Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[630si]

I agree the scenes with Ziggy and Mason were enjoyable and fun. Not sure if the money or the car or both are linked to Novak....? It wasn’t quite clear but I guess we will find out soon.

 

does Robbo not trust that Kat will not testify??? Is this why he’s planted the cameras?? I’m not trusting him AT ALL. And I think I’ve every reason not to haha. I’m still suspicious that he remembers more if not all of his past now more so than he is letting on.

the Astonis were less grating than last week, the vows renewal came across cute and I hope that Maggies mum chills out a bit now and settles to life in the bay.

[Pierced Musie]

Unpopular Opinions alert...

I like Ben & loved the way he handled Maggie's mother. In fact I will go as far as saying I wouldn't mind if Maggie disappeared. My favourite Astoni scenes are Ben & Ziggy anyway. The only time I can stand Ziggy (although she is getting better).

I'm with Ash 100% and not because I am an Ash fan (a rare thing here ). The way Tori treated him was horrible, especially her comment to Justin about different circumstances when they talked about just trying to protect family. She made it sound like it was ok for violence when her family are in danger but it is a no go for Ash... who has lost everything (long lost brother? Don't know what you are saying ).

Robbo went from ok to creepy in 30 minutes. I don't know whether to be impressed or disgusted.

[Slade]

So am I to assume given that Robbo's "the best in the business" and if the mission hadn't gone off schedule Kat would be dead?  He's fallen for the women he was originally sent to kill?  Given his reputation I have to wonder how many people have actually died at Robbo's hands.  All this assuming Novak's telling the truth of course.

So for only the second episode I can think of Ben was OK.  I actually found myself on his side at the beginning and when he tried to talk to Diana thought he was being quite reasonable.  Maggie annoyed me when she had a go at him on the beach and she seemed like her usual arrogant self.  I did like Ben's second conversation with Diana and his apology and it did help to make me understand him more as a person i.e. always having the mother against him.  I still don't like him but don't doubt he is a loving husband and father.  Found it hard to get excited about the vow renewal though.

I prefer Ziggy to Maggie and Ben but still often find her highly annoying.  Not just the fact she doesn't just do what she is told but her whole attitude.  Given his lack of experience I'm not sure Mason should have even been working on a customer car in Justin's absence although I accept Ziggy does seem to have some idea of what she is doing.

[Red Ranger 1]

The characters continue to demonstrate a worrying tendency to rely on Mick doing the right thing, which is clearly an alien concept to him.Whilst roughing him up wouldn't do him any good, VJ facing up to him has been a long time in coming.It beggars belief that the authorities would even consider giving a child to a rapist who only met her mother when raping or otherwise menacing her, but given that they took Luc away from Leah and VJ and gave her to Ash, just about anything's possible.It does look as though he's going to find it harder than he thought to get a DNA test done though.Is it worth asking the police about the AVO, given that Mick has approached Luc again and stolen from her?(Admittedly, the characters aren't quite clear on that one.)VJ turning John's "kids today" stuff back on him was cool, but his sudden lack of ideas as to what to do when he leaves school does kind of underline how the show has been having him leave school and go back to school without really applying any logic to his decisions.

I continued to like the interaction between Mason and Ziggy a lot, and would even go so far as to say they work better together than Ziggy and Brody who've always felt a bit mismatched.Probably not the right time for a relationship but I'd like to see them stay friends.I was convinced that the lady who picked up the car was innocent and the stuff had just been hidden in her vehicle, especially when the promos seem to show another woman turning up looking for it, but I guess if she gave false details then she is rather suspicious.Even though Justin handed in (some of?) the money, are we to assume that Ziggy and Mason kept quiet about the gun and credit card skimmer?

[630si]

The dna test was bound to be stalled as he’s written Billie Ashford on the form. However what I don’t understand is the Lab managed to get the caravan parks landline number from Billies medical records, but not the fact that she’s deceased...??? Mick is living with his head in the clouds if he thinks he would be granted custody imo.

 

the money and gun in the boot, you can bet that lady had no idea also!

[harrietjames]

Mick was never convicted of the rape - Billie never reported it.

[H&Alover]

I'll get these out of the way first - both door related.  After all Irene went through with Mick why, oh why did she go out and leave her door unlocked so said Mick could just let himself in, just calling in a quiet voice 'mum?'  He's not your average friendly neighbour either. Another door, this time at Novak & Robbo/Beckett's safe house.  Now correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the police bash the inner door in with a battering ram so why did Robbo need to use the key he found to unlock it?

I think Robbo's put the cameras up to protect Kat, he knows the type of people he works/worked for and that it's highly unlikely they will accept Kat saying she won't testify, as Novak said, they wouldn't be wiling to take the risk she won't changer her mind. Much safer for them she isn't around any longer. Good luck with Novak having to deliver the news Robbo has ordered them to back off.   Robbo has remembered a lot more bit by bit of what he did, he remembered the safe house, where to look for the keys to the car, sat nav, but what happened after he changed his mind about kidnapping/killing Kat hasn't come back yet.  Thanks to Novak we got filled in about what was supposed to have gone down.  I think I've got it right, they were set up in this safe house, Robbo was supposed to grab Kat, take her back to the safe house then onto the warehouse/extraction site, then..........?   Whoever is behind this had it well thought out and planned months ahead and has money which make me think of Dylan's dad and his cronies. Robbo certainly knows how to look after himself and his instincts are razor sharp so wouldn't have been easy for someone to overpower him and deliver that blow to the head which caused his amnesia.  Novak could easily have just shot him but maybe their old friendship stopped him. This may be a fanciful thought on my part but I think once Robbo or Beckett as he was known  then saw that photo of Kat, obviously given it so he could identify  her, fell for her and decided he couldn't do it.  Novak said he'd done jobs like that, as in taken people out, many times before.

He is a real troubled soul and emotionally stunted but Mick doesn't do himself any favours in getting people to trust him and convince  them he has changed with his on going behaviour.  Letting himself into Irene's, hiding under the bed, getting Luc's DNA by swapping dummies, how did he get out btw, through that famous bedroom window? Getting all pleady with Irene about dropping by to say goodbye.  Wondered what the error would have been, of course he only knew her as Billie and not that her full name was Belinda.  Of course Biochem wouldn't know she was dead but yes 630si one of those soap anomalies where things don't gel. VJ though told them Billie was dead? I'm guessing Mick had intended the results to be sent to WA.  He may be mentally unstable in some ways but sharp enough in this instance to get it confirmed he is Luc's dad and not just in theory (we only know he raped her, he admitted it and she named him, though not officially he as her rapist)to get a much better chance of applying for custody.  A real twist would be he isn't Luc's dad!  It would break Irene's heart though. We know VJ isn't as the blood tests confirmed.  TPTB do seem to have forgotten Luke/Patrick.

That was a good come back from VJ when John was banging on about todays youth having it cushy, back in John's day (and mine) you could just walk out of own job into another, you didn't need to go to uni to get qualifications, unless you were going to be a doctor, lawyer etc., you learnt on the job.  Unless you had rich parents you got a grant which unlike todays loan you didn't have to work your whole life to pay back.  Leah did come across as a bit pushy mum by saying 'he's going to uni of course' without even asking what he wants to do.  I liked their talk later though, she actually listened to him, before the whole Mick thing  blew up!

You are not alone Pierced I like Ben, yes he's hot headed, the Italian blood I guess, but he cares a lot for his family and it can't have been easy having to live up to Diana's lofty expectations all these years and where she is constantly waiting for the marriage to fail so she can tell Maggie 'I told you so'. Maggie is in a tight spot yes Ben is her husband and should come first but he's not right all the time but Diana is her mother and she's got her own agenda.   Not a question of sides it should be who you most agree with.  Maggie didn't need to rub it in that they owe her a lot, yes maybe, but they can't spend their whole married life in her debt.  Diana and Ben's second talk went a whole lot better when he reminded her they both love Maggie and they both should put her first and she did have to admit she was wrong about them not lasting six months when they have just celebrated their 20th Wedding Anniversary.  Subtle comment about him and Maggie getting the ceremony on the beach they had originally planned, until I'm guessing Diana insisted they had a posh one.  And he got to give her the ring he had bought. Nice vows, yes they have had their ups and down, they are a normal couple, but they love each other. I don't think it would be a good idea for Diana to stick around though.

It was Hope who knew her way around a credit card scammer but it looks like Ziggy does too.  what does Justin have against her doing the mechanics, I didn't think he was sexist or is it  because of her history? I liked the switch of jobs between her and Mason and the mouthed thank you's behind Justin's back. Word in ear Justin just because Mason is a student doctor and can pop someone's shoulder back in it doesn't follow he'd know the inner workings of  a car,  he's not a surgeon! Just as well Diana doesn't know all off Ziggy's activities, she'd stick around even longer, she was more than willing to nick all of that dosh so good on Mason for talking her out of it.  Not sure the wads of cash would have caused the rattle, the scammer and the gun yes. Little (not so old from where I'm sitting) lady may be part of what ever is going on, but also she could have lent her car to her favourite niece/granddaughter a.k.a. lady in black leather and when she got it back it had developed this rattle so went to get it sorted out. Now said libl has turned up and whacked Justin!  Much as he thought he wouldn't, hidden stash etc. aside, Mason did enjoy himself and did I see a smile on his face?  All those goings on would distract him.  Good be a nice friendship between him and Ziggy.

[Red Ranger 1]

5 hours ago, H&Alover said:

I think I've got it right, they were set up in this safe house, Robbo was supposed to grab Kat, take her back to the safe house then onto the warehouse/extraction site, then..........?  

My understanding is that Robbo was meant to go to Summer Bay by boat, kill Kat, go to the safe house, pick up the car, follow the sat nav to the extraction site, then...get extracted.Novak only came to town because Robbo disappeared.

Mick continues to be pure scum, so caught up in his warped fantasies that he doesn't realise that to everyone else he's the monster who needs to be kept away from Luc.Even though Ash's plan backfired massively, I kind of agree that Irene's stuffed up: If she'd left Mick in that halfway house, none of this would have happened.It's also somewhat depressing that no-one even considers trusting the police to see who the bad guy is here.And how did we get from the DNA lab needing permission from Luc's guardian to them casually informing a dangerous sociopath that he shares DNA with her?But despite all that, I must admit to getting a certain satisfaction from Ash getting a taste of his own medicine.It is, after all, not that long ago that VJ was begging Ash not to take Luc away from him, and much like Mick Ash made it clear that nothing VJ said or did would cause him to change his mind.I pretty much cheered when Mick asked Ash why he thinks he has a greater right to Luc than anyone else.Which is why I really hope his plan fails: He's not just taking Luc away from Mick, he's taking her away from VJ, again, and he doesn't have that right in my opinion, even if I would take him over Mick as guardian any day.

It was interesting that Brody stuck up for Ash with Tori.I must admit that, while Ryder was less objectionable here than he has been in the past, I continue to have absolutely no interest in Coco and Raffy both getting hot under the collar about him.I did however like Coco's scenes with Ben, with her anxiety issues not completely gone away and Ben actually doing a pretty good job of being a supportive parent...although we're then treated to him being unnecessarily distrusting of Brody just to remind us he's also a pain in the backside.

[c120701]

Yeah, I liked Ash getting his just desserts from Mick, but I fail to see what Mick gained from the test given that no-one was contesting the paternity.

[H&Alover]

OK, thanks Red.

The twist didn't happen then and Mick has been confirmed as Luc's father.  My thought on the DNA testing lab was one moment they are withholding  revealing the test results because of Mick's error, the next he's been informed by text he's the father!  Or did we all miss something? But to be fair to them they don't know he's a guy with severe mental and emotional problems. Irene really did try her best, but once he's got something in his head there doesn't seem any shifting it. He may be knocking 40, but in many ways he's a child which I'm surmising was down to his upbringing. He's made very believable by great acting from Kristian Schmid. Custody wise, yes, Ash is an ex crim, is somewhat volatile at times, but he is a good guy, would willingly help anyone, has a job, place to live, great support system with Irene, Leah, VJ, Tori, even Alf. Mick on the other hand, doesn't have any of that, no job, nowhere to live and no-one to support him.  That's not to mention his mental and emotional problems would make it very unlikely he'd get custody, the court would, naturally, order full background checks on both of them as well as the others. Although not even having  been charged for Billie's rape, it certainly wasn't consensual so another mark against  him.  Btw didn't they say initially he was suspected of being a serial rapist? Not so sure Irene's completely to blame, knowing Mick, he would have turned up back in the bay without anyone's help. Ash and VJ did eventually reach an agreement for Luc's sake and now back each other, helping with baby sitting duties.  It was great to see Ash could be calm and restrained when he, Irene and VJ went to try and talk sense into Mick (again). He was absolutely heart broken when they failed to talk Mick round, I'm glad Tori was there for him.  Him doing a runner is definitely not the right idea, hope Tori manages to talk him round and gets him to seek legal advice.

That's both Justin and Brody who have stuck up for Ash, just need Mason to make the hat trick.

Ryder certainly is a bit of flirt, crashing Raffy and Coco's girlie chat, but he does make them laugh.  I had to chuckle at Raffy's disgust at Brody deciding to  'chaperon ' her, Coco and Ryder. I know she is only 14, but she wasn't alone, Coco was there and there were two girls and one lad. That was a lovely dad and daughter chat between Ben & Coco, though it did cause Ben's eyebrows to rise when Coco said it would be her, Raffy and Ryder, yes the boy she OK'd him to warn off.  His encouraging her to go and telling her she looked great, was nicely done, not over the top. She has seemed a lot happier lately, but as she told Ben the fears of it coming back are still there, so reassuring it hasn't all been resolved as tends to happen in soaps. Was a tad awkward that meeting between Brody and Ben, but they kept it civilised and at least Ben didn't march Coco back home again, just because Brody was keeping an eye on them. Smiled at Ryder's hardly subtle arms around Raffy and Coco.  Of course they both fancy him, despite their respective denials to each other and as we saw it does get awkward, testing their friendship again.

56 minutes ago, c120701 said:

Yeah, I liked Ash getting his just desserts from Mick, but I fail to see what Mick gained from the test given that no-one was contesting the paternity.

He said he'd been researching it all so I guess a court would need definite proof he was Luc's biological father  as in DNA.