Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Re Olivia/James/whatever... The way Olivia described it ("He made me touch him") made it sounds like she was a pre-teen at the time the abuse occurred, meaning it would have been some years ago.But the whole thing is even more vague than usual, and Hunter's frustratingly coy "Have you ever..?Sorry" seemed to be implying that he's been told about something more than we have.Anyway, I continue to feel frustrated at the way James has been completely cut out of Olivia's life at a few words from Irene.Especially given that she's now being portrayed as a less than trustworthy guardian herself.Incidentally, it seemed Charlotte was more threatening Kyle than blackmailing him.He does know not to go anywhere near a road she's driving on after all.

Today! The timescale seems to be all over the place.I'll take the explanation of Leah coming back from...somewhere to explain why she's only comforting Zac now.But apparently Irene was only away one night.Anyway, it was good to see Alf, Chris and Evelyn, a bunch of character you don't normally see interacting, all coming together to persuade Leah and Zac to go ahead with the wedding.(We never met Denny's mother but Denny went off to visit her at least once.)I found Chris good value, even if his topless waiter idea was inappropriate: Alf's assessment of him, that his heart's in the right place but what on earth is he on sometimes, seems apt.Leah's comment about her family suggests her weddings are following the same pattern as Sally's:Loads of people come back for the first two, by the time of the third they can't be bothered.I can understand why the show's suddenly trying to portray Maddy as having a deep insight into Matt (with her "Only to me" after twigging he was trying to distract them) but that doesn't mean I like it.

Talking of things I don't like...Hunter erasing the photos of Charlotte was presumably meant to signify him cutting ties with the past, but he really doesn't deserve a fresh start, as he himself acknowledged.And I really don't buy the attempt to portray him as a poor neglected child who's never had a family.The scene between him and Zac reminded me of a similar moment between Sid and Sasha where they try to place huge importance on a "Dad" but I'm pretty sure he was calling him that already.I share atrus' love of VJ, which makes Olivia choosing the arsonist over him rather frustrating.To be honest, I wouldn't have been at all unhappy if Charlotte just carried on driving since I'm giving up hope for a satisfying resolution of the Kings' crime spree.I know it's not the Home and Away way, but I'd actually have liked Leah and Zac to get married in peace after everything.

Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the Nate/Ricky scenes, there was some good banter and interplay between them.Ricky interrupting Nate's latest proposal herself was a complete headbanger but at least now he knows she knows...even if he's not doing anything about it.

[Pierced Musie]

I am going against the grain here... I hated that scene between all the teens coming in laughing. If the timeline is right it has only been a few days since Denny was found in an unmarked grave. Perhaps it was the inclusion of that Evie scene in the previously bit but it just left me cold. The whole thing was off.

[CaptainHulk]

With Irene in the state she is, I'm amazed that Old Vulture Diana hasn't swooped in!

[H&Alover]

I may be wrong but maybe Olivia was trying to prove to herself she was over the assault or whatever it was by sleeping with Hunter and at least they, unlike some adults on the show, did use protection.  As it turned out it isn't all 'sorted' for her as someone on here suggested, maybe there was more to the 'he made me touch him' than we know.   If we didn't know what Hunter had done his and Olivia's pairing isn't that too out there. Hunter does seem a big boy for 16 (unless he's had an unspoken birthday) but VJ suddenly shot up, though changing bodies had a lot to do with that.

Leah had been in the city sorting her wedding dress, which may I say looked lovely.  Thanks for the reminder why Kyle hates Charlotte.

I wondered about the teens coming in laughing, while Hunter was moping in the hall. 

So Kat can follow procedures when it comes to investigating Billie and her 'involvement' in her (Kat's) attack, but it goes straight out of the window when it comes to Charlotte!  Possibly the reason why Charlotte hasn't pressed charges about police  harassment is because of the interest it may stir up. Funny how Hunter never follows through with his threats of going to the police about the things Charlotte has done. She is certainly racking up the enemy tally, Ash, Kyle, Kat, Gunno and even though he doesn't know Zac.

Irene may have said things were fine at Fin's but methinks differently, especially if she was having secret swigs of whatever she has in that hip flask.  Following on from Chris' larking about as a semi nude waiter, complete change of mood when Alf asked him to keep a eye on Irene. I liked it when Alf surprised himself when he said he actually agreed with Chris' suggestion Leah and Zac go ahead with the wedding.  That certainly was forward thinking on Denny's part getting those mugs made for Zac and Leah.

Andy and Hannah, I can see why Andy would initially be the one to comfort her, he was with Hannah when Denny was about, but she was giving out mixed messages, despite her denial, though she did admit she had feelings for him (a condition that seems to be catching in the bay). Her insisting nothing could happen, and nothing did, as she was with Chris and when Andy dared to suggest she finish with him she came out with the line she couldn't hurt him like that!  So carrying on seeing him letting him think she loves him is better?

Ricky thinking she was pregnant came out of the blue and put the mockers on Nate's proposal once again. As a complete aside is there a reason why Casey always wears a hat  indoors?  So are Ricky and Nate just carrying on as a couple for now, seemed a it up in the air.

So Charlotte was spying on the happy couple and we saw her gate crashing the wedding and I bet it's not to chuck confetti about!

 

[Pierced Musie]

Another missed opportunity of mixing old with the new. Instead of another Chris/Hannah scene that went from Irene to their relationship they could have had a cracking scene between Alf & Chris. Chris thinks that this behaviour is all new when it comes to Irene so it would have been wonderful for Alf to tell him (& newer audiences) a bit about Irene of old.

That Maddy/Matt scene was almost bearable to watch... until Oscar walked in & Maddy gave the worst bitchface I have seen on H&A since Hayley (... or maybe Dani, who had a great bitchface). I think it was supposed to be a 'oh no, busted' face but came across as an 'oh joy, here comes Oscar </sarcasm>' face. It was a weird moment.

I would respect Hunter more if he called Charlotte's bluff and went to the police, manning up & owning up to everything that has gone on since they arrived.

Chris gets bonus points for suggesting there was still time for him to appear in a dress. Phoebe also gets bonus points for her enthusiastic response. Chris/Phoebe has potential...

[Red Ranger 1]

I remember right back when Charlotte came in I predicted that the finale week would see her blowing up Zac and Leah's wedding.Well...what she did was considerably less extreme as it turns out.Part of me would have liked Zac and Leah's wedding to go off without a hitch but I actually rather liked Charlotte's rant, which had a lot of truth in it and most of the targets deserved it.Her private spat at Hunter had me 100% on her side: He's wrecked Charlotte's life, caused Denny's death and walked away from the carnage to play happy families with the people he tried to destroy.What I did find frustrating was the constant cutting from the beginning of the wedding to Charlotte sneaking around the house which had me screaming "I don't care!" Not sure what to make of Charlotte trying on the veil and then discarding it: Was that, and her sudden venom towards Hunter after leaving his photo behind, a sign that she's cut off her last human ties and abandoned the idea of getting her family back? She did seem almost suicidal at the end, as if she was contemplating driving into the sea and ending it all.

Anyway, I am glad Zac and Leah got married.I blinked a bit at Leah calling Zac the love of her life, because she's had a lot of those, but I hope Zac sticks around long term and we don't have Leah standing by another grave in a couple of years.They're a rare bright spark: For about five years now I've been realising I don't like the majority of the couples on the show but recently they seem to have turned Nice Guys Finish Last into a mission statement.Hannah prefers Andy to Chris, Olivia prefers Hunter to VJ, Maddy prefers Matt to Oscar... Olivia's only on screen a few seconds and I still went "Oh no, not you", while we get another contrived reason for Matt to hang around Maddy spouting innuendo (sorry, it's probably my problem, but I find Matt rather sleazy at times).It's hard to tell if Oscar's giving them permission was him being the better man or sheer frustration that he and Maddy aren't even together and they still won't be honest.

I'm still finding Irene's alcoholism a case of someone dusting off scripts from the turn of the decade, her punching Chris was almost a carbon copy of what happened with Annie. The longer this drags on, the more cavalier people's attitudes seem.Still, it's a very good episode for Chris (although I wasn't keen on the exchange with Phoebe, which felt like she was treating him as a figure of fun).He does his best with Irene and shows he's smarter than he seems with his insight into Hannah.

[Pierced Musie]

Saw that Andy/Evie kiss coming for a while and I have to say... That. Was. Hot.

I would like to give you a view of what it is like watching a death on H&A in my house when Dad is here. The question is 'Who done it?' and the reply '... shark. The shark did it!'. Yes, this is the reply every bloody time.

All in all it was a good set up for a whodunit.

[CaptainHulk]

Am I a monster for wanting that Bitch to HAVE driven into the sea?  Point is I liked Denny and she was Prematurely cut down by that COW!

(That sounds like something Ash or Andy would say, This modern product sends a HORRIBLE message! )

Oscar looks like he was about to rip off that suit, turn green and smash! 

Having seen today's ep, while Charlotte had a point about the bay's residents. I was triumphant on

her getting her Boosta-fazoo (Simpsons slang for Just desserts)

.

As for Innuendo as Red put it, I can see this conversation:

Maddy: Innuendo?

Matt: I think It's an Italian Suppository or something. 

Cue VJ/Oscar spitting out juice/breakfast. 

(I'm here all week people! )

I guess we know who'll cop for the lot when Irene goes: Fin, Barry and the Kids. Barely Any mention of Nathan or Damo.

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Five! It's finale week and we're watching double and triple-bills cut up, so things go a bit crazy, not least because every single regular currently in Summer Bay was in the finale.Non-regulars Charlotte and Hunter were also in all five (although Charlotte had no dialogue on Wednesday), while Irene, Roo, Zac, Hannah, Evelyn, Oscar, Ash, Kat and Olivia all appeared in four (although Evelyn and Ash didn't seem to have any dialogue on Thursday, Olivia wasn't credited on Thursday and Roo didn't seem to have any dialogue on Thursday or Friday).John appeared in two and didn't seem to have any dialogue on Thursday either.(Yeah, Thursday was a weird one.)

So is Charlotte a goner? I think we can safely assume so.I get the feeling they dropped her in the sea just to make sure there was no doubt, given that people have actually survived being shot at point blank range on this show.Given that she seemed to leave Kat's gun in her car, I'm guessing someone found and used it.You can tell something's going to happen from the fact people kept lining up to say variations of "I'm going to kill her!", after which most of them wandered off on their own and a few of them came back saying things like "We don't have to worry about Charlotte anymore."At this point it'd be quicker to list anyone who doesn't have a motive than anyone who does but here goes: Alf, Zac, Evelyn, Oscar, Hannah, Phoebe, Kat, Ash, Chris, Ricky and Kyle were all close enough to Denny to want her killer punished, Kyle, Hunter, Andy and Josh want to cover up their crimes, Ash wants her to keep quiet about Brax, Kat was attacked and nearly killed thanks to her, Billie was framed by her, Olivia wants to stop Hunter leaving town, Leah had her wedding spoiled by her, Matt was used and humiliated by her, Maddy and Josh were threatened by her, and Irene just seems to hate her for the sake of it.And none of them seem to have a definite alibi. Maybe Emerson should give up again.

It underlines the randomness of who's in and who's out in Summer Bay that seconds after declaring prison's too good for Charlotte, Irene smiles at Hunter like he's a cute little cherub. What's the bet that no-one does blame him for Charlotte's actions even though they should?Everyone seems to assume Charlotte did the Diner robbery and Hunter's the only person left alive who knows the truth unless the police do a proper DNA check on the safe for once in their lives.Olivia's attempt to get him to stay with "After all we've been through" was beyond daft.What, you mean a couple of weeks dating and an afternoon bunk-up?

Matt and Maddy...well, at least it was only one scene.I'm guessing that was Skye on the other end when John answered the phone and didn't seem to hear anything.(Bizarrely, she was actually credited, suggesting something was cut.)Chris' final surprise was actually a winner, shame he wasn't there for anyone to thank him.Lovely black comedy moment when Oscar asks Kyle if he's ever felt like killing anyone and Kyle looks as if he's thinking "Yeah...No comment." Nate finally proposes to Ricky...and then Phoebe decides to spoil it for them just to make herself feel better.And an Andelyn kiss which I never thought they'd do! Shame so much focus is on Hannah's reaction (after she's spent the episode following Andy about loudly announcing she's single as if she expects him to sweep her into his arms...which he probably would have done if he hadn't got other things on his mind), so even if they do follow through on this it probably won't last.

[Red Ranger 1]

Apologies for the double post but want to have this on its own because I think we might need it...and also hoping that I haven't got any details wrong and should probably review.So, let's play Cluedo!

Likely suspects:
* Zac leaves the house after declaring that if he'd known what Charlotte had down he'd have killed her.He later returns declaring Charlotte's dealt with...
* Kyle and Oscar encounter each other near Angelo's and go their separate ways. Kyle is later seen down by the beach on his own.
* Andy and Evelyn also meet each other near Angelo's and part.Both are later seen on their own and Andy has a sudden urge to wash his hands...
* Hunter heads off into the night alone after visiting Olivia.Olivia later tracks him down on her own and says he doesn't need to worry about Charlotte...
* Ash leaves Angelo's alone declaring he should have throttled Charlotte when he had the chance.He later turns up at Phoebe's place, evasive about where he's been and insisting Charlotte won't say anything about Brax...
* Irene heads off on her own after declaring Charlotte deserves worse than prison.She is later seen wandering around on her own, with a tear in her coat that we're probably meant to think is significant...

Slightly less likely suspects:
* Ricky is still at the wedding when Kat announces Charlotte killed Denny.Next time we see her she's at home alone.
* Phoebe is left behind on her own at Angelo's.She's next seen at home alone.
* Kat turns up at the wedding looking for Charlotte and is not seen again.She has some other officers with her but could she have slipped away alone?
* Leah is left alone in her bedroom when Zac leaves and is still there when he returns...but could she have slipped out in the meantime?
* Hannah is last seen leaving Angelo's alone...but does she even know Charlotte killed Denny?

Rank outsiders:
* Alf, Maddy and Matt are seen discussing Kat's news with (most of) the rest of the household in the front room.Leah and Zac later go upstairs but it's not clear what happens to the rest of them.
* Chris returns home early in the episode and goes to his room.It's not clear where he is when Olivia comes home and tells Irene that Charlotte killed Denny.
* Josh is present when Kyle and Andy discuss the fact Charlotte could land them all in jail and is nowhere to be seen when Andy returns home...but if he's blind, could he really find Charlotte and a gun and shoot her?
* Billie was last seen at the police station the previous day and Kat said they'd have to keep her in for a bit.It's not clear if Ash told her his suspicions about Charlotte and she may have the only watertight alibi on display.

So what can we conclude from this? They probably all did it.