Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

As you say, H&Alover, if Mink had been 18 she wouldn't have been in juvvie.I'm guessing she's only about a year older than Romeo and was released just before she turned 18, so served 2-3 years.No idea how she knew where he was though...

Alf's episode count this week:Four(and he was credited on Friday for no appearance).

Well.Ironic that a few weeks ago Miles was sleeping on the beach and now he's the one trying to get Alf and Leah to pull themselves together.He's come a long way...assuming he's not seeing dead people. I think only Miles could get away with joking about a serious situation while still managing to convey that it's serious:His gags about Leah being in the house("Don't go away", "Thought I'd fine you here")and suggesting electric shock therapy.I'm not sure if a genuine agoraphobic would react the way Leah did but this is Home and Away and that's the way it works and I really liked the whole plotline.

Geoff and Elijah's conversation...kind of felt like we weren't getting the full story.Frankly Geoff's been losing his temper for quite a while, not just since the riot, and I'm not sure when he's supposed to have "lost his way."(And frankly the "I've always seen the good in people" is something that Lucas and Jai would probably argue with if they were around, given he took an almost instant dislike to them both and took a while to come around.)But putting aside the continuity, I think the conversation and Geoff in a way coming full circle really worked.His departure...I like the idea but I'm not too sure about the way it happened.It was surprisingly low-key for someone who's quite a popular character.Having him become a missionary and get back on track to becoming a minister was a good idea but it was a bit abrupt and could have done with being played out over two or three episodes.His reason for leaving town that afternoon was a bit spurious("I've made my choice")and I was left thinking they could have come up with something better, maybe the minister got him into a training course or a posting abroard and he needed to leave straightaway for that.On the plus side, Ruby was a lot less annoying than she has been lately:I was expecting her to start wailing and weeping and making it about her but although she got a bit teary, she was pleasingly supportive of him and recognised this was something he felt he had to do.

I had a similar thought about the Martha and Liam storyline.Still not sure what to make of where Martha's head is and even less sure after this.Seems she's back living at the farm after being at the Austin house(as we might as well call it)for the last couple of weeks.I liked the banter between them although Liam must be pretty dim when he was complaining about his hands hurting not to notice Martha was wearing gloves and he wasn't.But the kiss...I think everyone saw it coming but it still felt a bit abrupt, there was nothing in that episode to suggest they saw each other as more than friends even though there is a spark between them, and I've got a really bad feeling about it.

[Miranda]

So Geoffrey is gone He was never my favourite character but he will leave a definite gap in the show.

I think he was an unusual character for a soap: religious, puritanical, innocent [at first], quite ethereal. Hopefully his steep learning curve after he came out into the world from the farm, will stand him in good stead for becoming a reverend. If he actually becomes one, who knows? He floated into H&A and when people tried to get too close to him or pin him down, he floated away again. Even airy fairy Ruby couldn't keep him.

When Geoff said he always tried to see the good in people, and Red Ranger/Slade pointed out that this was wrong, I think what Geoff should have said was that he always tried to 'do the right thing', which he did. Even when he annoyed Lucas on various occasions, he was only trying to do the right thing.

It was a very abrupt goodbye, I expect others would have liked to say goodbye to Geoff e.g. Nicole, Alf, Martha, Tony, Miles, even Aden. Very strange, I wonder if the actor was encouraged to leave by the show management due to various things I've read about him. Hm... A strange departure.

I was pretty shocked at Martha suddenly jumping on Liam like that, right after asking him to stay at the farm. I can see what is happening though: two lonely, unhappy people who just want a bit of comfort and happiness. Who knows where it will end... I hope Martha does get some happiness though: she deserves it, and I never thought I'd be saying that!

I don't particularly like Liam, but maybe Martha will bring good aspects of his character out. Martha is far more suitable for him age wise, Nicole was far too young! I think Martha would challenge and push him more, because he had got stuck in the 'rock star and groupies' rut. He needs to grow up now.

**Also must say I LOVE the new aerial shots of the area that we now see. Very classy and atmospheric. They make the show more real

[H&Alover]

It certainly seemed a very quick departure for Geoff, one day he talking to Reverend Elijah, the next day (?) he is leaving! Didn't take long for the overseas course to be sorted out, but that is soapland for you. Glad that he Ruby talked about it and sorted things out (sort of). At least Annie got a mention. It's going to be pretty empty at Irene's as she only has Ruby there now, I dare say though there will be another lost soul wanting a place to stay (Mink perhaps)?

I thought the scenes betwen Miles and Leah were very well done, his little jokes did seem to lighten the mood, I'm sure Leah had a very small smile on her face when he said to her not to go anywhere. He of most people would know how she is feeling after what he went through with the tsunami, because he would have felt guilt that he survived and his wife and daughter didn't. With you there Red about how quick she seemed to have got over the agrophobia, but as you said this is H&A.

As for Martha hasn't she been there before by getting together with another guy after either breaking up with or losing another?

Perhaps it's her way of dealing with it, but not sure if it's healthy for her or the bloke she is with. We will have to wait and see what develops if anything.

[Slade]

I am shocked to the core, that you, Red Ranger, did not notice the fireplace for 15 years I have an excuse as I have only watched HAA on and off for the last few years, but really, tut tut tut, call yourself head of the Nerd Squad?

Yes, I hang my head in shame.To try and redeem myself, according to the last ages we were given for them, Angelo is about three years younger than Charlie.Maybe.

Wow and there was me thinking you possessed super powers Red Ranger, I guess you are human just like the rest of us.

Catch up yet again. Unbelievable Ruby finally gets called out regarding her behaviour and attitude and Geoff takes it back all because he hit a nerve. Are we meant to infer from this that Ruby is in the right? When she asked Geoff if he was just apologising because he told her what she wanted to hear part of me wanted him to say yes. The episode after it was even worse telling her the serve he gave her was out of anger completely vindicating her from any wrongdoing. I’m not saying she could have predicted what happened but she still needs to understand that actions have consequences - “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”

Can’t really add anything to the comments about Geoff’s departure. It was rushed and I would have liked to have seen more people there. Alf you would have thought considering he’s been in every episode for x amount of weeks, Nicole his ex and even Aden his former arch nemesis, turned ally.

I really did not like Ruby going to Xavier for advice. And with Geoff gone, her best friend Annie left a while back my fear is now that she will start hanging around Xavier again and they will undo all the hard work they’ve done with his character. I suppose there’s always hope with Nicole. Nicole is tied up with Aden but if she flunked her exams she’ll probably have to repeat which means they could be in the same class at school although Nicole seems a bit old now to be hanging around with school kids (even though she’s not much more than a couple of years older than Ruby).

I actually quite liked the scenes between Xavier and Mink.(And she actually brought a change of clothes with her!Or else she raided Nicole's wardrobe.Hard to tell.)Certainly more so than I liked the scene between Xavier and Romeo:the more they try to make him a three-dimensional character, the more one-dimensional he seems.You can almost hear Luke thinking this isn't the character he signed up for.

Some of your comments are so funny sometimes. I'm not sure if you were intentionally trying to be humorous. I liked the conversation with Xavier and Mink too. I still don’t like her but as I suspected there is an explanation (as always). And she didn’t seem completely unlikeable like last week. I found their interaction miles better than Xavier’s and Ruby’s which again reiterates why I don’t want to really see any scenes with Xavier and Ruby. TBH if someone did time to save my life I would be grateful like Romeo was.

I knew Tony would regret getting involved with John. I bet he wishes he had sold up now.

Agoraphobia - it was on the tip of my tongue. Completely forgot about that word regarding Leah’s condition. Anyway glad Miles managed to talk her into going outside. It’s going to take time but at least it’s the first step. Hopefully she’ll decide to visit Hazem at some point.

Martha and Liam – Again quite liked the stuff when they were talking and Liam took a stab at manual work. I think Martha seemed to be flirting with him (at least by the bar) so I wasn’t that surprised when she kissed him even though I was disappointed, especially considering she was talking to Liam about Hugo whilst they were having lunch. I do quite like them as friends but getting involved in any thing like that is a bit soon. I have to say I thought it was very lazy/inconsistent/bad writing. I was a little confused by her remark about how tired she was of being alone. She hadn’t been separated with Hugo for that long and even then she was looking after Bambang.

[Brian]

Hi folks, I'm back. Haven't had much time to write posts lately, but I'm been following all that you've been writing.

Maybe unpopular to say this, but i like Mink. A breath of fresh air in the series. Bit obnoxious maybe and not everyone's taste at first (Gina), but they can see another side to her (Xavier). Can't be all bad, if she goes to juvi to save her brother. I hope she stays awhile and maybe hooks up with Xav, or will Ruby allow that? Can't see what your objections are to Ruby and Xavier being together. His character certainly has developed with Romeo and now with Mink - be nice to see some comedy sketches, as you suggest. Want to see Romeo settle down and get a job.

Yes, a funny departure for Geoff. At last we see the church that Annie used to visit in the mornings before school (and maybe Geoff as well). Did anyone notice the large bare wooden cross that Geoff first looked at when he went in and then it was replaced by a large crucifix a moment later? I would have thought that the reverend would have asked Geoff what his problem was, why he was "lost" and stayed and talked it through with him. Still he made up his mind pretty fast, but no way would any missionary organisation take him immediately, without his applying first and then taking up references. There did seem to be an indecent haste to get him to depart.

[Slade]

Brian!!! I was wondering where you were. It’s a shame you’ve taken so long to post as I would have really liked to hear some of your thoughts about Hugo and the whole people smuggling storyline in particular its resolution.

Can’t speak for other people but my main objection to Ruby and Xavier (I really hope he doesn’t get sucked back into her web) is that I felt his character didn’t really have any purpose when he was with her. The minute things were going wrong between them he started to improve and his interaction with other people was a lot better. He was ok with Jai (better than Ruby even) but the first time I noticed improvement was when he had a conversation with Annie on the beech (I actually think they might have been speaking about Jai). And since he’s split up with Ruby I’ve actually quite enjoyed some of his scenes. The stuff with Ali and Rosie. Again the stuff with Romeo is ok at times. As already mentioned some fairly good interaction with Mink which you yourself have admitted.

My fear with Ruby is because she is so self-centred ATM when anyone’s in any scenes with her as I mentioned on the Ruby discussion thread it’s like they’re metaphorically tip-toeing around her because the writers are more worried about hurting her feelings rather than calling her out for being in the wrong. Geoff seemed redundant in quite a bit of his relationship with her and Xavier was too. TBH I'd rather see him get together with Mink than get back with Ruby.

[Red Ranger 1]

I actually quite liked the scenes between Xavier and Mink.(And she actually brought a change of clothes with her!Or else she raided Nicole's wardrobe.Hard to tell.)Certainly more so than I liked the scene between Xavier and Romeo:the more they try to make him a three-dimensional character, the more one-dimensional he seems.You can almost hear Luke thinking this isn't the character he signed up for.

Some of your comments are so funny sometimes. I'm not sure if you were intentionally trying to be humorous. I liked the conversation with Xavier and Mink too. I still don’t like her but as I suspected there is an explanation (as always). And she didn’t seem completely unlikeable like last week. I found their interaction miles better than Xavier’s and Ruby’s which again reiterates why I don’t want to really see any scenes with Xavier and Ruby. TBH if someone did time to save my life I would be grateful like Romeo was.

Don't worry, Slade, that was me trying to be humourous.People seem to have so much difficulty telling...

I agree completely with your last post as well.It's odd how my thoughts on Ruby and Xavier seem to have completely flipped over the last year.When they first got together, I didn't like Xavier and thought that Ruby throwing herself at him made her look a bit pathetic.Now I find that I don't really like Ruby and that once he's away from her Xavier has actually seemed a lot more grown-up.As I mentioned, I didn't like the way that after Geoff had snapped at her Ruby went straight round to Xavier's to ask him if he thought she was to blame for what had happened, as if she needs a lapdog to tell her how wonderful she is.She broke up with Xavier because she liked Geoff more than him, so if she then goes back to Xavier because Geoff isn't around anymore, that really is going to feel like she's a bit pathetic and needs a boy to dote on her.And if Xavier's willing to go along with it knowing that he's her second choice and after she got him to lie to the police for her even though she was planning to break up with him, that doesn't say much for him either.I agree, even though I don't really like Mink either, I'd rather see her and Xavier together and I think they might even be good for each other.

[Brian]

Brian!!! I was wondering where you were. It’s a shame you’ve taken so long to post as I would have really liked to hear some of your thoughts about Hugo and the whole people smuggling storyline in particular its resolution.

Can’t speak for other people but my main objection to Ruby and Xavier (I really hope he doesn’t get sucked back into her web) is that I felt his character didn’t really have any purpose when he was with her. The minute things were going wrong between them he started to improve and his interaction with other people was a lot better. He was ok with Jai (better than Ruby even) but the first time I noticed improvement was when he had a conversation with Annie on the beech (I actually think they might have been speaking about Jai). And since he’s split up with Ruby I’ve actually quite enjoyed some of his scenes. The stuff with Ali and Rosie. Again the stuff with Romeo is ok at times. As already mentioned some fairly good interaction with Mink which you yourself have admitted.

My fear with Ruby is because she is so self-centred ATM when anyone’s in any scenes with her as I mentioned on the Ruby discussion thread it’s like they’re metaphorically tip-toeing around her because the writers are more worried about hurting her feelings rather than calling her out for being in the wrong. Geoff seemed redundant in quite a bit of his relationship with her and Xavier was too. TBH I'd rather see him get together with Mink than get back with Ruby.

Thanks for that Slade. I can see where you're coming from with the Ruby and Xavier thing and you're probably right.

The Hugo saga did go on a bit too long - we knew he was going to get caught in the end - but I thought that the witness protection idea was an unexpected and good storeyline. But it wasn't presented very realistically. If it was witness protection, was it just to protect Martha or did he give evidence against someone? Why involve Alf - what if he blabs in the future? Police didn't take then number of the car or go after it - the one the shooter escaped in. Gina never saw her son's body and could not grieve for him properly. Few people at the funeral. And will we ever hear any more about it and the results of the police investigations? A very good idea wasted by inappropriate follow ups!

[KirstyEkua]

I thought John was really out of line today talking to Tony like that. He's ran the gym on his own for years so i can understand there being some teething problems at first. But John is so arrogant and quite patronising towards Tony - he doesn't deserve that. Lovely to see Harry today, that little scene was really cute and nice to see him growing a little as he should be by now.

I am surprised by Martha's relaxed attitude to what happened with Liam. Her boyfriend 'died' a few weeks ago and she seems completely over it. Perhaps it's all just an act and she's just trying to get past it the best way she thinks.

[Red Ranger 1]

On the subject of Geoff's farewell, I made a long speech about his reasons for leaving over on character discussion but I think the actual farewell was done well.The only people they needed one-on-one farewells with were Irene and Ruby.Nicole was someone he used to be close to but isn't anymore. (Seriously, does anyone remember the last time they had a scene together?I don't think it was this year.)Aden is someone who's sort of a friend but not really.They could have stuck those two, Tony and by default Rachel in the "getting on a bus" scene with one or two lines but it worked without them.Miles and Martha, who other people suggested should have been there, were busy elsewhere in that episode. Alf...Even though they had a scene together in the previous episode, I can't think of any reason for him to be there other than "He's Alf" and he'd just be there to make up the numbers.

Anyway...My opinion of Martha seems to veer back and forth as to whether she's in deep denial or not but it does feel as though she's in way too much of a hurry to get back on the horse.I did laugh at Colleen's reaction though when she asked if Liam was going to be a tenant or something else and Martha replied that she hadn't decided.Alf, on the other hand, came across very well in his scene with Liam, I think what he said was spot on, neither of them's in the best head space at the moment and they need to be careful.I did wince slightly when Martha said that her family always think they know what's best for her and they don't.Yes, Martha, you were quite right not listening to them when they suggested sleeping with a married man or a dodgy club owner who wanted to turn you into a pole dancer wasn't a very good idea...

My opinion of Charlie and Angelo veered about a bit as well.I laughed at some of their scenes and felt that they seemed relaxed together...until Charlie started literally having a panic attack, which made me laugh as well.I thought it seemed a bit dumb of Angelo at first to start pushing the house hunting angle again when Charlie clearly wasn't keen last week but if she said she changed her mind in one of those off-screen conversations it makes sense.I'm not really sure where my sympathies lie, if Charlie doesn't feel ready to move in together yet that's her decision although I can sort of understand Angelo wanting to know why.Charlie casually chatting about their relationship with Martha feels a bit weird but I guess we're just going to have to get used to it.

I love John Palmer sometimes.He can be pretty obnoxious but he definitely gives entertainment value.I laughed at his "We're best friends really" when Tony gave him the evil eye and winced at his comment about them needing to be touchy feely.Good to get some more interaction between him and Gina:I like Gina a lot better when she's in scenes with John and Tony than when she's in scenes with her children. Guess it remains to be seen how long Tony and John's truce lasts:Perhaps they should have had a longer discussion about what exactly "the business side of things" means...