Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Finally someone pointed out that Billie had terminal cancer before the fire: I accept that John’s actions hastened her death but it was the result of an existing underlying condition. It's not that he killed someone that was already dying: He didn't kill her. The cancer did. Alf is increasingly coming across as the voice of reason, which is a good job because no-one else seems up to it. Irene was spectacularly high-handed telling Marilyn to stay away from the family, even though she apparently thinks it’s okay for her to “stick her bib in”. Leah is a bit more qualified to turn her away but I’m still not convinced it was the right thing. Of course, Marilyn wasn’t much better, pasting on a smile for John and hiding the truth from him. The thing about houses being destroyed (during the bushfire?) seems like an after-thought to justify the universal hostility. As nice as it was to see Leah get a taste of her own medicine, VJ can’t do everything on his own and needs to learn to accept help. Despite this, he is basically a caring parent and I hope the show isn’t going to try and make out that him shouting at Luc makes him abusive. I wouldn't like to see everything he went through with Billie reversed or made meaningless. As Harmony Kendall once said,"The girl of your dreams loved you. That's more than most people ever get."

I’m really struggling to see a point to this Luke/Patrick storyline. Despite the ambiguity in the past, the fact that the grave seems to get handwaved with “Maybe he had a fake death certificate” suggests not a lot of thought went into it. Patrick/Luke was clearly in Ash’s eyeline at the memorial (when he was setting up the guitar) so the idea that he didn’t see him stretches credibility somewhat. But worst of all, who in their right mind would schedule this reveal for after they’ve just killed off Billie? I get that it adds the poignancy of her going to her grave never knowing he wasn’t in his, but if she was there then she’d add a proper emotional core to the storyline. Instead, we’ve got Ash stomping around and punching people, as if we’ve never seen that before, and acting more like a watered down Brax by the minute with his casual attitude to breaking and entering. The cynic in me suspects Luke/Patrick has been brought in solely because someone suddenly realised that without Billie Ash doesn’t really have a connection to any of the characters, bar his on/off thing with Kat and sort-of friendship with Justin, so made this up.

[H&Alover]

No-one knew Billie had terminal cancer until they did the tests on her after she started coughing up blood so it is a very moot point that John 'killed' her. The argument is if the smoke hadn't accelerated her condition  could it have been treated. Not that is going to make a difference to rent-a-mob who are back this time chucking a brick through Maz and John's window. Ironic seeing as Alf hasn't always been John's no. 1 fan he is the only one, apart from Maz, who is not playing the blame game. If it had been someone else in the bay and their condition wasn't known would Alf, John and Maz be as understanding as they are expecting others to be? It could and would look like a cop-out. One tiny bit of good news his tumour was benign.  Agree Maz is being far too upbeat, it's going to catch up with her if she doesn't reveal how she is truly feeling and it may be John she takes it put on despite what I've just said. I'm sure she took what Irene said on board but this is Maz we're talking about so would be bound to go and see Leah to put her feelings about what happened, and feels better in herself that she did it. I'm pretty sure Leah doesn't blame her for what John did, but VJ may be another matter, although when he gets the chance to think calmly he'd know Marilyn had no control over John's actions.

VJ isn't any different  from  any other single dad looking after a new born, age is irrelevant and he shouldn't be beating himself up because he can't cope and thinks he is letting Billie down.  Leah got it right when she said Luc was picking up on the tension which was making her fractious and cry more therefore stressing out VJ and Leah which makes her cry more because they are stressed out. Leah was a single mum but I'm sure she, if I remember correctly, wasn't afraid to ask for help. VJ wouldn't be failing in his promise to Billie by asking for help, she'd be right behind him in that. Just having Irene (or Ash) take Luc for a few hours will give both VJ and Leah a breather, give them a chance to get some sleep and then they'll be in  a better position to look after the bub.  

Talking of Ash (btw his discovery means Luc has not one but two uncles) I was totally behind Ash whacking Luke/Patrick, he seemed to be expecting it too.  He was a serving soldier in Afghanistan when he was 'killed' while home on leave.  I'm thinking the same seven years rule applies in Australia as to someone who is presumed dead isn't officially declared dead until that period of time has passed.   Billie did turn up at Luke's grave on Anzac Day so some sort of memorial. One of those things that happens not just in soaps but in other dramas when it's plain to us someone  is there who someone else should be seeing, but they deliberately  don't look that way as in Ash not seeing Luke at Billie's service. It's going to be obvious for some yet unknown reason that Luke won't be reporting the break-in. He must have been living close by to know what had happened and for him turning up at the service, her death wouldn't have been something that would have made anything other than local papers.

[Red Ranger 1]

Spoiler warning for anyone that hasn't seen today's episode!

Hmm. Well, I’m glad that VJ seemed to be the only one beating himself up over him losing his temper with Luc, with everyone else kind of seeing it as normal. I did feel sorry for him when Irene and Leah were smugly dismissing his attempt to tell them how to look after Luc, as if they know better than him, with the result that I didn’t feel at all sorry for Leah when Irene did the same to her, even though Irene’s “The more they sleep, the more they sleep” sounds like she’s never met a baby in her life. (Irene has had a few babies living with her over the years, so she shouldn’t be a total novice.) Also not sure what to make of VJ suddenly turning from an overprotective father who missed his daughter to Mr Chill and Relax. Maybe Leah’s split personality is hereditary.

Well, we kind of got an explanation for Patrick, and there is a logic in there somewhere. I’m somewhat interested in his reasons, although I can’t think of anything that’ll provoke a stronger reaction than “Oh, is that it?” Kat seems to veer from abusing her position to get revenge for her boyfriend, to being Patrick’s biggest cheerleader. Wonder if him being called Patrick is because someone twigged having Luke and Luc on the show would be a bit confusing? (While he annoyed me a lot, Ash’s “You chose a stupid name” was line of the episode.) I did find the scene of Billie’s brothers with her daughter vaguely emotional, they’re probably both qualified to keep her memory alive. And it is kind of nice to hear Ash get called Marty again. By the way, is Kat referring to Brax faking his death the first indication that that’s common knowledge? The show pretty much glossed over everyone finding out he’s alive.

Marilyn frustrated me somewhat with the way she was painting on a smile and acting like nothing’s happened. Did they even think of calling the police about the brick through the window, or were they just going “La-la-la, not happening”? Surprised that the two locals only knew who John was because of his picture in the paper, what happened to everyone knowing everyone? I can understand John’s helplessness, but leaving Marilyn is not the answer, that’ll just hurt her more.

[630si]

I agree John leaving Marilyn is not the answer. I can see where he's coming from though, it's as if he's trying to save Marilyn from the whole situation. Except you can't John, because she was heavily burnt in the fire and therefore involved anyway!! My hearts breaking for her at the moment and then for him to go and say that.  VJ visiting him was a very emotional scene and came at just the right time. I also liked the scene in the diner with VJ and Marilyn where he thanks her for the letter. Marilyn's happy face that she's painted on was starting to show cracks there and it was nice to have VJ say such nice things. I don't think we've got cool day VJ forever. It won't last long. Especially with tensions already very high with Leah and Irene. 

 

I dont buy Luke/Patrick's reasons for faking his death. It just seems very farfeteched. Ash said himself, go see a doc, get some meds etc. There's more there. Has he killed someone of a high status whilst serving? Did he hear or see something he shouldnt have...?

[Red Ranger 1]

VJ cements his place as probably the nicest person on the show. I’m glad that, even though the break’s done him good, he still loves Luc and wants to spend time with her, and glad too that he continues to look back on his time with Billie with happiness. I actually had tears in my eyes when he forgave John, especially with John’s bewildered “How?” It was a truly cathartic experience for both of them, with VJ realising there’s no point in being angry when even John doesn’t understand what he did. It's hard to tell whether he'd have reacted the same if Marilyn had spoken to him on Monday before he'd had a chance to rest and come to terms with what happened to Billie somewhat, but I do think Leah underestimates him sometimes. Meanwhile, Irene and Leah’s “granny wars” was to be expected. Despite their rapprochement here, and the definite appeal of two of the show’s longest-serving characters sharing a grandchild, it does seem like Irene still wants a larger role than she has at the moment.

Justin pushing Mason onto Lena was downright bizarre: Not so long ago he was berating Mason for leaping headfirst into relationships, now he wants him to do it again despite the last one ending badly? Fortunately Mason’s sensible enough to distance himself from Lena once he worked out what she was into. (This is what you get when Olivia sets you up.) Not so sure about his decision to turn a blind eye otherwise: I get that he didn’t want to rock the boat but some boats need rocking and Brody’s right that they can’t have that sort of thing happening in Salt.

[Slade]

Kat annoyed me when she went to take Luke in for questioning.  This was despite her failing to arrest Ash for breaking into his place the episode before (which was the only reason she found him).  And it just seemed hypocritical.  Even before she took him away she called him out on how his disappearance affected Ash and concentrated on his feelings rather than focusing on keeping it professional.  However she did redeem herself when she realised Luke had PTSD, could understand his actions and talked Ash into speaking with him.

I don't think John deserves this backlash from the residents but at the same time I don't really have any sympathy for him.  Regardless of whether it was his fault or not someone has died and people have lost their homes.  I'm still not buying this whole he was responsible for Billie's death but accepting it in terms of the storyline surely there has to be some form of punishment.

I'm still not entirely convinced VJ wants to look after Luc. I think part of him wants her around because it's the only part of Billie he has remaining and so he wants to carry on her "legacy".  But I do wonder whether there will come a point when he moves on whether he will still want somebody else's kid.

We can already see tension building up with Leah not suppressing her displeasure at Irene putting Luc to sleep during the day it makes you think it's inevitable it will lead to some kind of conflict.

[Red Ranger 1]

Hmm. Even less sure about Mason here, although I do think his family were way too hard on him. His intentions were good even if he did stuff up both in letting Lena go on dealing and in not getting rid of the drugs he’d confiscated. I think his rant at Brody was motivated more by frustration at constantly being told what to do than anything else. (No mention of the fact that Justin was practically forcing him onto Lena, unfortunately.) The Morgans’ insistence on keeping Raffy and now Phoebe out of things is also slightly frustrating (although Phoebe trying to push Raffy out of the house while everyone else argues comes under Funny Background Event). I’m kind of interested in the development of Nate and Tori but wish we’d seen more of their bike ride. Or, you know, any. I was glad to see Mason and Olivia still having scenes, I was expecting this to be one of those break-ups when they suddenly have nothing to do with each other, although in this case it just seemed to be a plot device to put Hunter in a jealous sulk. And the show still refuses to have Irene and Olivia in the same episode so they don’t have to deal with Irene’s opposition to a Hunter/Olivia reunion.

Matt and Evelyn were well-intentioned but you could see the problems coming a mile off. Ellie seems to be less upset about the prospect of going to Vietnam than about them making big decisions without consulting her…so they make another big decision without consulting her, and one that means they don’t have to consult her to boot? If they’d actually sat her down and asked her opinion rather than presenting her with another fait accompli, they might have got a better reception. Mind you, the idea seems faintly absurd: Matt and Evelyn don’t even live together, so applying for guardianship together doesn’t seem entirely logical.

CURS: What was all that stuff with Riley doing in there? He wasn’t mentioned once.

[630si]

Ok so Justin's proposal has me undecided. I didn't see it coming and I don't know what to expect. 

 

Im glad in a way Ellie decided to go to Vietnam because it gives Matt and Evie a happy ending. Evie will have only resented it all down the track had she been made to stay. Shame though I would've loved to have seen Ellie stay, there's loads more that can be done with her dyslexia and I think her friendship with Raffy could be developed in and be very enjoyable to watch.

Nate and Tori, I'll give it until next Friday. Zzzzz. 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf’s episode count this week: Four, and he was credited for no appearance on Thursday.

Loved the way that Justin really didn’t want to get involved in Nate and Tori’s relationship dramas, trying his best to quicken his pace and play ignorance when he saw Nate on the beach, then cringing when he got dragged into it. Despite this, he gave good advice and Nate would have saved himself a lot of trouble by being honest in the first place. (Still, his desperate “Alf, I love that hat!” and Alf’s grumpy response were great.) Of course, then Phoebe gets her own “Oh cr*p…” moment at the end…

I really liked Raffy finding out Ellie was at home and her withering response to Matt and Evelyn. Otherwise, I did actually find myself caught up in the enthusiasm of Matt, Evelyn and Ellie for their new life. I do want them to have a happy ending, even if a few details don’t entirely sit right and I’m not entirely sold on this “little family” thing. Despite Matt saying last episode that it’s forever, in truth he and Evelyn are little more than foster parents and in five years or so Ellie will be off doing her own thing. But the guardianship does make more sense if they’re living in Vietnam together rather than scattered throughout the Bay. (In fact, Evelyn doesn’t even live in the Bay!)

Alf seemed to be shoehorned into the role of giving a damn about Hunter and Olivia’s relationship, even if he did kind of lampshade it himself. They’re nowhere near the same league as VJ and Billie, and the idea of them living together just makes me roll my eyes, but the show’s gonna do what it’s gonna do…

[atrus]

Hmm. Three weeks on, and I'm still watching (grudgingly, and only in concentrated bursts) - mainly to see what happens with Matt and Evie. And it looks like it's all decided now, which is great for the characters, and not so great for the viewers; they're one of the few likeable couples right now, so it's a pity they're going and all the 'meh' ones are staying. I was really pleased that they decided to become Ellie's legal guardians; if they really are going to Vietnam, and some horrific tragedy doesn't befall them in the interim, it will be a rare and deserved happy ending, which will also thankfully sidestep the horror scenario of them randomly hanging out with Matt's ex on a boat in Greece (which didn't sit right at all). I've resolved to stay tuned at least until they leave, and then assess the lie of the land again...

Billie's beach memorial service was OK, although to be honest happenings in the Bay have been so relentlessly grim lately - and for Billie, particularly so - that it more or less left me cold, and I was feeling something between grief fatigue and relief for her that the writers can't force her to endure any more. Meanwhile, we can add Ash to the growing list of Bay denizens in recent years (Kyle, Phoebe, Matt, Justin - I've probably missed some) who will happily belt out a serviceable tune in public when the plot demands it. I know a lot of actors are also trained singers, but that doesn't automatically mean their characters should be - and it's particularly jarring with trigger-happy macho archetypes like Ash.

I don't think the Pyro John story is remotely plausible but as ever with these things, the aftermath is far better than the main event. While anyone who was close to Billie gets a free pass to be temporarily mad at John, not only did his actions not cause her cancer - they also were objectively beyond his control. I'm glad Marilyn and Alf seemed to realise that straight away - and VJ's 'I forgive you' was easily the most moving scene I've seen on H&A in ages. I loved how he mentioned John being a second dad when Jett was around; and the tension between the two was something that could easily have been played for maximum aggro but, thank goodness, wasn't, as what we got was far better. That said, they're obviously holding back the aggro until Ash runs into John again, at which point, no doubt fists will fly. Though it hasn't explored them directly, the storyline raises some pretty big philosophical questions about blame and responsibility. A brain tumour is something we can easily attribute blame to while absolving the human being it inhabits, because it shows up on a scan as a discrete, concrete foreign body - but it leads me to wonder the extent to which other malign influences on human behaviour should equally be taken into account when apportioning blame: neglectful upbringing, perhaps, or early life trauma. Just because they're invisible, irreducibly complex and can't be excised with a scalpel, doesn't mean they're any less damaging to a person and influential on their actions than a tumour can be. Which leads me to wonder whether we should all be a bit quicker to forgive like VJ, and slower to 'do an Ash'. 

Anyhow, I'm surprised we descended into a ridiculous storyline about Ash's not-dead brother while he's still in the midst of grief over Billie and tension over Luc. For me at least, grief fatigue is being rapidly followed by Ash fatigue. And a big yawn from me at Ash and Kat being back together too - they really are on course to be the new Brax and Charlie, and no good can come from that.

Speaking of Luc - if I had to hazard a guess about where all this is going, I'd say that Ash is going to mount a custody challenge eventually. The telltale signs are clear; Ash has already mouthed off about Leah not being related to Luc, and we're repeatedly being told that Leah and VJ are struggling, despite Leah's long history as a capable single mother and the fact that she has a houseful of babysitters at her beck and call. VJ losing his temper with Luc is unlikely to be a one-off, and I suspect we'll see Leah and Zac's marriage finally fall apart just as it happens again, leading to Luc being neglected in some way and giving Ash - and/or, if things get really grim, an unenthusiastic Irene - an in-road into a bid for Luc's guardianship. Should that happen and DNA tests are taken, it's hard to imagine VJ would get to keep Luc. Agree with those who've been complaining about Leah's behaviour over the past few weeks; it's almost been as if she was psychic and knew Zac was about to do the dirty again. One minute she's berating him for being around and trying to help; the next minute she berates him for... not being around and not trying to help. It really was getting very wearisome, and though I don't condone him cheating, I can understand why he snapped.

Olivia and Hunter back together and already having new dramas - meh. Brody and Mason's antics with Recreational Drugs Lady - meh. Phoebe on the receiving end of another proposal - meh. I don't mind Justin and Phoebe as a couple, but it feels like they're retreading most of the ground she went over with Kyle and Ash.

And finally, the daily grind that is Nate and Tori. The entire arc with Dr O'Smarmy appeared to be nothing but filler - as not only was he proven to be evil and dispatched before anything of note had happened, but she's immediately back with Nate because - well, what else have the writers got to do with Tori and Nate, other than splitting them up, getting them back together again, and having them save their friends' lives every other day?