Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Slade]

Knew Mason wouldn't be able to be friends with Evelyn.  Despite my dislike for him, I could actually understand his over the top reaction upon jumping the the wrong conclusion with her and Brody.  And I can also see exactly why he wanted to be friends.  Obviously the aim for him was to hang in there and hope that Evie changes her mind in time.  Experience tells me that this is a very bad idea and a clean break is the best thing.  Whilst quite harsh, her wanting to break contact with him is probably a good idea at least for the time being.

I find it hard to believe that scrawny Simmo is some dangerous big hot shot criminal that McCarthy wants so badly he's prepared to forgo Ash's previous misgivings.  Given how Simmo was able to suss that Ash was setting him up when he turned up in the car, I'm very surprised that he even agreed to meet Ash in the first place.  Have to admit I was quite excited when he carjacked Phoebe and was hoping for her to be kidnapped again.

Justin annoyed me when he sabotaged Phoebe's date although I thought Damien was pretty good about it as if it had been me I would still wanted to see what would have happened anyway as you never can tell.  Justin definitely has got it bad.  Hope threw herself at him and he turned her down flat and he offered Damien a free car service to stop him going out with her.  If Justin really believed that Phoebe was only using Damien then why so desperate to stop him from having brunch with her?  Surely it wouldn't have made any difference if Phoebe wasn't in to him.  What Justin was doing was quite similar to what Ash did with Kat and Phoebe a few weeks ago although at least Ash didn't try and stop it outright.  Found it funny when Phoebe said that Damien was smarter had more money and was better looking than Justin.  If it had been the other way round and Justin had said those things to Phoebe it would have been world war 3 and she probably wouldn't have forgiven him.  I did actually quite like the stuff later on in the episode with them and I liked that Justin was very honest with her (Seems that whenever Hope is in the episode Phoebe and Justin don't get on).

I felt sorry for VJ.  His attitude towards Billie is perfectly understandable.  Despite the fact that he wanted to study for his HSC she told him last week to cover John as they needed the money.  He quite correctly points out that she is wasting the money on food and he's made out to be unreasonable.  It's debatable whether he should have bitten her head off but he never asked for her to lie to him and his family about being the father of a baby that isn't his so even though he's unaware of this he's absolved of any wrong doing in this particular case as far as I'm concerned.  When I saw the preview yesterday I initially thought after VJ told her some home truths she was going to high tail out of town but it was just to meet Phoebe who unfortunately accidentally hit her after trying to get away from Simmo.  I want Billie to face up to the lying and deceit so I actually hope both mother and baby will be OK.

[TheBoss]

Kate and Ash are absolutely unbearable, so morally skewed yet so sanctimonious

[Slade]

Didn't actually occur to me that VJ is still working shifts at the Surf Club whilst studying for his HSC.  Thought last week was a one off.  So now Leah is telling him he's doing too much after remaining quiet before.

When Ash had a go at Phoebe at the hospital about hitting Billie, I almost forgot that they went out.  I think he realised when she said Simmo car jacked her that he was indirectly responsible for putting Billie in hospital.  So obviously that was why he called her and went to square things with her on the beach the next day.  Out of all the people involved I do think Phoebe is the most at fault as strictly speaking she hit Billie because she wasn't keeping her eye on the road.  I don't blame her of course it's perfectly understandable she was trying to get away from Simmo and wasn't thinking straight.

So Nate knows that VJ isn't the baby's real father.  Ironic that he was once a victim of her lies now he is the one to uncover this lie.  I initially thought that he wasn't impressed but that would assume he thought Billie already knew about the paternity of the baby's father.  I may have missed something but why did they even need to check VJs blood?  Surely if Billie has a positive type and the baby has a negative type then you can already conclude the father has a negative type even without knowing who he is.  This is really going to push his professionalism to the limit.  With Caroline it's different because the only person he would find it difficult to keep it from (Tori) is already a doctor so she understands doctor/patient confidentiality.  In Billie's case Nate lived with Leah, he's fairly close to her and you now have the issue that she's lying again.  It's going to be very difficult for him to not say anything, especially seeing how attached Leah has become to potentially having a grandchild.  The way VJ was at the hospital it does seem as though he now wants the baby but it's hard to tell if that was guilt.

Really enjoyed the Justin/Phoebe scenes.  His support for her in that episode allowed them to get closer.

[H&Alover]

It was that idiot of a cop standing at the phone box with his police radio sticking out of his back pocket that alerted Simmo he was being set up. So said cop needs a rollicking.  Simmo is a bigger fish than Ash so only logical McCarthy would want him in custody. VJ blames himself for yelling at Billie leading to her being on the bus, Ash blames himself for the Simmo incident  and Phoebe blames herself for hitting Billie, she only took her eyes off the road a milli second checking if Simmo was about.  Ash's accusing Phoebe changed when she revealed she had been car jacked and he quite astutely reasoned it must have been Simmo. Btw that leads me to comment that it's just not house doors and van doors the residents of the bay don't lock, it's car doors as well! Maybe part of the reason Ash did forgive Phoebe was because he felt partly responsible when it just was a combination of unforeseen circumstances, that was a nice scene of Ash and Phoebe on the beach.

VJ snapping at Billie was understandable in my opinion, he's working to try and support them and she is spending the money on silly things.  Fair enough she'd want to pay her way grocery wise but other things aren't necessary.

I can completely understand how Mason got the wrong idea about Brody and Evie, she was in her robe with a towel on her head and he just had a towel around his waist and they were having a laugh, but yes he has now blown it!  Mind you, there did seem to be a spark between them, swapping stories about their past, Brody talking about how his mum inspired him to take up cooking and her reminiscing about the cult.

What I found funny about Phoebe waiting for her date was she couldn't even remember his name, she could only remember it started with D!   Loved her and Justin doing the misheard lyrics thing and he did come good for her at the hospital, he'd only popped in to see how Decker was doing, and went to the cop shop with her and took her home.  He didn't put any pressure on her, just comforted her, so it looks like that are back on track again.

Billie has certainly been through it with this pregnancy, how it came about for starters, the plane crash when she had a scare and now this.  It's a bit complicated, to me at least, how Nate came to realise VJ had the wrong blood group, I guess he must have VJ's blood group on record, he's been in hospital if I recall correctly. Nate has got to get Billie to actually admit VJ isn't the dad first, will she tell him the whole truth if she does? There is no way he can say anything no matter how close he is to Leah and the family. 

It doesn't look like John's recent health scare has gone away.  He suddenly seems worried about not hearing anything from Shandi when her name hasn't been mentioned for ages, does this point to a reappearance soon.

 

 

 

 

[c120701]

I loved the promo with Alf telling Duncan not to fly off the handle. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

[Brian]

10 hours ago, Slade said:

 Surely if Billie has a positive type and the baby has a negative type then you can already conclude the father has a negative type even without knowing who he is.  This is really going to push his professionalism to the limit.  

How did they find out the baby's blood type? Did someone in the hospital perform an amniocentensis (?) on the baby  by putting a needle through Billie's womb into the baby? Isn't that very dangerous to the baby and only carried out in emergency? Or have I got that wrong?   

[Slade]

12 hours ago, Brian said:

How did they find out the baby's blood type? Did someone in the hospital perform an amniocentensis (?) on the baby  by putting a needle through Billie's womb into the baby? Isn't that very dangerous to the baby and only carried out in emergency? Or have I got that wrong?   

They deduced it from the type of antibodies Billie produced in her blood when coming into contact with the baby's specific blood type.  Didn't need to do anything to the baby.

I was surprised how little convincing Nate needed when Billie told him she was raped.  I think it would have been very natural and understandable for him to have been suspicious.  Although even then she was still blatantly lying - Asking Nate to check the blood samples again to confirm VJ was the father (as if to make out she was surprised), telling Nate she didn't know who her attacker was and when he asked her if she was suspicious at all about VJ not being the father she told him that the rape and sleeping with VJ were close enough to be unsure - obviously knowing full well she hacked one of the doctors computers and presumably changed the pregnancy date.  You can see clearly Nate feels very uncomfortable about this, wanting to avoid spending any time with Leah out of guilt and obligation to be honest and even when he did come to the lunch they invited him to he tried to get VJ to relay the fact that he now wants to drop out of school to Billie.  If you want proof that what Billie is doing is ruining VJs life there it is.  Professionally Nate's done the right thing so far, simply trying to convince her to come clean.  I personally do not believe she has any intention to given that she said he could never find out in the previous episode (She only said that to stall him and very selfishly wants VJ to look after her and the baby with little regard for his future) , I would imagine she will try and do this for as long as possible.  She doesn't really have a plan beyond that.  If Nate finds out that Irene is the baby's grandmother then she really will have a problem as if he found it hard enough with Leah spending lunch how will Nate cope going home every night with Irene there.  Although Billie can always threaten to report him if he reveals the truth to either Leah or Irene.

Still find myself sympathising with Caroline and slightly on her side.  Her and Bryce's home is in the US.  And presumably Caroline's family.  Why should she be the one who is expected to leave all of that?  Also if she is terminally ill presumably Duncan will end up with him anyway so she's perfectly entitled to spend what little time she has with Bryce at her homeland.

Despite liking both characters as individuals can't say I'm particularly happy about Olivia and Hunter being back together.  So the police in the UK know about Olivia's abuse.  Presumably she will have to go back to testify.

[Little bean]

I thought it was great that Nate didn't question it when Billie told him she was raped. Too often we see women who are not believed. It made a nice change. She is suffering from a trauma. I think she is in denial about what happened and up to that point had actually convinced herself that VJ is the Dad. She needs some serious councilling and help. I'm not saying that her actions are OK, just that I think there is much more going on deep down than just "I'm going to lie to give myself a Babydaddy and VJ is just collateral damage". Whatever happens VJ is going to suffer for it, regardless if she tells him or not. I hope she comes clean and gets help, then VJ can make decisions about his future with knowledge of all the facts.

[H&Alover]

Billie was hardly the sleep around type so why shouldn't Nate believe her even though she accused him of the same thing which is why she hasn't reported it.  It was only a couple of weeks between Mick raping her and her sleeping with VJ so could have been his. I do think she has convinced herself it's VJ's, better option that the truth, but now the bloods don't lie. He can't force her to tell the truth, he can't say anything, though the facts will be on her record. Just how is he going to find out Irene is the grandmother, unless Mick has an epiphany and confesses all to the cops.  I do agree it does put him in an uncomfortable position being friends with Leah, Zac and VJ and especially listening to the conversation about VJ's decision about leaving school (again). Which was his decision btw he hasn't even told Billie and the last time I hard she was keen for him not to give up school.

Neat little mention that Olivia's assault charge hasn't been forgotten, must be frustrating and stressful all the waiting around.  I wonder if that was one reason she has decided she wants Irene to be her guardian apart from the fact she is now in Australia it'd be awkward her accusing her currant guardian James' friend of assault. She is old enough to decide though she can't be far off 18 when she won't necessarily need one. Hunter's decision to be a sports therapist seemed to have come out of nowhere.

I know Caroline said her family is back in the States but Duncan said she didn't have much to do with them.  I think it is more to do with the fact she has her doctor there who is treating  her condition, Nate can't really do much unless he officially takes over her care. It was pretty much on the cards that Bryce would wander off despite Caroline telling him not to, I'm thinking the smell of marijuana must have been pretty strong in that van as it made Roo cough when she walked in, only a small enclosed space after all. It looked quite a stash she had there.

John is still not recovered from his collapse and I'm surprised Marilyn hasn't taken him back to Dr. Nate to check if everything is OK.  John was conned by a woman pretending to be Shandi wasn't he?

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week: Four.

So, Mason and Evelyn’s latest attempt at being friends self-destructed, as was pretty much inevitable. Again I find myself wondering why Mason even wants to be friends, let alone anything else, with someone who treats him badly. Evelyn really is coming across as immature and selfish, flirting with every guy she comes across yet insisting no-one could ever measure up to Josh, a coward and a killer. Not that Mason’s perfect: While I wouldn’t take his “If I catch you with someone else, I’d kill you” literally, the fact he attacked his own brother when he caught him in a compromising position with her suggests he wouldn’t take it well. Again, Matt sticks his nose in and makes it worse. It’s reached the point where I’m tempted to wonder if he wants Evie for himself and is thus trying to make sure things are as ruined as possible between her and Mason…but there’s been no real sign of that so I guess Matt’s just an idiot. One thing in Evelyn’s favour: At least she does Alf the courtesy of addressing him how he wants her to. Sally would have just made a smug comment and carry on calling him what she likes.

Given his debut storyline and the fact he was the person involved least deserving of jail, the show faced an uphill struggle to make Simmo look like the Big Bad…but they’ve actually managed it, he is clearly a nasty and dangerous individual. So it’s a shame the police are demonstrating a level of incompetence not seen since, um, the last time they tried to catch someone. Kat, who he knows is a police officer, hangs around sort-of-but-not-really hiding behind a tree to be as conspicuous as possible. The other officers have their walkie talkies on show. They have a car but there’s no-one in it, so instead of cutting off his retreat they all have to run to it by which time he’s halfway to the state border. Kat was smug and self-righteous to the point she was impossible to root for, even if she did apologise. I like Ash but comments like “I’m not a criminal” just deserve a hollow laugh and his “That’s what they said about me” in response to being told that Hope seems like trouble is crying out for a “…Yeah, they were right.” Shame: I was just starting to like Hope and then we see she’s dodgy, although again the show struggles to pretend it’s got a moral code. When we’re expecting to see murder as no big deal, it’s hard to get worked up about credit card fraud. I do think Hope’s saving grace is that she cares about Raffy, to the point of feeding her and going hungry herself.

What exactly was Billie trying to do? There seemed to be a suggestion she was running away after her fight with VJ, but that doesn’t seem to fit: She had no luggage, she’d just texted Phoebe to meet her (which was never followed up on) and she got off the bus in the middle of nowhere, so..? For that matter, how did Phoebe manage to hit her on a straight road when she only glanced behind for a moment? Did Billie teleport in front of her? I am slightly disappointed that VJ’s frustrations got brushed aside by Billie’s accident…and also that one of the few genuinely nice characters on the show is the target of snide remarks from everyone from Ash and Phoebe to Alf and Leah. I am surprised given their history that Nate believed so quickly that Billie was raped, which ironically was the one thing she told him that was actually true. She is coming across as quite delusional but I still have a lot of sympathy for her, to the point that I’m starting to dislike Nate with his constant jaw-clenched glares of disapproval. Not sure if they've actually used the word rape before in relation to Billie or not: Well done either way, although they lose points for her saying she accused Nate of rape since while what she accused him of was bad it wasn't quite that bad. I do think it’s a shame that VJ’s quit school though: I was supportive of the decision last time but with only six weeks to go it seems like a huge waste.

Again, I’m left thinking that Zac and Leah were so busy giving VJ a hard time that they just ignored Hunter stuffing up, he’s clearly not ready for exams at all. Now that her storyline’s over, throwaway lines aside, Olivia seems to have snapped back to being self-absorbed and paying no attention whatsoever to what’s actually going on with Hunter. Her asking Irene to be her guardian was just plain daft: The show’s insistence on keeping her at 16 indefinitely aside, she’ll have left school in a few weeks, why does she even need a guardian? And her saying Irene’s the closest thing she’s got to a mum seems to require us to ignore the fact that Irene’s effectively her grandmother.

Hmm, Mason’s worst case scenario diagnosis of John doesn’t seem that wide of the mark after all, as he shows signs of forgetfulness. A shame that his worries about Shandi got resolved in a throwaway line, I hoped it was going somewhere.

Roo really needs to learn her lesson about her crusades, smugly exposing someone’s secrets like a gutter press journalist without thinking about the consequences. No point throwing a tantrum about Duncan wanting custody afterwards. And, while I think it is a bit extreme, Duncan was backed into a corner and didn’t really have any other choice, with Caroline seemingly wanting to leave the country right there and then. So, it’s Huntingdon’s. That is a pretty horrifying thing to have to deal with and I sympathise greatly, but nevertheless someone does need to put Bryce first and recent events have shown that Caroline is struggling to cope with him on her own.