Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Brian]

Good episode today, with a great ending. However I didn't like to see Ruby and Xavier having another slanging match, as they have been together for a while and were lovers not so long ago, but that's teenagers for you. True, Xavier should have told Ruby that he remembered, but i think it was a bit rich her calling him a liar, after she had lied to the police and told Xavier several times that it was nothing to do with Geoff. She admitted it today to Geoff. Well, she's got what she wanted (Geoff), so she may be a bit nicer now. Like to see Geoff ask Ruby to be good friends with Xavier.

Surprised that Xavier wasn't around to see his best mate Jai off. Wondered who he would be pals with now, as I don't remember him talking to any other boys at school or elsewhere. Romeo was a bit of a surprise, given their age difference, but at least they had something in common. So something is going to happen with Rosie and Jo, i suppose. Glad to see Xavier being in another storeyline, as I like his part, although i agree with many of you that i would like to see more emotions from David. I still think that he was chosen to the the dumb fair-haired kid, whom girls fall for and who gets himself into any number of scrapes and always tries to look stupid and lie his way out. Anyone agree?

Surprise ending, finding that kid (or did everyone guess that?). Be interesting to see what the two guys do about that.

[Ryan]

I tend to agree - these teenage relationships they seem to tell them into such deep love stories. Of course, at school, you had some relationships, some better than others, some appearing to mean more than others, but there never seems to be anymore just a natural growing apart. Certainly the relationships I had at high school were never quite as tumultous, deciet-laden or ended as acrimoniously as every relationship on the show seems to be going.

[Slade]

I quite liked that episode as well.

Something I forgot to mention before was even if Palmer was never intending to keep his promises when he tried to blackmail Aden, I’m not sure if that is reason enough for him not to be elected. Let’s face it lying and not sticking to your word is default behaviour for a lot of politicians (and I'm not sure if Martha would have been able to stick to her policies). I can’t believe I’m actually starting to like John. I think he’s shaping up to be quite a good character. I don’t think he’s doing anything totally reprehensible at the moment, he’s stirring things up, I like his arrogance/confidence and the fact he really doesn’t give a damn whether people like him or not. I just loved the way he kept making subtle references towards Martha just before the voting took place. He obviously came into the Diner to gloat.

Martha made me laugh too with her remark about Gina running John's campaign and the way she went off at her for speaking with John claiming she was laughing at his "dumb jokes". The way she referred to Palmer as the "enemy" still makes me think being elected is all about beating him rather than doing what’s best for the community. I also really liked the stuff with Tony and Gina, the way he was teasing her about fancying John. That was quite funny as well. It was good to see him away from Rachel for a bit (was Rachel actually in any episodes this week?).

I’m so glad it’s finally over between Xavier and Ruby. I really don't care what happens between her and Geoff. I agree Brian. You never lie do you Rubes? (Which in itself was a lie) So you were telling Robertson the truth when you said you saw Charlie asleep? In saying that what was Xavier thinking? If he remembered all along it was pretty stupid going along with Ruby’s idea.

The stuff with Xavier and Romeo was ok although I’m not entirely convinced about the pairing. Again like Geoff and Aden they seem lumped together because there’s nobody else in that age group. Romeo seems to have everything Xavier does and then some (and they don’t seem different enough). I think there’s potential there though. I didn’t buy into how those girls suddenly ran off but for once I worked out they were at the same house Derrick showed up looking for that kid. I’m assuming Xavier is going to go the police and tell the truth this time.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Five.Seems it's feast or famine with him.Everyone else was in two or three.(Rachel was in Monday and Tuesday, Slade.)

John Palmer won the election.Wasn't expecting that.Part of me thinks he won't last long, another part wonders if it'll turn out that he rigged the vote somehow.Having said that, he did cut a surprisingly forlorn figure when he left the Diner, I got the feeling he didn't actually have anyone to celebrate with. Loved the way he and Gina started flirting with each other when he was in the middle of arguing with Martha;Martha looked daggers at them and Tony obviously picked up on it too.Didn't like Martha and Colleen having a go at her for talking to him, although Martha did at least apologise.

Seems Xavier was lying about the amnesia all along.It's a shame they've taken him down this route, he came across as annoying and immature again when he actually seemed to be growing up.Not so long ago he told Ruby he wouldn't be stalking her but pretending he doesn't remember her dumping him so she'll stick around is at least as bad as anything Jai did.Wasn't too happy with Ruby continuing to lie to him about her feelings for Geoff either, although I was glad Gina backpedalled from her "She's bad news" stance and understood where she was coming from.Ruby actually came across as a lot more likeable with Geoff, the moment her confident facade dropped when she was alone in her room and again in their last scene and I think he might bring out the best in her.

So, with Jai and Annie out of town and Ruby spending all her time with Geoff, Xavier and Romeo are left hanging out with each other.Okay in small doses but, like Slade said, they're too alike to make a decent pairing(although I think there's only meant to be about a year between them).It's a shame that we've lost the two..."different" characters, Jai and Annie, and been left with a group of "typical" teens. How long were Xavier, Romeo and the two random eye candies meant to be looking around that house? An awful lot seemed to happen while they were there.

[H&Alover]

Couldn't agree with you more about Ruby blasting Xavier for lying about his 'amnesia' about her dumping him when she was letting him think they were still together. The words Pot, Kettle and Black sprang to mind. I can understand why he did it, he was probably hoping they would get back on track, which is why he backed up her 'alibi' for Charlie.

I suppose in a way it was a forgone conclusion that John would win, but I do think it was rather churlish that Martha didn't shake his hand.

Xavier and Romeo's sudden friendship does seem out of the blue, though he more or less the same age as Jai. Glad that we heard Gina call the girls by their name, so often we suddenly see new people and haven't a clue who they are. I didn't immediately realise where they were as we only saw the inside of the place. So now they have found Wayan's son what happens next?

I have read they take him ot Martha who takes him to the police and they use him to try and flush out Wayan (who as we know is being held prisoner by Derrick), so that may cause a problem.

I was surprised that Rachel wasn't at the Hospital when Ruby was taken in, probably she had done her three days.

More heartache for Miles this week. :crying: He contacts Shelley who then persuades Kirsty to leave with her and she goes without telling anyone.

[Red Ranger 1]

You know, last year someone noticed that Sally had had a lot of boyfriends and wondered if Martha would be the new Sally.Well, she's taken in her first foster child so I guess that's the first step.She'll be running that caravan park before you know it.This is where I either end up looking incredibly insightful or incredibly stupid:I think that's a girl.It definitely looked like a girl with Clint/Wayan when Charlie, Angelo and Robertson saw him at the fish market and it's meant to be the same character so I reckon we're going to get a Toni Davidson-style revelation somewhere down the track.Given that that's the only prior time anyone's seen the kid, not sure why Angelo was so convinced(albeit rightly, qualifications aside)that that's Wayan's son.He might have seen Bambang by the wharf but that's not how it looked.

Shame that Charlie started the episode looking as happy as I've ever seen her and ended it seeming pretty tired of Angelo's obsession.Still not convinced of the supposed importance of this case, twelve anonymous dead bodies aside.Angelo still seems to be fixated on Hugo to a ridiculous extent.No way is he "Mr.Big" as Charlie put it.If he is involved in this business, and jury's still out on that one, he's way down the bottom in importance.Didn't really like Angelo in that episode, he was a bit too moody and callous, taking Bambang's doll(I'm saying no more...)was a bit harsh even if his instincts turned out to be correct.At first I thought he was being ridiculously paranoid when he accused Romeo of tampering with evidence by collecting Bambang's things but if the area was surrounded with police tape he had good reason to be annoyed.Charlie was more compassionate but perhaps less professional although she did the right thing by letting DOCS have the final say.Xavier and Romeo did a pretty good job with Bambang."His" reaction to Hugo seemed more "strange man" than that "he" recognised him(okay, promise I'll stop the inverted commas now before it gets confusing)and even if Hugo is involved I can't see him resorting to kidnap.

Sadly I was back to not really liking Ruby in that episode after her slight renaissance last episode.The nervy and vulnerable side I liked is gone again, replaced with her immature and slightly selfish side.I think it was then she and Geoff lay there giggling while Charlie left a clearly worried message on the answer phone that I started to find them and especially her annoying and it never really stopped.It wouldn't have hurt to put her mind at rest and anyone could see Charlie would just come round if she didn't get an answer.Okay, maybe she had been ringing up too much but when Ruby told her to ease up she seemed to listen.Geoff's reaction to Charlie's appearance was ridiculous as well:She couldn't see where he came from and even if she could the bathroom's down the same corridor, so why the hiding in the bedroom?Ruby's reaction to Geoff acting like a caring boyfriend and offering to look after her is to call it a "passion killer."Wasn't too happy about the references to Xavier either:Her "I feel bad about Xav" felt patronising and as for her "Now he'll think he was right..."Ruby, he was right.You might not have overstepped the friendship boundary when you weren't available, and fair play to you both for that, but you obviously fancied each other.Glad Ruby told Charlie instead of hiding it, she reacted like...any mother would when hearing her teenage daughter was dating the older boy she was living with unsupervised.I'm surprised she hasn't suggested moving before, letting Irene look after her is one thing but letting Geoff look after her, especially...that kind of looking after?Wish she'd actually had the decency to go up to Xavier and tell him what was going on but the way she and Geoff were acting was a clear message.Romeo seems to be treating Xavier like his new apprentice with Jai gone. Xavier grabbing Ali...not sure about that.If it's a rebound relationship, fine, so long as she's on the same page as him.If he's just kissing her to make a point to Ruby and he's going to drop her as soon as she's out of sight, not so good.

[Slade]

Quite liked Charlie’s maternal side kicking in. Firstly her concern for Ruby confirming to Angelo that she was checking up on her on a fairly frequent basis. Then when she tried to call her and went round because Ruby was busy copping off with Geoff. Again she seemed a bit defensive of Bambang regarding Angelo’s attitude i.e. when she found out he went round to Martha’s and took his toy.

TBH I was so bored of the scenes with Ruby and Geoff that I wasn’t even thinking about how selfish she was being. I did like Charlie’s reaction after Ruby told her that she was going out with him and Charlie raised the point about only finishing with Xavier the day before. I suppose at least she said she didn’t want to rub Xavier’s nose in it. I preferred Geoff’s idea of simply wanting to be upfront about the whole thing and not hiding but as mentioned a while back in the thread this might look to quite a few people that Geoff has been a boyfriend in waiting as someone put it.

Quite liked the stuff with Xavier and Romeo. I know he’s only really been in a couple of episodes since Jai and Annie went to Japan but he’s been a lot better, offering Xavier advice where needed. I quite liked Romeo’s line about feeding Bambang before having his hand bitten after Bambang bit Xavier’s hand the first time. Xavier did the right thing being honest about his feelings for Ruby although I was a bit disappointed at first because I would like to see him move on ASAP. I didn’t like him spontaneously kissing that girl though because it was solely for Ruby’s benefit. If he wants to go out with her fine, at least go on a date with her and get to know her a bit more.

Martha seemed to build up an immediate attachment to Bambang and vice versa. I wasn’t sure if DOCS were going to let her keep him so was a bit worried how she would react if they took him away. At least this lets her get over the disappointment of losing the election. I knew Angelo wanted him to stay there and I was waiting to see what Hugo’s reaction would be. Once again this makes me wonder about him.

[H&Alover]

No way is he "Mr.Big" as Charlie put it.If he is involved in this business, and jury's still out on that one, he's way down the bottom in importance."His" reaction to Hugo seemed more "strange man" than that "he" recognised him(okay, promise I'll stop the inverted commas now before it gets confusing)and even if Hugo is involved I can't see him resorting to kidnap.

I think I have said before that although Hugo may be involved in the people smuggling he is not in it for the money (unlike Derrick) I think he is doing it to help them. Agree with you about Bambang's reaction to Hugo as well, he didn't aooear scared of him, more wary. Could it be he may have seen Hugo before but isn't sure if he can be trusted? He/she seemed more frightened by the DOCS lady than he/she did by Hugo. Is Angelo trying to prove Hugo is innocent or guilty, it's getting hard to know? Is it Derrick they are hoping to flush out so they can nab him? Also what makes them think Bambang would talk to the interpreter anyway? It would just be another stranger to him/her. Still not sure why Angelo is sure Bambang is Wayan's son (or daughter) could be his nephew (or niece).

I wondered that as well RR, why did Geoff have to hid in the bedroom - he lives there for goodness sake and as you said he could have been coming from the bathroom. I know Ruby having diabeties is new to both her and Charlie and obviously Charlie is naturally worried, but hopefully she will eventually calm down about and trust Ruby to take care of herself by herself, after Ric did. Most of the time it wasn't even mentioned, I think I can only remember it coming up twice, once when he was accused of being on drugs and the second when Dom caused the acid accident.

So obvious when Xavier started to snog Ali when Ruby walked in with Geoff, especially as he had one eye on her to see if she was watching. We don't know her that much yet, but it's not nice for her to be used like that. Anyway wasn't Ruby going to tell him face to face?

[Red Ranger 1]

So, confirmation that Kirsty hasn't spoken to any of her family since she's been back.I can actually believe that.I'm less inclined to believe she cut her parents off when they got back together which might even conflict with continuity, while she and everyone else in the Bay wasn't happy about what they did to Beth, they seemed to part on good terms(I've even got the old Inside Soap for that week somewhere with a photo of Kirsty hugging Rhys goodbye).Astonishingly, given that I was shocked at how much older Kirsty looked when she came back, Shelley doesn't seem to have aged a day.I was a bit worried about Miles getting in touch with her without telling Shelley although it turned out to be the right decision.Nice to get a bit of info about what the other Sutherlands are up to(Dani's in France?Yeah, I buy that), although I think Jade still hasn't got a namecheck.Surprised there was no mention of the fact Shelley lost a baby as well.I was astonished that anyone thought it was a good idea to send Colleen upstairs, that'd be more likely to give Kirsty a relapse, even though she didn't really mess it up.I wish Kirsty would open up to Miles, he's hurting in all this too, but that last shot doesn't look very hopeful.

Not sure what to make of Hugo's reaction to Bambang.I can understand him being annoyed that Martha made a big decision without consulting him but most of his reasons sounded like he was making it up on the spot.He hasn't worried about Martha taking on too much whenever he's moved someone in.(Brendan, anyone?)And placing him in a children's home or whatever isn't really better for him than staying with Martha.Not sure if wanting to get rid of the kid suggests he's involved or not, if Angelo's hunch was right he'd want to keep tabs on Bambang.

[Slade]

I’m still not entirely convinced especially considering Miles and Kirsty recently went to city with Ollie (the time Trey had a fight with Jai). Part of me wondered at the time whether she might have seen her family but it was simply never mentioned. I’ve said this before but I still find it hard to believe when she was arrested that nobody contacted them and none of the other Sutherlands came down. Also when Shelly was catching up with Coleen, Coleen said “Is Dani still in France?” so obviously someone had been in contact with them since Dani left and Dani only departed about four months before Kirsty and Kane did so there’s a reasonable chance Dani could have gone to France after Kirsty and Kane eloped.

Anyway really good to see Shelly again. I’ve always liked her. Surprisingly I thought she looked quite good and have to agree about Kirsty. How old’s Christie now, 23? But I think the fact that she’s put on weight and some of her attire doesn’t really do her any justice. Once again I found myself willing Coleen to shut up but Shelly knows what she’s like anyway. I can’t imagine anybody would hold a grudge regarding Beth considering this happened over five years ago and all the Hunters have left now. Besides I would have been very suprised if Rhys didn't go to Beth's funeral. Come to think of it why hasn't Kirsty mentioned Beth since she's been back? Was it just me or when Alf asked after Rhys, the way Shelly mentioned he was doing well without mentioning what he’s been up to made me wonder if everything was ok with them? I would have really liked to get a mention from Jade because I ALWAYS saw her as an essential part of the Sutherland clan and was really disappointed with her departure. I’d like to think Dani’s a reasonably successful author now. She was clearly going places so I’m not surprised she went to Europe. Aren’t Scott and Haley in France? I’m assuming Miles gave Shelly a low down when he called her but I was half expecting Shelly to enquire about Kane or perhaps simply asking why she didn’t contact them. I guess the longer Kirsty had been out of touch with them the harder it was to pick up the phone and call her family, although would it have killed her to write a letter.

Once again I found Hugo’s tone when he went of on one after finding out Martha wanted to foster Bambang quite funny but at the same time felt he was bricking it. He really didn’t want him staying and not just because he didn’t want to take on the responsibility of a child. Charlie was suspicious too. In the end I actually ended up feeling really sorry for Martha. Would she have done a worse job than an Indonesian family? I guess we won’t know now.