Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Slade]

Whilst Tabatha (who seems to have helped herself to Roo's wardrobe) was a little smarter trying to get Hunter out the way, it was incredibly silly of her not to delete the footage she recorded of Zac typing his password previously on her phone.  Although she was obviously smart enough to suspect that something was up with Olivia after Olivia didn't want her to stay the night so she deleted it before Zac could find it.  It's a shame as I was quite enjoying Tabitha's manipulation of her and seeing Hunter being made out to be in the wrong even though he was right in this case.  It will be interesting to see what Tabitha does next.  She's developed an unhealthy obsession/attachment to Olivia which I presume is to compensate for the older sister she is trying to save.  So I don't think she will give Olivia up without a fight.

I found it really funny the way Ash gatecrashed John and Marilyn's date just to try and eavesdrop on Kat and Derek's.  I suspected Kat wasn't fully over Ash the way she pretended to laugh just to make him jealous then called him out for spying on her.  It was quite amusing seeing John and Marilyn trying to politely get rid of him at first then just sitting there then once they realised what was going on and just accepted it.  I was surprised Kat invited her date and Phoebe's back to their place although unlike Phoebe she probably wasn't afraid of what would happen because she's a former cop and felt she could handle herself.  I could understand both those guys thinking their luck was in being invited back but they blew their chances of anything happening getting half naked and just assuming Kat and Phoebe would join in with the strip poker.

Chris doesn't seem to have a problem attracting women (It's the keeping them part which he struggles with when he's going out with them).  And I did find he and the woman he met at the bar gelled really well together.  The conversation was very natural, although when she mentioned that one of her dates was a second cousin and it possibly would have been illegal - It's actually legal to marry your first cousin.  It almost seemed like fate when she offered to leave her number for him to set her up on a date with someone (like he did with Kat and Phoebe) and he didn't realise that it was a direct offer for him.  Then when he got called into work and left her and later on she just happened to turn up at the Diner craving for some cake and after bonding further they kissed.  I agree he obviously rejected her afterwards because he's still not over Hannah.  Shame as she was hot.

Zac and Leah are having problems already.  Hope this is not another Roo/Harvey type thing.

[Brian]

Sorry we disagree about Mason,  Slade.  I like him best of all that family.  A genuine, sensible student,. who has got his aim in life and is working towards it. We always see him with his books and he supported Evie's studies by bringing her work to her.  And he has time to party and swim and support his family. What's not to like? I think that he will go well with Evie, especially as they have had similar traumatic experiences.  

[atrus]

So much for my posting once a week. Nine episodes along I'm finally back, and after simmering steadily through the last few installments I'm now having my own H&A tolerance threshold moment.

I'm really, vehemently objecting to the way this Tabitha story is going. Will someone reassure me that I'm not overreacting please? I'd really, really been hoping that there was a decent explanation for her behaviour other than having a massive, creepy-stalker crush on Olivia, because that would again reinforce the stereotype that LGB people are predators by nature, and god knows we've had enough of that from H&A in the past. But no, with Tabby's comments about her and Olivia living together and sharing everything, it would appear that's exactly the route we're taking - and I'm finding myself getting really angry about it. For the umpteenth time, if you must have LGB creepers pop up periodically in the guest cast, you need also at the very least to have a strong history of depicting benign LGB characters among your regular cast. If you can't do that - and H&A has demonstrated that it can't - then leave well alone, for heaven's sake. Because it's really starting to look like small-minded prejudice from where I'm sitting. It's not helping that we're being built up to really dislike her and thus side with Hunter, when actually all the criticisms he's slung at her can equally be applied to himself, if  not far worse; and I don't like how he's being portrayed as the staunch defender of Olivia's honour all of a sudden. Sure, saying what Tabitha did about the scars was really unpleasant, and the stuff she's been up to with the HSC marks is beyond the pale too. But hey, she's never stabbed anyone, thrown them down the stairs, electrocuted them or burned a house down.

More high drama in the plane scenes. For a moment I thought Billie (and/or the baby) was about to come to a super-cruel end in the explosion, and was very much relieved that they were both okay. Her and Leah's reunion scenes with VJ and Zac were among the best of the fortnight, and very emotional. I was convinced on seeing Constable Terri Garner that the writers were going to contrive some means of her letting slip that Billie's further along with the pregnancy than she's letting on, but thankfully that didn't happen. And then I find myself looking back at the word 'thankfully' and thinking, should I be thinking that? Because actually I find myself liking this family-in-waiting, and I don't feel in my heart like I really want the truth to be revealed. It goes against my instinct in some ways as I think VJ's too young for this, and probably for Billie - and I also think she's in the wrong to lie to him, despite the horrific cirmcustances. But there's no denying they have a caring, genuine relationship even if the baby aspect is founded on a lie. Clearly VJ's very much invested not only in Billie but her unborn baby, and I think it would be very hard on him if it all came apart now.

BILLIE: What if the baby's just born bad?

I really loved this scene between Billie and Irene, and what was left unsaid as much as what was said. It's interesting that it's the gender of the child that got Billie thinking about this, the unuttered question in the back of her mind presumably being whether she could give birth to a rapist. This in itself raises all kinds of interesting moral quandaries such as, to what extent are our actions governed by our genes? And why are men more prone to violence and aggression than women? And does the very fact of maleness in any way mitigate their responsibility for their actions? These are not trifling questions with easy answers, and it's good to see them being raised in soap. The fact of VJ likely being a good parent to the baby also served to justify Billie's continued silence about the truth; arguably she'd started to see it as her responsibility to 'nurture' her child into an upstanding citizen rather than some kind of predator, and with a decent father like VJ she felt able to do that. 

Backtracking to the crash, and the Nate/Tori/Duncan bush expedition aspect was quite effective, mainly because the love triangle aspect was largely dwarfed by the enormity of their situation, as I think it would be in real life - and Nate and Duncan actually joined forces rather than bickering. Glad Duncan's sticking around for the time being, not least because it keeps Alf and Roo busy storyline-wise. I'm not entirely convinced he's the same character as the Duncan of old - there's far less of an edge to him - though intrigued to know what was in the letter that was behind his decision to stay in town. (Perhaps I missed something earlier on this?)

Not so keen on Evelyn's whole 'spooky-twin-action-from-beyond-the-grave' routine, which was swiftly exacerbated into outright silliness this week. Yes, she's right about the unlikeliness of the largely superficial injuries after the plane crash; but unlike Lost, which the show was really aping at times the week before last, H&A is never going to be able to satisfactorily follow through on these mystical kinds of questions, so I've no great interest in being led halfway down that road, particularly in a speeding car driven by Evie. Apart from anything it's really tactless to gush about being led to safety by your brother's ghost while other people's relatives are still missing and possibly dead. I suppose this kind of daftness is within her character, though, given how susceptible she was to her father's cult when we first met her, and Tank's malign influence later on. Now it appears she's going to do something really stupid to prove her point. Hopefully Mason will leap out of the passenger door in good time.

Nor was I desperately interested in Brody's 'vision quest', which felt somewhat out of place, concussion or otherwise. If the Morgans have all changed their names as we've been led to believe, why is he having memories of being called Brody as a child? And in a life-and-death scenario where it's important to ascertain his level of consciousness, wouldn't Tori just use his real name when talking to him? Oh, and that cliff looked suspiciously like the one Gunno fell off in the special. Not sure how credible Brody's survival was from that height (probably as credible as all the plane crash survivals), but it wasn't unexpected. The Ash and Justin scenes were more predictable fare - no cuddling-up-for-warmth expected or delivered. Not really paying much attention to the whole Morgans/Decker post-crash arc - like much of the Braxton stuff of the past, it's so easy to tune out of. The one thing I'd say is that this Decker character seems to be displaying almost professional levels of incompetence. And yawn at Ash and Kat; not even the amusement of a There Is No Us could help sustain my interest here. The double date with the accountants was slightly better, though; it's rare that Kat's allowed to let her hair down as a character, and after months of angst and woe, this provided some much needed light relief for her.

My favourite story of the fortnight, though, was the arrival of Ellie and the huge new challenges it's throwing up for Matt. It's great that he finally got a storyline after weeks of next to nothing, and a really decent, non-love-triangle one, too, augmented by his sweet and unorthodox friendship with Roo, which is always fantastic value in my view. Aside from the question of how Auntie May has or hasn't treated Ellie, it makes complete sense that Matt's reaching the age where he feels like he could potentially be a guardian for her, which makes for a really interesting character development. The young actor playing her seems very competent as well, which always helps - and I'm really hoping she sticks around in the long-term, as it's already bringing out a responsible new side to Matt that's probably a little overdue at this stage in his character journey.

[Red Ranger 1]

Sorry I’m a bit late posting my review of last week. Long weekend away. Moving on…

Alf’s episode count this week: Three. And he was credited on Thursday for no appearance.

So, everyone’s fine from the plane crash, with the tension over Brody dissipating from “He’ll probably die or lose a leg” to “Yeah, he’s fine” a bit too quickly. (Still, we’ve got his odd visions on waking up to keep us interested: Repressed memory?) I swear the doctor treating him (Doctor Genner according to the credits, who treated him after Spike’s last attack…why does he always come off worse?) has been referred to by three different first names. Sadly, we seem to have gone straight from everyone overreacting to Justin to everyone overreacting to Decker. Okay, he could have picked up Spike earlier and possibly stopped the plane being sabotaged, but Justin doesn’t seem to realise that Spike going away for good and the drug ring being busted is in his family’s interests. And he’s hardly one to talk, making a private deal with Spike that nearly got his family killed instead of working with Decker, so it sounds like he just wants someone to blame. Meanwhile, Evelyn’s going way over the edge and being a bit irritating with her sudden belief that she’s invincible.

VJ and Billie continue to be sweet and solid and I loved VJ teasing Leah with the teddy. I was willing to go along with Leah being old school and not wanting to know the sex of the baby, and it was actually some way into the episode before I went “Hang on, Leah and Vinnie did know what sex VJ was! They named him about six months before he was born!” But at least it was all light-hearted instead of OTT drama. Nice subtext heavy chat between Irene and Billie, with the way Mick turned out being more relevant than Irene knows on at least two levels. Leah and Zac’s “problems”…I was all set to hate this because it does seem rather random, especially given how often Zac’s been acting principal. (Including over half of last year, although admittedly Leah was in a coma for most of it.) And Zac moving out seemed terrile…until I saw it and it was actually rather sweet and far from being the end of the marriage, more like a kind of game to spice things up. And it was good to see the show finally acknowledge that Zac and Leah had a lot of history even before they got together: It felt like we were meant to gloss over Zac’s period living at the farmhouse but it’s true they were living together when they became a couple.

I’m somewhat disappointed that Matt’s aunt got turned into an antagonist to justify Ellie living with him (that’s Lance’s wife, by the way). Still, it seems Ellie is far from being an angel, although if Roo’s right about there being more to it, I hope it’s nothing too drastic.

The show still expects us to automatically side with Hunter, when actually I’m thinking “Framed for something you didn’t do? Suck it up, jerk, see how you like it.” His running to Irene trying to turn her against Tabitha annoyed me, since we’re supposed to think that a guy who burnt down a house and stabbed someone is acceptable company for Olivia. I’m also not entirely convinced by his claim that Tabby’s trying to isolate Olivia: Her talk of them getting a house together might point in that direction, but she hasn’t tried to separate Olivia from VJ or Jordan or Irene or Chris, she just seems to have decided to keep Hunter away from her, and since he’s only ever acted like a jerk and a bully when Tabitha’s around I can’t say I blame her, even if she is going about it in an extreme way. Irene once more tries to get Tabitha away from Olivia for no real reason, even if Olivia was in agreement about it.

Disappointed that Phoebe and Kat’s blind date went south, it seemed like an affirmation that bad boys are here to stay, and it’s not even like wanting to play strip poker is that big a deal breaker. Shame Chris didn’t feel able to move on with that woman, she seemed good for him.

[H&Alover]

On ‎08‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:44 PM, atrus said:

Glad Duncan's sticking around for the time being, not least because it keeps Alf and Roo busy storyline-wise. I'm not entirely convinced he's the same character as the Duncan of old - there's far less of an edge to him - though intrigued to know what was in the letter that was behind his decision to stay in town. (Perhaps I missed something earlier on this?)

 

Alf wrote Duncan a letter telling him how much he loved him and how proud he was of him and apologising for his behaviour, thinking at the time he may not see him again.  It was read over Duncan, Justin, Nate and Tori looking for Brody so made it very effective. Duncan found it when he was looking for a pen to note of the times of flights as he was leaving. In typical male Stewart fashion he didn't say anything to Alf (or Roo) just said he was staying for a while longer.

Tabby is very protective of Olivia but that is how most possessive folk are towards the one they are obsessing over.  She may well want to get back with Olivia is on to her now and will be very wary. 

That was a moving talk between Iren and Billie, must be a relief to know she is having a girl.

Evies' gone from going out partying to block out her grief of losing Oscar to becoming obsessed that he is looking after her from beyond the grave, though the fact his watch had started working again, which she saw as a sign, was rather spooky!   I did like how Mason went from being dismissive about her beliefs to being willing to back her after speaking to Marilyn and it prompted her to ask Marilyn to give her a reading.  Sadly though instead of giving her comfort she just argued with what Marilyn said, that the Tarot was only a guide, just wanting to hear what she wanted to hear. Btw has no-one spoken to Zac or Leah about her current behaviour?

Talking of whom It does seem they have found the solution to their current problem.  I had forgotten they had always lived together in one way or another, house mates, then married so they didn't have any of that him picking her up and going out on dates then him walking her home, then going back to his place, waiting to hear from each other.  Should be interesting and if they get it right rather fun.

I'm liking Ellie as well, but she does have a more serious problem which Roo has picked up on, did think it may be an illiteracy problem but she did change the note for the camp she was meant to be on. Not withstanding what ever problems she had with Aunty May it is a new experience for Matt, she grown from the child Matt remembers to a teenage girl and all the hassle that comes with it.

[H&Alover]

Evie really is obsessed with thinking Oscar is looking out for her,  not sure it was that wise Mason grabbing the hand brake, they nearly ending up smacking head first into that tree. Hope he will be paying for the repair.  My above question was answered when Mason told Leah and Zac about her current state of mind and they all went looking for her.  I don't suppose they would have any reason to look for her by the rocks, I had a nasty moment when I  thought she was going to jump, but she took the sensible(?) option of wading in. Anyway she does get rescued and lets hope she gets some proper help this time. Leah can't blame herself for not spotting it, you can be too close sometimes and all Evie said was she had got over the partying side of her trying to get over Oscar.

Methinks Brody wasn't just dreaming about his mum, he was remembering something  that happened when he was little.  atrus, as for his mum calling him Brody when he was 'seeing' her when he was wondering about in the bush, he was hallucinating at the time and the mind does funny things then, mixing now with then. Be interesting to see how Justin/Jack's plan to be themselves goes, he obviously wants to get back with Phoebe and despite her protests Tori (or whatever her real name is) wants to get with Duncan/Nate. 

[Slade]

I was kind of hoping that Evelyn would have crashed the car and accidentally killed Mason. I think the way she was headed she needed some serious help so it was good that Chris was the one to save her from drowning so they could effectively bond over the loss of Hannah.  Hopefully she will be OK after this.

Phoebe was wrong.  Justin did actually apologise to her last week.  It just wasn't a very good apology.  So I'm glad his second apology was better and she accepted it this time.  After talking with Tori in yesterday's episode he obviously wants to actually go out with Phoebe officially.  So the let's be friends is clearly just a way in for him.

Kat must have been really embarrassed when her former colleagues came into Salt (I know I would have been) especially considering that Chapman was one of the people she was serving.  Ash annoyed me slightly the way he was watching over her and advising her like some guardian angel as if she couldn't cope.  I know he was only looking out for her but still.  I did actually quite like the interaction with Phoebe during their shift.  I also liked the way Kat handled that guy although I did think she went overboard ramming his face onto the table and presumably breaking his nose (I make that the second time someone has decided go for Phoebe's backside, although Kyle wasn't around to lose it this time).  Funny how Chapman had to be the one to deliver the news to Kat that the guy was pressing charges.  Well at least her former boss left her a decent tip.

Things appear to be going quite well with Tori and Duncan.  Surprisingly for me Nate has completely decided to step out of the way and does seem genuine about only wanting to be friends with Tori now.

[Angelica]

So the crash storyline has been resolved pretty quickly with everyone coming out pretty much unscathed. 

I am not getting a romantic obsession vibe from Tabitha at the moment. It very much strikes me that she is the type to latch onto anyone who shows her some kindness. Hunter comes off very hypocritical when he accuses Tabitha for being psycho. Framing someone for something they didn't do that might have life changing consequences is wrong Hunter? Didn't seem to have a problem with it when Billie was going down for arson. Seems a bit rich from someone who stabbed Andy just recently. And it frustrates me that the writers are acting like the problems Olivia and Hunter had only stemmed from issues relating to Tabitha even though they had broken up by the time Tabitha was in the picture. That being said this is the only storyline really capturing my interest. 

It is nice to see Matt in big brother mode. I wonder if we will find out that Ellie has something like dyslexia or illiteracy to explain why she is struggling at school. Wish she was a little less bratty though. 

I find it hard to believe that Phoebe and Kat really believe that they can do no better than Justin and Ash. 

 

 

[atrus]

On 10/10/2016 at 4:13 PM, H&Alover said:

Alf wrote Duncan a letter telling him how much he loved him and how proud he was of him and apologising for his behaviour, thinking at the time he may not see him again.  It was read over Duncan, Justin, Nate and Tori looking for Brody so made it very effective. Duncan found it when he was looking for a pen to note of the times of flights as he was leaving. In typical male Stewart fashion he didn't say anything to Alf (or Roo) just said he was staying for a while longer.

Thanks, it's ringing bells now! I was wondering if he'd found the will he was written out of and that's why he was staying, but then I remembered he already knew about that. I need to start concentrating more.

I'm getting serious Evie fatigue now, and am starting to wonder whether it wouldn't have been kinder to finish her off in the plane crash, rather than the silliness we've had over the last few days. I feel cruel for saying it given how much she's been through, but that's exactly why she needs to be rested for a while or used in a supporting capacity - because it's really beyond melodrama now. It's almost as if someone in the writers' room realised Philippa could cry and scream pretty decently, and decided to make it a daily event.

I'm enjoying the Morgans a fair bit, especially the inter-sibling dynamic, now that the witness protection drama seems to have subsided (for the time being - I'm not convinced it's over), and am keener on the Tori/Duncan pairing than I am on Tori/Nate, given that Duncan's marginally more interesting.

I was less interested in the latest Kat dramas, although Ash's speech on the beach about her mistakes proving she had a heart were fair comments (probably the most sensible he's had for weeks). I'm referring more, by the way, to her not dropping Ash in it for having been left the dodgy money rather than letting Josh get away with murder, which I didn't agree with. The fact Ash can see that, while Kat herself and Superintendent Stern etc can't, underlines why I always struggle with police characters - but I maintain Kat did the honourable thing by recognising the conflict and putting the job behind her.

Possibly I was hasty prior to my earlier rant in assuming Tabitha's interest in Olivia was romantic, and her issues clearly run deeper than that - but the signs still point to that as being the most likely explanation for her behaviour in my view. She's now gone from eccentric to full-on crazy, turning up to school as an Olivia clone and then leaping on Hunter during the night in what it's probably fair to describe as a sexual assault. And even if it proves not to be the case that Tabitha wants Olivia for herself, the fact the show's been suggesting that for weeks means it's still been fairly damaging in my book. Is there such a thing as a non-romantic crush? Possibly, but a very intense crush is certainly what I'm getting from this. Tabitha's not latching onto just anyone - it's very specifically Olivia. I'll say this - that the actor playing Tabitha is doing a very convincing job. But it does nothing to assuage my concerns about the storyline.

[Slade]

Whilst I think Kat went a little overboard when she broke that guys nose I didn't like Chapman's remark towards her about her not being a cop anymore as I do think she had a right to defend herself.  I'm glad she was released without charge as despite her heavy handedness I don't think she deserved to get in anymore trouble (and Ash was at the police station to support her again). Wasn't sure what to make of Irene and Marilyn giving her a hero's welcome when she walked into the Diner.  If that had been a guy they knew that did the same thing would they have reacted the same way?  Although I guess it's understandable with Irene given that she was raped in the past.

Tabitha is seriously cracking me up.  I loved the way she turned up at school with her hair and clothes like Olivia's.  I also really liked the way she tried to manipulate her again.  Fair play to Olivia for playing along, getting Hunter off the hook by exposing Tabitha and providing the proof to Zac that Tabitha hacked into his computer.  So she did actually change Olivia's result as well as Hunter's.  The end of that episode was really funny especially the way Tabitha climbed into Hunter's bed.  Despite Olivia ignoring her calls, double-crossing Tabitha and getting back with Hunter right in front of Tabitha's eyes (never saw that coming), she still isn't giving up.  Knew she wouldn't let go of Olivia without a fight.  Have to say I admire her dedication.  One of the funniest things about that was Hunter's totally bemused expressions.  First when he saw Olivia walking off with Tabitha at the school after he thought Olivia turned on him again but even better was his expression at the end when Tabitha left his caravan after she got out of his bed threatening to expose him.