Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Five.Miles was in four.

Found it very hard to care throughout most of that episode.We don't even get to see Martha and Xavier get hit over the head by what appears to be a Mafia hitman?There aren't enough pleasures in life as it is.I'm actually not remotely bothered if anything happens to them or Gina given that they've all been monumentally stupid and incredibly irritating throughout the entire storyline and it would serve them right.And in the circumstances, Martha wandering off on her own probably wasn't the smartest move.Nice to finally get some follow up to Rachel knowing Hugo's around.Tony was disappointingly casual in the scene where she points out they're withholding information that could help them find Xavier.On recent evidence, I actually wasn't expecting Gina to call the police so I was relieved when she did.The scene of her going crazy at school seemed a bit abrupt:Do any of those children actually know Xavier?Disappointing that Rachel seemed to accept Hugo's excuses so readily.There is an element of truth in what he said but he seems to be missing out too key details: Firstly, Charlie and Angelo are unlikely to want to endanger Xavier and would probably keep his arrest quiet if he was willing to co-operate.Secondly, if he did what he intended to do and left town, he'd actually be placing his family in even more danger than if he was in custody, since the Mafia are just as likely to harm his family to punish him or force him to return to town then.

I actually really liked the stuff with Leah and Elijah.Elijah's panic at his parents coming to town was amusing.(Does this mean we might finally see where he lives?)Leah's paranoia seemed a bit extreme, I was actually expecting Elijah to give her the phone rather than just summon his mother. His parents call him "Eli"?When Irene was talking to Leah about VJ bringing home a girl like her, presumably the rest of the sentence was going to be "then that would be really oedipal."

Oh-on where Leah was while Charlie was chatting with Ruby, wasn't she at the house eating with Miles, Colleen and Elijah that same evening?If everyone's already had dinner, it can't have been that early.

[H&Alover]

It did seem a bit strange that everyone was wandering off all over the place looking for Xavier. We did get to see the kidnapper stamp on a mobile phone (probably Martha's), that will have to suffice Red. Guess Ruby must have had her three day quota or we would have seen her rather than just being on the end of the phone. Hugo could call the police aka Charlie and Angelo, get them over to the farmhouse (as he can hardly pop down to the station can he?), tell them what has happened and they can arrange to have a tap put on the phone should 'Killer' ring. BTW how do we know he is called that anyway? Shouldn't Miles have taken a name when he booked a caravan?

I like the sound of Elijah's mum, she sounds just like Helen, the way poor Elijah could hardly get a word in reminds me of the telephone calls Leah has with her mum. I think the mums will will either clash like nobodies business or get on like a house on fire. They kept talking about Elijah's parents, but didn't Elijah's dad die? Unless his mum married again and he means his stepdad? I guess you mean where he grew up Red, but as his mum, dad/stepdad? are coming to the bay, I suppose the answer is no for the moment. Leah certainly did seem to get wound up over nothing, she even came out with her 'is it because I'm Greek?' line.

[Brian]

Xavier...Dear god, are we actually supposed to feel sorry for him?Because I don't, not one bit.The person I feel sorry for in all this is Liam.True, he's arguably asking for trouble by repeatedly spending time alone with a female student out of school hours in what's basically a social situation. But he's stuck in the middle of a teen love triangle when he hasn't actually done anything wrong and having to put up with Xavier going all bratty on him every five minutes.Xavier seems to be making exactly the same mistakes he made with Geoff, thinking the best way to keep his girlfriend is to threaten the guy that she likes more than him into staying away from her.Kid, if you have to do that, then you're doomed either way.And seriously, what was with him "seeing" Ruby and Liam kissing?The way it was shot and played, it didn't seem to be a case of him imagining what he might see, he genuinely thought that was what he'd seen.Is the guy really so paranoid he's literally seeing things that aren't there?Or did they just want to use the clip in the trailers to wrongfoot everyone and didn't really think it through?

Yes, Red Ranger, I do feel sorry for Xavier. He is just a lovesick teenage kid, who cares desperately for a beautiful girl. I wouldn't want to lose Ruby either - she's the only pleasant feature of his life just now. He's not a brat and his threats were just what any male does in defending his territory. He didn't resort to violence, didn't swear, or go to alcohol or drugs. Even Nicole was impressed.

Liam is far more to blame. He calls himself a teacher and needs to accept the responsibility of that profession. Gina was a bit too quick to take him on and should have laid down rules for his dealings with students, insisting he checked such activities with her first. No wonder Ruby was impressed by his attention and help as a musician. Then Liam should have called off the sessions (even temporarily) as soon as he got any wind of her feelings.

Mind you, Xavier could have been a bit more supportive, as he could see how important this was to her - even taking up the offer to sit in om some sessions. but this will probably be the least of his worries in the coming week!

[H&Alover]

[Red Ranger 1]

I like the sound of Elijah's mum, she sounds just like Helen, the way poor Elijah could hardly get a word in reminds me of the telephone calls Leah has with her mum. I think the mums will will either clash like nobodies business or get on like a house on fire. They kept talking about Elijah's parents, but didn't Elijah's dad die? Unless his mum married again and he means his stepdad? I guess you mean where he grew up Red, but as his mum, dad/stepdad? are coming to the bay, I suppose the answer is no for the moment. Leah certainly did seem to get wound up over nothing, she even came out with her 'is it because I'm Greek?' line.

I completely forgot Elijah's dad was supposed to be dead(excuse me while I hang my head in shame), hopefully the production staff haven't forgotten as well.I meant that maybe we'll see Elijah's house, where he's living now, since he said his "parents" were staying with him.

Yes, Red Ranger, I do feel sorry for Xavier. He is just a lovesick teenage kid, who cares desperately for a beautiful girl. I wouldn't want to lose Ruby either - she's the only pleasant feature of his life just now. He's not a brat and his threats were just what any male does in defending his territory. He didn't resort to violence, didn't swear, or go to alcohol or drugs. Even Nicole was impressed.

Liam is far more to blame. He calls himself a teacher and needs to accept the responsibility of that profession. Gina was a bit too quick to take him on and should have laid down rules for his dealings with students, insisting he checked such activities with her first. No wonder Ruby was impressed by his attention and help as a musician. Then Liam should have called off the sessions (even temporarily) as soon as he got any wind of her feelings.

Mind you, Xavier could have been a bit more supportive, as he could see how important this was to her - even taking up the offer to sit in om some sessions. but this will probably be the least of his worries in the coming week!

Leaving aside whether Xavier's a brat or not, this could be another instance, like with Annie and Romeo, where I'm too much of an old man to empathise with teenage emotions.I'm far closer to Liam in age and like me he seems to be bemused and irritated by all the adolescent angst being thrown about.For the past nine months, Xavier's attitude towards Ruby can be summed up in one word:Desperate.(Pretending to have amnesia so she wouldn't dump him, anyone?)The problem isn't Liam, the problem is that, with some justification, Xavier doesn't trust Ruby.He'd react the same if Ruby was enjoying the company of a boy her own age rather than him.He knows, like everyone else, that if Geoff hadn't left town, he and Ruby would never have got back together.This is more than marking his territory, Liam knows that Xavier is Ruby's boyfriend and doesn't want to get in the way of that, this is Xavier knowing that if Ruby spends too much time with someone else she won't want him anymore.There comes a point where he needs to learn some self-respect and accept that he's just delaying the inevitable.

So...Today's episode.A lot better than last week.Tony and Rachel still seem to go along with Hugo's view of the world a bit too much, like Rachel says the police are trained to deal with this sort of thing.Hugo's claim that 'Killer'(as he's named in the closing credits, complete with inverted commas: might as well have called him 'Mr.Evil' and had done with it)might be the police just shows the criminal mindset he has.Possibly he meant that 'Killer' might be the leak in witness protection but if so, the "proper" police would still help him.Or does he seriously believe the police would take his family hostage to make him give himself up?Wasn't entirely happy about Tony smuggling Hugo past the police but I understood him insisting on staying with him and not being prepared to send his nephew to his death, it's pretty much all he can do in the circumstances.Rachel did at least have the sense to call the police but she seemed to tie their hands a bit too much;I can understand her not wanting to implicate the family in harbouring a fugitive but couldn't she have told them a bit more rather than letting them think they're just dealing with an ordinary kidnapper.Really weird thing: Why is it that pretty much Hugo's entire family is missing and no-one's worried about them except Hugo, Tony and Rachel, not even Alf and Ruby who know they're up to their necks in trouble or Charlie and Angelo who know someone was hanging around Martha's place?Guess Tony's casual attitude from the previous episode is catching.

Charlie and Angelo:I liked them in this episode but...I'm afraid it's guilt by association.In isolation, the scene of him walking in on her in her underwear and not knowing where to look was rather cute and amusing.But it doesn't make a lot of sense when you consider they were in bed together less than a week ago and presumably he's well used to the sight.If that hadn't happened, it would have been a lot better.

Liked the scenes between Alf and Liam and between Nicole and Ruby.There was a lot of cute banter in there, with Ruby getting more and more panicky and Alf casually confirming no-one's ever had a crush on him.Odd that Nicole didn't mention Ruby's crush on Miles(although didn't those two hate each other back then?)or her own obsession with Sid.It felt like both Ruby and Liam were given good advice but ended up not taking it.Ruby's risking her relationship with Xavier to spend time with him and Liam's risking being in trouble with the school and the police to spend time with her.Even though Liam's expression at the end of the scene suggested he realised he was making a mistake, I can see this ending up very messy...

[H&Alover]

[

I completely forgot Elijah's dad was supposed to be dead(excuse me while I hang my head in shame), hopefully the production staff haven't forgotten as well.I meant that maybe we'll see Elijah's house, where he's living now, since he said his "parents" were staying with him.

Liked the scenes between Alf and Liam and between Nicole and Ruby.There was a lot of cute banter in there, with Ruby getting more and more panicky and Alf casually confirming no-one's ever had a crush on him.Odd that Nicole didn't mention Ruby's crush on Miles(although didn't those two hate each other back then?)or her own obsession with Sid.It felt like both Ruby and Liam were given good advice but ended up not taking it.Ruby's risking her relationship with Xavier to spend time with him and Liam's risking being in trouble with the school and the police to spend time with her.Even though Liam's expression at the end of the scene suggested he realised he was making a mistake, I can see this ending up very messy...

You can hold your head high Red, you have nothing to be ashamed about! :cool: Though as you say, let's hope the production team have remembered what they have previously written. I guess we haven't seen Elijah's place yet have we?

Nicole was giving some real good advice to Ruby, she has been there after all and knows the danger of letting it get out of hand. When Nic had her massive crush on Sid (the obsessive kind) she had just gone though a pretty bad time. You could be right about them not being bessy mates back when Ruby had her crush on Miles.As you said Red, all that advice on both sides) does seem to have fallen on deaf ears after all. The look on Liam's face did seem to say it all, if only he had got in first. He has the most to lose, just when he seemed to have found something to keep him on an even keel. Poor Alf nobody has had a crush on him .

How come noone at the school seems to have realised Gina (the principal) has gone missing!

It's a bit late in the day for Hugo to suddenly click that by coming back he's put everyone in danger. It puzzled me why Tony didn't get Hugo in his car and smuggle him out that way, instead of Hugo having to dodge the cops? Rachel did do the right thing by calling the police, but you're right Red, didn't give them much in the way of information. Charlie and Angelo aren't stupid though, they would have realised she is keeping something back. To me 'Killer' seems to have an east European accent, could the Russian Mafia have an involvement in the people smuggling operation?

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm assuming Tony's car was parked in a way that if he and Hugo had just wandered out to it Avery would have seen him.I felt a bit let down by that episode, simply because it feels as though by the end the plot's just regressed back to where it was before Mr.Evil showed up:Hugo's still in hiding, the police are still chasing their tails and running into a wall of silence, Hugo's family are still in desperate need of a reality check.I'm left feeling as frustrated as Angelo that the Austins all act as though this is some sort of happy ending, when in fact there are still people after Hugo and now 'Killer''s failed they'll probably just send someone else.(I thought 'Killer''s accent was Mediterranean myself but accents aren't really my strong point.It suggests Mafia either way.)Rachel seems to have slightly more sanity but seems content to be the mostly silent minority, shooting Hugo dirty looks and then just going along with it anyway.'Killer' puts in a pretty poor showing as a hitman by not keeping Hugo covered while he was driving at him.Tony coming to Hugo's rescue was a nice moment and Charlie and Angelo did at least manage to catch one bad guy.I found Xavier and company managing to escape without any help a bit of a cop out, though.

Elsewhere, Miles manages to get in at least two classic moments, with his "Mustn't forget my juice" moment on going to talk to Jill and his incredulous "John Palmer?!" on realising who she's waiting for.I thought John was asking for trouble agreeing to spend time with Jill but he seems he really has given up on Gina and decided to just take what's on offer...at least until she starts knocking on his door at an awkward moment.Not sure if we're meant to assume that Something Happened between John and Jill kissing(standing up)and him helping her to her feet.Seemed a bit odd that Gina suddenly turns up at the house on her own when the family were supposed to be spending the night at the farm.(Even if she went back for an overnight bag, in the circumstances I'd have expected Tony to insist on accompanying her.)I was expecting her to walk in on them and that may well happen next episode...but I just love the idea of John Palmer effectively hiding a woman in his closet.

[H&Alover]

I'm assuming Tony's car was parked in a way that if he and Hugo had just wandered out to it Avery would have seen him.I felt a bit let down by that episode, simply because it feels as though by the end the plot's just regressed back to where it was before Mr.Evil showed up:Hugo's still in hiding, the police are still chasing their tails and running into a wall of silence, Hugo's family are still in desperate need of a reality check.I'm left feeling as frustrated as Angelo that the Austins all act as though this is some sort of happy ending, when in fact there are still people after Hugo and now 'Killer''s failed they'll probably just send someone else.(I thought 'Killer''s accent was Mediterranean myself but accents aren't really my strong point.It suggests Mafia either way.)Rachel seems to have slightly more sanity but seems content to be the mostly silent minority, shooting Hugo dirty looks and then just going along with it anyway.'Killer' puts in a pretty poor showing as a hitman by not keeping Hugo covered while he was driving at him.Tony coming to Hugo's rescue was a nice moment and Charlie and Angelo did at least manage to catch one bad guy.I found Xavier and company managing to escape without any help a bit of a cop out, though.

Elsewhere, Miles manages to get in at least two classic moments, with his "Mustn't forget my juice" moment on going to talk to Jill and his incredulous "John Palmer?!" on realising who she's waiting for.I thought John was asking for trouble agreeing to spend time with Jill but he seems he really has given up on Gina and decided to just take what's on offer...at least until she starts knocking on his door at an awkward moment.Not sure if we're meant to assume that Something Happened between John and Jill kissing(standing up)and him helping her to her feet.Seemed a bit odd that Gina suddenly turns up at the house on her own when the family were supposed to be spending the night at the farm.(Even if she went back for an overnight bag, in the circumstances I'd have expected Tony to insist on accompanying her.)I was expecting her to walk in on them and that may well happen next episode...but I just love the idea of John Palmer effectively hiding a woman in his closet.

Yes, just as we think something is going to be resolved, we are back indeed back where we started. Dramatic as it was with Gina, Xavier and Martha being trapped in the water tank, once the rain had started I couldn't hear a thing any of them said. I don't think I'll even bother asking how 'Killer' managed to get them in there, either all at once or separately. Come to that how did Hugo know where to look for them? Yes, Red, you would have thought 'Killer' would have taken a shot at Hugo when he drove the car at him, not exactly living up to his name was he? I know this is going to sound really petty, BUT why wasn't Hugo wearing a seatbelt when he decided to drive the car straight at 'Killer'? He ought to have known there was a chance he would be knocked out. It was just too convenient that he came round just in time. I can't see the police getting much, if any, information out of 'Killer' he's a professional.

So did the police question Tony and then just let him go or has he got to go into the station and as for the others it appears they all went home, just like that - no mention of Angelo and Charlie or any other police. That puzzled me as well Red (just you and me again by the looks of it) about Gina going home by herself, for all any of them knew 'Killer' wasn't alone.

It looked like she was indeed softening towards John and the last message he left finally spurred her into doing something at last! Too bad John couldn't hear his phone because he and Jill were dancing. Although I still can't really take to John I can't blame him for giving up on Gina (though of course he doesn't know the reason why she hasn't been answering his last how many calls). Jill for now at least seems to be making an effort not to drink which was a plus for John when he had to hid her in the spare room. It wouldn't have been that simple if she hadn't been. Not very gentlemanly of him was it? He may have got her handbag stashed away with her, but what about any other evidence he wasn't alone, e.g. mugs? Not sure either if they were doing some horizontal dancing or just having a snog before going upstairs. Looking forward to seeing how it pans out tonight.

[Wopunga]

I'm starting to get a bit bored with his Hugo storyline now myself. It seems to be going round in a quite small circle. Much like the Jill storyline which I'm also getting a bit tired of.

I also find it hard to believe that not only did the water tank fill up that fast, it was a big tank and it wasn't raining that heavily, but that Xavier could untie himself but then not untie the others once he had two free hands. There are just too many inconsistencies in the Hugo/Killer storyline for me too really enjoy it, like Gina going back home after they'd all agreed to stay at the farm.

[Miranda]

Not impressed with John's ungentlemanly behaviour. Shoving one woman in the spare room while answering the door to another! Shades of Carry On Summer Bay.

I'm glad Xavier seems to have split up with Ruby, she is the most selfish person in the current cast- everything is about HER.

I have just read the good news about returnees to HAA- hurrah!