Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

Yes I know there are Hunter haters out there, but he has been trying to do good recently he really wants to pass his exams and although she's not as crowing as much as Maddy about how it is easier for her to study  Olivia was rather dismissive of his  struggles. Zac said all the right things about he didn't expect him to pass just because he is his dad and Principal just to do his best. As Leah said there are other ways to get the grades he needs to get into uni.  He wouldn't be the first student to sleep in as I bet he didn't get to sleep till late.  Unsure about his asking Olivia to say she heard him being sick so he can sit the exam, he's not expecting her to give him any of the questions so not cheating but still a lot to ask.   Zac again did the right thing and treated him like he would any of his students who were late with no special treatment because he is his son.

So has Tori chosen Duncan over Nate it still wasn't that clear to me, doesn't make any difference anyway cos he's still leaving. If Marilyn hadn't been where she was she wouldn't have seen Zac kissing Sam goodnight and let's face anyone would have come to the same conclusion.  His lying about where he was didn't help his cause, even though he didn't know it, he was thinking on his feet about how the lipstick came to be on his collar! 

[Red Ranger 1]

And so here we are, with the first of the nine weeks remaining of the 2016 season!First thought: Ash is an idiot.He's going to ridiculous extremes for very little gain.In effect, he nearly got VJ and Billie killed just to save Kat's job, which she deserves to lose anyway.Threatening Simmo was never going to work and yet he still won't do the sensible thing.(And Channel 5 blatantly cut out Ash head-butting Simmo, so Simmo ends up on the floor for no apparent reason.They seem to do that a lot, although I'm not sure whether I should be more annoyed about Channel 5 cutting them out or Channel 7 including so many in the first place.)

I often find that a break causes me to view a character differently, and here Raffy, who I rather liked before, came across as a bit too bratty at times.I'm cutting her a bit of slack because having your whole world turned on its head like that must be a hard thing to deal with, but she was sniping at Justin even before that.I kind of like Hope but she really doesn't do herself any favours.People keep giving her chances and she keeps throwing them away.I know other people have done worse and got away with it, but she's incapable of keeping her nose clean so I really can't argue with her being put in jail.Justin having a kid seems a bit too similar to what's just happened with Decker, even if this isn't someone we know. Again I find myself puzzled by inconsistencies over how long the Morgans have been in witness protection and how old they're meant to be:Justin on the home video didn't really look any younger.

Conversely, after getting a bit sick of Matt and Evelyn before the break, I found myself enjoying them again as they rediscover their sense of fun(and Matt flirting with everyone he met was amusing).The volleyball was a great device, good to see Ellie getting a bit to do, it might be a bit soon for Mason to be back hanging out with Matt and Evelyn but the three of them bounced off each other well, and I love that Phoebe went from dreading being partnered with John to embracing it when he turned out to be good.I'm somewhat confused by Jeannie: How old is she meant to be?She works with Evie at the youth centre, she goes to uni, she lives with her parents...It feels like she's meant to be around Evie's age, which would potentially make her a fair bit younger than Brody, yet she looks like she's well into her 20s.Their bumbling was rather fun and Mason made a great counterpart with his byplay with Brody.

Interesting that Tori pretty much admitted she settled for Duncan because he was the safe option, since they've nearly really seemed suited...but looks like she's sticking with him for the moment.

I do, surprisingly, have a bit of sympathy for Hunter.His problem was kind of his own making and he learns the drawback of being stuck in the middle of a field instead of up at the house, but I did think Zac and Leah were rather neglectful: There was a suggestion that they were late getting up as well, but you'd expect them to swing by his caravan and check on him, however far away it is these days.There seemed to be some confusion about whether he should have been let into the exam or not, but I guess he wouldn't have done much in three minutes.Of course, the fact that he only saw getting into uni as an excuse to spend time with Olivia didn't help his case.But Irene warning him off her was laughable: She not only accepts but actually encourages them staying together when he burns down a house or stabs someone, but asking her to lie to a teacher is beyond the pale?Priorities, woman!

I still don't think for one second that Zac's having an affair but I really hope we get a decent explanation for why he's lying to Leah.VJ gets in a lovely wisecrack with "No, we'll starve" when Leah asks if he and Billie can cope on their own.

[atrus]

Happy New Year everyone!

I found myself wishing Ash, Kat and Crimmo would just go away. Just like I did with the Braxton crime stories, I seem to have developed an automatic tune-out facility for these characters. It's a shame because Ash and Kat are both quite well-acted and can be sympathetic at times - but we just seem to be going round in circles with them at present as they dig an ever deeper hole for themselves.

Thankfully they were dropped later in the week in favour of some more upbeat material. Matt was on top form in pretty much every scene he was in; and he's giving Evie a much-needed lighter time of it - I don't think she cried once all week. For the first time I also felt myself properly connecting with Brody and I really enjoyed the stuff with Jeannie on Friday. It had me laughing out loud several times which H&A almost never does.

The stuff with the Morgans, Raffy and Hope has also been pretty watchable. Not surprised Raffy is furious; I think I would be if a bunch of randoms decided to DNA-test me without my permission. Clearly it's brought up some difficult stuff for Justin too; he doesn't strike me at all as the fatherly type so it was a surprising and interesting twist to learn he has a child. The Tori/Nate/Duncan stuff was less enthralling, as usual.

Regardless of whether Zac is actually cheating on Leah (and I don't think that he is), he's certainly doing a lot of lying to her face, as well as being generally inattentive to the family - so I think she had every right to be suspicious. Involving Marilyn and John was a fun way of going about the storyline, though, and I loved how John just came out and accused Zac (on Marilyn's behalf) to his face.

Did I just hear an adult on H&A utter the words: 'The HSC is not the be-all-and-end-all'? Well, I think that's probably a first. I did feel for Hunter; oversleeping can happen to anyone but it's one of those things that society in general seems to be very unforgiving about, for reasons I've never particularly understood. He shouldn't have asked Olivia to lie but under the circumstances, I can see why he did. And he probably could have done without her going off at the deep end later, when she found out he wasn't interested in sports physio after all. I felt that in making it all about him lying, and not looking more closely at the reasons for that lie - namely that he didn't have any grand plan for his future other than wanting to be close to Olivia - she overlooked the most important part of the story.

[Slade]

9 hours ago, atrus said:

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year!

I mentioned that Tori has slightly gone down in my estimation and although she's chosen Duncan I am starting to wonder now if she's stringing him and Nate along.  Perhaps not knowingly but still nonetheless.  I said this some time ago that she obviously liked Nate and wanted to be with him but she was put off after she had a conversation with Kat about his previous relationships.  So she decided to go for the safe option and date Duncan.  Now that Nate has proven himself as a 'good guy' she's having doubts about whether she made the right choice so when he wants to leave because he's struggling with his feelings for her she objects because she claims she doesn't want to be the one driving him away.  Part of me thinks wanting Nate to stay is her way of keeping her options open.

Why oh why did Brody tell Jeannie that he paid $1000 just to spend time with her?  Even though what he did seemed desperate did he have to say it?  Found it awkward when he was struggling to ask her out and she had to practically tell him what to do.  That scene where he appeared to be following her just after that when he was actually on his way to work was cringeworthy.  I couldn't bare to watch it.  Although awkwardness aside they do seem to get on quite well.  I bet he's regretting giving her the job at Salt now.  And given how cut up he was on the beach earlier on I suspect he will struggle to work with her.  Again I thought Mason didn't really bring anything to that episode except to show of that bod of his although I accept Brody had to talk to someone about it and Justin and Tori were out of the picture.

Marilyn is extremely annoying the way she constantly sticks her nose into other people's business and involves herself in their affairs although I can understand her talking to John about seeing Zac with that woman.  I wanted to strangle John regarding this whole thing with Zac and Leah.  Why go through the passive-aggressive crap of inviting them over for dinner to indirectly find out if Zac is being unfaithful.  Why not just have a quiet word with him, mention what Marilyn saw then take it from there?

Don't have much sympathy for Hunter TBH and thought he was very selfish trying to get Olivia to lie for him re oversleeping and missing his exam.  I did actually enjoy the scene where Olivia went into Zac's office and he knew immediately what she was going to do and pointed out her doing it for him previously.  Does he even deserve to pass his exams?  How much work has he actually done?  It's all pretty redundant anyway.

[H&Alover]

I suppose Jeannie could be in her 20's, wouldn't stop her being a student, may be very good reasons why she wasn't at uni younger.  Brody really hasn't had much to do with women has he, Mason could give him a few pointers in that department, her doing most of the running was funny and it must have looked like he was stalking her, her saying 'bye' and he's still there.  Of course neither of them knew she was going for a interview at Salt.  Then her finding out he wasn't lying and was chef, manager and part owner, obviously new to the bay.  She finally  gets job then declares she doesn't date people she works with so Brody still loses out.

Marilyn wasn't sticking her nose in she was trying to keep out of it, it was John who wanted to tackle Zac about it and he was pretty direct if I remember!  Not really John's style to do anything quietly as in speaking to Zac, anyway what would he have done if Zac had told him the truth Ash is the only person that does know.   I have already posted my theory off what he is really up to. Telling Marilyn wouldn't have been a good idea she wouldn't have done a great job of keeping it quiet. Has stirred things up with Leah who has already been suspicious of what Zac has been up to, never where he said he was going to be, always having 'to sort out problems at work'. Though in this case it was true as in Hunter. 

Giving Hunter some credit he did tell Olivia she didn't have to do it when he saw how she was struggling with it. Zac too was on the ball and stopped Olivia dropping  herself into a very big hole. I guess her going off on one with Hunter was because she thought he was lying just for the sake of it instead of picking any old subject so he could be with her.  As for the 'is not the be and end all' remark, my memory may be failing me but wasn't it Zac that actually said it!

[TessyBear]

22 minutes ago, H&Alover said:

As for the 'is not the be and end all' remark, my memory may be failing me but wasn't it Zac that actually said it!

Yeah I think you might be right there.

 

So Home and Away returns for 2017... Does anyone know how long till the 2016 finale? I'm thinking I'll stick around till then but I gotta stop after that. Soaps have a bad habit (well imo) after so many years of becoming frustrating and slow moving and just not something that's healthy for me to be continuing to watch. Anyhoo...

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

So what the heck was up with Zac's comment about "Leah's my friend". Dude have you never seen When Harry Met Sally? I thought being intimate with our friends of the opposite sex was what we were trying to avoid? Plus you know Zac: SHE'S YOUR WIFE MAN!!!!!!! Veeeeeeeeeeeery different to a friend!!!!!!!!! I mean maybe that's something Zac likes to do with his female friends: Propose marriage and then just for the heck of it take some marriage vows. Irene and Marilyn should look out methinks!! I mean if within your marriage you have a basis of friendship that's great! But your wife's your wife you know? She's your WIFE Zac!!!   I'll leave it there. Zac's just really doing my head in atm. Telling all these lies and neglecting his family. All for... ... What??? Gee Zac it sure looks like a duck and walks like a duck... The only thing that remains to be seen is if it quacks the heck like a duck. I don't think it will but you know this is a soap opera: Classic soap fodder the extra marital affair!!! Classic. What I don't understand is if Sam is his publisher or some other innocent friend/professional relationship why on earth can't he tell Leah?? Zac: It's not like you're broadcasting it on the news man!!! We've already been over this: She's your wife! It's pretty simple: "Leah sorry I've been so preoccupied lately (and the rest) but I'm working on my book with Sam. I'd rather write it myself but if I'm late again or miss other things: Probably coz I'm with her". Done! Oh! Save the heartache!  Idiot!!!

I had a friend who was writing a book. He's been published now. A horror fiction. But I'm pretty sure he told me when he was writing it. And other friends of ours too. He's not even that close a friend of mine still sadly these days. He definitely was vocal about sending the story off to publishers. Hello???!! But why would my friend tell folks he was writing his book and in turn trying to get it published? He was excited, proud of what he was writing. Is Zac not proud and excited of what he's writing?? 

Maybe it's not that. Maybe Zac really is having an affair. Even more of a reason to stop watching H&A. 

Or something else... Don't know if I've mentioned before but other theories I've had were that Zac was trying to find a new home for his family, or organising a vow renewal. The first I could maybe understand he wants to keep a secret but the second; at some point presumably he's gonna have to let Leah know his plan...

I do think Sam fancies Zac though. Like she was dressing up real nice and offering Zac wine at the motel. She always smiles a heck of a lot when she's with Zac.

I mean the thought did occur to me that why is Zac kissing the woman goodnight/goodbye/whatever if she's his publisher or indeed some other professional relationship? Not very professional that is it? 

Think that's all I had to say. Zac is one of my favourite characters on H&A atm (not that there's a long list) but just the way they're writing this character right now is majorly doing my head in.

[atrus]

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

As for the 'is not the be and end all' remark, my memory may be failing me but wasn't it Zac that actually said it!

Yes, it was Zac. Probably the last person you'd expect it from too!

[H&Alover]

Of course Leah can be Zac's friend just as Zac can be Leah's friend, you hear that phrase  a lot these days.  He is NOT having an affair would you carry around a satchel/man bag every time you were meeting  your lover. He also met her at Salt of all places, hardly somewhere you'd go if having an affair.  I've said on here before,  that he probably wants to keep it quiet until something definite has been sorted so he can surprise her, looks like he is going to have to tell her sooner rather than later.

H&A in Aus went on its break 19th December episode 6580, we've just had episode 6540 so, if my maths is right and its not my best subject, we've still got eight weeks to go. Any advance on that?

[samdanfan]

3 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Of course Leah can be Zac's friend just as Zac can be Leah's friend, you hear that phrase  a lot these days.  He is NOT having an affair would you carry around a satchel/man bag every time you were meeting  your lover. He also met her at Salt of all places, hardly somewhere you'd go if having an affair.  I've said on here before,  that he probably wants to keep it quiet until something definite has been sorted so he can surprise her, looks like he is going to have to tell her sooner rather than later.

H&A in Aus went on its break 19th December episode 6580, we've just had episode 6540 so, if my maths is right and its not my best subject, we've still got eight weeks to go. Any advance on that?

Having seen some of the new episodes I must say that Im glad Alf still around times have changed as life. People do too. The new characters just do not impress me yet I still love the location and have a fondness for the show. I guess that keeps it going .

[Slade]

On 15/01/2017 at 4:37 PM, H&Alover said:

Marilyn wasn't sticking her nose in she was trying to keep out of it, it was John who wanted to tackle Zac about it and he was pretty direct if I remember! 

She wasn't trying to keep out of it when she practically played twenty questions with Zac in front of Leah in the Diner or when she asked Leah about him later on Thursday.  And even when John told her to settle down she said she couldn't until she knew what was going on.  That is sticking her nose in!  Marilyn wasn't keen on the dinner because she wanted to find out more about what was going on covertly.

I said John was being indirect because when Marilyn told him about it he wanted to find out for himself and rather than just ask Zac he set the dinner up under the guise of a social meeting as an excuse to drop hints as a way of finding out more without being upfront.  And he could purposely have Zac in a situation where it would be difficult for him to lie (or at least they would be able to tell if he was lying).  He dropped an ambiguous question which forced Leah to challenge him.  Even then John didn't admit he wanted to know what was going on instead he pinned it on Marilyn (Marilyn did want to find out yes but John seemed more keen than she was).

So Zac is an aspiring author.  Do they really earn that much?  And John and Marilyn were round at Leah's.  She just has to know everything.  John obviously didn't believe Zac was being honest about wanting to write a book initially.  So he really kept it from Leah because he was worried she would critique his writing.  I had a wry smile during the scene in the Diner when Zac's publisher was talking about Leah's previously failed marriages.  I can actually see where she's coming from and why Leah wasn't happy about Zac divulging such information.

I'm still finding the stuff with Simmo highly amusing.  I loved the smug way he gloated that he knew about Kat and Ash to McCarthy after Ash set him up when he dropped off the stolen car.  I have to commend Kat for her poker face and bluffing McCarthy during Simmo's interview.  But her expression afterwards when she realised he wasn't going to let her search Simmo's for the laptop but get someone else to do it was wonderful.  Why wasn't Simmo's lawyer present?  If he had been smart he would have uploaded the photos to some sort of online file sharing service.  Then Kat really would have been stuffed.  Presumably Simmo has internet access.  Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

That was a very nice gesture from VJ to buy Olivia flowers and the vouchers for tuition for her French exam and pass it off as Hunter being the one to do it.  He's turning out to be quite a guy.  Sadly this is obviously the result of extreme happiness.  It's funny how Olivia didn't want Hunter anywhere near her at the end of last week but today he won her completely over.  Well sort of.