Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

I had the feeling Raffy was lying about meeting Decker, her you tell me what you know to the Morgan's and I'll tell you what he said clinched it, she  told Ellie she realised she stood no chance of finding him, one question how di she make her way back to the bay? Although they all decided she should know the  truth, well not all of it, how do you tell your long lost sister her mum was murdered, their 'story' was plausible.  I've said before she is a smart kid and soon spotted that photo was a print out, then having the bright idea of looking on the laptop to track that photo but must have been a hell of a shock to find out the truth the way she did. Hopefully she won't throw another strop and run off again, but tell them what's she found out. The scene of them having a laugh over the photos and her making breakfast with Brody was maybe the first normal family moment they've had. I thought Justin and Phoebe had got it all sorted but no he's backed off again, is it still to 'protect' Phoebe? 

Great scene with Evie, Matt and Ellie playing pool in the Surf Club and clever idea of Matt to use the game to teach Elie geometry and Evie seemed  to be able talk about Oscar quite freely without getting too sad about it. Shame Zoe rocked up to spoil the moment between him and Evie .  Nice to get a mention of Ellie still having private sessions to help with her dyslexia and that Evie is still tutoring her. His throwing down the gauntlet of if she really isn't interested he's moving on, didn't get an immediate reaction, but the look on her face once he'd left seemed to me she was having second thoughts.

So this guy Heath has killed, would that be Gunno?   Shouldn't there have been more signs of laser treatment where he has had his tats removed like there was when Casey had his removed? Bianca was being naïve in thinking that because she had told Heath to stay away he actually would, it's Heath fgs! 

I suppose if Billie had said she knew (later) who had raped her it would have opened up a whole new can of worms, namely it was Irene's long lost son who was a known rapist. I'm guessing he's still in prison somewhere.

Ash broke up with Kat because he didn't like the people they had turned into, her lying to everyone, especially her boss and him for scaring Simmo's girlfriend. They handled the poem they read out at the Wedding well considering it must have been awkward.

Good point about the divorce being settled so quick, seeing as they had only been married a matter of months, they wouldn't even have been able to apply for an annulment.  I thought Tori and Duncan had put their budding relationship on hold so seems she has decided they're over, out of sight out of mind (and heart) for her. She did seem worried Nate and Bianca had been an item, but they had just been friends.

[Slade]

Justin shouting at Mason this time.  It was funny watching their conversation in the garage as we see two idiots interact.  Well I suppose I can't fault Justin for deciding to tell Raffy the truth although that appears to have backfired on them with her running off.  I still don't like them when they are in family meeting mode.  The whole secrecy thing is so tiring now and absolutely annoying.

Actually enjoyed the scenes with Nate and Heath.  Again good to see Nate spent some time with a non-female character.  It's unfortunate things aren't going well with Bianca and Heath.  On the subject of him killing Gunno, I don't give a damn that he killed him and like I said with Andy killing Pirovic, from the sound of things I'm glad he did it.  It seems to me as though he did the right thing.  Gunno like Pirovic would have dedicated his life to going for everyone close to Brax so I'm not going to judge Heath for that.  He did what he had to do to protect his family.  Bianca's reaction is pretty much expected.

I actually thought Tori had decided that she wanted to only date Nate but by the looks of things the fact that she is considering going to Hawaii courtesy of the plane ticket Alf gave her from Duncan means that she's keeping her options open.  That or she maybe wants a free trip after missing out on Bali.

[H&Alover]

Quite a debate between the Morgan clan about whether or not to risk telling Raffy the utter and whole truth.  Sorry to bang on about it but she is  a smart kid and would have gone and done her own digging.  Did like her comment to Mason that she was thinking about changing her surname and wondering if it should be Morgan or Lee? Though legitimately  it would be Decker, but that's just me being pedantic. I think Justin made the right decision, if nothing else it'll stop them all whispering and having to stop talking when she comes into the room. We did find one small thing out Mason is 20 as he said he was 13 (Raffy's age) when they went into WP.  Was that an oversight by TPTB that Hope got missed out of the list of people Raffy couldn't talk to about it? Yes it was one hell of a thing for her to take in, but she has them all now to talk to about how careful they have to be, nice touch that Mason mentioned his experience with Lara. So why has Raffy run off now, what is it with that girl?   At least the scene we saw in the trailer of Kat making enquiries about the Morgan's makes sense now, Raffy asked her not to say anything so why break her confidence? That could easily bring out the mole from whichever hole he is lhiding in.

The one off special continues to make it's presence felt, nice to know what happened in it hasn't been forgotten entirely.   Heath was right he didn't have a choice, Bianca wasn't there and he may have had a history of violence but this was genuinely a matter of kill or be killed. Was it said how/when Bianca found out, it must have been playing on his mind for him to have started to act the way he was and have Bianca thinking he was having an affair. I have the feeling it was more he didn't tell her for more than a year about it than what he had actually done.

They may not have been the best of buddies when Heath lived in the bay but that was a nice catch up with him and Nate.  Wry comment from Nate about him talking to one Braxton about the fact his wife left him because she was in love with another Braxton. 

As was bound to happen Duncan's envelope to Tori that Alf hid was found by Roo.  I have  a feeling he hid it as he saw the attraction between Nate and Tori and didn't want to rock that particular boat. It is her decision to make though and I'm not sure she will take it up,  you have to admit it is a pretty strange request, Duncan asking his girlfriend/lover to visit him when he is looking after his ex wife?

[Slade]

Once again the two sides of Phoebe.  The one that makes me really dislike her i.e. when Raffy was about to tell Kat the truth about the Morgans and she arrived just in the nick of time.  I hated the way she said "Don't lie to me" with authority as if she was Raffy's guardian or something and the way she told Raffy to show some respect.  The only person Raffy knew as her sister has been locked behind bars for months.  She's been dumped with this new family who have been blatantly keeping things from her and stop their conversations wherever she walks into a room.  Then they drop this massive bombshell that their lives are in danger.  How else is she supposed to react?  She was scared and understandably was worried for her safety and probably the Morgans so went to talk to seek advice from a police officer off the record (BTW - Tori annoyed me too when she asked what was wrong with Raffy for the exact reasons I just mentioned).  And Phoebe annoyed me when Justin turned up afterwards and she basically told him that she saved the day and used that to get further into his good books.  Then we have the other side of Phoebe i.e. the scene with Tori when she saw the Hickey on Tori's neck.  The banter was really good.  I loved the way she called Tori dude and was asking her to spill the beans about what happened with Nate.  The seven year dry spell remark was funny but I can't remember when Tori told Phoebe about that.  I see Phoebe has dropped the L-word.  Well I suppose at least it has been built up for a while rather than just after a one night stand.

It's funny because despite Raffy almost telling Kat, she seems to have made up with the Morgan's and now magically feels like part of the family.  Although it seems as though the damage has already been done.  As Kat (who was already suspicious of them) is now alerted to the fact that something serious is going on.  I actually hope she finds something with her digging TBH.  I'm over the Syndicate storyline so I want to see things out in the open.  I am left wondering if something is going to happen quite soon given the conversation Tori had with Justin about wanting the Syndicate to be caught so they could be free.

I think it's very telling that Duncan takes Tori on several dates, even attempts to fly her to a vineyard for her birthday, has her alone at the Caravan Park and in a hotel room and can't get her in the sack.  Even a free trip to Hawaii isn't enough.  Nate gets stuck in a lift with her and she can't resist him.  I suppose the close proximity and heat were too much.  As I mentioned above with Tori and Phoebe, similarly the scene where Nate came home from work looking very pleased with himself and Bianca picked up on it immediately and started questioning and teasing him was really good.  I liked the way she was pleased for him.

The scene where Heath came to confront Bianca and told him that he whilst he had constant flashbacks about what happened with Gunno he did the right thing for the good of his family.  Good for him, I'm glad he didn't back down.

When I looked at the preview the girl with Matt, looked a bit like Kirsty.

[H&Alover]

I'm on the flip side about Phoebe stopping Raffy telling Kat about  the Morgan's, they had already warned her there was a corrupt cop so even going to the locals would be a bad idea. I think the hard facts coming from someone who wasn't a member of the family had much more of an effect than it did from them, after all Phoebe has seen The Syndicate in action and knows they wouldn't stop at killing any of them.  It looked like she did get through to her as Raffy looked  a lot more settled after.  Would Kat, if Phoebe hadn't stopped Raffy telling her, kept quiet or would she have done  as she did anyway as her curiosity was piqued and started making  enquiries. Phoebe did a very good job in fielding Kat's questions about the Morgan's and downplaying Kat's they are weird to strange. Justin and co have had seven years to adapt, where this is totally new for Raffy a lot for a 13 year old to get their head around, but her being the smart kid she is she'll adjust.  Kat's initial probing may have already got the wrong person interested  putting Tori and Justin's conversation about being free soon in doubt.

Phoebe finally bit the bullet and told Justin/Jack she loved him only for him to do a runner.  I thought the way the aftermath was seen from different angles, Justin, Matt and Ash and Phoebe, Evie and Kat was very cleverly done. The way Ash and Matt teased Justin about it, but keeping it clean.  I did laugh when Justin told them Phoebe had said the 'L' word and Matt joked what Phoebe is a lesbian?  Good to see the male/female perspective of the whole should Justin had responded with the 'L' word too.  I did agree with Ash what was the difference between Phoebe discussing it with Evie and Kat and Justin talking about it with Ash and Matt, so the guys had beers, the girls had a bottle of wine. The guys seemed to be having a grown up discussion about it and I thought it was sweet that Justin admitted he had never told a woman he loved her when he didn't, a lot of blokes drop the 'L' word just to get what they want.  Telling conversation between Matt and Evie on that subject, Matt has told two girls/women he has but has meant it, have a feeling it won't be long before there is another one. Of course Zoe then has to pop up and Evie still can't stop eyeing them both and I'm sure Zoe isn't that oblivious to it all. Justin does finally blurt to Phoebe he loves her but that it doesn't change anything because he still needs to keep her at a distance to keep her safe.  Kat then drops another bombshell that Josh and Andy have been arrested, was it telling that Evie didn't demand to know where they were and could she see him or was it just me?  Liked how Matt got her to tell him about it and stayed with her and gave her a hug.  

Oh yes the lust in a lift scenes  Methinks the reason Duncan was never successful was Tori's heart wasn't in it with him not like it has been with Nate, not even the unromantic surroundings and the risk of being rescued didn't deter her, if the bloke is right doesn't matter where you are. Plus she was honest about the ticket and that she is NOT going to Hawaii, do the decent thing Tori and return the ticket with an explanation, don't leave Duncan dangling.  Her acting like a teenager when Phoebe spotted the love bite. Funny her worries after that he may have thought it was just a one off, her babbling away when they caught up and her jumping on him. Brightened up Bianca her spotting his very upbeat mood, his 'a gentleman never tells' said it all.  Will Tori be able to keep it light enough between her and Nate seeing as he is still in the dark about the Morgan's history. 

Maz was in annoying mode, ignoring John's urging to leave Billie alone, but Billie soon shook her off.  I noticed the nod to Leah when Nate told Billie she wouldn't be the first to run away from their wedding. I can see why she didn't want Zac at the ultra sound, I guess she's having them because of all the scares she's had and hid the result from him as she is two weeks later on than anyone else thinks she is.  VJ showed a maturity a lot older than his years when he told her he was willing to accept the baby as his and they are not to tell Leah.  So despite Leah spending a lot of his growing up treating him younger than he was she's done a good job seeing as he came to that conclusion alone.  Then of course Ash just happens to walk in when the rape word is mentioned! That should make for an interesting episode tonight.

I hope Heath's face down with Bianca over Gunno and why he hadn't told her before does the trick.

Methinks TPTB  are going about John is being done in a subtle way, little signs, his forgetting he volunteered about the stock check, his mood swings are leading to something to do with his health.  Could be a brain tumour which can be treated if caught early enough or dementia which can't.

[Slade]

Marilyn also annoyed me when she approached Billie on the beach to fish for gossip so I was glad Billie cut the conversation short.  That aside it's reached the point where like Justin almost every time Billie's on screen I find her annoying.  Even if she's not doing anything wrong.  I didn't like how evasive she was with Zac re the ultrasound.  With regards to VJ, I knew it.  Knew he wouldn't want to tell Leah.  So he's basically allowed himself to be manipulated into helping Billie continue to perpetuate this lie.  I wonder if he would be so willing if he knew Irene was the baby's grandmother.  Of course she's going to tell VJ he's incredible.  I'm not blaming him though, he's young and in love so it's totally understandable that he thinks this way.  I'm glad Ash overheard that Billie got raped.  With any luck he will tell Kat and the real truth about the baby will come out and we can end this once and for all.

I have to admit, I quite enjoyed Phoebe declaring her love for Justin and him just walking off.  The scene at Salt where Phoebe/Kat/Evelyn were having lunch and Justin/Ash/Matt walked in was really good.  I liked the fact that it was a mirror of the ex/prospective love interests.  I also liked Justin and Phoebe's awkwardness when they initially saw each other.  And I loved when he initially said sorry and she was expecting him to deliver this massive heartfelt speech but he just casually told her he couldn't give her what she wanted (Good to see him back doing the empty apologies).  I loved how she turned round in sheer disbelief.  The best part was that Phoebe made out that she didn't want to talk to him and then when he was joking around with Ash and Matt she couldn't handle the fact that he wasn't staring at her desperate for her attention.  And even when he went to see her again she immediately brought up the fact he was ignoring her.  So just because of that she's decided that she doesn't want to be with him (again).

Kat annoyed me when she had a go at Justin and made a scene at Salt in defense of Phoebe.  A police officer seriously acting like that.  Although given her conversation on the phone earlier on, I'm guessing she's made no progress with finding out more about the Morgans.  I suspect that her outburst towards Justin was subconsciously frustration about that and she's also quite distrustful of him.

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Would Kat, if Phoebe hadn't stopped Raffy telling her, kept quiet or would she have done  as she did anyway as her curiosity was piqued and started making  enquiries. Phoebe did a very good job in fielding Kat's questions about the Morgan's and downplaying Kat's they are weird to strange.

I actually think Phoebe stopping Raffy from revealing the truth and attempting to downplay Kat's initial thoughts has actually made the situation worse.  If Raffy had told Kat, Phoebe may have been able to talk her into keeping her mouth shut.  Now Kat doesn't realise how bad it is with the corrupt copper she's digging for dirt and presumably she will find something and the Syndicate's insider in the Force could be alerted to the fact.

So Josh and Andy have been caught.  Well they didn't last very long.  Can't really complain as it was inevitable although at least it happened off screen.

[H&Alover]

Ash would have no right in telling the police about Billie's rape!  If Billie revealed she did find out who her rapist was  would drag Irene into it, he's already committed other rapes, but  Irene knowing her son raped someone she knows and is fond of would hurt her incredibly and she'd blame herself.  How did VJ get manipulated into deciding to keep Leah out of the loop, he made that decision all by himself when he was in the city with Leah.  Billie, as she told Ash is doing it to protect her daughter and give her a secure upbringing, What future would she have with everyone knowing she was the product of rape.  I can understand why Ash is worried about VJ being able to cope with the knowledge given his young age, but as he said he'd given it a lot of thought and will stand by her and the baby.

I felt sorry for Matt when Evie had a go at him for not telling her Josh had a new girlfriend, his lie about Josh not wanting to see or anyone  was to stop Evie getting hurt, we know it's because he loves her.

John's condition worsened quicker than I thought it would, fuzzy vision, headache, snapping at Alf and forgetting he'd already counted something, then collapsing when alone.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Three. Leah didn't appear at all.

So suddenly it was Justin who wanted to tell Raffy everything.They had to really, just a shame that she freaked out and nearly blabbed to Kat, who is now doing all the things they were hoping she wouldn't do. Whilst I have some sympathy for her, Raffy deserved that serve from Phoebe, and at least she does finally seem to have accepted that they're her family.Justin and Phoebe's angst continues to be wince inducing and Kat really didn't have any right yelling at Justin like that.Nate and Tori were less angsty although I'm still thinking "Whither Duncan?" Roo rightly got Alf to pass on his letter, is Tori actually going to reply to it? Like Brody, I was wondering if we'd ever see Jeannie again, but I'm not sure why she's abruptly gone from wanting to get away from her parents to defending them and reciting their beliefs.Did she get re-indoctrinated while she was away?

I wish I could cheer that Josh and Andy got caught but it was so anti-climactic I really can't muster the energy to care.Oh well, at least Andy finally goes down as he should have done several dead bodies ago.I can't decide what would be worse: If the show always intended to wrap it up off screen after a few months or if they actually thought that that escape was an ending and realised they were wrong when they got an audience backlash.Worryingly, it could well be there's a third reason: That they were all so wrapped up in Josh being "The One" for Evelyn that they couldn't bear to have her move on without making a big song and dance about it.Except that development is completely and utterly absurd.Evelyn isn't put off by him killing someone, letting one of her family be blamed and running away from the consequences...but she is put off by him having a new girlfriend?Even though he cheated on her with Maddy and had that one-night stand last time they broke up?And how the heck is Josh meant to have met another girl?He's meant to have been living in the middle of nowhere with Andy since he left with limited amenities.Did he find her living in a cave?Did he find a dating site for fugitives and hermits?Again, Evelyn just comes across as self-absorbed and her slomo room trash was utterly laughable.

And no sooner do we get rid of one set of killers, than someone decides to bring Heath back and make him as bad as Andy.Or do they?Because I think this does demonstrate how badly handled Andy was by showing how you actually make us sympathise with the killer.Whereas Andy committed pre-meditated cold-blooded murder without a flicker of conscience and had everyone pat him on the back like he was a big hero, Heath is clearly haunted by what he did, even though it seems to have been an impulsive moment, and forced to face up to the personal consequences of Bianca, like any normal person, having a hard time dealing with it.But I still wish they hadn't done this.I don't know why they're suddenly bringing the special into the show after a year of studiously ignoring it to the point of Brax's exit making no sense (is it because there's a couple more on the way and they're all weeping "They're canon, dammit!"?).And Bianca's speech at the end sums up why this is so wrong.Heath's exit was supposed to be him getting off the roller coaster, getting away from his past and leading a normal life.Dragging him back into it (and it's basically Brax's fault!) feels very wrong.I was hoping we'd seen the last of Cheryl too, although at least Bianca got to give her the serve she's always wanted to.Irene getting involved was annoying as well.

So VJ's back and he's standing by Billie like he was probably always going to: He's too invested in this to just give up, especially knowing (most of) the truth, and I doubt the identity of her rapist will make any difference.And Ash now knows...well, everything that VJ knows.I loved VJ standing up to Ash and insisting he'll be there for Billie and doesn't need his approval.He really is exactly what Billie needs.I am less certain about the decision to keep the truth from Leah and everyone else though.I can understand Billie's rationale in not wanting her daughter to know she's a product of rape, but someone should tell her these things have a habit of coming out.

Hunter's "He tried to blame me for something he did!" is another occasion when you wonder if he's listening to the words he's saying: That's exactly what he did to Billie and what's more not only was it deliberate (unlike John) but he never apologised and she still forgave him straightaway.(Don't know why but she did.)Olivia continued to frustrate with her mixed messages to Hunter: This appears to be one of those break-ups where you still spend most of your time together.She can't break up with him, spend all her time following him around fluttering her eyelashes and then give him death glares when he responds.Of course, she now appears to have a counter-offer from Mason.I did actually have them together in one of my fics but that exchange between them was random.But then, it's not like there's really anyone else for either of them.Is Tori the worst doctor ever?She keeps examining John and then sending him home even though he's clearly not right.

[Angelica]

Kat and Phoebe really pissed me off with the way they had a go at Justin. I am sorry but telling some one you love them doesn't mean that the other person should reciprocate. Phoebe having a tantrum because Justin wasn't prepared to say ILY back was incredibly immature. While it may not have been a good idea to sleep together, he never made any promises when he did so. People can have casual sex too. Although it is funny that the WP thing doesn't pose any issues for Brody or Tori dating. 

Josh must be the most non-entity of a character ever so hard to believe that Evie has such a hard time getting over him. I hope Matt does move on because I am tired of how Evie is treating him. 

I am so bored of the syndicate so I hope the promos show the start of the end. 

[Slade]

On 10/02/2017 at 3:24 PM, H&Alover said:

Ash would have no right in telling the police about Billie's rape!  If Billie revealed she did find out who her rapist was  would drag Irene into it, he's already committed other rapes, but  Irene knowing her son raped someone she knows and is fond of would hurt her incredibly and she'd blame herself.

Says who? A serious crime has been committed so given that it happened to his own sister not reporting it will allow the perpetrator to get away with it.  How it affects Irene is completely irrelevant.  That's her problem and shouldn't take preference over someone getting away with a seriously assault.  Even if Ash did know why should he prioritise Irene's feelings over ensuring someone gets punished over a crime.  Are her feelings more important than justice being served?  Not as far as I'm concerned.

 

On 10/02/2017 at 3:24 PM, H&Alover said:

How did VJ get manipulated into deciding to keep Leah out of the loop, he made that decision all by himself when he was in the city with Leah.

I said Billie manipulated VJ because of how she was when he went to see her at the caravan on the day he got jilted and told her he was having second thoughts.  I was specifically referring to when he told her that he loved her just before he gave her back the ring and she said "I love you too, so much".  The reason why I said it was manipulation was because I'm still undecided as to whether she loves him or not.  So if she doesn't love him then it's manipulation because although she's not forcing him to go along with anything it's a way of keeping him onside.  He realises that the girl of his dreams loves him so much that to have her he would have to support a child that isn't his.  When I made the comment I did feel like that at the time but I am starting to wonder if perhaps she does love him.  So although even though I feel Billie has been manipulating VJ (and to a lesser extent Leah) for months in that particular case perhaps VJ came to the decision himself albeit a very bad decision IMO.

I found Ash funny at first when he got annoyed after he found out.  If Mick had been there he would have killed him.  It was a good speech from VJ but I was with Ash when he questioned this at first.  He's too young to be making a decision like this and this is one of the reasons why Leah should know about it.  I'm finding it hard to believe Ash is prepared to keep quiet about this.  He doesn't know about Mick and Irene so as far as he's concerned his sister's rapist is out on the loose and free to attack other women.  Ash is an OK person and has displayed guilt and empathy.  He was prepared to get illegal drugs for Caroline despite the fact that he could very well lose his business and end up behind bars to help her deal with her pain.  He also felt really bad after threatening Simmo's girlfriend so surely he can't be OK with this.

Matt annoyed me when he was getting annoyed about Josh.  He's right that Evelyn deserves better but he was fully supporting Josh before.  Now that he fancies Evie it's different.  I'd almost forgot Zac and Evie were related.  I do feel bad for her.  She's lost her mother/father/aunt/twin brother and she's all alone.  I can completely understand her clinging onto the hope that she would see Josh and he would want her because she doesn't really have anybody else.  Although I suppose now that Josh has a girlfriend at least she can move on now.  Genuinely don't understand how he was even able to meet someone giving the way he was living and the predicament he was in.

I was on Olivia's side when she wanted to break up with Hunter but I didn't like the way she told him he was amazing and he was her hero after he found John unconscious and called for an ambulance (I'd forgotten about John's previous head injury so just assumed he had a stroke).  Then when he suggested being friends or more she rejected him.  It felt like she was giving mixed signals.  I also didn't like the way Mason was eavesdropping on the conversation and wanted to hang out with her after Hunter left. 

I found the scene when Tori met Jeannie and Brody at the Diner hilarious.  I liked Tori's facial expressions when Jeanie was trying to hoard all the sugar and talking about all the end of the world stuff.  And I enjoyed the banter with Tori and Brody afterwards.  I also laughed at the way Brody spoke to Jeannie's dad and told him to stop filling her head with garbage.

Bianca's adopting quite a hardline stance and with her wanting a divorce her mind is clearly made up.  Perhaps it might be best if they go their separate ways.  Whilst I'm not a fan of Cheryl I did like the fact that they brought her back purely for consistency.  Even when Ricky was still around there were references to her being in the bay but we didn't see her.  I didn't like the fact that she went against Heath's wishes, went round to Irene's to confront her although Bianca gave as good as she got.  Throughout that scene I kept looking to see Olivia's face through the entire exchange but she was obscured by Bianca.  I did like her "she seems nice" after Cheryl left.