Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

At last we see Annie and Ruby in a scene together, for the first time in ages!That should put paid to all the nonsense in other threads about a rift between them.It was a great scene too, I loved the way Annie was teasing her, people seem to forget she's got a sense of humour.Her reaction to Ruby and Xavier's kissing was hilarious.Shame her hang-ups about her relationship with Jai seem to have reappeared.But...Ruby wants to sleep with Xavier?Er, why?(Apart from hormones, obviously.)Great performance from Lynne despite her limited screen time, she seems to have turned Irene into a completely different character, withdrawn and lacking in all her usual spark.Although her conversation with Alf, telling her to ignore Colleen, was a bit of a head scratcher.Why, what did she say?

Miles and Kirsty's "ground rules" to Nicole were a bit pointless.Actually, they were a bit non-existent, neither of them seemed to know what they were actually telling her.As far as I could see, Nicole wasn't actually doing anything except being a bit moody which is(a)understandable and(b)normal teenage behaviour.If they had a problem with the way Trey was behaving, they should have spoken to him or at least told Jai and his friends to just give as good as they got.Not sure about Nicole sneaking Trey into her room.She did seem to need him there and in fact it looked as though they didn't do anything. But her reaction when Kirsty came in suggested that she was actually enjoying making waves.

Well, Martha can no longer hide behind her "it's all one-sided" claims.If they hadn't symbolically knocked down her wedding photo, it looked as though she and Hugo would have done it there and then. Probably good that they didn't, they'd only have ended up regretting it.Actually a bit annoyed that Hugo went back to kicking Xavier because he was in a bad mood, I had hoped they'd moved beyond that.Seems Martha's having fantasies about Hugo.She's probably not the only one...

[Slade]

I’m glad Martha saw sense and withdrew from Hugo. If anything had happened then it just wouldn’t have been right. When they agreed to have dinner the next day to talk about things I thought that was better. In saying that it was more of a date and Hugo seemed quite disappointed when she bailed out. I liked how he said she gave the “headache” excuse.

I thought Xavier’s attitude towards Hugo was ok as well. When he was in a bad mood and Xavier got home, he seemed to handle it well and attributed it to the fact that obviously something happened with Martha rather than immediately blaming him. I also liked the way he was with him after he found out that Martha effectively stood Hugo up.

Jai’s still being a bit selfish regarding Trey. Has it occurred to him that it might be easier if he simply puts up with him for the time being?

I found it interesting that shortly after Miles suggested that he and Kirsty try for kids she started getting snappy with him regarding Ollie (who I thought was great too, watching him misbehaving and hats off the young actor). Perhaps that’s an indication of avoidance because she isn’t that keen.

I really hope they aren’t going to focus too much on Ruby and Annie. IMO Ruby and Nicole work much better as friends and I prefer their scenes together.

I see Nicole’s reverting back to pre 2008 OC Nicole, i.e. a spoilt princess. I actually liked that side of Nicole (as well as the “good” side) so I quite enjoyed watching her with the attitude in this episode. Although I’m unhappy at the situation, having her in the household, and especially seeing how difficult things could get between her and Kirsty could be interesting. Liked her rebellious tone when Miles and Kirsty sat her down to lay the ground rules and knew she would drop the line about them not being her parents. Also liked it when Kirsty caught her with Trey and she said morning to her and Nicole’s face suggested that she was almost pleased Kirsty caught her. Although she needed Trey for support, part of me feels she’s also did it to rub her up the wrong way.

[H&Alover]

Yes, Tuesday's episode was (excuse the pun) a real cliff hanger! But Tony's natural instincts cut in and he held onto Angelo when it would have been soo easy to let him drop. Actually Miranda I believe Angelo did say to Charlie that he had had counselling and hadn't worked that is why she suggested trying it again. Charlie took the words straight out of my mouth when she said that it was a great way to honour Jack's memory by killing Angelo! He does need now to forgive himself. Rachel's reaction to Tony's confession was understandable she has been trying to help him without being too pushy (which he acknowledged) and now she probably fels it was all for nothing. He was very,very lucky not to have been charged with anything which could have been assualting a police officer to attempted murder. I was amazed when Martha actually spoke to him instead of shouting at him like she normally has been doing. I think seeing what Tony had been contemplating made her rethink her own feelings towards him and she also suggested he needs to start to forgive himself. In a way I think it was a reaction to the whole day that made her respond to Hugo the way she did, at least she has admitted she has feelings for him too. BTW wasn't that wedding photo from their first marriage?

Hugo did appear to revert to his usual keeping it all to himself mode but then later he did admit to Xavier what was happening (or not as it turned out). I'm guessing it was Martha's 'vision' of the evening we saw and that is why she cancelled the 'date' as she was afraid that is what would have happened.

Nicole's reverting to her 'old' self is more than likely a reaction to not having Roman around and seeing him in prison probably didn't help. She does need boundries set even though she will resent them at first. I thought everything regarding Trey hanging around had been sorted out, but obviously not. I don't think anything happened between her and Trey either they did just literally sleep together. She is probably going to see how far she can push Miles and Kirsty. Why would she want to stay on her own she needs people around her? Kind of sweet Miles feeling broody and Kirsty being anti the idea. Actually refreshing to see Ollie acting up instead of be a little goody goody, shows he is a normal kid.

I must admit I did enjoy Ruby's and Xavier's snog in the larder especially when Jai kept saying 'cut' and they totally ignored them, though later in the Diner they did need a bucket of water thrown over them.

Has it really only been a year since Ruby and Charlie arrived in the bay, she seems to have been 15 for ages? Loved the look on Xavier's face when she said she wanted him for her Birthday.

Know what you mean Red, I was also puzzled about Alf's remark to Irene about ignoring Colleen (probably one of those off screen moments or a scene that was dropped). It was something to do with Lou's funeral (more is revealed tonight). Had a look at the episode listing and it was a scene that was dropped, apparently Irene had been asking whether or not she should attend Lou's funeral, obviously Colleen said no in her usual indomitable way.

[Red Ranger 1]

I can't really fault Kirsty's behaviour here, she possibly went a bit far in grounding Nicole but she needed to make it clear she couldn't treat the place as a hotel.(Loved Leah's amused silence when she asked if she was that bad though.)The fact Nicole sneaked Trey in shows she knew he shouldn't be there and it's true she'd have expected Roman to treat her the same.(In fact, she did take Trey home when Roman said he didn't want him there.)It's Miles and Kirsty's house and they've a right to know who's there.I wonder what reaction she'd have got if she'd asked them.If she'd just sprung it on them and said "Is it all right if Trey stays?", they'd probably have said no but if they'd talked it through first and established some proper ground rules, instead of their pathetic attempt last episode, they might have agreed to it.I think Kirsty handled her second chat with Nicole well, calmly stating her position and not forcing the point about what Trey had been saying when it was clear Nicole didn't want to hear. I'm guessing she didn't know he was there at the end.Were those guys meant to be Trey's friends?They didn't seem particularly friendly.Not sure about that ending, I don't think Trey deliberately filmed them and in fact he seemed to try to turn the camera off but he didn't feel the need to interrupt Nicole to point out they were still rolling.(And looked like they were going to do more than "just holding"...)

Liked Annie's reaction to Ruby telling her about her plans, it was clear she didn't think it was the right thing to do but she didn't say anything because she knew all it would do would upset her.Loved Jai's completely unimpressed reaction to Xavier telling him as well.Interesting that Ruby and Xavier's behaviour in the Diner was only a couple of notches down from the way he and Freya behaved, which Ruby apparently found disgusting...although that was probably more jealousy than anything.Annoying that again Annie just assumed Jai was trying to pressure her into sleeping with him and I wish more had been made of their make up scene.(Jai's viewpoint does seem to have shifted slightly though, from "I wasn't actually thinking about that" to "I'm not going to do anything you're not ready for.") Ruby first appeared June last year so the dates almost match.

I'll just about buy Irene being naive enough to accept Donna at face value.Bit odd that Aden and Belle apparently left the funeral to look for Irene but maybe they were only there to support her.Even odder that Irene hadn't even started getting ready when the service had apparently started, given that she thought she had less than an hour.Losing her temper with Donna and trying to attack her in the Diner probably wasn't the best way to handle it but then she always has had trouble keeping her cool.Nice of Geoff and Annie to organise the memorial for her.I'm really glad they included Jai in those scenes, he didn't say anything but his presence spoke volumes.(Shame there was no sign of Claudia...I'm going to assume she was busy on the farm.)Interesting that Geoff seems perfectly at ease with Aden, chatting to him like they're old friends.(His reaction to walking in on him and Belle was classic Geoff.) Aden hasn't quite suppressed the instinct to wind him up although it seemed more friendly banter than anything.

[JoJo85]

I laughed my head off at Irene's 'raw prawn' comment, haven't heard one of them for ages! I'm loving this slow-burner of a mystery storyline tho I haven't quite got it all worked out yet, if at all if I'm honest!

[H&Alover]

I think Kirsty was right in grounding Nicole and Miles probably would have done the same and we already know how Roman felt about Trey. I suppose Kirsty now knows what her parents went through when she was a teenager, I wasn't aware Leah had been around then but judging from their conversation I guess she must have been. As she isn't that much older than Nicole she can relate more to her (also being female) than Miles could. Although in mentioning that Rhys locked her in she omitted that she used to get out the window! Agreed Red those guys who were giving Trey a hard time were the same ones who used to be in his gang. He is now finding out what is like to be on the receiving end. Was he going to say that he would give them proof that he and Nicole were getting it together before Leah stepped in? I also had the feeling he was going to stop the camera before Nicole pushed him back on the bed. I think we can all guess what is going to happen but just in case

Nicole gives Jai back the camera before Trey has a chance to delete the evidence, Jai hands it over and the whole (or nearly) of Summer Bay sees it. Nicole refuses to believe Trey when he says he tried to stop it.

Re Annie and Jai, didn't they already have that chat about him not wanting to move on until Annie was ready, this was way back when they were collecting those earth samples around the time of the development plot. You could have put money on the fact that Xavier would tell Jai and Ruby would tell Annie as to what is going to happen on Ruby's 16th. Definitley another bucket of water time in the Diner. I did wonder why she wasn't telling Nic then I realised Nic is so caught up with Trey she has kind of dumped her only friend. I've said before Annie is OK with people doing their own thing as long as she isn't lied to. Good to see Annie (and Geoff) and Irene reconcilled. We definitley saw the old Irene when she had that go at Donna. :cool: That was a lovely idea to have that private ceremony by the wharf, did have a tear in my eye. :crying: (I think Geoff said Claudia was staying over at a friends).

It did seem strange in a way to see Geoff and Aden being normal with each other, hope it stays that way, with a little bit of needle to keep it interesting.

I meant to say yesterday alarm bells starting ringing when May rushed up to Angelo saying how worried she was - do I detect possible bunny boiler?

Well JoJo85, I don't think you have long to wait as the mystery being solved as it looks like being resolved next week.

[Slade]

Loved the way Kirsty grabbed Trey, frogmarched him out of the house, Nicole was left looking humiliated and Kirsty subsequently grounded her. I liked seeing that side to her. This is the second time I recall her mentioning that her dad locked her in her room regarding Kane. She mentioned this to Miles a while back when Jai was band from seeing Melody. Which is why I think he is being hypocritical not to mention the fact he doesn’t have a problem with Nicole bringing a guy into her bedroom as he tried to make out. The issue was it was Trey. Don’t think he would have had a problem if it had been Geoff. As H&Alover mentioned above about Kirsty sneaking out, she never actually brought Kane into the house.

Interesting that Jai and Xavier are best mates now. Have they got any other friends apart from each other?

I really liked Aden in this episode. He seemed very calm, warm and I really liked the scene with Geoff. TBH considering the history between them I’m not sure how believable the interaction was as there was nothing to show they were gradually getting on better. I know they’ve had to put their differences aside because they are both staying under the same roof but I’m guessing they are going to be mates as there is no one either age for them to socialise with. Although in saying that I’m not sure if they are both in the right frame of mind at the moment. Aden is concentrating on supporting Belle and Geoff is worrying about Claudia and her pregnancy.

Donna is a real b*tch isn’t she setting up Irene like that. Bright side, at least Annie looks like she’s prepared to forgive her now and try to rebuild their relationship. I can’t remember if she said she had forgiven her before but there appeared to be some sort of resentment there. Understandably so.

Not sure what to make of Ruby wanting to sleep with Xavier. She doesn’t seem as desperate as she was when she was pursuing him before but it seems as though she is more motivated by the fact that she’s allowed to rather than because the time is right.

[Krissie]

I'm really glad they are letting Nicole and Aden be friends again and that tey harvent ruined their friendship. I LOVED that fact Nicole knew the ring would be so out of his price range.

[Zetti]

Jai and Xavier being best friends is a positive thing because it shows that they have given Jai a chance, he has become more bearable the past few weeks more so than since he first arrived but I love the moody and distant Jai we had when he came on the show.

[Brian]

Good to see the younger characters' storeylines coming out. Still not sure what I make of Trey. Is it, as Kirsty suggested to Nicole, that he is taking advantage of her present vulnerability. Has he really changed? I can see why Jai and Kirsty are still suspicious of him. There's just something about their relationship that doesn't seem quite right; he just doesn't seem the right guy for her and his total lack of expression and reaction doesn't help. And i thought that Miles was only going to be away for 1 night; a bit irresponsible of him to leave Nicole after he promised Roman he would look after her.

Also wonder about Xavier; obviously delighted that Ruby wants to make love with him. He never told his best mate Jai that he loved her (I know guys don't always do that), but there was no sense of any deep feeling there, like Ruby admitting to Annie that she loved Xavier. I feel that Ruby is in for the long haul (as Ty said to Rachel in Neighbours) and sees making love to Xavier as a natural development in their relationship, giving all that is going on in Summer Bay. Probably waited until her 16th, so that sister cop Charlie couldn't arrest Xavier! But will Xavier get bored afterwards and look elsewhere. I hope not, as I think that they are a great couple together.

Still feel sorry for Jai; there doen't seem to be any warmth between him and Annie, more like brother and sister. Do they even hold hands and kiss when they are alone?

Is Geoff sleeping in the same room with Claudia? Isn't that against his principles before marriage? Why couldn't Claudia stay in the small room and Geoff move into Belle's vacated room, or vice versa?

Good to see Aden and Belle so happy; great chemistry there. I said that he could be both a lover and a soulmate to her.

Please let me have any comments of thse views asap, as I'll be away climbing the Julian Alps in Slovenia for the next 10 days. Have to catch up on demandfive when i return.