Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

23 hours ago, Ludub said:

Too true. Apart from Aden's case, has she ever won anything else?!

Got Cassie off a driving under the influence charge and...nope that's all I've got.

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Unless something happened off screen, Mick is Luc's legal as well as biological father. 

No he's not. He isn't on the birth certificate, he was never married to, living with or in a relationship with the mother.He doesn't have any legal rights whatsoever.

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

If, as we all still think, Irene owns it, that may be why she has decided to throw her hat in the custody ring, I'm guessing once Ash talks to the agent who looks after the lease side of things, she has the  option to say yea or nay to whoever gets it.

You know, even though people keep insisting Irene and/or Leah owns the Diner flat, it seems to me the vast majority of evidence suggests that they don't.

Anyway, today!

I continue to find Irene far more unlikable than Ash: She really did seem to cross the line into sickening behaviour here with her apparent willingness to deny Billie was raped if it gave her an advantage. So I kind of liked that just about everyone shot her down. But again, the mediation was pretty much a farce, with the facts being edited and distorted to contrive the outcome that the storyline required. Like, why is such huge emphasis placed on the fact VJ punched Zac, yet no mention is made of the fact that not so long ago Ash punched VJ for no good reason? Or indeed, that he attacked a man who'd just had brain surgery even more recently? The episode struggles hard to make Ash being favoured over VJ seem even remotely plausible and still can’t quite manage it, turning the actual decision into an arbitrary throwaway moment. I really hope we’re not meant to cheer at this: Part of me is taking hope in the fact that it’s just a temporary six month order, but six months in soap terms is an eternity and it’s hard to imagine it dragging on that long. Once again, the nice guy gets treated badly as VJ is left crying over the idea of losing his daughter. Even Ash seemed to have second thoughts at that one, although that’s probably because they’ve all used up their episodes this week so the storyline will have to wait for a bit. (By the way, that was former Neighbours and Farscape regular Raelee Hill as the mediator.)

Justin’s turnaround over Phoebe didn’t quite ring true but that’s pretty much a side issue. Brody increasingly discovers that once you’re hooked you’re hooked, with lectures from Justin having less and less effect. It is good that he’s finally got Tori and Mason in his corner but it’s hard to see what they can do here.

[630si]

Yes it looks like Brody is about to face some demons. You can understand Justin's hesitation in leaving though given all this. Now the others know about it will this change their plans? I guess we will see. 

The custody going to Ash (at least for now) was both a little unbelievable but also heartbreaking at the same time. I was also slightly surprised he gave in to letting him keep Luc for another week but I guess it's VJ we're taking about, he won't skip town. Having said that, earlier that day he used the fact that he's violent against him to win the custody but agrees to let him keep Luc longer. It's all a bit off. Never the less this is going to kill VJ, I just hope there's still some dialogue there between him and Ash so Luc grows up with VJ in her life

[Slade]

I found the mediation session fascinating in the way that they all turned on each other.  Almost like it was some sort of competition and Luc was the main prize.  Have mixed feelings about Ash having custody.  I don't think he's realised what he's taken on.  I seriously think he will struggle, it will affect his relationship with Kat and then he will know how VJ felt a lot of the time.  On the other hand given how Leah and Irene have been as of late the other part of me enjoyed Ash winning if only to spite both of them.  Hopefully when he does start looking after her he will restrict Irene's access.  Didn't know what to make of Ash not picking up Luc and allowing VJ to have her for a week.  Even Ash himself wasn't sure VJ could be trusted.  I'm very surprised the court ruling happened so quickly.  I would have thought it would have taken weeks.  I knew I recognised the mediator from somewhere but couldn't remember...Serendipity of course how could I forget her?

 

[Red Ranger 1]

It’s hard to tell to what degree Brody is in denial about being hooked and to what degree he’s knowingly lying. He probably has convinced himself he’s not an addict but he must know he’s lying about how often he’s using and indeed the fact that he’s using at all. I’m afraid I’m not well-versed enough in drug lingo to know what he’s escalated to, heroin? Mason is again the one most reluctant to go to extreme measures. Justin and Tori’s plan had merit but also dangers: Denying Brody easy funds runs the risk of him going to ever more extreme lengths to satisfy his cravings and probably needed more close monitoring than we got here.

I’d have preferred a follow-up on VJ to one on Leah but at least he’s in the promo. Leah was fairly reasonable here but I suspect we’re not meant to notice the irony that it was her treating Zac with suspicion and mistrust that drove him away in the first place. I get her point but it does feel like Zac’s being condemned for one out of character incident. Frustrating to watch Saint Hunter giving him the cold shoulder after all Zac’s forgiven and supported him over, so I’m glad Roo called him out on it.

Roo mentions a landlord who’s selling the flat, another count against Irene/Leah owning it. So seems she and James are finally out and proud as he’s introduced to Leah and Zac. Of course then…

[Ludub]

I've just been catching up on the last few episodes, so apologies for being so late to the party!  

This whole baby Luc storyline has me absolutely sickened. I don't think I've disliked a storyline this much since 'Josh shot Charlotte' or 'Kyle goes to jail for someone he doesn't even know'  Just so depressing.

The custody battle itself and the court's decision to award custody to Ash (of all people!) makes absolutely no sense! Ash has shown time and time again that he is a volatile and violent thug. How no-one thought they should perhaps mention that at the mediation session I have no idea! (I know other people have already said this but it's just laughable!) Ash, the guy with a hair trigger temper, who can't communicate without shouting in people's faces, (or indeed punching people in their faces) has been given custody because VJ is too violent?! VJ?! Really?!  And now she's going to live in a small flat, with said neanderthal, a woman who really isn't too keen on the idea of motherhood being foisted upon her, and a man with PTSD who might just strangle her to death in his sleep. Wonderful. Well done family court! Well done! (Slow clap) ...I was also absolutely disgusted with Irene! That she would deny what Mick did to Billie for her own selfish gains is just repulsive. Shame on her! And shame on Ash for taking Luc away from VJ. Billie would be turning in her grave if she knew the depths to which her brother had sunk, and his total disregard for her wishes.

Despite the sour taste that this storyline leaves, I do think that Matt Little is doing an exceptional job. The scene in which he begged Ash to let him keep Luc for one more week nearly broke my heart. He does those emotional scenes so well! I love him 

As for the rest of the storylines, John going to prison is also horrible. And I'm really unhappy about the direction they're taking with Brody. I can't see how they will bring him back from where they're taking him, and I can't have another character that I care about sitting there rotting in a prison cell! That's probably what they'll do though. They seem determined to pursue the most unnecessarily cruel storylines. Hrrrmfff! 

[Slade]

Although I like the way Hunter is supporting VJ and still seems to get on OK with Leah I really didn't like his attitude towards Zac near the beginning of that episode.  He should really have treated what he did with Leah separately to his relationship with his own dad.  In saying that Roo really annoyed me when she spoke to him (even though she was right) because once again she constantly involves herself in everything.  Similarly she seemed to fight Zac's corner with Leah although it doesn't appeared to have worked like it did with Hunter.  On the fence about Leah wanting a divorce.  If she feels she cannot ever trust him again then fair enough.

Justin's self-righteous nature also continues to frustrate me.  And even though they were probably right I just didn't like the way they cancelled all of Brody's bank cards.  Are they seriously going to be able to keep up doing all the finances of Salt on top off their own jobs?  Although Brody can't really complain given that he helped himself to vast sum of money from their joint account to buy the restaurant in the first place.  As per usual they decide to keep Raffy out of the loop although at least Tori told her something which vaguely resembled the truth even though Raffy had to figure out the rest for herself.

[H&Alover]

I'm going to get flak but I'm on Ash's side. Yes he has a temper but he's only hit grown men, never women and never a child. It was a good thing he did leaving Luc with VJ (and Leah) for another week he would have been totally within his rights, as granted by the court, to take her there and then.  Of course as Leah said it does give him, Kat & Patrick time to settle in at the Diner flat. The mediator was very quick to pick up on Irene's hesitation when the question if VJ had been violent towards Luc, no he hadn't actually hurt her, but his shaking of the cot would have scared her and his shouting at her is a kind of violence. That's not to mention his throwing the cup in her direction, which we're not mentioning. Despite all her protests Irene is a recovering alcoholic and could easily fall off the wagon.  Imo the mediator had no choice after it descended into a slanging match to take it back to her bosses and let the court decide. Irene is Luc's grandmother, but Ash is her closest blood relative. I think the point Irene was trying to make was as Billie hadn't reported Mick's rape to the police in the eyes of the law it never happened. I don't think he even actually said he'd raped Billie when he told Irene he was sorry for what he did, let alone the police.

There was a warm and tender moment between Zac and Leah, then she pushed him away again. Hunter did admit he's made plenty of mistakes for which he was sorry but over time he's come to look upon Leah as his 'mum' which is why perhaps why he was finding it so hard to forgive his dad, but due to Roo sticking her oar in, he did relent and talked to him.  I could be way off here, but I think if it had been anyone but Sam (a random pick up in Salt) Leah may have been more inclined to let what happened go.  But she didn't trust Sam from the first moment she saw her and with good reason as it turned out.  Sad that although she does still love him she feels the trust has gone and she'd always be suspicious when he was out late, away at a conference etc and she didn't want to be that type of woman.

So Roo's 'secret' is out, don't know what she was worrying about and  as you said Red 'and then'.... Zac wasn't fooled when she introduced him as a 'friend'.

Brody not only lying to his family, only used a couple of times, he's lying to himself.  I was wondering about that with them cancelling his credit cards.  Not sure how it works with the business one, which may be under the name of Salt, but would they be able to cancel his personal one(s)? As Slade said are they going to be on hand to pay for any deliveries, anything else that will need paying for by card?  Tori attempted to be vague with Raffy about her not lending Brody any money should he ask, but she's not daft and knew it was about drugs, she's thirteen not three. Like Tori said there are people who can get hooked very quickly, others can really take it or leave it. Methinks this new one, Ice, is stronger and his downs will be quicker.  Clever and that is how addicts get of Brody to think of asking Hunter, who of course knows nothing about her other life, if he had Lena's number.

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, I forgot to mention that it annoyed me that Raffy was once more kept out of the loop by the Morgans, even if she did work it out for herself.I doubt Brody will go to jail but I can see him ending up in a holding cell...well, actually he already has.I don't think VJ's ever been violent towards women or children so that hardly makes Ash Guardian of the Year.If shouting is violence, Ash has been pretty aggressive to Irene and Leah in recent weeks, and wasn't he violent towards Charlotte?I will acknowledge that he's good with Luc, but then so's VJ for the most part.

Anyway, today.Roo seemed to jump to conclusions slightly: The menopause is certainly something to consider but I'm sure most of us, male or female, exhibit "some of the symptoms".(Of course, in soap fainting often means something else...)The gag of her introducing James to people with no reaction continues, as she tries it with Hunter and Olivia.It does increasingly feel like she (and possibly Morag) is the only person who really has a problem with the age gap, her barb about James' experience with women felt very patronising.Meanwhile, we get a look at Marilyn once again trying to treat going to prison as normal, with her cheerily greeting the guards.She does need to get her head out of the clouds though as Morag said.Overturning the sentence but not the verdict is an imperfect solution for an imperfect world and the most important thing is getting him out.Slightly weirded out by the idea that less than a week of prison has turned John into some sort of brawler, but then I guess he is ex-military and didn't do a bad job against Gardy when he first appeared...

Any episode that features a load of Hunter and Olivia isn't going to grab my attention and this one seemed to start badly with Olivia apparently having breakfast in a bikini (although I admit it wasn't clear) and go downhill from there.Olivia was still sixteen a year ago, they only admitted she should have turned seventeen by now a couple of months ago and suddenly she's turning eighteen? And if my first view as an adult was Hunter giving me one of those creepy Joker smiles, I'd start crying as well.I did like the stuff with the bartender...but what really had me yelling at the screen was Olivia saying she never knew her mother. What?! I mean, Olivia's had so many different ages it's hard to be sure, but she was between 6 and 8 when Chloe died.We saw them together, we saw that Olivia was old enough to remember her, and now they're talking as though she died when Olivia was a baby?Honestly, this show makes it really hard for me to accept that this character who has virtually nothing of Olivia Richards in her actually is her...

[Dan F]

15 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Olivia was still sixteen a year ago, they only admitted she should have turned seventeen by now a couple of months ago and suddenly she's turning eighteen?

Maybe they're gradually re-SORASing her... after the initial SORAS and de-SORAS too far into the other direction... so by the time she leaves she'll be the age she was supposed to be all along

At least they got the time of year right....that's something I guess....however small

[H&Alover]

Gradually, her age is going  up and down like a yo-yo!!  I felt sorry for Olivia, who if you believe her bio  was born in 1998 so she should be 19, but when she returned in 2005 she was 10 (?) when Chloe died, so even older than your estimate Red, then in 2015 she was 17 -  and has been for two years!!!  Anyhoo, she wasn't that young that she couldn't remember Chloe, if she'd been four/five I could understand it, but I get she feels upset on birthdays especially as this is her first big one without her parents, Uncle James didn't get a mention I noticed, but it's still not the same.  I thought once she explained why she was so down Hunter was very understanding. I like his idea of having her surrogate family around to celebrate.  Obviously not been watching that closely before but 'new' barman was very hot on checking Olivia & Hunter's id's. Maybe because Brody, Justin and Phoebe know how old they both are. I thought that was a lovely gesture by him to give her that cocktail just after midnight, they certainly stay open late! 

Did love Roo's response to Morag's suggestion it may be the menopause, I think, but as we already know ages go up and down in H&A Roo can only be 42/43 so that is young.  Would it be giving anything away that when James said he never wanted children that warning bells should start ringing? James, btw, seems a favourite H&A name.

Marilyn has seen a different side to John and one she doesn't like.  She's seen him angry naturally, but not violent and it seemed to scare her. He was only defending her and I guess it was a build up of stress that contributed to his exploding the way he did. It's not the ideal solution appealing the sentence but as Morag said could Marilyn see herself visiting him everyday for the next 15 years and what if he got moved to another prison? Will John's outburst effect the appeal, it happened after Morag left and I noticed Marilyn didn't mention it to her.

Re your comment Red about Ash being violent towards Charlotte he tried to strangle her, was stopped by Kat who told Charlotte she saw nothing.  But was there anyone who didn't get angry with her or would have got violent given half the chance, come to think of it even Kat threatened her and hounded her over Denny's death. 

A small but odd thing, Roo left James sitting in the Diner in the afternoon with their take away lunch to go and see Marilyn, did she go via Sydney because when she got there it was dark!