Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Brian]

Ruby is the person I blame the most in this whole Ruby/Xavier/Geoff love triangle. I did give her credit for finishing with Xavier before he lost his memory but the only reason she hasn’t finished with him now is because she wants him to keep quiet about lying to Robertson and giving a false statement. She’s blatantly flirting with Geoff and still giving Xavier mixed signals. I do however think Xavier suspects something’s wrong. That much was clear by the way he warned Geoff off. I didn’t particularly like the way he did it but thinking about it a lot of people in his position would have done the same thing (and to be fair Geoff warned Liam off Nicole last week and he’s not even going out with Nicole). I thought it interesting how Xavier interpreted their interaction to conclude Geoff was messing with Ruby’s head, when I think it’s the other way round, namely that Ruby is messing with Geoff’s head. At least Geoff considers how his actions will affect other people and was trying to do the right thing (unlike Ruby).

Yes, I agree. Ruby has now got herself in the position when neither Xavier nor Geoff want to talk to her. They both walked away from her in today's episode and it serves her right. Xavier doesn't know what to do to make her love him again and Geoff is too honest to show his feelings whilst she's still with Xavier. How long is she going to keep Xavier stringing along?

She just doesn't have the decency to finish with him, while he can still be useful to her. Not a very nice character - a bit of her mother Charlie rubbing off on her - the way she treats men!

[Red Ranger 1]

Hmm.I definitely think Nicole and Liam had sex on the beach, the way he kept adjusting his trousers was a bit of a nod in that direction.And they obviously did so again back at the house.In two minds about this, the pairing seems fairly harmless on the surface but Nicole really does need to learn to exist without a guy to hang on to.Interesting that Kirsty was the one that seemed to take their responsibility to Nicole seriously, even if she did seem to delegate that responsibility to Miles instead of talking to Nicole herself.I really wish Miles would have a talk to her instead of wimping out, his hands off style of parenting works sometimes but sometimes it's just annoying.She might be 18 but by taking her into his house Miles accepted a responsibility to her and to Roman to watch out for her.I don't think he should ban her from seeing Liam or come down hard but I do think he needs to talk to her and find out where her head's at and whether she's thought things through properly.

So, the return of Shirtless Geoff!(Think that's been about three weeks, since he and Aden were on the trawler.)And once more he's hanging out in Ruby's bedroom, a state of affairs that Irene seems oddly fine with.I guess they did have the door open.I'm not sure what they've done with Xavier, they suddenly seem to have made him a bit blind.Not so long ago he seemed to have accepted Ruby didn't feel the same way about him anymore but now he's convinced they'll be happy if Geoff isn't around.I can understand him warning him off but I think he's talking to the wrong person:It's less a case of Geoff messing with Ruby's head than of Ruby messing with Xavier's.I'm not sure if Ruby's still with him out of guilt or sympathy or because she wants something from him(although Xavier can't withdraw his alibi without getting himself into trouble)but she needs to make a choice and stick to it, not flirt with Geoff when she's still supposed to be dating Xavier.

Hmm.I can understand Charlie's attitude, she understands what Angelo's doing but it's one more thing for her to worry about when she's got an awful lot to worry about.We get a few more hints about what Angelo's up to and a few concrete answers, although for someone who was supposedly convinced Lou's death was mixed up in people trafficking he seemed to spend most of his time pursuing other explanations, first insisting that it was Irene and then that it was Donna.Not sure if his claim Hugo was responsible was a personal theory or one he got from his superiors.

[Miranda]

Note to self: must stop reading spoilers! As I knew what Angelo was going to say about Hugo before he said it

I think Charlie should have realised by now that if she goes out with a policeman, he will be in danger sometimes, especially in Summer Bay! Its part of the job.

I also think Nicole and Liam had sex on the beach, so why was she going on about him trying to have his wicked way with her, when he'd already had it?

You're being a bit unfair Brian. Its obvious why Charlie treats men like she does- because her first experience of being with a man was with Grant! Hardly an experience that would endear men to her. I think in Ruby's case she is just immature and muddled.

[H&Alover]

Finally confirmation of we have all known for ages! I can understand why Angelo was reluctant to tell Charlie, if anyone heard them talking about it, his cover is blown and also it could easily get to the wrong person. Though it doesn't explain why Georgie was so keen for Angelo to get to the boat shed when she found the map(?). What makes him so sure that Hugo is involved (who can hardly be doing it for the money)?

I think Charlie should have realised by now that if she goes out with a policeman, he will be in danger sometimes, especially in Summer Bay! Its part of the job.

She's a cop herself so knows the dangers!! But then I suppose when it is someone you love it is different.

Xavier is obviously more on the ball than we thought by picking up on the fact that there is something between Ruby and Geoff even though nothing has happened (yet). So like Geoff to cool it down with Ruby because she is still with Xavier and that is not him to mess with another guys' girl.

I'm with the rest of you as to the fact that yes Nicole and Liam got up close and personal on the beach. I think it is a bit different this time though and Nicole is just out for a good time and isn't wanting a relationship.

I must admit I did laugh when Miles wimped out on telling Nic that he knew what she had been up to. Even when he and Kirsty caught them at home he looked a lot more flustered than they did. Kirsty should speak to her, say she saw her on the beach and that Miles had seen him chatting up other women and hope she isn't going to get too serious about him.

No mention of Rachel and what is happening with her.

[Red Ranger 1]

Nice characterisation of Charlie:She doesn't automatically accept her friend is guilty just because Angelo says he is but she's professional enough to pass on any relevant information.There are times when I'm not sure if Hugo's really clever and is deliberately winding Angelo up or completely oblivious and accidentally winding him up but that scene where Angelo thought the dive torch placed Hugo with Clint/Wayan only for him to produce it made me smile.At least they seem to have lost that smug edge when they talk to each other.Far from convinced by Angelo's theory, he just seemed to be making up as he went along and it hardly fitted the facts, Gibbsey didn't flee the country for a start.It again makes me wonder why he's been specially recruited for such an apparently important job.Unless Command actually don't care about the people trafficking and so gave the case to the most unpopular man in the force...

So...what were Ross and Charlie arguing about?They're surely not going to make it as simple as Ross being Grant's killer, are they?Physically he could probably do it but I'm not sure about the logistics of him getting in and out of the care home without anyone noticing.(And how did he lose Morag?She insisted on going with him but then he turned up at the house and the surf club without her.)Robertson sucks a lollipop throughout.Does he think he's Kojak now?Liked the fact that even though it's in her best interests for Robertson to believe him, Charlie told Hugo he should have a word with Xavier about whether he's telling the truth or not.Robertson alluding to Xavier's tyre slashing past kind of underlines the fact that whole plotline was never resolved.

This time I don't believe Palmer's denials, he was so behind that poster of Martha.He obviously wanted to embarrass her into pulling out of the public debate.Loved the way Hugo just sat there smirking while Martha raved on about it.Even though she decided to stand on an impulse, she does actually seem to be doing her job and finding a cause to get behind other than "I'm not John Palmer."Seems his gambit didn't pay off and now he's played that card and lost.

[Brian]

You're being a bit unfair Brian. Its obvious why Charlie treats men like she does- because her first experience of being with a man was with Grant! Hardly an experience that would endear men to her. I think in Ruby's case she is just immature and muddled.

Granted, but then Charlie should take Ruby in hand, give her some good sisterly/motherly advice about how to behave in relationships. She could have got Ruby home with her by now.

[Slade]

Right so Martha is actually at least thinking of policies now but once again this is simply to maintain credibility when going head to head with John rather than because she actually believes them. That’s what it feels like to me. Judging by her reaction she wasn’t expecting John to want to go ahead with the debate. I thought she did quite well when there were posters up of her during her striper days but she used the reverse psychology to turn it around into a positive. I’m guessing the voting will mainly come down to demographics. The older residents of Summer Bay would be more likely to vote for John and the younger for Martha. Not sure how the population in that town is distributed in terms of age.

Again Robertson almost had me in stitches. The way he was on Charlie’s case. I especially liked the part where her phone rang she answered (most people would have given her a bit of privacy) and he sat down and just looked at her. I really like the way he’s constantly dropping smart remarks to both Charlie and Angelo and neither of them can do anything about it. They just have sit there and take it. I’m glad he hasn’t let this thing with Xavier and Ruby’s statement just go. Although I don’t want to see Xavier get into trouble, I would like Ruby to have some sort of comeuppance but I’ve accepted that Xavier probably will be collateral damage if that happens. One thing I like about Robertson is that he always does his homework and I really liked the way he dropped the line about Xavier slashing Angelo’s tyres. I thought it was a nice touch him buying Leah those lollipops. We’ve had all this build up to their date so I hope when it comes it isn’t too much of an anticlimax.

I thought Morag was staying with Aden. What file did she show Ross and why did she even show him a file given his state of mind? When Robertson saw them in the Diner I wonder if he had to resist the urge to call Morag “battleship”. That was pretty heated between Charlie and Ross so I’m wondering what the argument was about too. It must be something major.

[Miranda]

You're being a bit unfair Brian. Its obvious why Charlie treats men like she does- because her first experience of being with a man was with Grant! Hardly an experience that would endear men to her. I think in Ruby's case she is just immature and muddled.

Granted, but then Charlie should take Ruby in hand, give her some good sisterly/motherly advice about how to behave in relationships. She could have got Ruby home with her by now.

Yes, if Charlie actually knew how to behave in relationships, but as we see in her actions: she doesn't know. In fact, does anyone know how we should behave in relationships these days? I think her relationship with Angelo is her best so far though.

Honestly, Robertson sucking a lolly! How obvious is that.

Yes, I thought Morag was staying with Aden. And I'm also confused about this mysterious file of Charlie's. The plot thickens

[H&Alover]

Yep, pretty much of all what Angelo said he had on Hugo was just his suspicions, but I suppose there must have been soemthing that made him think of Hugo. I do agree with him though on the fact that Hugo said he didn't speak much Indonesian when he had worked out there for five(?) years which anyone would think strange, surely he would have to if he had people working for him? I am being cycnical thinking Hugo bought a new dive torch after leaving his behind? If Hugo is involved in the people smuggling then he would have to be clever to have got away with it this long.

As we knew Robert wasn't fooled by Ruby and Xavier's story, but not sure why he has warned Hugo to tell Xavier to change his story. I noticed the lollipop, first the Columbo/Monk thing now Kojak! Suppose it was obvious he would have looked up Xavier's record and seen the mention of Angelo's tyres being slashed. Rather neat of him forcing Charlie out of her office (which seems to have had a move around in terms of the furniture). Yes, how did Ross give Morag the slip and whatever he needed to talk to her about it certainly seemed to distress her. Should Morag have shown Ross Charlie's file anyway wouldn't that a be a breach of client confidentitality?

I agree, despite his protest of course John was behind the putting up the posters of Martha in her pole dancing days. Good for her to decide to use it to her advantage, that wiped the smirk off his face!

I agree with you Miranda Charlie's hardly has a good track record regards relationships it's always been Ruby that had more savvy in that direction.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'd completely forgotten Morag was meant to be staying with Aden, probably because we haven't seen her there since the scene where she moved in.Although thinking about it, wasn't she only meant to be back in the Bay for two weeks, because they didn't want her visiting Ross until he was settled at the care home?Presumably she moved back to the city after that.

Ruby just came across as completely self-righteous in that episode.She has a go at Ross and Morag and accuses them of not thinking of Charlie, even though she's the one who's given her the hardest time lately and was indirectly responsible for the mess they're all in.And she's now blatantly using Xavier, I hated the way she touched his hand when talking him out of coming clean, it almost felt like she'd listened to what Hugo said and decided to use it to her advantage.I liked that Hugo was looking out for Xavier and willing to face up to Ruby on his behalf.Were Ross and Charlie arguing about the alibi then?Looking at that episode, it seemed as though Ruby was back living with Charlie, which I'm sure isn't the case:I could understand her having breakfast with Ross and Morag but why were she and Xavier there later?

Romeo lost an awful lot of points with me in that episode as well.He's now openly pursuing Annie, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that he was doing it behind Jai's back and while he's supposed to be helping him get her back.At best, he's hijacked Jai's poem idea and some of his actions seemed downright manipulative:It's hard to interpret his stopping Jai telling Annie he's behind the poems as anything other than him getting him out of the way.Ruby worked a lot better in her girls' talk scenes with Annie;I loved Annie's scared expression when Ruby was encouraging her to flirt with Romeo and brilliantly she was hopeless at it.The direct approach suited her a lot better.

Found it hard to get worked up about Robertson's date with Leah, although it is nice to see her getting a bit more to do.I think Robertson works better when he's hanging around winding people up than when he's apparently supposed to be sincere, especially when you're still not sure if you can believe half of what he's saying.