Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Brian]

I thought Ruby was really unfair with Charlie throughout most of that episode. As Morag said Charlie was younger than Ruby is now and even when Charlie tried to explain her inability to “bond” with her after she was born because of the rape Ruby was having none of it. To be fair (even though I was more sympathetic towards Charlie) Ruby’s just had her whole life turned upside down and is not really thinking straight. Once she calms down I’m sure she’ll come round. Still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Charlie isn’t Ruby’s sister but her mother.

Don't think so. Ruby expressed her feelings just as I would have expected her to. Being fair or unfair doesn't come into it.

Charlie should have expected that reaction and Morag should mind her own business. She was not part of the Buckton family 16 years ago and cannot fully appreciate what happened then.

[Brian]

Does anybody else think it is strange that Ruby hasn't asked THE important question - who her dad is?

Have read she is off to see Aunty Michelle who may get her to see things more calmly.

I do think Charlie was out of order by thinking Martha was letting Ruby stay with her to get back at her seeing Angelo, I don't think she was thinking that at all. Glad to see Xavier trying to help Ruby although he can't possibly really understand what she is going through.

quote]

Yes, i thought so too. Ruby would want to ask about her father. One of the first things she would want to know, I would have thought. Although she probably wouldn't get a very satisfactory answer.

Xavier really annoyed me. I know he asked Ruby to go back and ask Charlie if she could stay at his, but why didn't he go with her? And when he could not find where she had gone, why wasn't he out searching for her round Summer Bay, with Annie's place his first port of call? Instead of just complaining "I've lost my girl friend". Does he really love her?

[Zetti]

Xavier does care but I dont think he knows himself what he should do. Naturally I would have expected him to go after Ruby and try to calm her down and try and make her see things his way but he might also be one of those people who would rather let her calm down and then approach her because things can be said in the heat of the moment. Ruby naturally is running away from the situation because she isnt able to fully process what has actually happened to her so I think she deserves a bit of leeway on this to be completely honest!

[Slade]

I thought Ruby was really unfair with Charlie throughout most of that episode. As Morag said Charlie was younger than Ruby is now and even when Charlie tried to explain her inability to “bond” with her after she was born because of the rape Ruby was having none of it. To be fair (even though I was more sympathetic towards Charlie) Ruby’s just had her whole life turned upside down and is not really thinking straight. Once she calms down I’m sure she’ll come round. Still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that Charlie isn’t Ruby’s sister but her mother.

Don't think so. Ruby expressed her feelings just as I would have expected her to. Being fair or unfair doesn't come into it.

Charlie should have expected that reaction and Morag should mind her own business. She was not part of the Buckton family 16 years ago and cannot fully appreciate what happened then.

Maybe, maybe not but I was far more sympathetic towards Charlie than I was to Ruby. Nobody’s expecting her to be ok with it overnight but she was basically acting if she was an unloved child when nothing could be further from the truth. Just look at how Charlie was with Ruby during her 16th birthday. I find it funny how you think Morag should mind her own business when I feel she’s just trying to support Charlie and Ross effectively as his wife (and even took her side over her own niece’s) but were annoyed with Xavier for not showing enough support towards Ruby.

Anyway, Alf’s episode count this week…five (well four and a half to be exact). He didn’t actually appear in Wednesday’s episode but did a voiceover (when Aden was reading one of the wedding cards). Everyone else was in either two or three and Indigo only one. So I guess last week was sort of a week off. TBH with the death of a major character I was expecting a higher episode count from maybe one or two of the others.

Although I didn’t agree with Ruby and Geoff running away from their problems like that I did actually quite liked the way they supported each other. I guess Geoff just being there and Ruby’s life being in as much disarray or even more so makes things easier – A problem shared is a problem halved etc. Have they actually thought about what they’re going to do when they reach the city? I thought he was a bit harsh with Annie but have to admit that she can be really irritating at times so when he snapped at her it was understandable. Oh and BTW…she lied.

I thought it was quite interesting that Jai referred to Dexter always hanging around Annie like a bad smell but he just sat there and watched them the whole time. I’m glad Xavier quite rightly asked him what the problem was. If Jai really doesn’t want Dexter to get together with Annie or should I say wants to get back with her then he should just tell her. Or maybe he’s worried that she’s moved on.

Good to see Angelo and Watson have sort of buried their differences now actually working quite well together. He knows Gibsy is behind the Abalone but unfortunately is after Hugo again. I suspected Hugo made bad move beforehand and he’s got Gibsy and Angelo to worry about now. As we can see Gibsy’s starting to turn quite nasty. Shame because there are times when he can come across as quite likeable (e.g. Aden’s stag night).

I’m glad Hugo was honest with Martha about it. I really don’t think it’s going to make any difference him going to police though because Angelo won’t believe him and I’m not sure if he could prove otherwise. His only saving grace is that Angelo took the keys to the boat shed without Alf’s permission so maybe if Angelo finds something Hugo can claim an illegal search.

Ironic that after being overprotective of Harry when Rachel finally decides to relax it would appear he’s been taken.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, been away all week and only just caught up so a lot to comment on.Alf’s episode count this week: Four and a voiceover.

So, Belle’s death episode.In a way I wish it had happened last year when I actually still liked her because I found it hard to care.We were forced to see some of Adelle’s bad points one last time:It’s perfectly understandable for Belle to be selfish when she’s dying but typically the episode tries to make out she’s some sort of saint, while Aden acts like an overprotective jerk and has a go at people that care about Belle and are actually treating her a lot better than he did when he found out.As a whole the episode acted as a summary of the whole storyline:Trying to do too much in too little time so none of it has any real impact. Having Amanda and Liam find out she was dying in the episode where it happened left no room for their reactions and no room for anyone else’s, with most of the farewells held over to the next episode and lasting about twenty seconds.(And I suspect Liam was only there because they realised they were about to kill the only character who had a connection to him so this was their last chance to bring him back.)I was glad to see Amanda involved and it’s a shame that with Dan and Belle both dead the chances of us seeing her again are pretty slim:Her and Irene leaving the funeral together was a nice subtle touch.Best bits were the tiny scene of Miles comforting Nicole, perhaps the first time she’s genuinely seemed to accept him as a surrogate parent, and Belle’s “Leave it open.For me” which, perhaps because of the performance, seemed to transcend the simple old times’ sake gesture and suggest her leaving a path to pass on from this world, in a way leaving Aden’s life the same way he entered hers.

Given that I was completely unaffected by Belle’s death, I found the funeral episode surprisingly touching. Irene’s speech started well but inevitably she spent what seemed to me far too much time talking about Aden and Belle’s relatively brief relationship.(“As soon as these two set eyes on each other, sparks flew”?It took them two years to even care that the other one existed!)Aden’s speech was very in character and apt and I liked that little scene of Rachel comforting him in Belle’s old room.Geoff’s behaviour at the funeral disgusted me, he did a lot more to ruin the event than Liam did by turning it into a brawl.(More proof he’s been hanging around Aden too much…)As for Belle’s gifts…I liked her giving Annie the camera, it cemented her big sister relationship with her, although I wasn’t too keen on Dexter grabbing it and taking snaps of her in what I assume was a deliberate echo of Aden doing the same with Belle.Geoff getting the car felt a bit random, like they wanted her to give him something and couldn’t think of anything more appropriate.As for giving Nicole the necklace, as with her apparently expecting him to be cheered up by some balloons I’m left wondering exactly how well Belle understood Aden, it was obviously going to upset him(although I really disliked the way he ripped it off her, even though it was in character).Despite her claims to the contrary, in a way it wasn’t Belle’s to give, Aden bought it for her and passing it on to another girl seems incredibly thoughtless as well as feeling a bit like “He’s all yours now.”Not really reading much into Sid sort of covering for Nicole, it was just a one-off and there was no point in worrying Miles.

I’m starting to quite like Annie and Dexter together and if they do go down the romance route I won’t be too upset, although my first reaction when he turns up during her emotional crises is still to roll my eyes.I was glad she and Jai had that little bit at the funeral when he just seemed to want to help her through it without any agenda and again at the surf club when he extended a bit of an olive branch to them.As an aside, I really liked Annie’s outfit at the funeral.It’s interesting but not unexpected that she seems to be the one holding it together best after Belle’s death, showing once again that she’s more capable than she appears, although she probably needs to stop putting pressure on Geoff.I have to say though I was surprised at her effectively helping Ruby hide from Charlie.

Ah yes, that revelation.Well acted by both of them and I think it came out in exactly the right way.Given her behaviour the previous week, I was glad to see Morag so supportive of Charlie here and prepared to keep her secrets.(As an aside, did it sound to anyone else that Morag apologised to Aden that “Will” wasn’t at the funeral?I assume she meant Ross.)Angelo put his foot in it by telling Ruby about the rape although it was understandable in the circumstances and I don’t think any harm was done;in fact if he hadn’t said what he did I don’t think Ruby would have gone home so quickly.Shame we seem to have a few holes in the story which may or may not be filled in at at a later date:Charlie originally intended to raise Ruby herself but does that mean she chose to keep her when she found out she was pregnant or that she was too far along to have an abortion?Ruby actually annoyed me a lot, I could understand where she was coming from but she came across as melodramatic and childish.She improved on Friday when it did seem to be a case of her needing time to clear her head rather just going “I hate you all and don’t want anything to do with you.”I don’t think Martha had an agenda but it was presumptuous of her to offer Ruby a hiding place when she had a perfectly good home to go back to and I didn’t like the way she spoke to Charlie and Hugo.I’m glad Hugo didn’t rise to it and talked her round.I was actually impressed with Xavier as well;after his initial befuddled reaction, he handled it well and actually came across as quite mature, it’s a shame Ruby didn’t listen to him.Although I think running away is a bad decision for both of them, I like the teaming of Ruby and Geoff:They had a good friendship last year which pretty much vanished when he and Nicole hooked up so good to see them together again, they sparked off each other well with Geoff at his clueless best.

Angelo finally seems to be on the right trail with Gibbsy, albeit having got there by completely the wrong route.He also showed very poor tactical awareness by having two officers chase after Wayan instead of leaving one to watch out for the boat.Nice to see him and Georgie working together without any apparent tension given she seems to have been the one most resentful of his presence at the station.Hugo’s decision to send Angelo an anonymous tip instead of just telling him his suspicions was somewhat questionable and seems to have landed him in trouble.

Alf was probably right when he told Tony to give Rex and Jane a wide berth, they weren’t doing anything obviously wrong and it’s doubtful whether he actually achieved anything by confronting them.As for Harry being taken, Jane’s got to be the obvious suspect but is she too obvious?Guess time will tell.

[Psychic Wombat]

When did Charley say she'd been raped? I missed that, I got the impression it was all consensual. The father has to come to the bay now, be suspicious of any new characters. Hope Angelo doesn't let her down.

At last Rachel's baby has been kidnapped, been waiting for this to happen for weeks it was as inevitable as driving out of Summer Bay and running out of petrol. They should put up a big sign on the edge of every Australian town 'check your fuel gauge mate' You'd think if you set off for a long drive to the city then...but wait it is Geoff

[Slade]

When did Charley say she'd been raped? I missed that, I got the impression it was all consensual. The father has to come to the bay now, be suspicious of any new characters. Hope Angelo doesn't let her down.

I think it was the Thursday before last. Basically she poured her heart out to Angelo telling him about what happened and that she waited three months before coming clean to her parents and by then it was too late to have an abortion. Ross didn’t want her to press charges because (assuming from his experience as a detective) it was her word against her attackers so a conviction was unlikely although you would have thought given that she was 14 the father could have been done for statutory rape at least. I have to say I still think Ross made a bad move back then.

[H&Alover]

I thought he was a bit harsh with Annie but have to admit that she can be really irritating at times so when he snapped at her it was understandable. Oh and BTW…she lied.

Ironic that after being overprotective of Harry when Rachel finally decides to relax it would appear he’s been taken.

Exactly my thought, after all the times she has gone off at people because they haven't been honest she then goes and lies!!

I suspect that she is surprised at Geoff not wanting to go to church as he normally would have done. He is probably finding it hard to justify his long hard held belief in his faith and has found it rather shaken.

Was good to see Georgie (?) and Angelo getting on and he does seem to be more suspicious of Gibbsy now rather than Hugo as the guy behind the abalone stealing. Thing is Red if Hugo had given his name to Angelo just how seriously would he have taken it? How is Hugo going to get out of the abalone that Angelo is going to find in his lock up although as you said Slade Angelo did take the keys without either Hugo's or Alf's permission so search would be a bit iffy.

Did Belle ask Geoff to look after Irene and Annie, why not ask each of them to look after each other makes more sense? It's a lot to ask a young guy of what (16/17). Rather on a par with her asking Nicole to look after Aden. Did have to laugh when Geoff ran out of petrol I know he said to Ruby he wasn't up to look after her as he couldn't look after himself, at least they will be there for each other.

I don't think Irene had a clue Ruby had stayed at her place judging from the way she was talking, she seemed to think she had dropped in on her way to school.

It was pretty obvious that Harry was going to be snatched the way it was virtually telegraphed all the way through the episode. I do hope that Rachel doesn't blame Martha and Hugo too much, it could so easily have happened if he had been with her and Tony. We all know is behind it don't we?

BTW Slade not this coming week but the week after Ruby finds a photo of her real father, but how she knows it is him wasn't said.

[Red Ranger 1]

Hard to know what to say about this episode, I'm still not certain what I think about the characters and the things they did, it seems like there's a lot of vital information still to come.Chief among them:Why exactly is Charlie running this investigation when her newly revealed daughter's just disappeared?(Has anyone actually told her Ruby ran off with Geoff?)It wasn't even mentioned except with her subtle reaction to Jane's comment about losing a child and that little moment at the station when Angelo seemed to stop and ask her if she was all right.

Moving on to that storyline, I don't really want to fault Tony and Rachel here, I can understand their reactions.Rachel pushed Tony a bit too far on a couple of occasions and did seem to realise so when she angrily reminded him he couldn't protect Jack.Tony's insistence that Harry is going to turn up okay seemed to walk the fine line between optimism and denial.I was glad he made that comment to Rachel about her having a go because he didn't react the way she expected him to, because I think she does that a lot, although she had a point that he's sitting on his own in the dark instead of them supporting each other.For someone who usually seems to be on the verge of losing it, Jane seemed surprisingly calm if perhaps slightly unconvincing here.Nice that Charlie didn't immediately take her word for it.I found Rex's reaction interesting, especially when Jane was taken for questioning alone, it seemed like he was afraid of what she'd say.I suspect that either he thinks she took the baby but doesn't know for sure or she just turned up with Harry without telling him what she was going to do and he's covering for her.I suppose I could have completely misjudged him and he masterminded it.Was that Avery with Charlie?I thought it was Hanna.Mind you, I thought Bryant was Hanna last week as well...

Not sure what to make of Aden getting involved with Gibbsy.At first I thought he just wanted to go back to work(a positive move by the way, certainly better than just getting smashed)and unknowingly ended up on a smuggling trip but then Gibbsy tried to tell him what was going down and he shrugged it off.I think he doesn't know for sure that they're going abalone poaching(although he'll probably work it out when they get there)and more to the point he's just past caring.The scene of Colleen droning on showed that hell is well-meaning friends, did she really think she was being comforting?Alf withdrawing his liquour supply seemed more helpful.

Ironic that Angelo sprung Hugo just as he was about to do the sensible thing but at least he listened to him.Still can't help thinking Hugo, Angelo and Martha would get more done if they worked together instead of being antagonistic.Although having said that, even though he accepted he was innocent of abalone poaching, it seemed like Angelo was still suspicious of Hugo:Does he know something we don't, maybe something to do with why he seemed to be watching Hugo and/or Martha before he officially returned to town?His comment "Hugo might not be working with Gibbsy but he's not working alone" was curiously ambiguous:Did he mean Gibbsy isn't working alone or Hugo isn't?

[halcyon06]

Is Ruby for real!? She just found out that her sister is infact her mother and she is the product of a rape, and the worst thing is that Xavier wouldn't stick up for her when she wanted to stay at his house? Are you for real?