Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

We're now six weeks off the season finale, two weeks off our Christmas break, it finished in Australia a week ago.So we'll have four weeks' worth of 2011 episodes left when we come back in January.

Alf's episode count this week:Three(and he was credited on Monday for no appearance).Roo was in all of them, Marilyn was only in one.

Definitely looks like April was using Dexter, given the speed with which she made herself scarce once she'd got what she wanted, and again the way she invited herself back to the house so she could leave the pad where it could be found.(Loved Dexter and Sid's high five on finding it, by the way.)It would perhaps be an exaggeration to say she used Irene's condition, rather than simply taking advantage of an opportunity that presented itself, although I do wonder if she used the prescription Sid wrote Irene as a way to copy his handwriting.Hope that Irene's magic new medication doesn't mean her cancer's going to be forgotten about and she'll be right as rain from now on.Bit ironic if it happens right after she's asked Gypsy and Lily to leave.

I found Colleen's tactless questions to Harvey simultaneously amusing and annoying, I've no idea why she was doing it and it seemed a bit unfair, even though he wasn't being particularly helpful, but I don't really mind seeing him squirm.He seems to know exactly how to push Roo's buttons to keep her with him, interesting the little chat in the previous episode where she was obviously comparing her relationship with Harvey with her friends being attracted to the Braxtons.I couldn't help wondering if Harvey deliberately injured his hand to get out of helping Romeo:Surely he can't be that desperate to get his own way?

I did like the family Walker scenes, with Sid and Dexter seeing through Sasha's behaviour, and I liked Xavier's succession of abrupt "No"s when Sasha tried to get round him.(Xavier and Dexter's "secret handshake" at the end of the scene was another great moment.)Dexter being horrified at Sasha's not exactly age appropriate outfit while Indi thinks it's great and Sid doesn't even notice was nice characterisation.And I did like Indi's advice to Sash.It does seem likely Stu only told her he loved her so she'd sleep with him.But seriously, Xavier, what were you doing?I'm not really sure why he and Dexter are so against Stu, apart from the River Boy and age gap thing, and Xavier winding him up like that evoked a similar feeling as Colleen's scene above, I found it mildly amusing but wasn't really sure why he was doing it.Last time he decided to annoy a River Boy he got himself thumped, this time it resulted in Sasha being hit.I'm surprised they went down that way and not sure about Stu's reaction:He seemed to instantly realise he made a mistake but whether that's because he regrets it or because he's shown Sasha an unpleasant side of him I don't know.It seems to reduce the chance of them getting a happy ending, although I can see Sasha sticking with him for a while and pretending it didn't happen.

[Brian]

For me personally the writing for Stu felt a little bit lazy. The part where he was kissing Sasha, tried to get more physical, she told him she wasn't ready then he declared his love for her was OK. That was believable. He obviously did that to allow him to push the boundaries more quickly but the way he turned on her in the car then slapped her for me was ridiculous. Despite the River Boy label he seems like a decent guy and apart from the party he's been reasonably cooperative with Sid so it didn't make sense him losing his patience like that. Then back to the scene where Xavier tried to wind him up (which incidentally I really didn't like) again surely he would have realised after speaking to Sasha that was Xavier's intention as you could see how excited she was to see him all dressed up so she had no reason to lie. Again is this a way to break them up to allow her to build a relationship with Xavier? Xavier has been involved in quite a few scenes regarding Sasha almost all in relation to watching over her regarding boys.

Why are you still thinking that Xavier will get hitched up with Sasha? Just because they've been in a few episodes together doesn't mean anything. I've said before : leave Xavier alone for a bit - he's maturing into a pleasant young man without any women around him. He's had enough bad experiences with them (Freya, Ruby, April, Kelly) to put him off for a while.

I think that Sasha will stay with Stu for a while. He'll apologize and she'll like the wild streak in him - bit like herself, but with harsh words instead of violence.

[Slade]

Why are you still thinking that Xavier will get hitched up with Sasha? Just because they've been in a few episodes together doesn't mean anything. I've said before : leave Xavier alone for a bit - he's maturing into a pleasant young man without any women around him. He's had enough bad experiences with them (Freya, Ruby, April, Kelly) to put him off for a while.

I think that Sasha will stay with Stu for a while. He'll apologize and she'll like the wild streak in him - bit like herself, but with harsh words instead of violence.

It comes from watching years worth of soaps and seeing similar storylines. Very often an indication that two people are going to get together at some point is if they immediately don't hit it off and appear to dislike one another. There was Xavier's first meeting on the beach with Sasha when he tried to warn her about the storm and it was dangerous and she was dismissive. Then there's they way they've been around each other every subsequent meeting since. Also Xavier got punched in the face for trying look out for her with the other River Boys. Although it was incredibly stupid as someone already mentioned in this thread I feel that subconsciously it was being suggested that he was her guardian Angel. And again on Friday when he was winding Stu up it felt like he was trying to sabotage the relationship. I don't think Xavier would want to deliberately ruin any relationship because of what's happened to him in the past but again I do think it was a subconscious thing and also the simple fact he doesn't like Stu.

Re your point about him being put off women because of his bad experiences in the past (BTW - You left out Ali, Rosie, Miranda and Summer I think) I don't think it's realistic for him to lay off girls especially once his exams are over. Not at that age and he won't have problems finding another girl in that department.

And no I won't leave him alone...

[H&Alover]

Wow that slap certainly came out of the blue!!!! I can understand him being miffed about what Xav said, but he could just have told Sasha what Xav had said, he just seemed to me to have ignored it and just drove on. Perhaps that is what he has seen his dad do to his mum in the past and so thinks is normal. He seemed to come across so normal, polite and caring of Sasha to Sid. His declaration of 'love' does seem like the usual ploy a young (and sometimes) not so young guy would use to get a girl to change her mind. Indi's advice was at least from experience and not just something to stop her going ahead. We don't know how old Indi was when she first slept with a guy, but to risk sounding boring Sasha is only 15 so would also be illegal apart from the fact she may not really be ready. That was so obvious what Sasha was up to, snuggling up to Sid, not realising Indi is more than likely to have done the same thing many times in the past.

Although April has done wrong, at least she has a conscience about it, I'm guessing she only took the one script, she couldn't have looked more guilty if she had tried. I think it was just coincidence that Irene needed her script renewed, which was handy for April so she was able to copy Sid's writing and signature. Lynne did say in her interview in The Bay Reporter there is more to come for Irene.

If Roo is so unsure about about continuing to see Harvey why does she keep doing it?

[Miranda]

I was shocked when Stu hit Sasha. My only thought was that maybe he saw his dad treat his mum like that and thinks its normal.

I agree with Slade about Sasha/ Xavier potentially getting together. I still think he was better off with Kelly, why did they have to sabotage that relationship?

Also wanted to say that I liked the fact Heath defended Liam from Mark. Liam seems to be getting quite friendly with the Braxton brothers, I suppose they are similar.

[Brian]

I agree with Slade about Sasha/ Xavier potentially getting together. I still think he was better off with Kelly, why did they have to sabotage that relationship?

I agree, they seemed to be getting on so well, but Xavier and Kelly were from such different backgrounds, wanted different things in life and lived so far apart. Xavier could never have lived in the house Kelly wanted to build on the farm and Kelly could never have delivered pizzas all her life. A good storeyline though

[Red Ranger 1]

Another episode where all the storylines run into each other.While Sasha didn't immediately brush off Stu hitting her, she didn't tell anyone about it either and seemed to get over it by the end of the episode.I can see this going either way, although the odds seem to be stacked against them.Whilst hitting your girlfriend is obviously wrong, it'd be nice if the show can demonstrate you can do that once without being an irredeemable monster.Although the fact Stu didn't seem to think it was that big a deal isn't very promising.

I was rolling my eyes when Charlie was giving Brax and Hayley all those jealous looks.Saying Hayley had no dignity throwing herself at him is a real pot/kettle/black moment.I really hope she's right about it being over this time.

Nice that Irene and Bianca are smart enough to pick up on the possibility of a recurrence of April's OCD and frankly that's exactly what it is.It's understandable that Sid would think Stu was the most likely suspect but he did pressure Sasha about it a bit longer than was actually reasonable.April getting Dux of the Year is vaguely reminiscent of Melody getting a citizenship award when she was helping Matthew cheat.I guess the irony is meant to be that she could presumably have blitzed her exams without the drugs.But I can't help feeling this storyline is going to leave me frustrated.Even with Charlie involved, it's hard to shake the feeling that not for the first time this year we're going to be left with April misbehaving, being portrayed as the victim and getting off basically scot free. It'd be nice if just once there were consequences to her actions.

[ebrett84]

Another episode where all the storylines run into each other.While Sasha didn't immediately brush off Stu hitting her, she didn't tell anyone about it either and seemed to get over it by the end of the episode.I can see this going either way, although the odds seem to be stacked against them.Whilst hitting your girlfriend is obviously wrong, it'd be nice if the show can demonstrate you can do that once without being an irredeemable monster.Although the fact Stu didn't seem to think it was that big a deal isn't very promising.

I was rolling my eyes when Charlie was giving Brax and Hayley all those jealous looks.Saying Hayley had no dignity throwing herself at him is a real pot/kettle/black moment.I really hope she's right about it being over this time.

Nice that Irene and Bianca are smart enough to pick up on the possibility of a recurrence of April's OCD and frankly that's exactly what it is.It's understandable that Sid would think Stu was the most likely suspect but he did pressure Sasha about it a bit longer than was actually reasonable.April getting Dux of the Year is vaguely reminiscent of Melody getting a citizenship award when she was helping Matthew cheat.I guess the irony is meant to be that she could presumably have blitzed her exams without the drugs.But I can't help feeling this storyline is going to leave me frustrated.Even with Charlie involved, it's hard to shake the feeling that not for the first time this year we're going to be left with April misbehaving, being portrayed as the victim and getting off basically scot free. It'd be nice if just once there were consequences to her actions.

Given the way the show has portrayed completely unhealthy and cringe inducing relationships like Aden and Belle, Kirsty and Kane, and Charlie and Angelo, I can see the moral of this story ending up "well he beats up his girlfriend, but he really loves her, so that doesn't matter and it's her duty to love him no matter what". I'd rather not see that, but this show doesn't have a strong record recently.

[H&Alover]

Sasha's initial reaction to Stu's hitting her and then when he went to hold her the next day made me wonder if she had been in that situation before. She did forgive him pretty quickly though, I do hope she's not that cheaply bought. Just because the ring looked big and flashy doesn't mean it was, Sid was jumping to conclusions there. I suppose in his eyes someone like April would be the least likely person to have done it, whereas Stu being a RB is bound to be top of the list. I don't blame him for going to the cops, after establishing a scrip had been used, shame the pharmacist couldn't remember if it was male or female. Even if he had said a young dark haired girl, it wouldn't have helped much because both April and Sasha have the same colouring, I was waiting to hear that a Mrs. Roberts' scrip had been filled at the same time. All he has though as he said to Charlie is a gut feeling and no proof. He's going to have to apologise big time to Sasha when the truth comes out. So where is Stu staying if he's not at home nor the address he gave to the school?

Kind of agree with you ebrett about Charlie saying Hayley had no dignity, but Hayley and Brax have only just met wheres Charlie did resist Brax for a lot longer than five minutes.

Is April's determination to pass her HSC still part of the problem she has with trying to please her dad? I suppose her taking drugs is a form of OCD, just not as obvious as the keeping everything neat and doing things in a certain way. Of course both Bianca and Irene are going to blame themselves for not spotting what it was, but as before April has hidden it well. She is sure acting guilty as hell, all but flipping out when Charlie turned up, then stressing when Bianca was late back from the school meeting. I guess the award (what, the benefit of us Poms, is a DUX of the Year award?) is down to her work up until now, as the exams haven't started. Poor Dex though he misses out, though I suppose as it's his girlfriend getting it he won't mind too much.

[Red Ranger 1]

Another episode where all the storylines run into each other.While Sasha didn't immediately brush off Stu hitting her, she didn't tell anyone about it either and seemed to get over it by the end of the episode.I can see this going either way, although the odds seem to be stacked against them.Whilst hitting your girlfriend is obviously wrong, it'd be nice if the show can demonstrate you can do that once without being an irredeemable monster.Although the fact Stu didn't seem to think it was that big a deal isn't very promising.

Given the way the show has portrayed completely unhealthy and cringe inducing relationships like Aden and Belle, Kirsty and Kane, and Charlie and Angelo, I can see the moral of this story ending up "well he beats up his girlfriend, but he really loves her, so that doesn't matter and it's her duty to love him no matter what". I'd rather not see that, but this show doesn't have a strong record recently.

I take your point.(Although I'm not sure I consider Charlie and Angelo completely unhealthy, no more so than Jack and Martha or Hayley and Noah, who had a similar amount of dramas and break-ups.Or are you talking about the "Angelo's a stalker" thing?)Obviously, if Stu goes around persistently getting jealous without any real reason, losing his temper and/or hitting her, that's an unhealthy relationship and she needs to get out.But I don't think him and the relationship should necessary be written off because he hit her once and seemingly not hard enough to leave a bruise. In fact, having seen that last episode and heard the mention of his ADHD, I wonder if that's going to end up explaining his behaviour.

I was actually on Brax's side for much of that episode.He is obviously trying to get out of the organised crime and, although it did seem to be a bit of a joke, he did at least offer his Boys proper jobs rather than just cutting them loose.And once again, it does seem like Charlie is using any excuse possible to go and talk to him about a case rather than finding the people she really needs to talk to.It does seem likely Benji and Sam did that job.Surprised Hayley seems to have gone already but not that disappointed, these last two episodes she's come across as rather two-dimensional and wooden.Why did they have to kill Tegan?

Were we meant to feel sorry for April as she spends the entire episode being jittery and paranoid and shooting people nervous glances?Because I'm really not, it's entirely her fault and I can just see them deciding that her collapsing is punishment enough, and maybe having the Dux taken off her, and just forgetting about it.She deserves an official caution at least.Again.Just when I'm starting to like Ruby she goes and disappoints me:She was an appalling friend to April here, stopping her from doing the right thing, covering it up and as a result possibly getting her killed. Heath dealt with it more responsibly than her, letting Bianca know what was going on, even if he probably wouldn't do it for anyone else and spent the rest of the episode trying to get Brax to get back into extra-legal activities.Sid is really going too far with his insisting Sasha's to blame and I really hope he apologises(as he did to Stu to give him his due).What exactly was he going to tell the police if he dragged her down the station?("I think she took them because she was in the house." "Did she have any reason to be in the house, sir?""Well...only that she's my daughter and she lives there.""Okay, thank you for this information...")Good on Stu for sticking up for her.