Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

On ‎30‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 1:16 PM, Slade said:

Is superintendent Joyce female?  

As Kat alluded to, Superintendent Joyce was the chap that suspended her when Charlotte set her up.

On ‎01‎/‎05‎/‎2016 at 7:00 AM, atrus said:

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).

Someone on another thread pointed out Robbie.To be honest, I'm at a loss as to why they'd bring Skye in wearing glasses and then just have them disappear without explanation after a couple of months.I've heard it called a makeover but aside from that she seems to be dressing exactly the same and it's not like she didn't look pretty with them.Was she only meant to be a guest and got expanded?Did the actress find them uncomfortable and ask for them to be dropped?

On ‎01‎/‎05‎/‎2016 at 4:17 PM, H&Alover said:

I wondered why Dylan turned up, couldn't be he was going to fit them up in some way,

I suspect he was trying to ingratiate himself with Kat and show he wasn't jealous of her friends after all.

Today's ep!

I actually didn't mind the Hannah stuff.I take the point that this isn't the urgent life-saving operation that it's arguably presented as, but I also think that if you are going to decide to have preventative surgery then you'd do it pretty much straightaway, not a few years down the line.The cocktail thing was tacky but I think it was meant to be, Hannah burying her feelings with black humour and everyone else letting her set the tone and go along with it.I'm glad that, rightly or wrongly, Billie didn't join in with the gushing "Of course you're doing the right thing" and was honest enough to admit she didn't understand why anyone would do that.I think the character's been developed well since her return: If she'd carried on pulling stunts like she did on Nate or even throwing herself at guys and becoming obsessed with them like she did with Kyle, she'd have had a limited shelf life.She needed to settle down and I think she still maintains a feisty side, especially where Ash is concerned.Chris was bumbling but well-meaning, from his hijacking the counselling session to his support group research.The photoshoot wasn't particularly to my taste, but if Hannah appreciated it then I guess that's the main thing.(That's the same counsellor that Alf and Marilyn saw last year, incidentally.Mind you, she seems to have changed the spelling of her surname on the end credits, even though it was the same on her nameplate...)

I'm with Ricky, Kyle is getting in way too deep with Isla without really having any reason to trust her.I get that his intentions are good (although the fact he starts sleeping with her so quickly muddies it a lot and reinforces the idea of him being fooled by a pretty face), but he's trying to do too much too quickly.We learn now that the girls are being looked after by someone called Harry: Ex-husband?Ex-boyfriend?Kids' uncle?Which seems reasonable without having met him, and Kyle seems to be acting as though Isla should have them staying with her right now, when it's clear that she's far from reformed and he should probably be trying to get her back on the straight and narrow (which her justifying working for criminals with "It's okay if no-one knows" suggests she's far off at the moment) before encouraging her to go for custody, joint or otherwise.

Similarly, or possibly in contrast, I share Phoebe's concern about Kat getting involved with Carter again, but sabotaging their dates is only going to work for so long.I think Phoebe's being a bit heavy-handed and needs to back off and settle for just giving Kat advice.

[atrus]

14 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Someone on another thread pointed out Robbie.To be honest, I'm at a loss as to why they'd bring Skye in wearing glasses and then just have them disappear without explanation after a couple of months.I've heard it called a makeover but aside from that she seems to be dressing exactly the same and it's not like she didn't look pretty without them.Was she only meant to be a guest and got expanded?Did the actress find them uncomfortable and ask for them to be dropped?

Yes, I'd forgotten about Robbie. It didn't seem to do the show any irreparable damage to have a bespectacled character then, so why now? It could be to do with the actress finding them uncomfortable, I suppose - that could explain why there wasn't time to write it into the script?

Or perhaps the network made known its feelings on diversity again.

[Angelica]

5 hours ago, atrus said:

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

I agree. While I am all for characters developping, I feel like Billie is the female version of Hunter. She went from doing something quite reprehensible to returning as a saintly character forever dispensing good advice and never putting a foot wrong. While getting arrested might have forced her to grow up, I can't believe that all her issues that caused her to stay in an abusive relationship have suddenly vanished (which they seem to have).Her vulnerability despite her seeming craziness is what made her so interesting in her first stint is what made her so endearing yet interesting. This new version of Billie is just blah and not quite believable (too good to be true).

[Slade]

"My gut's telling me this is the right thing to do" - I don't think it's your gut telling you that Kyle.  And it's certainly not the thing in between your ears.  It's the thing in between your legs.  Regardless Ricky's absolutely right.  I don't trust Isla and I especially don't trust her now that she's slept with Kyle as although he offered her the money after it still felt like she was using sex to manipulate him.  I wonder if he bothered to check with Andy and Josh if she could stay given that he threw his toys out the pram when Casey did the same thing with Josh previously. So he's actually going to use the money from selling the gym to pay for a lawyer.  What he's doing is beyond stupid IMO.  But his funeral where I assuming this is going to turn out pear-shaped.

When I saw Billie working with Ash and Andy last week at the garage I thought she had quit her job and was working for them now but she was in her gym uniform today so I'm assuming the sale hasn't actually gone through yet.

My main issue with this storyline with Hannah is essentially what they are doing yet again is trying to force the audience to like a character that was previously unlikeable (Kind of like Maddy before and when she had the big C) that it makes me less sympathetic towards her even though you could argue the storyline is a sad one.

Quite enjoying seeing Dylan trying to manipulate Kat into taking him back.  And it appears to be working.  I was actually annoyed with Phoebe (no change there) for sticking her oar in as I'm finding the dynamic between Dylan and Kat fascinating and am interested to see what happens with these two.

[H&Alover]

Have to agree with other people's (and Ricky's) thoughts about Kyle getting so involved with Isla so quickly, her doing just one more job for Dave's gang - there's never just one more job - and how come they aren't under arrest along with him?  He really is a sucker for a pretty girl with a sob story and especially if there are kids involved. He is an adult though and Ricky telling him not to get in too deep will only make him do the opposite.  Gong by the trailer it soon goes pear shaped.

I liked the Hannah thing, she was so obviously in denial but desperately putting on a brave face with the cocktail party.  Interesting to see how the other women from Irene down (the eldest) to Billie (the youngest in the absence of Evie) how they would react to the news. I know who Pammi is of course but who is Charlene when Hannah was deciding what size she should opt for.  I think Billie voiced some of their thoughts but were afraid to say out loud.  I love how Chris is being so supportive and how he is doing all he can to help her.  Nice chat with Irene when she said she knew she had cancer and therefore didn't have  a choice.  I personally the liked photo shoot (and good to see Ricky was chosen to do it), so Chris deciding to strip off (well almost) to give Hannah confidence. He really has stepped up to the mark. True he may have a wobble at some point but he's only human.

Someone needed to be the voice of reason with Kat and her possibly getting back with Dylan and it was quite subtle (for Phoebe) saying she needed to work so someone should be there for Hannah.  I know I don't trust him.

[Red Ranger 1]

I take the point that after that splash of her return with Charlotte framing her and the court case Billie hasn't done much.But I think that's necessary, and if she was spending all her time having meltdowns and then staring at people with those big brown eyes we'd get fed up of it pretty quickly.If she's only here for a few weeks then she should be doing things, but I'm hoping they're testing her out for permanent cast, in which case they need to show she can be integrated with the other characters and play her part when she's not the main focus of an episode, then when she does get a storyline it'll have more impact.I liked her role yesterday, that she was the one who was blunt and honest while everyone else was saying what they were supposed to.I think she was just helping out at the garage rather than working there, but you would expect some follow through on the gym sale, especially since Andy seems to have quit.Is Billie meant to be running it until the new owner makes a decision?

Today! I saw Ricky come in for a bit of stick in the Aus Discussion for last week but I think she's been spot on about Isla, and so has Harry, now confirmed at the kids' father although interestingly the three of them have a different surname to Isla.(That's Wayne Bradley by the way, previously seen as Xavier's police instructor back in 2012.)I will say this in Isla's favour: She seems to have a good relationship with her daughters, they clearly love her and are happy and relaxed with her.But her actions show why she's only allowed supervised access.I don't even think she's stable enough to be using or manipulating Kyle, it feels like she's not able to look after herself so she's latched onto him as a kind of protector and if that means sleeping with him so be it.He needs to face up to just how messed up she is, and maybe Ricky's words at the end got through.

After her behaviour last week, it was nice to see Evelyn supporting Hannah.And I loved Oscar giving her the angel teddy, bringing back memories of him giving Maddy Pink Bear during her treatment.Even Andy didn't grate, although he did feel like he was infringing on Chris' territory a bit even if he did include him in the offer of support (possibly as an after thought).Chris possibly went a bit too far in shutting down Hannah's doubts, it might have been best to stop and think about whether it really is what she wanted.Her reaction at the end felt like an attempt to add some drama to the end of the episode, but hopefully the real repercussions are still to come.

[JosieTash]

18 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Have to agree with other people's (and Ricky's) thoughts about Kyle getting so involved with Isla so quickly, her doing just one more job for Dave's gang - there's never just one more job - and how come they aren't under arrest along with him?  He really is a sucker for a pretty girl with a sob story and especially if there are kids involved. He is an adult though and Ricky telling him not to get in too deep will only make him do the opposite.  Gong by the trailer it soon goes pear shaped.

I liked the Hannah thing, she was so obviously in denial but desperately putting on a brave face with the cocktail party.  Interesting to see how the other women from Irene down (the eldest) to Billie (the youngest in the absence of Evie) how they would react to the news. I know who Pammi is of course but who is Charlene when Hannah was deciding what size she should opt for.  I think Billie voiced some of their thoughts but were afraid to say out loud.  I love how Chris is being so supportive and how he is doing all he can to help her.  Nice chat with Irene when she said she knew she had cancer and therefore didn't have  a choice.  I personally the liked photo shoot (and good to see Ricky was chosen to do it), so Chris deciding to strip off (well almost) to give Hannah confidence. He really has stepped up to the mark. True he may have a wobble at some point but he's only human.

Someone needed to be the voice of reason with Kat and her possibly getting back with Dylan and it was quite subtle (for Phoebe) saying she needed to work so someone should be there for Hannah.  I know I don't trust him.

 

I THINK it's Charlize Theron being referenced there. That's the way i took it. 

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, as expected Hannah's allergic reaction was something and nothing, but the psychological effects might be a bit harder to get rid of.Nice to get it spelt out that being by her side isn't Andy's job anymore.Chris did the best he could: He's feeling helpless but hanging in there and got some good pep-talk from Leah.This is probably going to be the last time we see Chris and Hannah until next week so it was right that it ended on a reasonably positive note rather than it being left hanging, but I hope we get some decent follow-through.

Phoebe and Ash seem to have inherited Matt and Maddy's role of bickering about nothing for an episode and then making up the "adult" way.Not really sure about Morag needling Carter.He's already demonstrated that there's no chance of them getting him on their side but taunting him is more likely to have him try all the harder to get a conviction than unnerve him.I'm suddenly remembering Kat's back story about covering up for a colleague who sent an innocent man to jail with false evidence where he was killed: Was that Carter? If so, her thinking he's in any way the "good guy" in this situation really does smack of wilful blindness.We've seen Leah's reaction to Kat and Carter kissing in promos for days now and we're still not quite there but on the face of it I'm not sure what she's got to complain about, Kat clearly pushed him away.

[c120701]

Cornelia has really got back into her stride as Morag, there were a couple of times last week/week before I thought the reactions/lines were played a little slower than they may have been once, but she's right back on form this week. 

[Slade]

This storyline with Hannah has shades of the Maddy cancer story i.e. people telling her brave/wonderful she is and drawing various characters in.  Characters I would rather see focused on anyone but her.  TBH I'm so over it, I just want it to end.  I was slightly sickened by the comments e.g. from Ash "That chick has got guts" and the various text messages.  If it had been a character like Leah or Irene I wouldn't have minded at all.  But it's just that Hannah is such a dreadful, awful character it just annoys me how she's taking up valuable screen time.  Similarly I have to endure watching that cretin support her who is another person I think is pretty much a waste of space.  I may have missed something and although I appreciate this is a family program for some reason I had the impression that Hannah was going to take topless photos as a reminder of what she was like before.

That episode highlighted why I can't stand Phoebe.  Firstly loved Andy telling her and Ash to stop acting like a pair of old women.  He always brings a smile to my face when he makes comments like that or anything that starts of with "At the risk of sounding like a girl...".  Anyway, she annoyed me when she gave Ash a hard time about being civilised to Carter.  What was Ash supposed to do?  Carter made it clear that he could make life very difficult for Ash and given that he and Andy are in business with Kat what's the point of being petty.  Besides he was being professional was the way I saw it.  She also annoyed me the way she was eavesdropping when Morag was giving Kat a dressing down about Dylan (which I absolutely loved BTW).  And she was obviously harping on about it all the way back to the farm.  Then there was the way she twice blocked Carter's path when he went to the garage to settle the bill with Ash.  Carter is clearly the bad guy but (like Kat and Charlotte previously), I find Phoebe so annoying that I'm actually on his side.  Although if that had been the other way round and he blocked her path, I'm sure she would have claimed harassment.  Yep that's equality Phoebs.  In the end I was cheering when Ash told her to butt out of the business when she kept sticking her nose in and was disappointed when he apologised straight afterwards.

So again Kat reiterated that she would never forgive Dylan.  So I would say it's not if she will take him back but when she will take him back.  I give it one week, maybe two.  Even despite the fact that she pushed him away after they kissed.  How long before they move on from texting to sexting each other I wonder?  Like I mentioned previously his manipulation of her is going quite well.  Not only is she sticking up for him but she doesn't appear to have an issue with him trying to get a conviction with Zac now.  Loved the way Leah was looking on at them disapprovingly from outside the Diner.