Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four.Irene and Colleen were also in four.

I really liked that episode for much of its run but it kind of went downhill in the last five or ten minutes when a lot of the characters started annoying me and a lot of things seemed to just... happen. I rather liked the scene of Indigo quizzing Sid about Romeo, even though I agree it's a bit odd she'd want to discuss it with him, with him floundering awkwardly.But the rest of that storyline was appalling and I didn't see any reason for Sid to fixate on it the way he did or for Miles and Marilyn to agree to join him in ambushing Romeo.His "Don't sleep with my daughter" seemed an utterly inexplicable thing to say, I'm left wondering if he got completely the wrong end of the stick and thought Romeo was pressuring Indi into losing her virginity.

I loved the scene of Angelo trying to get the journalist to give him free publicity and John seemingly taking the mick out of the now infamous "Bay of Love" promo from the start of the year(and loved those bemused looks Alf kept giving him).Would the discovery of one needle stick really be enough to have all the media painting Summer Bay as a hell hole, even with its recent bad reputation and Penn stirring the pot?Penn continues to irritate me and it's annoying that everyone's gushing over him because he gave Nicole a lift to the hospital and held her hand, even people like Alf who know he's no good.Seemed to be a bit of a continuity error as well with John remarking "At least those clowns from television haven't got their hands on it yet" after he already knows Penn's spoken to them.

I'm glad Liam told Charlie, if it was a bit belated and didn't seem to do him much good, with Charlie storming around shouting the odds at everyone.I really can't decide what Ruby was going to do with that bottle:Her eyes did seem to light up when Irene suggested $30 could get her a bottle of wine but would she really tell Irene she was going to buy it if it was for her own use?Then again, why not just ask Irene to buy it for her?As Slade said, I'm not sure Ruby and Indigo have even spoken before, so it's a bit odd that they're suddenly not just friends but break-the-law-for-you friends.Especially when Indi wasn't actually old enough to sell alcohol last week, making her actions doubly illegal.

Oh-H&Alover, yes, Angelo dated Belle during one of her breaks from Aden and they were sleeping together.Liam dated her during another of her breaks from Aden but it didn't go further than a couple of more-than-friends-but-hardly-steamy kisses.

[H&Alover]

Penn is definitely at his mind games again, 'playing down' his part in helping Nicole. That reporter was sooo entranced by him, I bet she hardly remember a word of what he said to her. I may be wrong Red, but didn't John say in front of Penn about the TV not having got hold of it, then Penn said he had already contacted them? What's the betting he was also behind the nationals getting hold of the story? It does seem very OTT for such an overreaction by the discovery of just one needle, I don't remember all this fuss when Robbie got stuck with a needle!

Quite brave of Liam really fessing up to Charlie like that, he must have known what her reaction would have been, but he was right it wasn't his secret to tell. Though I suppose the argument there is she is underage. True Indy is too young to sell alcohol, Angelo mentioned it the other week (now we know why), but she actually smuggled the bottle out and I guess if she just put the money in the till it would look like an ordinary sale. It did seem suddenly out of the blue Ruby deciding she wanted to buy Charlie a present I wondered if it was a cover up. Good point Red, why didn't she ask Irene to buy it for her? Now Ruby has been sprung will Charlie let her tell her the reason why she bought it (if it's genuine)?

I'm guessing the reason why Indy was asking Sid about Romeo was because as she said he was a teenage boy once and was sounding him out about he first lost his virginity and if he had had the same problem. Wouldn't be much help talking to Nicole as she already knows and understandably wouldn't have the same perspective as a guy. You're right though Slade, he could have mentioned it to Miles who could have had a quiet word with him. Also when they said about having dinner to talk about it I thought they meant at home not in the diner, hardly the place for such a delicate subject!!!

[Red Ranger 1]

I may be wrong Red, but didn't John say in front of Penn about the TV not having got hold of it, then Penn said he had already contacted them?

I think Penn told Alf, Irene and Colleen after he'd spoken to the reporter, then John and Alf confronted him about it, then later on Alf, Colleen, Miles and John were talking about the newspaper articles outside(just before Miles gets the call to see Sid)and John says it's a good idea the TV haven't got hold of it.

Anyway...Charlie actually impressed me for a lot of that episode.I was expecting her to do the usual Summer Bay cop job of covering for her daughter and boyfriend but instead she was professional about it and followed the proper procedure.I wasn't too keen on her blaming everything on Irene though, she was out of line.Have mixed feelings about Ruby moving back in with her, I wasn't happy about her moving in in the first place but I was quite liking the dynamic at the beach house and I'm not sure if just Irene, April and Bianca living there will really work.The Charlie/Ruby home scenes did work well though.Nice to see Georgie again, I wasn't sure if we were going to even though she was mentioned.Angelo's choice at the end seems a bit weird, I think he's trying to protect Indi but it seemed an odd way of going about it.

Sid went up in my estimation quite a bit with his handling of Indigo.He seems to be getting the hang of this parent bit and, actually, she seems to be getting the hang of the daughter bit:A year ago she'd have told him to go to hell.Odd then that the scene with Marilyn and then his chat with Indigo near the end seemed to imply he'd been too hard on her.Having been suddenly presented as friends last episode, Indigo and Ruby are now seemingly not friends.

Although I still have a tendency to scream "Stay away from her, you fool!" every time Liam goes near Ruby, I think his talk to her today was actually pretty good.And his scene with Irene was rather nice.And then Bianca turned up.I really do find it difficult to like her or to see what Liam sees in her (even though she did almost get her contractually obligated bikini scene in that episode).I quite like the way he kept winding her up with the constant flirting, even if he did seem perilously close to the Lech Liam in her version of events last week.

[Slade]

So Ruby was planning to drink the wine after all. That kind of puts a different spin on things as far as I'm concerned. Thinking about everything I really think she has been selfish which is kind of a shame as I mentioned on another thread I was starting to warm to her because I felt sorry for her. I'm kind of glad Indy blew her off to be honest.

Charlie annoyed me the way was with Irene. I guess it was understandable getting the wrong end of the stick but she should have given Irene a chance to explain. I also hated the way she was dismissive of everything Irene had done by effectively pulling Ruby out of her care. A while back I wanted to see more Charlie and Ruby stuff but I'm not so happy about Ruby living with Charlie as I think it would be far more interesting to see how things pan out with April and Bianca at Irene's. Does Charlie actually think she can keep an eye on Ruby 24/7 anyway? If Ruby really wants to get drunk she'll find a way. Charlie mentioned not punishing her but finding a solution. I think the reason Ruby's turned to drink in the first place is a combination of depression and loneliness. I think possibly the loneliness could have started after Annie left, with Irene at work a lot of the time and perhaps that's how the fixation on Liam developed. So I think it would be a good thing staying at Irene's where there's even more people there rather than being at Charlie's on her own when Charlie is at work although I suppose there's Leah and VJ.

I really liked Angelo in that episode. Although he berated Indy for selling Ruby the alcohol he was quite defensive of her. In terms of damage limitation a lot of people in his position would have sacked her. He was sticking up for Ruby too. He came across as selfless but I do agree that it was stupid. Why risk everything for a mistake made by an employee even when it was her fault? The way he was acting it was almost like a crusade and did make me wonder if there was something else behind it, possibly to do with his family.

I'm glad Marilyn told Sid about Dexter's crush. It's hard to imagine that someone intelligent in some things can be completely oblivious in others although if it had been me I probably wouldn't have picked up on it either. I really hope Sid calls Dexter out on it just to see how Dex reacts.

I quite enjoyed the Liam/Bianca scenes and I would have preferred seeing Bianca in a bikini. Appearance wise it's obvious why he would take a liking to her but I agree that it could be hard for a lot of people to be attracted to her based on personality. In fact if she wasn't so attractive I think she would be quite unlikeable although the way she's been with Liam she obviously cares about him.

[H&Alover]

Although Angelo had no option really but to fire Indie he could have done it a lot more sensitively than just saying 'you're fired!' IMO he could have said 'although you have been a good worker and it was just one mistake but I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go'.

Although he was in a way responsible for what goes on, as Alf pointed out he couldn't be everywhere at once. At least with Alf now in charge of the bar it is one less thing off Angelo's shoulders. As we saw last night Slade there was indeed more to Angelo's overreaction as Angelo has now admitted to Charlie.

Agree with you Slade Charlie should give Irene an chance to put her side of it now she has a chance to cool down. Liked Leah's remark about where Ruby got her stubborn streak from. Why is everyone so sure Ruby bought the wine for herself, just because she got drunk once! Good to see the mention about it is more risky for her because of the diabetes, not a big deal made of it just a pertinent reference. Exactly, how is Charlie not going to let Ruby out of her sight when Ruby is at school and when she (Charlie) is at work, you mentioned Leah Slade, but she works as well so Ruby will be in exactly the same position as she was at Irene's.

Good to see Sid took Marilyn's advice about Indie, she may not be a parent of a teenage girl (or boy) but sometimes she does talk sense probably more from instinct than anything and also perhaps because she is a step removed from the situation so can see it from a different perspective. Indie looked really moved when Sid gave her his backing and said he believed her even if he was disappointed in what she did. It was probably because Sid is Dex's dad he didn't twig that he had a crush on Marilyn, all those little signals Marilyn was trying to send Sid at the dinner table were funny. How did Dex managed to somehow disappear into thin air twice?

What is wrong with Bianca? I've said before there has to be more behind Vittorio cheating on her with his ex fiancee. Perhaps he had some really weird habits if you know what I mean.

[Red Ranger 1]

On yesterday´s episode:

Nice to get a bit more back story for Angelo, although it was hardly a surprise that he took the fall for Paulie.(Given he decided to be a cop at sixteen, how old was he when he was left in charge of the restaurant?).Felt he went a bit too far the other way with Indi, I´d have been happy if he´d fired her straightaway but he went from protecting her to sacking her instead of just letting her take the fine. Liked the little bit of Sid apologising to Indigo, even though I don´t think he needed to.Dexter disappearing when Sid wanted to talk to him came across as rude and annoying rather than funny.Romeo and Indi worked quite well.Given how close they were getting when they were kissing on the grass, I wonder how long he(they?)will remain a virgin.

Although I think they´ve lost a lot of potential by moving Ruby out of the beach house, I did like the dynamic of her living with Leah and Charlie.Glad Irene hasn´t completely forgotten her and called round to check she was all right, hope Charlie will take Leah´s advice and apologise to her at some point.

Bianca crying on the toilet did interest me to a point and leave me wondering if she´s pregnant or if there was something in Vittorio´s message that upset her.But given how much of a cow she is in company, I didn´t really feel any sympathy.

[H&Alover]

So Elijah and VJ are in secret contact via Miles! I wondered what was going on when Alf was having a go at Miles on the beach at the beginning of the episode. I thought at first something had happened to Elijah. Certainly explains why VJ isn't so upset about Elijah having gone away. There is going to be fireworks when Leah finds his stash as she surely will. Her insistence to VJ she hadn't been calling out Elijah's name was very unconvincing, he is a bright kid. Come to think of it it was only herself that didn't want contact with Elijah she never said not to contact VJ and he didn't have to reply to Elijah did he?

April's recycling idea seemed to have come out of nowhere after no mention of it since we first saw her. Is John just being difficult for the sake of it and because Xavier is involved? He told April people wouldn't be behind it, but if she, Xavier and perhaps other kids from the school asked the locals and got their opinions they could then give John proof it would be popular. John has said the decision wouldn't be down to him but at least he could propose it. At least Xavier has called in his favour and refreshingly it is for a good cause and not for himself.

[H&Alover]

Looks just like me on board at the moment, so I'll just talk to myself :cool:

Although I could see some of Arpil's arguments, it wasn't as if Xavier was doing it for any financial gain, just getting John to honour his side of the agreement between them. Clever idea of Xav's though to make it look like, to Gina, that John was up for supporting the recycling idea. I have a feeling John was slightly impressed (sort of trick he would pull).

Oh Colleen, just as Leah was about write to Elijah, she had to go and stick her bib in. Hardly makes Leah desperate just writing to him! When Leah said she was going to get him out of her head, I thought to myself, it's not her head he's in it's her heart.

Didn't take Penn long to get back to his usual self. What had Nicole done to him to deserve what he did! Alf certainly looked very concerned seeing him and Nicole so cosy, is he thinking of her as a substitute granddaughter? I think what we saw in the trailers kicks off tonight.

[callyha]

Penn is REALLY bugging me! I hate that hes playing mind games with everyone, and I'm kinda glad someone decked him, but on the other hand, its great to have a character like this on the show. He's adding that evil character side that the show always use to have back in the day.

Indi selling Ruby the alcohol I'm kind of undecided with this, Indi was under the impression Ruby was going to give it to Charlie so she thought they'd be no harm in selling it to Ruby. Although I did feel sorry for her when Sid stopped talking to her.

Charlie going off at Irene; just like a parent- but like someone else said, at least she is remamin professional during this, she's not hiding anything to protet her daughter or boyfriend. I agree that Charlie had a right to go off at Irene, but I also think Charlie should have let Irene explain herself: but at that moment in time Charlie was in the middle of taking Ruby back to hers, (Charlie's)

Can't remember much else, and I don't want to guess what happened, I'm kind of watching at AUS pace as well as UK pace so i don't want to write the wrong thing and spoil for UK viewers

[H&Alover]

Did love Dex's visions of Marilyn, the first one when he saw her all misty like and the second one where she appeared to come on to him! I thought Sid was going to talk to him about his crush on Marilyn, he's had a couple of chances now but nothing has been said. :confused:

Penn, whatever else he may be, is very good at second guessing people. He knew Nicole would tell Miles and Alf what Penn had admitted to her so got his 'version' in first. What was his remark 'because I can' mean exactly,she hadn't done anything to him. In fact when he was 'writing' that letter to his dad, he said he felt sorry for her. I was disappointed in Miles tending to believe Penn though he did come round later. Glad that Indie didn't go off on one and listened to the reason why Sid was hugging Nicole, shows how much she has matured.

It was very un-Alf like behaviour when he threatened Penn who didn't seem that bothered, in fact if anything it was Alf that looked cowed. So was it Alf who beat up Penn, I know he had those cuts on his knuckles and he looked very shaken, but is it a red herring? BTW when Alf left the Surf Club he wasn't wearing a hat yet when we saw him with Penn he was, but by the time he returned to the club it had gone again or did I imagine that? Was getting Alf to beat him up all part of Penn's plan in coming to the bay in the first place because it's Alf he was getting his revenge on for whatever reason?