Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Zetti]

I liked the stuff with Dumb and Dumber, sorry Xavier and Romeo, they do lighten up the place with their silliness. I couldn't belive that cop caught them, haven't the Bay cops got anything better to do? Or are they relaxing after all the people smuggling business?

I thought John Palmer was genuinely annoyed with Hazem about the building work but I remembered he said 'that Kaffir bloke' when he saw Hazem. I looked Kaffir up and its a term of abuse, so yes, despite not wanting to think John is racist, he actually is. He is the character with all the nasty qualities in the Bay, how clicheed.

I am a Muslim and Kassir is a form of abuse so for me that is a racist thing to say and shows to me that Palmer has the characteristics of a racist.

On a lighter note. I am loving Xavier and Romeo as well. I like the new friendship that they have struck up. Makes for funnier scenes..

[Romeo Smith fan]

Dumb and Dumber! Lol great name for Romeo and Xavier! Im a huge fan of Romeo and also really like Xavier.

A good week of episodes this week - its nice to see Brendan again as well.

[DinerLandlord]

I love Romeo and Xavier's friendship. They're both very likeable characters, even if the actors aren't great. It's the best friendship between two guys since Ric and Lucas.

The cop catching them was just stupid. It was too convenient that a cop would just happen to be standing right there when they went looking in the picnic basket. This kind of lazy writing always crops up in Home And Away. Like Liam seeing Nicole and Aden kissing. Of course, he just HAD to be standing right there when they kissed, the writers couldn't have come up with a more realictic or clever way for him to find out.

[Miranda]

I am a Muslim and Kassir is a form of abuse so for me that is a racist thing to say and shows to me that Palmer has the characteristics of a racist.

On a lighter note. I am loving Xavier and Romeo as well. I like the new friendship that they have struck up. Makes for funnier scenes..

Hah! Zetti, that is what I thought, so I was right, John is a racist. It is so annoying though that they put all the bad characteristics into one character and don't really give him any nice ones. Okay, so he is nice to Gina, but that is false. I suppose there has to be a 'baddie'.

I agree about the lazy writing Diner Landlord. I'm sure Nic and Aden would have seen Liam there, it was so unlikely that he was lurking. I know Summer Bay is small, but not that small. Also about the cop turning up at that time to caution Romeo and Xavier.

I also thought it was funny what H&ALover said about Hazem looking like Sylar from Heroes... aarrrgh! Watch out Leah! I hope that doesn't sound racist after our discussions, but he does look like Sylar, sorry.

[Zetti]

I have to agree about the lazy writing and I also agree about the friendship between Xavier and Romeo; my new favourite friendship even if it is convenient.

[H&Alover]

I think those immoral words are going to be imbedded in my mind – “Hugo loves Martha”.

Sorry Slade, what exactly was immoral about "Hugo loves Martha"?

[Red Ranger 1]

I find it interesting how some people have brought up the fact how frustrated they were with Ruby’s treatment of John. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like Ruby in fact I can’t stand her at the moment but IMO the fact that John has very little respect for most people makes it hard to sympathise with him (although I hated Ruby insinuating more that once that John was a racist without any actual proof). He bullied his stepson and was indirectly almost responsible for Trey blowing up a bus full of school kids.

I wrote a fairly long speech about this over on Australian Discussion but here's the edited highlights: Yes, John bullied his stepson and yes, he contributed to Trey going over the edge but a lot of other people contributed as well, notably Jai but also Ruby herself, who frankly started the whole thing off by deliberately turning Nicole against him and indirectly causing the sex tape incident.I maintain that John called Hazem "Kassir" because...it's his name, whatever else it may mean.(I looked it up in the dictionary and couldn't find it.Did find Kaffir but that's not what he said.)I agree that he has many of the characteristics of a racist-small-mindedness, intolerance, contempt for those he considers "undesireable"-but I think he's an equal opportunities bully myself.

Anyway...Today's episode.There's a lot in it that I'm really not sure how I feel about it.First of all, Mink. At first I quite liked her, I thought there was a nice line of banter between her and Romeo even though there seemed to be a lot of bitterness at her core.But punching John Palmer...I'm not sure how I feel about that apart from that she shouldn't have done it and I'm not sure how we were supposed to feel about it, it was presented neither as something we should cheer nor as something completely out of line.Alf, Miles and Romeo all rightly disapproved, although I wish Miles had actually said something to her instead of just letting her wander off and then giving her a room.(Anyone ask Nicole if she minds sharing?)Ruby and Geoff, on the other hand, didn't seem to particularly care.Succintly, I think she's trouble.Not sure about John's reaction, whether he was embarrassed as Mink suggested or whether he just didn't care.

Liam's storyline.Firstly, good to see Ken again.Secondly, I thought Rachel was a bit harsh towards him, although she did sort of seem to realise that herself, it was more a case of her being fed up with having to deal with someone whose problems were self-inflicted.I really hope this was a one-off, if they're going to have him going back on drugs every few minutes it's going to get boring very quickly.I quite like the byplay between him and Martha and I'd like for them to remain friends but it doesn't seem like that's the way they're going, although him repeatedly finding new ways to call her gorgeous did make me smile.Has Martha moved back into that house?Given that it's presumably only a couple of weeks since Hugo was apparently shot dead in front of her, she seems remarkably cheerful...

So...the main thrust of the episode, kind of.Firstly, I like Hazem.He and Leah seemed slightly more relaxed with each other this episode and I thought he handled the racists' taunts with dignity and didn't let the situation get out of hand.So obviously he ends up getting a kicking.Ruby seemed to raise the money for the refugees' treatment remarkably quickly, either they had a lot of very generous contributions or it didn't cost much.Guess they were more affected by their experience than I thought given that they are still in hospital.John's assessment of Ruby-a silly little girl with a bee in her bonnet about things she doesn't understand-is harsh but accurate, like any young person she's taken a simplistic view of a complicated issue and expected everyone to agree with her, charging ahead without any thought as to the law or the consequences of her actions.But in the end, her actions were completely irrelevant and they didn't even get as far as the rally.I think John does seem to shoulder a lot of the blame:This isn't what he wanted, as he showed when he tried to calm the drunks down at the surf club(only for Ruby and Romeo to stick their oar in and enflame the situation)and pulled the thugs off Hazem, but he failed to realise that if he has as much clout as he appears to be and more importantly if he's people's elected representative, he can't go around making inflammatory comments. Actually, the real villains here are the paper who clearly decided what sort of story they were going to write and sought out the person most likely to speak without thinking, but I doubt anyone else will draw that conclusion.The riot at the end...well, it just came out of nowhere, being dramatic but also a bit silly and I wish they'd let up to it more by giving some indication that people in town felt that way before this episode.

[Slade]

I think those immoral words are going to be imbedded in my mind – “Hugo loves Martha”.

Sorry Slade, what exactly was immoral about "Hugo loves Martha"?

I’m meant “immortal” but I’m sure you already figured that out.

I find it interesting how some people have brought up the fact how frustrated they were with Ruby’s treatment of John. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like Ruby in fact I can’t stand her at the moment but IMO the fact that John has very little respect for most people makes it hard to sympathise with him (although I hated Ruby insinuating more that once that John was a racist without any actual proof). He bullied his stepson and was indirectly almost responsible for Trey blowing up a bus full of school kids.

I wrote a fairly long speech about this over on Australian Discussion but here's the edited highlights: Yes, John bullied his stepson and yes, he contributed to Trey going over the edge but a lot of other people contributed as well, notably Jai but also Ruby herself, who frankly started the whole thing off by deliberately turning Nicole against him and indirectly causing the sex tape incident.

I know Jai and Ruby were involved (a while back in this thread I mentioned how disgusted I was with Jai for turning everyone against Trey in the assembly hall and I know Ruby was very hypocritical considering what happened with Lyons the year before) that’s why I said “almost”. IMO John was the main reason why Trey started off being unpleasant in the first place and treated people badly which caused them to turn against him. Again I hated the way Jai acted towards him and in effect it was sort of revenge for Trey picking on him before and his treatment of Nicole.

I agree there was a lot in that episode and I wasn’t sure where to start so I’ll follow your lead Red Ranger. I don’t like Mink. It’s only been two episodes but I had a feeling I wouldn’t like her considering how she first rocked up at the caravan park. I think she’s going to be real trouble. Even though I don’t like John I hated the way she punched him. I knew he wouldn’t press charges and TBH I was a bit disappointed with Miles for not saying anything at all, although would it have made any difference?

Rachel’s attitude towards Liam at the start had me shaking my head but I can see how he was coming across as annoying. I loved the stuff with Martha. I just couldn’t stop smiling, firstly in the hospital where I especially liked Martha’s reaction and then back her place. When he told her he was going to say anything like that again part of me thought she actually liked what he said in the first place, although she won’t admit it. I’m not sure how I would feel about those two hooking up but I do like them as friends.

Still unsure about John. When he tried to defuse the situation after those guys were starting on Hazeem earlier on I wondered if he was just trying to appease everyone. I started to warm to Ruby’s idea slightly when she and Geoff went to visit those people at the hospital and thought perhaps she was more worried about them then when she brought up the rally it made me think it was all about John again.

To be frank the ending of that episode sickened me. When those racist thugs beat up Hazeem I just saw red. Leah’s reaction and the way she was dragged into the Diner made it even worse. After simply being Ruby’s bodyguard for most of that episode I think Geoff redeemed himself at least trying to go to Hazeem and Leah’s aid. I really wasn’t expecting the racists to try and torch the joint though. Very dramatic ending and yet another good episode. I’m glad the standard seems to have improved overall over the last couple of weeks.

[Red Ranger 1]

I find it interesting how some people have brought up the fact how frustrated they were with Ruby’s treatment of John. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like Ruby in fact I can’t stand her at the moment but IMO the fact that John has very little respect for most people makes it hard to sympathise with him (although I hated Ruby insinuating more that once that John was a racist without any actual proof). He bullied his stepson and was indirectly almost responsible for Trey blowing up a bus full of school kids.

I wrote a fairly long speech about this over on Australian Discussion but here's the edited highlights: Yes, John bullied his stepson and yes, he contributed to Trey going over the edge but a lot of other people contributed as well, notably Jai but also Ruby herself, who frankly started the whole thing off by deliberately turning Nicole against him and indirectly causing the sex tape incident.

I know Jai and Ruby were involved (a while back in this thread I mentioned how disgusted I was with Jai for turning everyone against Trey in the assembly hall and I know Ruby was very hypocritical considering what happened with Lyons the year before) that’s why I said “almost”. IMO John was the main reason why Trey started off being unpleasant in the first place and treated people badly which caused them to turn against him. Again I hated the way Jai acted towards him and in effect it was sort of revenge for Trey picking on him before and his treatment of Nicole.

Sorry if I misunderstood you, I thought when you said "almost" you meant that Trey almost blew up a bus full of school kids, not that John was almost responsible for his actions.

[Miranda]

Gosh you people do have a lot of time on your hands don't you

Liam was a numpty again! When he went round to Martha's to apologise, it sounded like he meant 'it was only cos I was high that I thought you were beautiful etc. Normally I think you're an ugly old bag.' But obviously something going to happen there because she has got over Hugo's death already

What a horrible end to yesterdays episode! What were those people doing outside the diner anyway? And where were the omnipresent police? They are around to catch Romeo and Xavier looking in Leah's bag but not to stop a mass riot. tut tut tut.