Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[CaptainHulk]

Can anyone pin down exactly when the YCPS (Yabbie Creek Police Station) had its makeover? Doesn't look much like the one we had from 2004-15.

[KIMIF1]

I think it was about the time Brax was arrested over Dean,   he made a remark about the change at the time - possibly around Episodes 6125/6.

[CaptainHulk]

Cheers.

Kind of miss the previous set. I think they nailed it then because previous YCPS sets had that Bush Station feel (1993 showed it at its most "Country"). But this one's decent and modern.

 

[Slade]

I couldn't stop laughing when Olivia was rolling her eyes at Claire sucking up to Irene.  I just love the intensity in those eyes whenever she stares at anyone.  She is like a dog with a bone and if it had been a character I didn't like I would probably have found it annoying but I liked her perseverance.  Loved the cynicism when she was bitching to Roo about it "Oh wow, you'r breathing - me too" and the comment about connecting with someone's wallet.  And she seemed to have gotten Roo onside initially but after the background check on Claire from Morag came back clean she's going to have to go at it alone.  Whilst I think Olivia is right I do think she is being dramatic and feeling threatened as I mentioned previously.  Was half expecting her to spit on Claire's cup of tea.  Mixed feelings about the DNA test whilst I don't like the idea of her going behind Irene's back I don't really see the harm.  If she's wrong that's good news for Irene as Claire is really her daughter.  If she's right at least they can try and stop Claire from conning Irene.

Who the hell would want to put Kat up for a promotion given how she conducted herself when she was going after Charlotte?  Is superintendent Joyce female?  Or a male that has slept with Kat at some point in the past? 

I think the fact that Kat said to Dylan there will never be an us means she will probably take him back although she's stupid if she does.

Really liking the idea of Andy and Ash working together at the garage.  Didn't realise Phoebe had actually invested money into the business.  Thought it was just Kat and I thought Phoebe was skint.  I guess they're not going to celebrate Dylan being their first customer then.

I quite like the mind games he was playing with Ash again as long as he doesn't try and ruin their business.  Although he was obviously doing that more for Kat's benefit given that she's a part owner.  I have to say as a character I find Dylan fascinating and am actually looking forward to seeing how things develop with Kat.

[atrus]

Hi everyone; I'm back after a 10-episode marathon. To be honest I'd been contemplating cutting my losses with H&A, at least for a little while, as things seemed to have been going round in circles for some time now, with a larger-than-usual quota of dull characters and repetitive storylines. And then I was channel-flicking the other day, and who should I see grimacing into my living room but Morag Bellingham. Well, it felt like fate; I'm a sucker for Morag, and it's some time since I had my last fix - so crawling back I came. Apologies in advance - I'll try to keep it as concise as possible.

Everyone seems to be loving the garage storyline, so possibly I'm alone in not being particularly interested. It just feels like the writers have sat around a table and asked how they could make Ash and Andy's characters a bit more hypermasculine, for some inexplicable reason. Yes, have them open a garage - great. I wasn't at all convinced on the logic of it opening its doors around the back of the caravan park, as I wouldn't imagine it would be very well connected in terms of thoroughfares - plus the noise would surely annoy the guests. So I was glad Alf nipped that one in the bud and found them an alternative site. Not at all sure on the legality of Phoebe coming on board as a 'figurehead' - it really depends on how the regulatory regime works in Australia (certainly it seems more stringent than the regulation of mechanics in this country) but in other comparable industries, the licence-holder is often supposed to be the man (or woman) on the ground - not one of your mates who happens not to have been in prison.

I'm a bit divided on the Kyle/Isla stuff. On one hand I was rolling my eyes at the prospect of yet another Braxton gangster-related storyline, which have become so old-hat now that they've even given up on giving the antagonists interesting names, and resorted to the likes of Dave Rogers (shouldn't he at least be called Davo or Rogo?). And it annoyed me how Kyle automatically assumed that Isla ought not to be separated from her kids just because, when to me it seems as if she's inhabiting a world not entirely conducive to responsible motherhood. But there were some points of interest to the storyline - notably, Isla not being a cookie-cutter villain (unlike old Davo himself, who was practically frothing at the mouth with panto value), and Kyle actually opting to involve the police, which was a real turn-up for the books, and actually quite refreshing. Especially since Emerson was dragged out from hibernation to service the storyline; I'm a sucker for Emerson, too.

And speaking of Emerson, can he just not take over the Charlotte murder investigation now, please? Much as Morag's arrival has made the storyline infinitely more enjoyable, I am getting rather sick of the formulaic storytelling here. A character's dragged in having been discovered to have been lurking around the pier/rock pool (delete as appropriate - I don't pretend to be anything approaching clear on the geography); doesn't have an alibi/has a false one; gets hauled over the coals a bit by Carter (invariably via procedures that are flagged up by all and sundry as Not By The Book); Kat does her Compassionate Policing routine and reminds Carter that they don't really have any evidence, usually after inappropriate pressuring from friends and family of the accused; and then eventually they get released. The point of release is being dragged out a little further each time, admittedly, so that now we actually have Zac on trial - but I don't doubt that he'll eventually be acquitted in exactly the same way as everyone else so far. And then perhaps it will be Andy's turn. What's making it less plausible is that nobody appears to be acting particularly suspiciously when they're embroiled in other storylines, unlike how absolutely everybody in the Bay was acting suspiciously on the night in question. I feel this could all have been done in a much more interesting way, although don't ask me how - I'm not a crime writer.

In the case of this latest iteration of the rinse-and-repeat 'wrongfully accused' storyline, we seem also to have moved onto the stock ancillary plots that come into play whenever someone in soap is suspected of a really bad thing. The pitchfork-wielding townsfolk have been laughable, particularly because, as noted above, they were also prominent in their desire to crucify Charlotte last year - whereas now, suddenly, every minor character and his dog is outraged by her untimely demise. Then there was the house getting broken into and trashed, which felt a bit OTT in honesty - the external graffiti would have sufficed. And of course, enter the truth-twisting local journo who wants to hear 'your side of the story', a trope as old as the hills. Leah's lived through enough of these kinds of crises to know better. I'm not sure what to make of the Kat/Carter personal situation. You get the feeling she's definitely going to succumb to him sooner or later, and I like how they're at least trying to give him a three-dimensional backstory, even if it's not been successful in making me like or care about him. His proposal video footage in particular gave me the creeps.

I like Claire and I like her relationship with Irene, and so I really do hope Olivia's wrong about them not being mother and daughter. But sadly, all narrative indicators are pointing to Olivia being right. (Looks like the Fraser-Richards schtick isn't just a quirk of the credits but a quirk more generally, as she was seen filling that in as her name on the web form when she ordered the DNA test kit.) Still, if Claire's just a by-the-numbers con artist I won't be pleased - it's certainly not how she's coming across, and I'd much rather it turned out to be a case of mutual wishful thinking by both parties rather than anything more sinister than that. Glad I wasn't the only one shouting at the screen when Irene referred to Damo as her eldest; I sincerely hope it wasn't that way in the script, as you'd think that Lynne might have spotted it if so, even if the writers hadn't.

No surprise that Skye's glasses have mysteriously disappeared within weeks of her being added to the regular cast - I'm pretty sure it's obligatory (although I'm sure someone will remind me of the exception to the rule that's slipped my mind).

Did I sleep through the episode where Hunter's layby lover Lindsay came to town for a catfight with Olivia? Or has that thread been dropped for the time being?

Hannah, Hannah, Hannah. As I predicted weeks ago, no sooner was I being seduced once more by her kooky relationship with goofball man-child Chris, than she was calling him a goofball man-child and ending their relationship again, following the result of her cancer gene testing - which was blatantly going to turn out badly for her all along. I don't wish to sound unsympathetic, but I really wasn't interested in seeing her embark on another weeks-long session of her customary self-absorbed navel-gazing, and was more or less willing Chris to whip her up a batch of his famous toadstool risotto in order to put her, and us, out of our misery before things progress any further.

Nate and Ricky struggle to find quality time together - yawn.

Am I alone in missing Billie's evil side?

[CaptainHulk]

^ Kind of. What she did to Nate was indefensible.

[atrus]

Oh yeah, I would never seek to defend what she did to Nate. But just from a dramatic perspective, I mean - I'm not sure what the point was of bringing her back just to make her another bland twentysomething do-gooder. I get that she learned from her mistakes last year, but all the fire seems to have gone out of the character, and she just seems to hang around giving people advice. So pretty much like everyone else on the show. Perhaps that'll change when they give her some storylines.

[H&Alover]

Welcome back atrus!!

Just a small observation but won't they need an inspection pit at the garage if they are going to be a proper business?  I wondered why Dylan turned up, couldn't be he was going to fit them up in some way, it's obvious Dylan is jealous of Kat's friendship with Ash, so he caught Ash giving Kat a hug when he saw them at Angelo's, as Kat pointed out Phoebe, Ash's girlfriend, was there so hardly suspicious.  That was a tad stalkerish Dylan rewatching that old video. So the overalls Phoebe bought didn't go down well, but if they want to look professional it's a good idea. Phoebe is just a figurehead/sleeping partner.  Obviously you know atrus in England if you have done time in you can own a pub but you can't  be the licence holder, as in Steve in Corrie for instance, but I couldn't see the reasoning behind either Ash or Andy not being able to have a licence for a garage.

No you haven't missed Lindsey turning up so still possible she/he may turn up.

Olivia may not be subtle in her suspicions over Claire and I think she is genuinely concerned, but  she was right when she was telling Skye about how con artists work, they don't blatantly ask for money just drop hints like Claire did. As Irene believes (or wants to) believe Claire is her daughter she naturally wants to keep seeing her, making up for a lot of lost time. Actually I think it would be a lot worse if she really is Irene's daughter and  is still out to con her. Roo was on the alert after Olivia's rant about her but interesting she caught Claire out on her slip. Wondered how long it would be before Morag was roped in to check up on Claire.

Billie was a bit of a wild child, but apart from her lying about Nate I'd hardly call her evil.

[CaptainHulk]

Fair enough but I still think it was a Colossal Bitch Move.

[atrus]

Maybe that's what I mean - her wild child side! She just hasn't really done anything interesting since she came back.

Onto today's episode, and all I have to say is that I found everything about Hannah's storyline really off-key - from the mastectomy cocktail party (is that a thing?) to the 'breast posterity' topless photo shoot (is that a thing?) Irene's remark along the lines that: "My situation was slightly different in that I actually had cancer" was about the most sensible thing anyone said all day. I'm not a medical expert and I don't know the facts and figures behind the evil cancer gene, but I do think that Hannah's being incredibly silly in rushing into this without taking at least a few weeks out to consider her options.

Wasn't really paying attention to the Kisla stuff.

Was trying to work out who the doctor reminded me of from Summer Bay's past - and then I hit on it. Dead ringer for Nicolle DIckson, anyone?