Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[630si]

Tessa's performance was heartbreaking in my opinion. I had read somewhere that she didn't want to be killed off.... Might have been the daily mail though. 

I have to admit ima sucker for a tragedy and in true soap fashion Billie was knocked to an all time low on her highest day. I'm still not over the episode and I might have to rewatc it later to take it in properly. It's a real deep shame she's not going to get the time to enjoy a bit more of the family she says she has fought so hard to get.

I agree the Nate/Tori/Riley stuff was just fillers but boy was I peeved at Tori. What is she playing at???! What's the saying, once shame on you and twice shame on me?? Or has a leopard changed its spots I wonder?

[Slade]

I'm really, really not happy about this storyline.  After watching the stuff with VJ and having to wait for months for the truth to come out, whilst I felt Billie could have gotten more backlash it seems as though they are going to kill her off.  I don't like the character at all but at least the writing has been fairly consistent, the lying the deception etc in tune with her personality and backstory.  So I felt they were at the point where they could have developed further storylines.  Billie could have bonded with Irene over the baby much to Leah's dismay.  VJ and Billie could have had relationship problems so Billie could have managed with Luc on her own for a bit.  But they go and do THIS.  And they couldn't even be bothered to come up with a different illness.  What annoys me is that it feels like a cop out.  No chance for redemption (from my perspective anyway).  I mean even Maddy I ended up liking in the end.  If the actress wanted to leave why not just have her run off with the baby?  At least that would have left the storyline open.  But I'll guess we'll never know what could have happened now.

I have to admit I did find it funny when Billie collapsed and Ash shouted "What's wrong with her ?" on Friday.  There was just something about the way he said that.

I think when it was mentioned how the blockage in Billie's lungs had grown since the bush fire it was obvious it was quite an aggressive form of cancer and they way Nate was talking to her I knew she didn't have much time but I was expecting it to be weeks rather than days.  That scene when Nate broke the news to Billie was very powerful indeed.  Everything about Nate's facial expression and body language - he literally seemed like the harbinger of death.  I do think he felt very sympathetic towards her though.

I haven't really commented to much on Zac and Sam but it seems slightly desperate her coming back to the bay like that just for him.  Not sure whether she's in love or it's just a strong infatuation.  Leah made me laugh when she blamed Zac for Sam and Bianca being attracted to him.

Tori is starting to annoy me.  So she does want to go out with Riley after all.  There's an argument that Nate deserves this given his track record but I would have expected better from her.  The girl clearly doesn't know what she wants.

[H&Alover]

I thought you would be over the moon Slade, Billie finally gets her just desserts for lying to everyone!  That was some aggressive cancer, if it had grown that quick in such a short space of time, no way would the hospital have allowed her out if there had been any signs of anything more serious.  You do realise if, as Nate suspected, it was triggered by smoke inhalation the 'bush fire' has claimed its first death!  I have to say all  the actors/actresses involved have played their respective roles Billie, VJ, Nate, Leah, Ash and Zac very well, all reacting to Billie's collapse, waiting for the doctors to do their job, then nervously waiting for the results in their own way. Billie was very courageous asking Nate to tell her what he had to, not sure I could have taken that news by myself. Nate does know Billie and all the others so it's going to affect so his way of breaking it to her would be different than if she was just another patient. Riley of course is removed from that as he doesn't know her or her situation, similar to how Tori was when she first arrived at the time of the explosion that killed Oscar and Hannah.  Billie's now been denied the family life she has always wanted, Leah was coming round to her having lied, yes there may have been troubles ahead for her and VJ but that is the same with any couple - Leah and Zac being a case in point - and they are fully grown adults!  Not that you would know it from the way they act sometimes. Now we have  a baby girl who will never get to know her mum, VJ who we see marry Billie, becomes an 18 year old widower.  I have to ask did VJ and Billie get to register Luc's birth and if yes, who was named as the father? That could have repercussions down the line. If, as many of us suspect, John has a brain tumour and Billie is dying from cancer has the dreaded cluster struck again?

Say what you like about the way Riley behaves in his private life, he's a bloody good doctor, even Nate puts their differences aside and acknowledges his professionalism and skill.  Tori and Olivia seem cut from the same cloth not able to decide which bloke they want to be with, Olivia has the excuse she's only a teenager, but Tori is a fully grown woman,  so should know better, not that dissimilar from my previous remark re Leah and Zac.  Plus Hunter never cheated on Olivia like Riley did with Tori. Nate is doing the sensible thing, keeping out of it.

OK fair enough events overtook Zac telling Leah about Slithery Sam turning up and his meetings with her (first one not planned by him at least), the second one yes.  His timing may not have been the best when Leah wanted to get to the hospital, but he did have a go at explaining though he did use that old cliché 'I was waiting for the right time'.  Which in some cases is true, but as we have all learnt the longer you leave these things the harder it is to come out with it. It goes hand in hand with 'I've been trying to tell you'. That meeting of Zac and Sam by the bait shop wasn't planned, at least I don't think it was, is Zac going to mention that to Leah or think it was just so fleeting it's not worth it, but then of course Matt may mention it in passing to Leah. Must admit I've never really seen Zac as a babe magnet, though, lest we forget Charlotte tried to win him back at one point!  Pretty harrowing  week in some soaps this week!

[Dan F]

4 hours ago, H&Alover said:

That was some aggressive cancer, if it had grown that quick in such a short space of time, no way would the hospital have allowed her out if there had been any signs of anything more serious.  You do realise if, as Nate suspected, it was triggered by smoke inhalation the 'bush fire' has claimed its first death!

The bushfire actually aggravated the pre-existing cancer, though it's only mentioned briefly a couple of times so can be easy to miss.

There's a quick rundown towards the bottom of the preview I put together for this week - it's now spoiler-free if you've watched today's episode

Long-term viewers may also notice something familiar about the final scene in today's ep, the explanation for which is also provided.

http://www.backtothebay.net/news/2017/03/27/uk-preview-tragedy-strikes/

[630si]

#HomeandAway is trending on Twitter for the 2nd night in a row now. 

[Red Ranger 1]

5 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Plus Hunter never cheated on Olivia like Riley did with Tori.

Does Lindsey count?

So, the cancer cluster claims another victim.I am grateful to the show for giving Billie a "good" death.After the number of throwaway deaths we've had in recent years, when rumours first circulated that she was being killed off I half-expected her to be murdered by her rapist. So I'm glad that we got a chance for Tessa and Matt to act their socks off, as I hoped they would.The only real bad note in the whole thing was Leah being a cow to Zac: Does she really think that's the most important thing at the moment?I love that VJ, who's pretty much officially the nicest person on the show at the moment, just wanted to be married to her, and that Ash was the first person to step forward and help.I do wish they'd got married the first time round rather than the baby lie being dragged out: They deserved a marriage, not just a wedding.But I loved that she got to say her vows, in a truly heartbreaking moment.I was slightly uncomfortable about Billie sending Ash away, it felt like she did it because he knew he'd stop her leaving the hospital, whereas VJ would never refuse her anything.And yes, they got their Blake and Meg moment, right down to Billie's identical last word.(I said that if it happened now they'd get married!)For someone who didn't have a lot of love in her life, she was loved at the end, completely and utterly.At least she had that.

But however good the execution was...they still killed Billie.I could accept it if they'd written themselves into a corner and Tessa quit and they had no choice but to kill her off, but it's been suggested, not least in Dan Bennett's interview on the main site, that Billie's character arc was planned out in advance.Which suggests someone actually sat down and went "Let's bring in an essentially decent and likable character, spend two years subjecting her to constant torture and misery, and then kill her just when she has a chance to be happy", which seems excessively cruel to the character, the audience and to VJ, widowed while still in high school.(They just beat Aden and Belle's record for shortest marriage.)Alternately, those of us who like Billie have got it wrong, and, much as her rape felt like a rather nasty punishment for lying about Nate, we're meant to think she got what she deserved for framing him and lying about the baby's paternity...which I feel even less comfortable with.There are times when it feels like the happiest endings go to the people least deserving of them, and the people who actually seem to have earned a happy ending end up being thrown to the wolves.There are also times when it feels like character who actually bring something unique to the show get axed prematurely (Oscar, Skye, now Billie) while bland cardboard cut-out characters (Nate, Phoebe, Hunter, Olivia, even Ash and Kat to an extent) stick around for three years plus as the show struggles to find a reason for them to exist.I'm being hypocritical here, I've always said that if you plan to kill off a character and when you get to that point you don't want them to die, then you should do it, because it means you'll get the right reaction from the audience.But it's hard not to feel cheated that the show built up VJ and Billie as a family only to rip it away.And it's hard to see how the show's better off without her.

[630si]

The best, and most moving deaths are the death of characters that we care about. Billie's whole time on the show slowly had us falling in love with her. From Downright brat to loveable in just a couple of years. And now I look back on it, pairing her with VJ helped make us like her. VJ is basically the Summer Bay Angel, we've watched him grow up and as an audience member, out of all of the characters in that age bracket we know him most. So for us to trust and love Billie he had to  also. I feel not just upset for Billie, but for VJ too. He's grown up now and fell in love and it's heartbreaking for him now he's left behind. He lost it all before he got it. 

I thought it was well executed, a perfect homage to the past, and thoroughly moving episode. If it wasn't Billie or we didn't like her so much, it would be like any of the other throw away deaths. I think this is when Home and Away is at its best. Not guns and kidnaps. As exciting as that sometimes is.

[Slade]

Sick to my back teeth of My5.  If I'm not getting an error telling me the program is unavailable then in the case of yesterday the episode won't load to click the play button.  Don't have anywhere near as many issues with the iPlayer, ITV Player or Channel 4.  It was a lot easier when they uploaded the episodes to YouTube all those years ago.

Again with Ash "WHAT CAN YOU DO?" And "YOU DO SOMETHING DOC.  YOU DO SOMETHING!" - I've noted comments in other threads that say he over does the acting I can see why they are saying this at times.

So does VJ marrying Billie give him a legal right to have custody of Luc?

Don't quite understand what Leah's problem is.  Zac was trying to be there for her and he never said their problems were small.  He said his and Leah's problems were small in comparison to someone dying of cancer and leaving her baby without a mother.

The stuff with VJ and Billie was very reminiscent of Aden and Belle.  And a bird flew over just as Billie died on the beach.  It will be interesting to see how they manage without her as she's pretty much been the focal point of the Summer Bay house for some time.

[630si]

So, the aftermath of Billie's death and word is getting out in the bay that she's passed. VJ is right in shock. I feel for him and often people in shock like him would find practical things to do in order to cope and that's exactly what he's doing with Luc. I thought the tone of the episode was just right and had the right amount of sadness and comfort feelings. Until Ash was on screen. I know his reaction is all he knows and he's pretty much obsessed with payback/revenge but I felt he ruined the whole episode. 

Leah continues to push Zack into Sams arms. I hope that when he calls her that's all it is. A chat. Because despite how impossible Leah has been of late, she's doesn't deserve to be betrayed. 

[Angelica]

And so Billie dies - a lot sooner than I had expected. I didn't watch H&A in the time of Blake and Meg but I was definitely reminded of Aden and Belle. Although part of me wonders why they used cancer to kill her off when if death was their intention, they could have just used the smoke inhalation story to do. 

Slade, as far as I am aware, I don't think marrying Billie would affect VJ's claim on Luck but rather whether Billie put VJ on birth certificate or father unknown. If she did put his name than as the presumed father, he would have the most rights to her unless someone disproves his paternity or can demonstrate he would be unfit to be a father. Based on Ash's spurts of anger, we can safely presume that he will fight for custody over his last remaining relative. But given his criminal history, and his emotional instability, I don't anyone would presume any child would be better with him. The main person who could put a spanner in the works, is Irene - she so far has shown no interest in Luc but it is only a matter of time. 

I am so disappointed that Tori, who was initially an interesting character, has now become like all the other female characters who exist only to flit between romantic interests. I don't understand anyone being so hung up about a relationship that happened 8 years ago - seriously they both should have moved on by now.