Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[alreetlike]

Will continues to act as though he's still eighteen, rather than a grown man with a failing/failed marriage and a young daughter he's supposed to be responsible for, spending all his time sulking and chasing skirt.Intrigued to know exactly what he's supposed to have done to make Gypsy walk out on them.

I'm finding this whole Will storyline rather a shame.. I liked him and was pleased he left for a rare happy ending with Gypsy (and chose to ignore the brief moments since when it was mentioned they were having trouble). Now he's regressed to acting like an idiot, and I don't even remember him being that annoying first time round so that's some effort as far as I can see. I've been trying to think about what may have caused Gypsy to leave, can't really come up with anything that Will could've done that would see her leave Lily as well, surely something like cheating or violence you'd want to take the bairn with you.

[Red Ranger 1]

Will continues to act as though he's still eighteen, rather than a grown man with a failing/failed marriage and a young daughter he's supposed to be responsible for, spending all his time sulking and chasing skirt.Intrigued to know exactly what he's supposed to have done to make Gypsy walk out on them.

I'm finding this whole Will storyline rather a shame.. I liked him and was pleased he left for a rare happy ending with Gypsy (and chose to ignore the brief moments since when it was mentioned they were having trouble). Now he's regressed to acting like an idiot, and I don't even remember him being that annoying first time round so that's some effort as far as I can see. I've been trying to think about what may have caused Gypsy to leave, can't really come up with anything that Will could've done that would see her leave Lily as well, surely something like cheating or violence you'd want to take the bairn with you.

I agree with you 100%.I think I mentioned last week that I was always dreading them bringing him back and wrecking his and Gypsy's happy ending and it seems as though that's exactly what they've done.I don't think I was a big fan of the character but I did quite like him.He had his moments when he was a tool, he was that way a lot when he first came in and again after his dad died, but he does seem to be worse than ever.I don't know why they've brought him back just so they can ruin two past characters, which seems to be what they're doing, especially if it turns out Gypsy's abandoned her daughter for no real reason.

[Slade]

I actually found Dexter’s attempts to woo Doogie most amusing. One of the reasons why I took a disliking to him initially when he returned was definitely the situation with Marilyn. Not so much because of the borderline stalking but because she was his father’s girlfriend. If Marilyn had been single I probably wouldn’t have minded so much and may have even found it funny. Part of me was actually rooting for him too. I think he was pretty brave both in the Diner and then later on at the police station where I actually got my hopes up but it’s not going to happen although Tom went out with Joel’s colleague a few years ago (and she still went out with Tom even after she found out who he was).

I really wanted to see what the interaction would be like between Dexter and Robertson and even though it was very little quite enjoyable. Robertson wasn’t as bad in that episode and although he still comes across as odd and obnoxious I liked the stuff with Doogie. At first I thought BFG meant boyfriend, girlfriend or something like that implying they were together but maybe I was reading too much into it. Again like Penn, Miles said he wouldn’t succumb to mind games but looked quite worried with Robertson’s threat. I still liked how Alf referred to Robertson as a mongrel and still refuses to be fazed by him.

I’m still trying to understand why they haven’t discovered that Penn changed his name after being sectioned. During his flashbacks several weeks ago the psychologist said he attacked several men hence the reason why he was there in the first place. So surely there should have been fingerprints on record certainly with the police beforehand. How difficult would it have been for Robertson or forensics to pull one of his prints from his hotel room and run a check? Don’t they have a centralised system for this sort of thing? I'm not saying this would have allowed them to make the connection to Tulip O’Hare but Robertson is the type of person who strikes me as being pretty thorough.

I liked Shandi at first but I’m glad she’s going now. All the niceness and free-spirit stuff beforehand that was emanating seems pretty superficial now. I would like to actually know if John gave her the cash like she asked (as mentioned above she was able to pay her final bill at the caravan park despite Miles giving her an IOU beforehand) and why she needed it in the first place. Also what happened with Will during the two days they were gone? She made a remark on the beach about him not doing anything stupid.

Quite enjoyed the stuff with Ruby and her driving instructor. I wouldn’t have a problem with them getting together as presumably he’s single but after the lessons are over. I thought it was ironic Ruby was actually fantasising about him in Miles’s lesson as he was the first person she took a liking to. It’s funny how quickly Ruby and Dexter develop fixations for people (particularly older ones). Maybe if things don’t work out for either of them they can get together. At least they will have something in common – actually hold that thought!

Oh and how predictable was it at the end of Friday’s episode when Bianca’s phone was ringing and it turned out to be Liam?

[H&Alover]

That's what my guess was about where Shandie got the money from (John). Wasn't there also a remark from Will to Shandie about not being scared as they hadn't done anything wrong? Agree Red, about there being some kind of 'back story' between them. There was more going on than just a brief fling. As for him being so irresponsible when he is supposed to be looking after Lily and acting like a single guy, you are all right. Understandable as a young man, especially when he first pitched up in the bay as a rebellious teenager and also after Ken died, because he was young and no responsibilities.

I dare say they will be digging into Penn's background at some point, Robertson being Robertson wouldn't do nothing about it. All He's interested in at the moment is finding out who killed him (if he is dead of course)! Didn't the psychiatrist call him Penn in the institution? Which would mean he had changed his name before that, perhaps Tulip's maiden name was Graham. Not sure where Penn came from though.

Ruby doesn't know the meaning of the word subtle does she!!! Perhaps Mitzy wasn't lying to her after all. Seems Alexander is showing some restraint by saying nothing could happen until after he has finished giving her lessons. Wonder if he says that to all his female pupils?

Oh and how predictable was it at the end of Friday’s episode when Bianca’s phone was ringing and it turned out to be Liam?

Quite agree Slade, after all that dithering Bianca was doing as well! Still think Liam is the best bet, just can't take to Vittorio, I think he will always having a roving eye and Bianca would never be totally sure of him. Did like her talk with Gina and it ended up with Gina talking about John.

[Red Ranger 1]

Hmmm...I can't quite decide if that was a bad episode or if it was just full of characters I don't particularly like.I want Bianca to give Vittorio the flick because I don't like him, even though I think Liam would be better off with a less mardy girlfriend.Again, April's withering asides were the best thing about the storyline.Her "You haven't deleted the voicemail" was a real punch the air moment.

Will still couldn't show less interest in his daughter which doesn't exactly make him endearing.I was a bit annoyed with Alf having a go at Irene because I actually thought she was in the right until she got into a fight with him in front of Lily.I agreed with every word she said but she should have chosen a better time:In fact, the whole thing was so bizarre I genuinely thought it was a dream sequence. Will's revelation at the end is(a)about the level he's at these days and(b)a bit of an anti-climax.I guess you can just about understand Gypsy upping and leaving without Lily if she was that devastated about it but it all seems a bit simplistic and something of an excuse to get all the pieces in place for whatever plotline the writers are trying to do here.(Actually...I'm beginning to wonder if the storyline's about Lily and if Will's going to bomb off and leave her with Irene permanently.Given that moment between her and VJ, I'm wondering if someone decided he needed someone his own age to interact with and remembered they had someone who was exactly his age.)

Nicole and Ruby's girl talk scenes were amusing as usual, although Nicole dropping the line about her HIV in was sledgehammer subtle.I'm actually not minding Ruby at the moment even if she is being a bit desperate.Alex probably should have mentioned his girlfriend last week but maybe he thought it was an added complication.He does seem to be being professional and trying to get her through this, although he also seems attracted to her so maybe there's more to it...

[H&Alover]

For one moment when Will was confessing to Irene, I thought he was going to say his one night stand was Shandie! Whether he was right or not to own up to Gypsy about it, I got the feeling she may have just used it as an excuse to leave, though why she didn't take Lily with her is a puzzle. Has Will got involved in something he shouldn't have that he can't tell Irene about?

Such a relief for Nic that her results were clear! Now she can really look forward to a better future. Just as I was thinking about Cassie and how she coped with it Miles goes and mentions her. Lovely talk between him and her and it certainly made her feel more positive.

The police still don't know for sure it is Penn's blood, he must have left something behind that they can compare DNA types with?

Wonder who blabbed about what Alf said, we didn't see Sid's interview, could it have been him?

We never got to find out if Bianca rang back Liam, that was a good line from April about Bianca not deleting his message.

It was strange that Alex didn't mention his girlfriend last week when he was giving Ruby the impression he would go out with her after she passed her test. Perhaps she was an ex-pupil.

[Red Ranger 1]

Feels like not a lot's been happening the past couple of episodes and worse, the character interaction has been right off so there's nothing really to enjoy.Robertson actually seems to have replaced Penn as the guy who wanders around annoying people and not really doing anything, just a bit less sociopathic.Doesn't help that, Nicole aside, no-one seems to have any intelligence when he's around and just lose their tempers and make themselves look guilty.Are we seriously supposed to care that Marilyn told him she had a dream about Alf killing Penn?That's hardly evidence.Deciding Penn's been murdered does seem a bit arbitary as well.

Presumably they were trying to make us like Will by having him relax with Lily a bit but frankly the damage is already done and making Gypsy out to be the sort of woman who abandons her children doesn't help either.I've a feeling Will is hiding something but I'll leave it a couple of weeks before coming out with any theories.

Don't think anyone actually thought Nicole had HIV but I did like her chat with Miles, we haven't seen much of that lately.They seem to be trying to turn Alf into an overprotective guardian figure for her which doesn't seem the right way to go to me.

Well, Xavier isn't above manipulating John to get his own way.Ended up backfiring spectacularly and he'd have been better off being straight with him.Of course, John should have kept his word and pursued the idea anyway.Loved the councillor quickly hiding his water bottle when the subject came up.April was rather cute in her attempt to talk to John although her "Maybe he won't notice Gina isn't here" plan was a bit silly.

Dexter was the highlight of the episode.I really like the thing between him and Graves, it isn't really the same as him and Marilyn, where he was being rather underhand and manipulative and trying to break up her and Sid's relationship.Here he's being completely upfront and the age difference isn't that insurmountable, I doubt there's five years between them.(And the Delivery Guy does flowers now?Is he freelance?)Dexter was talking to his fish was brilliant, as was Graves' pained expression and sunglasses when arranging the date.(And she still doesn't tell him her first name...)

[Psychic Wombat]

Does anyone really care about Penn? A murder enquiry seems a bit daft without a body plus I really can't think of anyone being pushed enough to actually commiting murder. I guess being a temporary cast member they could pin it on Will? Anyway, Robertson seems to have an ulterior motive for being the bay, namely to pursue Leah. Oh, well it must be spring in Summer Bay we have bare bums and love making in the shower and Rubys on heat again

[H&Alover]

Perhaps John will change his mind as Xavier told him the council meeting was still on? Could Xavier have been right when he said Gina must still care as she was so angry with him (John)?

Graves and Dex, that could be interesting, who's idea was it for Indi and Romeo to join them? Of course Robertson has only suggested it to see if Dex mentions anything about his dad and Penn. As far as I am aware Dex himself hadn't any contact with Penn. What's the betting he also knows about the remarks Penn made to John about Gina and he is also on the suspect list. I also liked that 'chat' between Dex and McGyver, wasn't he supposed to be in a tank (Mcgyver that is not Dex)!

PW, I don't think,it matters what time of year it is for Ruby to be on heat.

[alreetlike]

I haven't caught up with all of the episodes so far this week yet but firstly.. disappointed with Will's "big revelation". Lazy, boring writing. I'm sure they could've come up with something a bit more interesting. Maybe he's been left with Lily in an attempt for him to learn about his responsibilities, but I'm sure the writers will forget the point of them turning up in Summer Bay before long and it'll just be left open. Hope I'm wrong.

Becoming a little bored as well of Robertson strolling in and accusing various people of murder. Alf has become an overprotective parody of himself where Nicole is concerned, I much preferred Miles having the little parent-style chat with her before finding out her HIV results and not Alf stomping all over trying to watch out for her.

It was possibly just me but I spent most of her screen time trying to concoct a way for her to run herself over (actually, Brian Harvey managed this) to shut her up once and for all.