Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

Back to regular H&A

Murder (attempted or otherwise) by arson would be very difficult to prove, that is the trouble with setting fires you can't control which way the flames will blow, either in town or out in the bush. I think a bush fire has the potential to cause a lot more damage than one set in town, it would depend on how dry it has been and as I said before which way the wind is blowing.  John knew there were a lot of people about at the Festival, his own wife included and he's lived in the bay long enough to know how dangerous they can be, but if as we suspect he's suffering some sort of brain damage he wouldn't be thinking straight. Hunter honestly didn't believe  anyone was in the house and was shocked when he found out, if you remember he did want to own up but mummy dearest stopped him.

Poor Maz is going through it and Alf was trying to be gentle and honest as he could be, but still fudged her questions as to how bad it was . Btw I thought she was being transferred to the city? Pain must be playing a huge part of why she is feeling so scared, her facial burns don't look too bad

Seeing as Mick has broken his licence conditions by returning to the bay and approaching Irene good decision to have his photo put in the local paper, Billie or BJ aren't aware of that yet of course they just know he's out.

Olivia was trying too hard with Mason, far too gushy, though the way she was looking at him when he was treating Harley was genuine enough, he was good with him.  Her flouncing off when Mason challenged her proved he was right. I don't think Hunter has an actual hold on Olivia she's just finding it hard to let go.  No wonder Mason is feeling the way he is. He, like most people, doesn't wan to be  a rebound.

Going by what we saw in the trailers Mick works it out, though it is quite a leap.

 

[Red Ranger 1]

On ‎19‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 2:07 PM, Slade said:

All 342 of them?  I've got a lot of old issues but nowhere near that number. 

Effectively yes.They released most of the US-originated strips across 14 volumes and most of the UK-exclusive ones across another 14 volumes.I already had the later US stories (from about Matrix Quest onwards) in the original UK printings so I just got the ones I needed to fill in the gaps, then filled in the remaining gaps (they didn't release the early UK stories like Man of Iron) from other, older sources.eBay was indeed a godsend; Time Wars was the hardest to track down, when I finally saw a copy on there I grabbed it up.

Oh yeah, Home and Away.

Well, I said I find it hard to dislike Heath but punching Zac was out of line.I can kind of understand it because he thinks Bianca's aborted his child (I'm not sure whether she actually has or not) but he's basically lashing out at an innocent bystander.Really didn't appreciate Bianca going behind his back to Tori like that.Leah and Zac's disagreement felt contrived and out of nowhere.There were faults on both sides: Zac shouldn't have overreacted to Leah's reasonable suggestion that they try and convince Hunter to do something with his life rather than lounge around like a loser, but Zac was probably right that it was the wrong time and Leah shouldn't have ignored him and gone ahead and said it.

Justin is shaping up to be the patient from hell and knowing Phoebe I can't see her going along with it for long.It felt like Tori discharged him from hospital more because she doesn't want him to see Riley than anything else...but that feels like delaying the inevitable and letting them meet when Justin's not in a condition to punch him might not be a bad thing.Kat still with the attempted murder nonsense.(At the risk of going over ground we've covered a lot, there's never been any indication either way that Hunter thought the house was empty: All he said was "I didn't mean to burn the whole thing down" and he's never seemed particularly sorry that people were hurt and nearly killed.Neither did he want to own up - at least not until about six months later when the penny finally dropped how much trouble he'd landed Billie in - it was telling Zac he was his father that Charlotte tried, unsuccessfully, to stop him doing.)

[630si]

If anyone was to punch Zac today I thought it should've been Leah! The 'he's my son' line was rude. They're married and supposed to be a family. Leah was coming from a good place. Can't blame Heath for typically flying off the handle too. To his knowledge she's gone behind his back and aborted their kid. I think it's sweet he wants another with Bianca that would be theirs truly. Despite Biancas concerns. 

 

Ill give pheobe another other episode of nurse/slave routine before she puts Justin in his place haha

[Slade]

The way Zac acted towards Leah I really didn't care Heath punched him.  Leah was absolutely right, she has forgiven a lot when Hunter was acting completely psychopathic and whilst I don't think she should have pushed Hunter at that particular time he should have some idea what he wants to do next.  Perhaps he should think about doing resits.

Disappointed Bianca went behind Heath's back although I can understand why she did.  It's a shame Nate wasn't on duty as he might have been able to talk her round unfortunately Tori was purely a doctor and not so much a friend.  I'm assuming she's gone through with the abortion but I really hope I'm wrong.

Whilst I don't blame Ash he came across as though he was begging Kat to go out with him which was pretty ironic given that when she was focusing her time doing her job and trying to solve the arson case he claimed that she was keen.

As annoying as I find Justin can't complain that he's practically ordering Phoebe around like this and given her feminist tendencies I suspect she won't put up with this for too long.  Although anything that annoys her can't be bad.

[H&Alover]

No excuse for Heath walloping Zac but he has always been a bit jealous of Bianca and Zac, goes way back.  Her hugging him, Zac, the way she was would needle him, he's not seriously thinking the baby is Zac's is he? I think Bianca has taken one of the pills, have to say it's a switch for a termination kit to be found rather than the usual pregnancy testing kit, she has to take the second  one the following day. I think the opposite, Tori doesn't know Bianca as well as Nate does and his opinion would be coloured by their friendship and he was there last time, she's not long into the pregnancy 4/5 weeks.

As for Leah and Zac arguing over Hunter maybe he shouldn't have said what he did, but boot on other foot would she have put up with him telling VJ what to do, I don't think so!  He had asked her not to push it. You really think by now that telling  a teenager what to do, or what they should be doing is only going to make them dig their heels in and do the opposite even if they know deep down the parent is right.

I'm revising my thinking about Kat and her opinion the arson being attempted murder, there hasn't just been the one fire, there have been three each more serious. The one at the garage and Brody's van exploding could have killed people. I think Ash's determination to get back with Kat is a reaction to his recent ordeal.

Justin was certainly feeling better complaining about everything and wanting to get out of hospital, no doubt about the fact Tori didn't want him and Riley meeting given how she's indicated how Justin feels about him. Was funny Justin acting the invalid and 'ordering' Phoebe about, she's giving him slack at the moment as he's just out of hospital but it won't last long, the rest of the family won't put up with it either. Tori will be more easy going as she was against him being out so soon and I guess she feels responsible for him medically speaking.

[Red Ranger 1]

I agree with H&Alover that, while Zac shouldn't have said what he did, I think Leah would be very quick to pull the "He's my son" act if he gave an opinion on VJ that she didn't agree with.Indeed, she pretty much did it straight afterwards with her pointed "I have my granddaughter to think about."And her reaction to the news about Bianca making a pass at him pretty much demonstrated that he was right not to tell her, even if she did eventually seems to calm down.The fact that Heath didn't apologise to Zac, or indeed seem remotely sorry about what seemed to be a case of punching him because he really wanted to punch Bianca, marred their happy ending somewhat (especially when they had time for what felt like endless farewell scenes with Irene).It was a bit rushed but to be honest I won't be particularly sorry if they don't come back for a visit.I am glad that Bianca kept the baby and that, after all they've been through, they're finally going to have a child together, hopefully with a longer lifespan than the last one.But that's pretty much the only meaningful thing to come out of this visit, which mainly served as a footnote to the various specials.

VJ and Billie are already finding lying to everyone difficult.I was surprised that Billie seemed accepting, if rather awkward, of Irene's visit after trying her best to keep her at arms length lately, but it seems it gave her the nudge to realise that in a town full of unconventional families (as Billie pointed out to Ash), Leah's unlikely to stop loving Billie and Luc just because there's no biological tie (I think the way she just accepted Billie jilting VJ demonstrated that) and that Irene being Luc's grandmother doesn't make Mick her dad.Sadly, it seems the show really can't get enough of torturing Billie, probably because they've realised Tessa does "tortured" well, so now she gets cornered by her rapist and then has her daughter kidnapped him, which is pretty sick if you stop and analyse it.And again, everyone has to act with gross incompetence in order to make it work.Why, when Mick's violent and dangerous and unstable and  has already tried to escape once, does Kat leave just one of her Keystone Cops behind while she goes off to have a nail appointment or something?Why is Murray so utterly blasé about it?Why doesn't Gretchen do anything to raise the alarm after finding a police officer unconscious and his prisoner missing?And just how contrived do they have to be to lead a known rapist through the maternity section so he can ogle all the new mothers?

[630si]

So Luc has been kidnapped by Mick so momentarily the jig is up and the secret will be out. I've really enjoyed this storyline and today was pretty tense. I wonder what will happen with Irenes and Leah's friendship now? 

I'm a big advocate of Heath and Bianca and I'm so glad she didn't take the pills and they yet again drove off into the sunset mie and happy. See you in 12 months

 

i I agree with red the visit to the hospital from Irene was really awkward but really kind of warming at the same time. 

[Slade]

The only positive thing I can say about Heath hitting Zac is at least it was just one punch.  I was on Leah side previously but was on Zac's side in that episode.

Glad I was wrong about Bianca terminating the baby.  I was kind of getting used to them and was looking forward to seeing Darcy go back to school so I'm disappointed that they are leaving although I'd rather they left like that than breaking up.

Mick is proving a godsend with regards to entertainment.  That scene when he approached Irene on the beach (like he did in her home) with her fear and panic was wonderful.  She can't bear to hear him call her 'mum'.  Still denying that she spawned a monster.  He's living up to his reputation of being a violent and dangerous person although I thought it was ridiculous how he took that police officer out although I appreciate the officer wasn't expecting the headbutt.  I do find it hard for the actor to convince being someone who can handle himself as I can just picture him being a geek.

Well Billie comes face to face with Mick for the first time since he attacked her.  She should have reported him when she had the chance.  Like Irene at least they may have been able to get some sort of restraining order or had the sense to have someone watch her baby knowing that Mick might have gone to see her.  Surprised how OK Billie was with Irene and Irene seemed very natural with Luc (ridiculous name) although the way Billie was looking at them it was almost liked she pictured Irene as the grandmother for the first time.  Can't decide who was better with the little one out of her and Leah.

[Red Ranger 1]

I was going to say when Billie blurted out the news about Mick being the father at the hospital that it wasn't really the right time.But ironically, it seems to have helped: Luc being kidnapped meant no-one really had time to dwell on how long they've been kept in the dark and Leah in particular just seems to have taken it in her stride and got on with things.(That said, I didn't entirely appreciate Alf telling VJ to leave Billie when she was a mess to talk to Leah.)Irene would naturally sympathise with Billie, having been through the same thing herself, but isn't quite willing to come to terms with becoming a grandmother by giving birth to a rapist, and doesn't feel ready to accept Billie's offer to join this distinctly non-nuclear family just yet.And Mick...Having seen nothing redeemable about him up to now, I surprised myself by actually feeling a bit sorry for him at the end there.I might feel a bit more sorry if we actually had any sort of back story to him and any explanation for what's made him the way he is, rather than the rather bizarre suggestion that being taken away from your mother at birth means you'll grow up to be a psychopath.But in his last conversation with Irene, I think for the first time he actually realised that he's done harm to innocent people, rather than just mouthing the words without sincerity.Conceiving Luc doesn't really qualify as doing a good thing (that's more like something good coming out of something evil) but maybe giving her back does: Okay, as good deeds go that's kind of on a par with not killing someone, but it's the first time he's considered what's best for someone else rather than only being interested in what he can get from them.Not that I'm not relieved the police have finally got him.They showed their usual competence by filling the hospital with police after everyone's gone.

Meanwhile, things go from bad to worse for Marilyn.After the rather wasted "Maddy's lost her arm, Maddy's gone" storyline last year, I did find myself wondering if Marilyn's going to lose the hand, which would probably be easier to fake.But the promo suggests otherwise.

[H&Alover]

Sigh of relief -  Bianca didn't take the pills!   Not sure if her decision to move back to the city because they have better facilities is a  kick in the teeth for Nate or not. I did enjoy their visit even it was a brief one, Darcy is very patient one moment they are all settled in the city, then she was just getting ready to go to SBH, then they are back to the city. The ride off into the sunset being literal. Hope all goes well and she has an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. Zac has now a mad scramble on his hands to get a new teacher at short notice.  I think it was said at the time Zac not telling Leah about Bianca's near kiss was the wrong move and sure enough it came back to bite him on the bum, not too mention Heath's fist on his lip!!  Smiled when Zac said he hurt his lip by walking into Heath's fist! Fair enough not telling Leah when she turned up that night but he could have told her over the next couple of days, he does have this annoying habit of keeping things from her as she pointed out. But like Billie's secret the longer you leave it the harder it is to fess up. Things were definitely a bit frosty between them, until other matters put that problem into prospective.

The last I saw of Billie she was on  a ventilator to help her breathing this week she was sitting up about to try breast feeding - did I miss an episode?   Her and VJ's decision to tell everyone the truth didn't work out like they planned due to events beyond their control. I think it was seeing Irene with Luc and Leah buying that dress prompted her to make the decision.

Irene was understandably shook up when Mick approached the way he did, though those two blokes nearby were as much use as chocolate teapots just standing there as this woman is shouting at this bloke to keep away from her. He obviously wasn't thinking straight by still being there when Kat turned up later and was asking questions. You do have a funny idea of 'entertainment' Slade. Kat followed what I assume is correct police procedure by taking him  off to the hospital to get checked out for any injuries, his lawyer would have jumped on that if they hadn't. Seeing as ND hospital isn't that big not totally surprising Mick spotted Billie with Luc (short for Lucinda), naturally he'd recognise her but his working out the baby was his was either because he is ultra smart or it was a stab in the dark. Element of surprise was behind Mick's ability to escape from the cop, though he did then have to work out where the nursery was and then the  poor nurse gets knocked out. I thought Gretchen did alert people? 

So as I said earlier VJ and Billie's plan to let people, well, Leah, Zac and Irene for now, know the truth quietly went well awry when Billie had to blurt it out because everyone was demanding why Mick would snatch Luc. Leah managed to put her shock aside to do what was required  take Billie and VJ home and make the decision to let Irene know. She was just the same with Billie as she would have been if she didn't know what she did.  I knew Irene would blame herself for what Mick had done to Billie though it was nothing to do with her.  It was whoever raised him for all we know they took every opportunity to let him know how he came into the world and whenever he was naughty tell him was because of who he was which is why Billie didn't want her child to carry that burden. It was sad when Irene talked to Billie and apologised for Mick and  Billie didn't blame her.  Ash, of course, wanted to go after him  which is what  Billie didn't want she didn't want him to end up inside. Near miss when Alf picked up Ash just yards away from where Mick was sitting in the car with Luc that could have ended very differently.

That scene with Mick, Irene and Luc was actually quite moving Mick came across so differently, calm, resigned and genuine.  Irene was finally able to say what she wanted to say to him, that she never even got to hold him and he told her his doctors had explained everything to him and he understood what she had gone through and he didn't blame her any more.  He admitted what he had done to Billie and others was wrong and Luc that was a good thing to have come out of the bad.  It was an ending, I hate the word 'closure' and Irene can move on. I liked how VJ stopped Ash from charging off to confront Mick and Leah should feel very proud of him by keeping what Billie had told him before they went to the city, it wasn't his secret to tell and very adult of him. Nice little mention of Vinnie btw before she found out the truth of how pleased he would have been to have a grandfather.  Leah seems OK with the fact she isn't Luc's natural grandmother, but I think the shock of the revelation hasn't yet fully kicked in. Nice idea that Leah be known as  ay,ay, have I got that right, and Irene be known by whatever name she wants, Irene, wisely has decided to take a back seat for now and is just relieved things have worked out OK.

Back to poor Maz, who isn't in a good state of health, physically as well as mentally, it's looking like the move to the special burns unit in the city is in the offing. John, who is seemingly in a good state of mind at the moment must have it weighing on his conscience. I'm no medical expert but I suppose the problem with the burns to her hand is down to the fact there isn't as much flesh on the hand as there is on the arm meaning more nerve damage is likely. There are, to me at least, three ways this will end, John'll make a slip when setting the next fire leaving behind a clue, he'll get caught or he'll own up.