Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Against some of my better judgement, I'm going to try and go back to daily reviews.And it coincides with yet another death.It's a shame we had to lose a police officer who was both vaguely competent and not evil, a combination that's rare.Also a shame that it means the premature end of the Decker/Raffy dynamic, although with Raffy promoted to regular with this episode, I guess it cements the idea of the Morgans being all she's got (aside from the incarcerated Hope).Justin seemed to let Kat off the hook a bit too easily, suggesting that someone followed Decker there...which would be plausible if we hadn't seen someone watching the Morgan house before he got there, suggesting someone (probably Turner) worked out where they were from Kat's digging and went there to wait for him.That said, in retrospect I'm wondering if Decker could have stayed better protected instead of sneaking out to meet Kat at the pier if Justin had just told her the truth when she came round to interrogate him: He told Phoebe in similar circumstances (does it only apply if he fancies them?) and he then rendered the whole thing pointless by telling her the whole story an episode later anyway.Kat might be corrupt and incompetent but she's not actually evil... unlike Turner, who turns up practically holding a sign saying "I'm the next villain".

Still, it gave Mason a moment with Olivia.Irene seemed incredibly sceptical about her claim to be happy on her own and I loved the "Dude, give us some space!" look that Mason gave Justin.But it's also got both Olivia and Nate asking questions about how much they know about the people they've dated.If Mason was up all night working on that USB stick, why did he not try Sparrow before?I was practically shouting it all scene...

[Slade]

Phoebe is so damn immature and such a drama queen.  Her whole attitude of ignoring Justin when he was waiting to be served at Salt and dumping the plate on the table in an unprofessional manner was annoying.  Her conversation with Ash by the beach was very telling when she said she and Justin were never like they were together but Ash pointed out they were always arguing.  Then when Justin told her Phoebe that he was interested she said she didn't want to be with him anyway because she had her own stuff the deal with.

Whilst I think Olivia probably shouldn't get back with Hunter I'm not happy about what I'm seeing with Mason.

Glad to see Heath and Bianca deciding to give things another chance even though I'm skeptical.  I'm glad they brought Darcy back like Cheryl as it's good to have consistency.  It wasn't until I read the comments here that I realised she was actually the same actress.

So Nate and Tori are getting really hot and steamy.  It's one thing them making an effort to not be found out but they're were not even trying to be the discreet at work and perhaps they should be more professional.  I don't think it matters now anyway given their dinner date at Salt.

Quite liked the clandestine showdown with Kat and Decker (I'm not usually a fan of Kat poking her nose in and she annoyed me immensely re Charlotte previously) but as I'm not a fan of the Morgan's I quite enjoyed her giving Justin a hard time and then questioning Tori afterwards.  I think it's no surprise the superintendent woman was the mole just from her demeanor.  I'm assuming she has been following Decker for ages.  If she was responsible for him being run off the road then presumably she and therefore the syndicate must know who the Morgans are and probably have for some time.  If they are potential witnesses then why are they still alive?  Surely the syndicate would have bumped them off a long time ago.  I guess the situation the Morgan's are now in Justin doesn't have any choice but the trust Kat so it's understandable that he told her everything.  I haven't been the biggest fan of this storyline but I did think the stuff on Fri/Mon was quite good.

[H&Alover]

So sad that Decker has died and feel really sorry for Raffy, she'll never to get to know her dad and his life before being a WP Officer now, thankfully she did make up with him, true she has her half brothers and sister but not the same.  Can't say Nate, Tori and the surgical team didn't do their utmost to save him.  So too late Kat realises she cocked up big time but is now doing all she can to atone for it, ironically Justin was right when he said she is the only police officer they can trust to crack the police files. The lurker was around before Turner turned up (sorry) was he (I assume it was a he) reporting back to Ranea Turner?  Did the shooter follow Decker or Kat? Decker has always been ultra careful in covering his tracks before.  The Syndicate did catch up with the Morgan's before when they got kidnapped, then it appeared they backed off, Oh I remember Decker leaked it that they had all gone back to the city. Good idea of Justin's to tell Brody to stay away.  If you are really looking for a corrupt cop (as opposed to one who makes the wrong decisions) look at Turner, she may as well have had a neon sign above her head flashing BAD COP!!!!  Decker did tell Kat it went higher than she could ever guess, well I guess Super is pretty high up the pecking order). Seemingly both Justin and Kat got her number right away and only told the truth as far as they knew it. Turner's questioning of Kat did seem heavy handed and Kat was telling the truth when she said Decker hadn't told her who the mole was. Handy that Mason stumbled across the USB stick before it got kicked under the bed or was picked up by someone else, he didn't hear me shouting at him either Red, sparrow was the first thing I thought of as being Decker's password. Olivia says she wants to be on her for a while so why does Irene find that so hard to get her head around. Olivia too has picked up on the fact there is more to the Morgan's than they are saying. Nate already has his suspicions, it must have seemed odd that they were so upset at losing a 'family friend' who they didn't see very much of. I may have missed something but when was it revealed to Nate Decker was Raffy's dad?

Not surprising Phoebe believed she and Ash never had any problems when they were together, memory does play tricks on you.

Going by what we saw on the trailer things get very dramatic tonight.

[Red Ranger 1]

That's two episodes focussed pretty much entirely on the Morgans and related characters.Oddly, it feels like in some ways not a lot happened; Kat and Justin cotton onto something that we already know and spend ages before doing anything about it.(In fact at some points the delaying tactics to get everyone in the right place really stretch credibility: Why does Justin stay behind at the house instead of going to the farm with the others and then going to the city from there?Not enough room in the car?!)To address some of the confusion, it was Spike who was behind the previous attempt on Decker's life;this is the first time we've encountered the mainstream syndicate, it's been a splinter group up until now.I wish the show would show some consistency about which character took which stance:Here, Brody, who previously was willing to stay in Summer Bay without the others and refused to accept their lives there were over when Spike found them, is the one who most wants to run away blindly.Maybe having an old friend murdered has that effect on you...but then he's been acting like he doesn't even like Decker for quite a while now.Nice brief bit of interaction between Tori and Mason after Olivia's visit.

Meanwhile, the related characters struggle to keep up.While it was hardly the time for Tori to tell Nate, ironically keeping him in the dark resulted in him blowing their cover story to Turner.Olivia keeps getting drawn back to Mason and after the initial randomness I'm liking them more and more.Hunter has tickets on himself, assuming that if Olivia isn't with Mason then she must want him back. and definitely crossed the line by checking Olivia's phone.More credit weirdness:Yesterday, in her first episode as a regular, Raffy suddenly became Raffy Morgan, one episode later she's back to being Raffy Morrison.Mistake or someone getting ahead of themselves?

[Homeandawayfan.]

I watched tonight's episode in full (as Martin Lewis would say) and it is just the same old cops and robbers, or cops versus other cops. I did like the scene at the diner where Alf laid down the law to Hunter about the noise last night then offering him a job. It is hard for me to think of Atticus Decker and not think of Luke Cunningham from years and years ago when I was an avid viewer of the show.

[Slade]

I don't understand how the Morgans have remained alive for so long. If Turner was Blaine's girlfriend and she is part of the syndicate then presumably Blaine is part of the syndicate (or at the very least has strong connections to it) so when he and Spike were after them I don't see how the syndicate could not have known where to subsequently find them.  Surely Turner would have had contact with Blaine/Spike when they were inside.

So Phoebe's advice to Nate with regards to Tori not telling him the whole truth about the situation is just to hang in there.  Like she did with Justin, just kept badgering and guilt tripping  him till he told her anyway.  I'm actually extremely annoyed that it's OK for her to know but not Nate.  Because she's so special.  Although she was saying last week that she doesn't want to be with Justin after all...because he didn't tell her that he loved her back.  Boo hoo.

Finding Hunter's sense of entitlement really quite amusing.  Just because Olivia said she didn't want to go there with Mason he rocks up and expects to pick up where he left off.  So I was kind of glad she said she would consider going out with Mason just to spite him.

[c120701]

I have to admit that I've quite enjoyed the Morgan's story - they've played it more for the human element rather than the just the crime and I've come to care for the characters because of that, so actually I feel their relief at finally getting to the point they'll be able to stop running. 

Of course the showdown has been dragged out over several episodes, it's a soap - it will always have predictable moments, like of course they dropped the USB and hadn't made a third copy when they made the test copy for Ranae. Also, the Morgans house now backs on to a reserve that connects it with the Caravan Park. 

Then of course there's the odd idea to move the Morgans to Kat's house, because she isn't aware of it. Well, if Kat's helping the Morgans it won't take much for the Deputy Commissioner to look up Kat's address. 

But you have to put aside your disbelief at times, otherwise we'd all be questioning why this all came to a head when they moved to Summer Bay which would make you question most of the show's history.

[Red Ranger 1]

I did rather enjoy the conclusion of the Morgans' storyline, although the witness protection angle was arguably limited so if this really is the end of it then I won't be sorry.I loved Justin standing up to Turner and knowing just what buttons to press:She thinks she's something special when in fact she's just a grubby little criminal whose ruthlessly taking of lives to save her own worthless skin has ultimately proved futile, since they've still ended up with enough evidence to put her away forever.She mentions ordering the hit on the Lees which probably means she's the one who cast Blaine out for failing to kill Justin, increasing the suspicion that they haven't been in touch since (the photo Justin and Kat found was presumably meant to be fairly old).Brody's rather irrational desire to just run (they likely wouldn't have lasted a year) continued to grate but there were lots of little nice touches of characterisation, right down to McCarthy's unnecessary shame that a police officer did all this.The scene of the four Morgan siblings musing on what freedom could mean to them was actually very touching, from the realisation of how much it's cost them and those they loved (seven years of hiding in fear, half their family dead) through to little light touches like Mason's big ambition being to have a Twitter account.So yes, I hope it works out for them.

On the downside...Zac and Bianca, really?That was pretty much a low point for both characters so I don't see why the show felt the need to revisit it.At least Zac showed no sign of reciprocating when Bianca made a move, so hopefully this won't end in Heath slamming a fist into his face again.I do appreciate Bianca's frustration at Heath casually slipping back into old habits but I find her hard to sympathise with at times, especially when she slips back into her old habit of making a move on one man to punish another.Leah not turning up for their anniversary is fairly bad wife behaviour and I'm not even sure there's enough going on to justify it.(She forgot her anniversary with Dan too.Probably would have forgotten it with Vinnie if they'd actually been together a year.Yep, she sucks at anniversaries.)

[Homeandawayfan.]

In soapland no family ever gets a minutes peace so the next meaty drama will await the Morgan's soon.

[H&Alover]

Two very action packed episodes and of course it was drawn out, been complaints if it hadn't been and all sewn up in five minutes.  More realistic to have it done the way it was. Kat has certainly more than redeemed herself by getting the protection for the Morgan's  and trying to crack the police files, which turned out was a much bigger task than she could handle. Then of course was her getting shot and charging back to the Morgan's when the family realised Justin had gone back there to retrieve the USB stick. I think Justin (and Kat) both wanted everyone else safe and under one roof while they still worked on Decker's files.   I think they both realised Turner wasn't all she seemed from the beginning which was why they were wary in their replies to her questions. Turner was slow in not putting two and two together and tracking them down to the farm house but it all added to the tension. At least with Raffy being in the know they didn't have to explain to her why they had to hide out at the farmhouse and with Phoebe having been in on it for a while (so just as well she did nag at Justin) they knew they'd be safe there. Phoebe gave good advice to Nate about him giving Tori another chance without giving anything away, once she can tell him he will understand. Unfortunate his not being in on it did cause him to innocently telling Turner Kat hadn't returned to the hospital like she had told Turner which was when Turner did put two and two together. Justin's remark to Kat 'She doesn't know we are on to her' caused alarm bells to ring because of course that was when Nate said what he did. It was pure chance Justin stumbled across those photos of a much younger Turner (20 years ago?) and as Justin said she has been very patient, you don't get to be superintendent over night.  Yes when did the Morgan's place back onto the little mentioned reserve which leads to the caravan park.  Btw I don't know how close the Morgan's neighbours are but wouldn't a volley of gunshots draw some attention? Did Justin have a death wish by goading Turner to go ahead and shoot him and btw who was that guy hovering in the background when Turner was having her meltdown? It's going to be quite an anti-climax for the Morgan's, yes they will get their old life back, but they have been the Morgan's for seven years, as they like to keep reminding us, it's going to take a bit of getting used to to go back to being Lee's. Do they have to wait until the trial is over before they can revert back?  Brody being able to properly advertise Salt (he did come back to the bay despite Justin telling him to stay away).  Mason and his Twitter account, Tori being able to tell Nate the truth, Justin being able to see Ava, though he's going to have tread very carefully there, he can't just turn up and say' hey daddy's back!' That's the main block between his and Phoebe being together and she knows it. On another note and nothing to do with H&A at all, any case Turner was involved in that wasn't rock solid will need to reopened to  confirm it wasn't dodgy and that will be a lot of cases. No cop likes having a crooked cop exposed so no wonder McCarthy felt embarrassed. Why would Raffy be a Morgan/Lee wouldn't she be a Decker?   I didn't spot until the other day each of the Morgan's assumed first name begins with the initial letter of their real first names. Tessa/Tori, Jack/Justin, Michael/Mason and Brad/Brody (which I prefer actually).

Not much of an excuse but both Zac and Bianca were drunk so their whinging about their respective partners led to being the others shoulder to cry on. Zac didn't kiss Bianca and pulled back pretty sharpish. She does confess to Heath she nearly kissed someone else. I'm confused with her, she admitted she realised she didn't want to lose Heath when she thought he might die, but still doesn't want to be with him?  What was wrong with him playing the game with Darcy a very fatherly thing to do I would have thought.  As an aside why should Leah get away with forgetting their anniversary, can you imagine Leah's reaction if it had been the other way round, she'd make Zac pay for weeks. 

Olivia is still sending out mixed messages to Hunter, she's not exactly with  Mason, but gives Hunter the impression they could be, but does like him, no wonder he's confused.  Like the fact Alf has given Hunter a chance of working at Alf's Fishing Emporium a.k.a. the bait shop. He can't whinge on about the youngsters not doing anything but not be willing to give them a fair crack at working because he doesn't trust them.

John seems OK at the moment offering to be Zac's companion at the dinner Zac had planned for him and the absent Leah but I don't think we have heard the last of his latest bad turns.