Did things magically recover?

[H&Alover]

Part two of my post.  I've mentioned before VJ hasn't had a girl friend before and Olivia has a strong personality, meaning she's bossy and probably used to getting  her own way. He naturally wants to keep her as a 'girlfriend' as long as he can. Is it an unwritten rule that all young blonde girls have to be trouble in some way?

Going back to your point atrus about Matt being above the age of consent in regards of sleeping with Charlotte that is true but if he was 16 or 17 he is still classed as a minor in the eyes of the law. I'm not sure it matters a jot if it was a uni lecturer sleeping with an adult pupil they are still in a position of trust same as a doctor sleeping with a patient.  They would be breaking an ethical rule if not a legal one.

Hopefully after her latest meltdown Kat will now allow herself to get over Nate, it was nobody's fault it didn't work out between them, timing was all wrong  that's all.

[CaptainHulk]

Is anyone else thinking "Ugh, let them "get" Charlotte already!"?

 

 

 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

It's a sign of how all over the place the show's morality is that I found myself sympathising with Charlotte, even though I know I shouldn't and that, in a sense, she "deserves" what's happening to her.The problem is, no-one knows that, and we know things that they don't, and I came away from that scene in the Diner with a lower opinion of Alf and Irene than I did of Charlotte.The level of bullying that's going on (vandalising her car is completely out of line, throwing a brick through her window and injuring her is a whole new level of nastiness) reminds me of the way everyone turned on Billie after she lied about Nate and leaves me thinking that the "good folk" of Summer Bay aren't particularly good at all.Does a teacher sleeping with a student (and not even a particularly young or inexperienced one) really justify this? Are we meant to believe the townsfolk are suddenly so invested in Hunter that they turn on Charlotte for stealing his trust fund, as Alf suddenly acting like Hunter's bodyguard suggests?(Frankly, I was with Charlotte when she told him to mind his own business. And how come VJ's suddenly acting like Hunter's his best mate?)Maybe it's deliberate: The residents have been quick to turn into a small-minded lynch mob in the past, and Alf and Irene being petty and judgemental is hardly unprecedented.But it's hard not to feel like we're meant to nod in agreement when Leah says Charlotte not Hunter is the messed up one, even though they seem pretty even.Kyle comes out of the episode with quite a bit of credit for his more sane and even-handed approach, at least until he sleeps with her, which was a bad move on every level, given that she's clearly nuts and sleeping with him for the wrong reasons.If he'd really wanted to help, he'd have backed off and told her she didn't need to do that.Despite a slightly judgemental attitude, I can't fault Zac here: He's right that Charlotte's official punishment is apt, and I'm glad that he went ahead and was honest with Leah.

The slightly sleazy vein running through the show continues with Nate and Ricky's towel dropping moment.I guess the intention was to show that they're happy or something, but it's a very shallow scene and is likely to stick in the mind more than Nate trying to make an effort with Casey...not that Ricky particularly seems to want him to.There's been a lot of talk in the Australian Discussion thread about Ricky palming Casey off on anyone that will have him, and her attempts to get him out of the way so she can have adult time with Nate here don't do her any favours.

Fake Olivia also isn't doing herself any favours, with the way she's drooling all over Nate and then hanging off Hunter.It seems like she just goes for anything with a pulse, although I'm glad Irene is at least making her work to pay for her share of the damage, it seemed at first like VJ was going to have to cop for it all.I guess there was an attempt to show Olivia and Hunter have more in common, but having them exclude VJ from the conversation as they mock his home and act as though they're better than the locals because they grew up in cities just made them seem like self-absorbed brats.

[atrus]

Yeah - I was equally as surprised as you, Red, to find myself feeling a little for Charlotte today. I think it's partly the acting - Erika manages to elicit a degree of sympathy for the character because she's never played her as an out-and-out villain; she's portrayed as having real emotions and an air of tragedy about her, even though Charlotte can be deeply manipulative and her life choices have been suspect at best throughout her tenure. But at the same time, Irene, Alf, Leah etc's reactions do seem a bit overboard; I get why they'd be shocked that she was sleeping with Matt, but that doesn't justify any of them giving her a public dressing-down for it in front of her son and a roomful of people. And what especially concerns me is the way they're all trying to prevent her from mending things with Hunter, as if in doing what she's done, she's suddenly forfeited any right to contact with him. Ultimately none of them know that she killed Denny and covered it up, but they're all acting as if they do. The redemption event horizon is famously difficult to cross in Summer Bay, but I guess once you do, the pitchforks come out remarkably quickly.

Meanwhile, Hunter's personality transplant reaches new heights, as he spends the entire day buddying up with VJ - and that was even before the pretty girl came along. I felt sorry for VJ during the final scenes at the Beach House; evidently we've got a love triangle on our hands, which is no doubt why they're forcing Hunter and VJ into this uneasy friendship they've now got going - but I reckon Hunter and Olivia would be a match made in hell for all kinds of reasons. She needs more of a balancing force to moderate her a little, and I think that's probably VJ; Hunter may have calmed down for the minute, but if he returns to his old ways he's likely to have a similar effect on Olivia, I feel. (Or she on him, come to think of it.)