Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

I have to say I’m a little surprised you’ve responded H&Alover as in the past you’ve normally been the first person to raise the point whenever anyone posts right after the first broadcast of the UK showing on Five in the afternoon even though that isn’t even spoiler.

That is why I put the first part of my reply as a spoiler, we've all seen something happens, it's just the sequence of events that aren't clear.

[Red Ranger 1]

Nothing wrong with leaving school and getting a job but the thing is Red, Brax (and Ruby) both know Casey is worth a lot more than that, because he is a lot brighter than himself, Heath or even Cheryl come to that. It's only his dyslexia that is a stumbling block. I should imagine in a job like that would soon drive him mad and that's how he could drift into crime through the sheer boredom of it.

Got to say, my job isn't that interesting but I haven't felt the need to join a criminal gang.Then again, I don't live in the local equivalent of the New York Bronx.(Actually, I probably do.But I don't go out much.)Although Casey seemed a bit uncomfortable to start with, by the time Brax and Ruby visited he seemed to have knuckled down and was making a go of it.It's vaguely reminiscent of the snobbery of Aden's departure storyline, where earning a decent living working in a diner or a shop was treated as "wasting your life".

and didn't Ruby work in the fish business a long time ago? Didn't she drop out of school too many years ago? Or was that a dream?

I don't think she dropped out of school, I think she was working there part-time, when she moved in with Irene.No idea when she stopped, it just seemed to get forgotten about.

Anyway...today's ep.Bit up and down with Charlie and Brax.(Well, mostly down with Charlie.)Brax again seemed a bit dictatorial towards Casey when he turned up at the house and I wasn't too impressed about him bailing out on him for the sake of a tryst with Charlie.(Who hides in the bathroom?How old is she?)But I did appreciate him standing up to Cheryl for his brother's sake.Nice explanation about the motel and why Casey would go looking for Brax there.Is it me or did Heath show the tiny bit of concern for Casey when he asked him where he'd go?Loved his sarcastic asides as well.Ruby, a character who was on my hate list at the start of the year, is now back to being one of my favourites.Although she should have asked Charlie and Leah about Casey staying, she handled the aftermath fairly well, her apology to Leah without backing down over helping him had me cheering for her and I love how supportive she was.

Not too impressed with Leah there, I think she overreacted to...well, just about everything.She does have a right to know who's stopping over in her house but I'm not quite sure what she expected Ruby to do, it almost sounded like she wanted her to break up with Casey with all her moaning about the Braxtons.And her concern for VJ seemed a bit overprotective:He's a high school student, for pity's sake, he knows the facts of life.Miles' awkward chat with him was amusing but they took it on too long with VJ dropping him in it and there didn't really seem to be a proper punchline.

[EmyKate68]

Have to say I've really enjoyed the last few episodes. The insight into the Braxton family has been so interesting and I think explains a lot about why they are the way they are. Agree with everyone that Cheryl is about as awful a mother as you can get - I mean what mother throws their son out if they won't leave school!? Living with that lack of parental support and guidance (and basic needs like food too by the sounds of things ) would have a dramatic impact on someone's life. I think Brax and Heath saw the honest route of hard work and low pay as something that had made them and their mother desperately unhappy, but they didn't have the resources, support or guidance to do anything different - crime possibly seemed like the only way out.

Their upbringing doesn't excuse their criminal behaviour, but it does go some way to explaining it. I agree with Zetti that, despite their horrible upbringing, that all 3 brothers do seem to have some kind of moral line that they don't cross, which for me means I can happily keep liking all of them!

Nothing wrong with leaving school and getting a job but the thing is Red, Brax (and Ruby) both know Casey is worth a lot more than that, because he is a lot brighter than himself, Heath or even Cheryl come to that. It's only his dyslexia that is a stumbling block. I should imagine in a job like that would soon drive him mad and that's how he could drift into crime through the sheer boredom of it.

Got to say, my job isn't that interesting but I haven't felt the need to join a criminal gang.Then again, I don't live in the local equivalent of the New York Bronx.(Actually, I probably do.But I don't go out much.)Although Casey seemed a bit uncomfortable to start with, by the time Brax and Ruby visited he seemed to have knuckled down and was making a go of it.It's vaguely reminiscent of the snobbery of Aden's departure storyline, where earning a decent living working in a diner or a shop was treated as "wasting your life".

I don't know if it's a snobbery thing Red Ranger, there's nothing wrong with leaving school and getting a job if that's what you really want to do, I just think that in Casey's situation, it wasn't really a choice for him, he was forced into it due to a lack of support from his mother. He never looked that keen to me and think he just said it was alright so as not to disrespect her.

I quite liked the Leah and Miles stuff today too. I enjoy the contrast between their relationship and Brax and Charlies - not every relationship is based on lust and passion and those based on friendship and laughter can work just as well.

[Miranda]

I was rather mystified why Leah and Charlie were so shocked at Casey being in Ruby's room, do they not know they are a)sleeping together and b) it all started in the back of a car. Yes, Leah does have a right to know who is staying in her house, but I really thought she knew Casey and Ruby were sleeping together. Then he's sleeping on 'the couch'. As if. And that stupid moment when they all glared at Casey and Ruby holding hands.

Aw, sweet little Casey not realising Brax had the motel room to meet a woman in.

I thought Miles should be telling VJ about 'the birds and the bees', he is the nearest to a father figure he's had recently. Or the most consistent one anyway. But it was funny that they agreed to pretend they'd said it all.

Oh, the Braxtons. Cheryl has alienated two of her sons, Heath may be next. I think she's plain old jealous of Casey getting opportunities she didn't get. Which isn't what a mother should be, but so many are. I'd have thought she'd welcome Casey back the next day with open arms, saying 'oh, I never meant to throw you out' etc. But she's been pushed too far by her crap life, it seems.

[Zetti]

No offence taken Slade, as far as I am concerned, it is done & in future I will be more careful.

Onto todays episode, Cheryl, I don’t like her, I am sorry but regardless of her life in the past, she is so ungrateful, she can’t even accept that Casey wants an education & that he is entitled to one. Her upbringing should make her feel protective of her family and help them to make the choices best for them. I do feel for Brax, he is doing all he can to help his family and his mother is just throwing it in his face.

Miles/VJ: I thought it was funny but Leah shouldn’t have made Miles do the talk, it isn’t his job but I think it was funny when they were trying and didn’t get very far.

[Miranda]

I'm not saying I like Cheryl particularly, its just I can tell she's been pushed too far, she's given all she can for her boys and she hasn't anything left to give, she wants rid of them now to get her own life back. They should really have moved out by now. Not Casey particularly, but Brax and Heath should have. Cheryl needs a break.

[Slade]

I really enjoyed that episode. Tegan seems like an interesting character and easy on the eye. First impressions are she comes across as a bit of a psycho or perhaps a woman scorned. You could see it in her eyes the way she looks at people, such as the way she looked at Charlie when she walked into the Diner and the way she was watching Brax and Charlie when presumably she followed them and realised they were seeing each other. Although she doesn’t actually know Charlie I don’t think Charlie helped matters by being quite passive with her. Charlie didn’t really put her foot down when Tegan tried to approach her twice and Charlie seemed keen to want to walk away from her when anybody else she might have tried to make life difficult such as ask them their name, where they live etc or have them stand there whilst she ran a background check. Tegan seems quite calculating i.e. the way she was being pleasant to Colleen so she could fish for information about Brax (You can always rely on Colleen to open her big mouth and dish the dirt about anyone). I actually thought she was flirting with Heath the way she walked right up to him before she took the drink from him and the way she had her leg across the table when she they were sitting down talking about Brax. I can’t imagine that she’s simply going to up and leave just like that after Brax’s threat and I don’t think she’s going to give up that easily either. When Tegan confronted Charlie about Brax she mentioned that he was a known criminal. So that would seem to indicate Brax has a criminal record but I still can’t imagine Charlie would be THAT stupid. It’s only going to be a matter of time before this all comes out and I thought it was a really close call yesterday when Casey came to the motel room looking for a place to stay.

I quite liked the stuff with Charlie and Casey. It’s good to see her being pleasant to him even though she was subtlety trying to find out about Tegan.

Although I felt sorry for Marilyn, Sid definitely did the right thing finishing with her. It was the best thing for both of them. I’m glad Marilyn knew it was coming and accepted it but if Sid and Roo do decide to engage in a relationship I don’t think it’s going to go down very well with her, especially because I think at the moment Marilyn believes the relationship has ended because of the stuff with George. I suppose it was only natural she go to Miles for somewhere to stay but perhaps she was a little presumptuous asking to have her old room back and maybe should have just expected a caravan. Miles does have a tendency to suffer from serious foot in mouth. I remember what he was like when Leah first took a liking to Elijah although it helped in that case.

[Miranda]

I think Casey's quite lucky Charlie isn't jumping on him after the script writers got obsessed with the boy teens having relationships with their girlfriends' mothers/ other older women i.e. Drew/Amanda, Jules/Jazz, Lucas/Naomi and Ric/Viv. There was an epidemic of that in H&A for a few years, yawn...

Tegan is a good example of a sweet, innocent looking person being malevolent and ill intentioned. A good choice of actor. I think to be more realistic Brax should have threatened her with something, not just vagueness. She was also definitely flirting with Heath- the boyfriend's brother, we all do it So Colleen knew her beforehand?

So, Maz and Sid are no more. No surprise there. Their relationship was too damaged and weird. I'm glad she went back to the Caravan Park house, Miles was exactly the right comfort for her.

[Red Ranger 1]

I meant to say yesterday I really liked Tegan's debut.And not just because she is, as Slade said, rather nice to look at.She's causing trouble for Charlie and Brax which is fine by me, I loved the way Charlie squirmed when Tegan confronted her with the truth.Loved Tegan fishing for information with Colleen too:Presumably she grew up in the Bay if Colleen knows her and remembers her at school. Charlie's split personality resurfaces, not long ago she was planning to announce her and Brax to the world, here she's terrified at the prospect.Brax threatening Tegan is hardly surprising, although Charlie sunk a bit lower by seemingly being aware and appreciative of the fact.I presume by "known criminal" Tegan means that the police(apart from Charlie apparently)know he's a criminal but have never been able to prove it.She shows smarts by working out in a day what most of the Bay hasn't noticed in months.Hope that's not the last we see of Tegan, curiously it seems Heath and Casey both quite like her.

Marilyn annoyed me with the way she kept avoiding Sid but when the break-up came it was pretty grown up and mature.Her running to Miles feels a bit random:I know she lived there last year but that was only because Alf moved her in and she and Miles have barely spoken this year.(Like everyone else, he seems to have forgiven her for what she put Nicole through remarkably quickly. Not that he seemed that bothered in the first place.)Aside from not having anywhere else to go, it's hard to see exactly why Marilyn's still in Summer Bay.

[Zetti]

Tegan. Yayy, finally trouble for Charlie & Brax, like Red said, she is causing trouble for Chax and maybe they will both get the bump to earth that they both really desperately need. I loved her little conversation with Colleen, fishing for information & then when she saw them both on the beach, I had a smile on my face, I think I am going to like her more and more as time goes on.

Marilyn, to be honest, I am glad that her relationship with Sid is getting worse because I cant seem to muster up any sort of enthusiasm for her, as she is acting IMO petty espeicially when it came to avoiding Sid about the break up. I mean have some dignity, if you can see the end of your relationship, go out with your head held high and accept it.