Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[CaptainHulk]

1 hour ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

?Weirdly, the nurse that books him in is credited as "Nurse Julie".But presumably she's not meant to be that Nurse Julie.

Could be... She never officially left town. She could have still been at Northern Districts flying under the radar like Dr. Young who was last heard of a few years back.

But I doubt it. 

 

[atrus]

All the current storylines continue to drag, for my money. Even Charlotte's downwards spiral, which is usually pretty compelling in a car-crash kind of a way, seemed to lose its footing a bit, with Gunno apparently genuinely lost for words when Charlotte basically told him to naff off. Since she's now Kat's primary person of interest, I think he'd do well to take her advice and steer well clear of the situation - but it looks like the visit has already attracted police attention. I'll be interested to see exactly what cover story they agreed on, if any. Meanwhile, both Kyle and Ash pick up the flesh-flashing baton today and do little else of interest, while Phoebe whinges on about a trying classroom experience that is all the more trying for the fact that we ought to have seen it, but didn't. And just when we thought we had an end to the Nate's dad debacle, he goes and winds up in intensive care, which presumably means he'll be impinging on Wednesday's episode too.

 

 

[Slade]

Emerson's attitude towards Trystan's death made me laugh at the beginning of that episode although objectively I suppose at least he came round eventually.  I actually quite like Charlotte so I don't want her to be caught for killing Trystan (although I do think she should have to suffer the consequences of what happened with Denny eventually) so in one hand I'm not entirely happy with Kat's pursuit but in the other Kat is proving to be very competent and determined and I am quite enjoying her piece together various bits of the case.  I would assume that her devotion is to focus on something because of her brother and the end of her relationship with Nate.

Gunno's thirst for revenge is a lot stronger than I thought.  It would appear he's actually prepared to let the fact that Charlotte murdered one of his henchmen go to continue the quest.  I am seriously struggling to understand what the motivation is.  He's going after Brax because Brax grassed him up.  So all this just because Brax violated the code of conduct and nothing to do with ruining the drug ring.  And given that Ash was the person who he originally had the problem with, why is he so insignificant in this serving only as outlet for information to get closer to Brax.

I'm assuming Ricky didn't tell Nate that his dad groped her.

Kyle has a tendency to fall for people pretty quickly so with the exception of Billie I'm wondering if he will fall for Charlotte, especially given that he already committed a serious assault to protect her.

[Pierced Musie]

If you were trying to hide your self-harm... why would you wear such short-shorts? I just can't warm to Olivia at all... and I don't think whatever is about to be revealed is going to make me suddenly change my opinion.

Absolutely loved the Ash/Phoebe stripper scene from yesterday & the offer of Ash the Stripper for Leah's hens party. Best part was Kyle's reaction of disgust with a little bit of intrigue (was it supposed to play that way or was that an acting choice?).

[Angelica]

I might have been surprised by Olivia's self-harming if it hadn't been shown on every episode promo for the past week. I think the storyline would have had more power if we had actually seen Olivia's character before this reveal. I would have cared more if this storyline had been used with Billie who was good at being vulnerable. I have not really warmed to Olivia in the same way. It concerns me that someone who is supposedly vulnerable, is being earmarked to be Hunter's new romance - like we can ignore what Hunter did. Kudos to VJ and Hunter for escalating their concerns to the grown ups early on.

The more evil Charlotte gets, the more I can't help rooting for her. I don't want her to get away with murder per se, but I will be sorry to see her go, and I am in no rush for that to happen.

[Red Ranger 1]

So, Gunno went along with Charlotte's cover story.I'm really not sure what his angle is, whether he's not being as clever as he thinks he is or not as stupid as he appears.He has used the situation to get Kat asking questions about Brax's assumed death but that's just hit a brick wall.Ironically, Charlotte finds out that Ash knows about Brax right after she stops reporting back to Gunno.Was he smart enough to have one of the friends he sent back to the Bay keep an eye on her?Charlotte is playing a dangerous game, since now someone else knows a portion of the truth.If Ash, Kyle and Andy ever compare notes, she'll be in trouble.Kyle's decided he wants nothing to do with her, so at least that's one person out of her way.

I was surprised that Gavin hit the tree on purpose.I'm pretty sure Ricky did tell Nate what Gavin did prior to him rocking up and telling him to get out of town.Even if Gavin was attention seeking rather than genuinely suicidal, the fact he nearly died definitely suggests he's desperate so Nate's willingness to turn his back on him did indeed seem cold. Ricky may come to regret it again but I'm glad she talked Nate round.

I share many of Pierced and Angelica's concerns about the Olivia storyline.Her getting the obligatory bikini scene may have been a plot point, but revealing that she has extensive scars down the whole of her thighs and then having her spend the rest of the episode in tiny shorts that should have shown them anyway was a serious misfire.(And was she always planning to make Hunter look away when she got out of the water?And did she not care about everyone else who was there?)Shoehorning Psycho Saint Hunter into the storyline to try and make us forget his Moral Event Horizon is simply causing me to have even less interest in the storyline than I would anyway.It felt like he was passing the buck when he offloaded on VJ but told him not to say anything, although he did eventually tell Zac.(Also, has Leah seen sense and let Oscar off his month's cleaning if VJ's suddenly being collared?)We've been given very little reason to like Olivia, not least because of her gushing over Saint Hunter (is Irene seriously fine with that?!), and I just can't believe in the bond between her and Irene.They don't seem to have any contact for ten years, Irene spends a few weeks with her in London, then she turns up and is instantly the most important person in Irene's life. The farcical way in which Irene's taken her away from her legal guardian's custody just because she felt like it really isn't helping either.(Does Diane know?)

[H&Alover]

Gunno isn't going to take Charlotte bossing him around lightly, but right now he needs her, but once he finds out what he wants to know, he'll get his revenge.  Emerson was very dismissive of Kat's worries about Charlotte and her (big) part in Trystan's death, but once he found out she had visited Gunno in prison his position changed.  I don't know if Kat telling Kyle was proper police procedure but it certainly changedhis mind about Charlotte being his sleeping buddy.  Not that she seemed art all bothered, after all he has served his purpose, he doesn't know Brax is alive. The 'we met in a bar' story Charlotte and Gunno spun Kat was pretty transparent as was the 'he got in touch after all these years and I felt sorry for him'.  It certainly put the seed of doubt about Brax being dead in Kat's mind which is what Gunno intended, hence her questioning Ash again, who naturally informed Ricky and Kyle. Any of you believe Charlotte telling Ash she won't tell Gunno anything, if he keeps quite about what she did to Trystan - no me neither! I'm not sure who is more dangerous, Gunno or Charlotte, people don't get sucked in as much by Gunno as they do Charlotte, typical psycho behaviour. I'm liking Kat being a cop a lot more than as a girlfriend.

Glad Ricky took Ash's advice and told Nate what Gavin did. Gavin complined Nate was ready to believe Ricky yet not his oen dad, but if he had form for that sort of thing who could blame him. I see that Nate was working on Gavin when he was brought in as always seems to happen in H&A, doctors working on relatives which is against protocol.  Although he was ranting onto Ricky that what he did (hurting himself) was par for the course, he didn't want anything more to do with him, hoped he got the help he needed etc.etc, he didn't sound that convincing, so lo and behold we see him sititng by Gavin's bed.

Olivia actually said what a lot of you have mentioned in the past when she said she was meeting Hunter, and Irene made a comment about Hunter being a potential boyfriend why couldn't a boy and girl be just friends!  Did Olivia really think Hunter wouldn't chance a sneaky look when she stepped out of the pool, which looked pretty nippy btw, why, apart from her scars, which no-one knows/knew about, would she be a shrinking violet about being seen in a bikini, she wasn't naked! They (the scars) did seem to be able to shrink and grow in different scenes, they weren't visible in her (short) shorts, yet very visible in the bikini bottom and seemed further down her legs. Although the truth that we know about him hasn't come out about Hunter he does seem to have grown up a lot and the chat he had with VJ was quite mature, good decision on both their parts to tell Zac, so he could tell Irene, something like that is too big for someone their age to handle. Olivia's problem has to be a lot more serious than a lad trying it on.

I think VJ's 'stealing' Leah's car out trumped Oscar's misdemeanour, hence VJ being on van cleaning duty.

[Red Ranger 1]

Phew, where to start? Well, kudos to Lynne and Raechelle, who knocked their scenes together out of the park.The relationship between Irene and Olivia actually came across as quite sweet here, at least until Irene started going weird.For the first time, I think her living there might work, ridiculous though the set-up is.The treatment of James still rankles, as now he's turned into a neglectful parent who let a paedophile into his house.I really hope he is told at one point and Irene's just respecting Olivia's wishes for now.(And when is this supposed to have happened?Olivia's description makes it sound as though she was very young, but if this happened the best part of a decade ago and James hasn't noticed anything about her behaviour since then he's very unobservant...)I just hope it gets explored thoroughly rather than them going "Okay, that's Olivia's tragic secret sorted, next story", as the fact she's still wearing tiny shorts with no scars in evidence because they want to show off the new eye candy suggests.This explains her arguable overreaction to the boy harassing her and possibly her attitudes towards VJ, Nate and Hunter, practically molesting them and then throwing a tantrum when they want anything serious.And I guess we'll have to write off her stealing Leah's car as "I was abused so I do random crazy things."But I did wonder if she was abused by a teacher and that explained her overreaction to Charlotte sleeping with a student and trying to turn Hunter against her...but looks like that was just her being a brat.I'd have preferred anyone but Hunter to be the one that talked her round, especially with his whining earlier in the episode, but he did give her good advice and there did seem to be a tacit acknowledgement that his own way of handling his issues wasn't the best way.(Of course, Olivia has a good reason for having issues and Hunter doesn't...)So, the phrase "It'll be our little secret" certainly seemed to have an effect on Irene. She doesn't know the person in question, does she?

Maddy really did seem to be trying to pick a fight with Oscar near the start, and for someone who's supposedly trying to avoid Matt she seems to spend a lot of time seeking him out. Asia didn't seem as annoying as Matt and Maddy tried to make out, and I see the point of sticking to a theme if you've got one, although assigning both of them to liaise with catering did seem unnecessary.I loved Oscar winding them up, it made me wonder if he'd decided he didn't have a hope of winning so he was just going to have fun, but then he was so sweet when he asked Maddy to the formal and again I wondered why she'd look twice at Matt when she's got him.Because she seemed far more jealous of Matt scoring a date with Asia than of Oscar's flirting.Meanwhile, Matt's way of handling the situation is to plan to have group sex (because sleeping with someone else has worked so well for him so far...) until Maddy's response is a complete headbanger. Seriously?! Does she actually like that Matt likes her? Is she just going to string both boys along until she makes a choice?

It's a shame that all that overshadowed Jett's appearance.I really wasn't expecting to see him after he didn't turn up for the vow renewal.John was good value, I get the feeling he deliberately got the oven setting wrong to get Roo to stay.(Has she really not gone on holiday yet?I got the impression she was leaving right after her chat with Alf last week.)Nice that Nina wasn't forgotten about but seems John was right about Jett having a new girlfriend (that might have been Marilyn on the phone but it's probably the girl from the promo). Good role for Chris as well, as he shows he's a lover not a fighter and can't resist spending time with J.Palmer and J.Palmer.

[atrus]

Playing catch-up again, and some really powerful scenes with Irene and Olivia, especially in Thursday's episode. The revelations about Olivia's abuse really dwarf her bratty behaviour thus far and probably help to explain most of it. I think that although the Charlotte/Matt situation isn't directly comparable to her own given he's an adult, she must have been seeing some parallels there in terms of Charlotte's abuse of a position of trust, and that's why she lashed out at her. Unfortunately I feel the storyline's been undermined quite a bit by having Olivia prance about in threadbare outfits, including the scene at the beach pool which I felt was downright bizarre under the circumstances. I guess it's almost in the DNA of H&A that it exhibits a jarring Jekyll/Hyde approach when it comes to storylines like this; it insists on tackling them, which I think is right, but could really do with toning down the usual flesh-flaunting in the midst of such scenarios. I feel Olivia would be far less comfortable in her own skin than she's been depicted as being, due to the scars and also what she's lived through more generally - and her parading around in skimpy swimwear, only suddenly to become coy when a fellow speaking character appears (whom she'd arranged to meet), doesn't seem to sit right at all. Meanwhile, I'm still finding it difficult to buy into the old-married-couple vibe that Hunter and VJ seem to have going at the moment, when I still feel the significant earlier animosity between the two hasn't anywhere near been properly resolved. Very curious as to why Irene's reacting so strongly to the phrase "our little secret", although dramatically speaking I found myself wishing they'd chosen a different, less obvious string of words - that particular phrase does seem to be somewhat over-prevalent in soap abuse storylines, from memory.

I'm pretty much with Maddy on Asia being "the most annoying person ever known", which made Oscar's immature fawning around her even more difficult to swallow. Much as I resent the writers twisting Oscar's personality in order to help justify Maddy and Matt, there comes a point when I guess I have to accept this new direction as part and parcel of the character - which is, I'm afraid, starting to impact on what I think about Maddy staying with him. Green really isn't a good colour on Oscar and I can see why she's starting to waver - although I was glad that he manned up and apologised by the end of the episode (to Maddy if not to Matt), which hopefully signals an end to his childishness and left me with hope for them after all. I felt Matt's stated aim of hooking up with as many girls as possible "at once" was just his usual defence mechanism kicking in and not a genuine statement of intention; but regardless, he certainly wasn't expecting the effect it seemed to have on Maddy...

Found it difficult to care about the latest medical emergency; Gavin is hardly a character I'm invested in, and I'm not at all sure Nate is either. I did find Ricky's keenness for Nate not to give up on his dad quite endearing though, especially given how badly he's treated her since arriving in the Bay.

Great to see Jett back to help fill the void for John with Marilyn gone; their father/son thing always comes across really genuinely on-screen, and reminded me just how far they've both come. Curious to see who his secret new love interest is.

You get the sense that the Charlotte saga must be nearing some kind of denouement now, as Ash begins to get drawn in too. I'm partly wondering whether Charlotte will betray him to Gunno in order to finally get him off her case. I also continue to worry for Kat's health - if she's so sure about Charlotte being up to no good, I think she needs to stop making it so apparent when talking to her. Because we know how dangerous Charlotte can be.

[Psychic Wombat]

I don't know how the police can conclude that Gavin's accident was a suicide attempt because there were no tyre marks, more likely he was drunk and passed out behind the wheel. I'm actually with Nate on this one I think Gavin should go crawl back under the rock he came from. I think the accident was just an excuse to use the hospital set.

I think Maddie is beginning to feel constrained by Oscars insecurity and general middle agedness, he reminds me a little of Spencer, well meaning but a little wet. I can see her attraction to Matt, he may have lost his bad boy image (apart from cougar wrangling ) but he's still a cool skater dude. I wonder if he'll go to the prom with Asia, who doesn't seem to be half the nightmare Maddie said she was - I've seen Evie far worse.

Nice to see John get Jett back to keep him company, some good times ahead until women spoil their fun lol.

The Olivia storyline is so lame -  that's all I can say about it.