Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[James Martin]

I'm following 5, rather than 5*. At least until 5* ever goes HD. So I've not seen Monday's episode. Really weak fallout from the shooting, though. And Brax trying to get Casey to lie... seriously? F**k off!

Another misleading promo from Oz for this storyline as well - all about the car crash and asking "Who Won't Make It?" And the death WASN'T in the Car Crash!

All I've really got to say about Event Week is that it's demonstrated exactly what can go right and wrong with an event-driven show. If the characters are good the events are good. See: Dex car crash and Ruby's subsequent exit. If the characters are bad, the events are bad: See River Boys Robbery Job.

Sadly, I have the horrible feeling the Facebook mob enjoyed Thursday and Friday more than the rest of the week!

[Red Ranger 1]

Awful episode

on 5 star.

If I remotely warmed to Heath I am back to disliking him again. What does Bianca see in him? Also what does Heath do for money, now he is no longer a drug dealer, especially as he now has two children to support.

Home and Away, please can we have to humour back in the show and have nice characters that aren't thugs and criminals?

Can I just point out that this is not the thread for 5* episodes, which has now been pinned so there's no excuse for not being able to find it?This is for discussion of episodes that have been shown on Channel 5 only and those of us watching at ex-terrestial pace do not want to be spoilered.Sorry if that sounds dictatorial but really, we've had this discussion lots of times.

Moving back to discussing Channel 5 storylines, I actually can't think of any way that John and Gina could stop Jett going to live with Richard.The first thing foster parents are told is that they have to be prepared to hand the child back to the parents if the situation changes.Giving Jett false assurances like they've been doing is going to do more harm than good.

Alf's episode count this week:Four.Dexter made it into three but was comatose for two of them.

Brax continues to annoy me.Objectively, I can see that his trying to take the rap for Casey was a noble thing to do but the guy's just so smug I find him impossible to empathise with.He doesn't even seem to consider that Natalie might have a problem with events he just takes in his stride.Sadly, it seems it's not enough to convince her that hanging out with him is a bad idea.I'd actually say Brax is more into the criminal world than Heath these days:We had the role reversal of Heath trying to talk Brax out of getting involved in the drug runs and I don't think Heath has done anything dodgy since Hayley was around. Nice touch that the bar worker sympathised with Casey and saw that he was acting under duress.Despite the fact it's left him in major strife and with a huge case of the guilts, I don't see what else Casey could have done:There's no other way he could have got the better of Danny and if he hadn't done something then Danny would have killed an innocent bystander and possibly Casey as well.I was disappointed with Heath's reaction:I can understand him not wanting his father to die regardless of what he's done(whereas Brax seemed to veer between not caring and only caring for Casey's sake)but he surely knows Casey well enough not to think he was lying.So, I guess that answers the question of whether Emerson's still around, presumably he's been appointed over Georgie(whose sergeant stripes were visible in the promo, after I spent Wednesday's episode squinting at her shoulders trying to make them out).

Haven't gone back and checked the name but I assume Tim is the ex that Roo was talking about when she first turned up.As Roo herself acknowledges, it seems very odd for the show to be bringing that up now.What are they going to do next, reveal she stole the people smuggler money?Bit confused as to what level Alf's on:It sounded like he and Tim knew each other when they met at the Diner(which would make sense if Alf had been visiting Roo in the States)but I have a hard time believing he knew Tim was married, he surely wouldn't be happy with Roo being someone's mistress.

[Slade]

I didn't like how we were made to feel sorry for Ruby. Yes, Charlie's death has f**ked her up, possibly irreparably - but April had every right to tear strips off her in the hospital and I felt the reaction was too muted for my liking.

This is the one of the problems I had with that particular part of the episode. Ruby purposely tries to kill someone and we're expected to feel sorry for her because of what happened with Charlie. What happened was tragic but it doesn't change what she did. Nobody put a gun to her head and forced her to mess with the brakes on Indy's car. She knew exactly what she was doing and she wanted to get rid of Indy as some sort of payback for hurting Romeo or jealousy or whatever. But it's OK she's sorry she did it and that's all that counts.

Interestingly you had already posted after I made that last post of mine Red Ranger but anyway.

I don't think everyone queuing to tell Ruby how much they hate her would make for good television, in fact I think it would detract from Sid's character if he was more interested in yelling at a teenager than being there for his son.

That is a matter of opinion and I feel the main reason why you are saying that is because you like Ruby. Would you be saying that if it had been a character you didn't like for instance if someone such as Dex had tampered with the brakes on somebody else's car? Would you have not been cheering from the sidelines if some of the characters affected wanted to deliver a serve? It's interesting that you come down a lot harder on Dex and Romeo and what are they guilty of - treating women badly or doing the dirty on their best mate.

They did skip a lot of people's reactions but I expect Indi and Sasha will tell us their opinion of Ruby when they reappear.

Not good enough. I don't want to see their opinions of Ruby retrospectively I wanted to see ALL of them confront her in the heat of the moment and tell her exactly what they thought of her right to her face. And it was no more than she deserved. IMO that would make good TV (And yes I am saying that because I don't like her).

I think the outcome would have been the same if Indi had been injured:Ruby might have felt a bit less guilty, since she and Indigo hated each other whereas Dexter always treated her as a friend and refused to take sides, but she wouldn't have left that message if she still wanted Indi dead or maimed so I think she'd still have turned herself in, she didn't even attempt to deny it or dodge responsibility when Romeo spoke to her.

I gave three possible reasons why I felt she turned herself in. Two of them had nothing to do with who the victim actually was. I never said that she wouldn't have turned herself in. What I said is that she wouldn't have felt as guilty had that been Indy.

Well, I think that's everyone's posts answered, what happened today?

Blowing your own trumpet again. I suppose you do have a very broad knowledge of the show which is fair enough.

As a direct result of Danny, what I thought would happen with Brax has happened. Brax and Heath go round to the caravan park try to intimidate Marilyn and Alf not only gives Brax the keys to Danny's caravan but sticks up for the guy afterwards. I think the way Alf is with a character is very often a good indication of the direction that character is going. Alf was never OK with Penn and look how that turned out. He wasn't OK with Brax at first but now he's sticking up for him and I suspect they will start getting on better then eventually Brax will come up smelling of roses. I also really didn't like Brax trying to intimidate the pub manager into giving a false statement.

Casey is in real trouble at the moment. He's already spent time in Juvie but there's a good chance it could be a lot longer. Here's another case of someone deliberately attempting to kill someone but this time succeeding but unlike Ruby with a good lawyer who knows what could happen.

[cadyctslover]

^ I like(d) Ruby very much, but you can't excuse attempted murder. I wouldn't reuse Charlie's death to try and justify her actions in that instance. However I can understand lying about being pregnant to keep Romeo, Charlie's death has affected her more seriously than it's given credit for.

I feel this latest stunt is more to do with the writers losing touch with reality, as opposed to logical character development. Ruby is very unstable, but I can't believe that after losing her mother in such dreadful circumstances that she would plan to kill Indi, however much she resented her.

As a direct result of Danny, what I thought would happen with Brax has happened. Brax and Heath go round to the caravan park try to intimidate Marilyn and Alf not only gives Brax the keys to Danny's caravan but sticks up for the guy afterwards. I think the way Alf is with a character is very often a good indication of the direction that character is going. Alf was never OK with Penn and look how that turned out. He wasn't OK with Brax at first but now he's sticking up for him and I suspect they will start getting on better then eventually Brax will come up smelling of roses. I also really didn't like Brax trying to intimidate the pub manager into giving a false statement.

I suspect your theory is correct, clearly the writers are trying to idolise Brax. But I'm not falling for it, I thought the way he threatened Marilyn was absolutely disgusting.

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't think everyone queuing to tell Ruby how much they hate her would make for good television, in fact I think it would detract from Sid's character if he was more interested in yelling at a teenager than being there for his son.

That is a matter of opinion and I feel the main reason why you are saying that is because you like Ruby. Would you be saying that if it had been a character you didn't like for instance if someone such as Dex had tampered with the brakes on somebody else's car? Would you have not been cheering from the sidelines if some of the characters affected wanted to deliver a serve? It's interesting that you come down a lot harder on Dex and Romeo and what are they guilty of - treating women badly or doing the dirty on their best mate.

They did skip a lot of people's reactions but I expect Indi and Sasha will tell us their opinion of Ruby when they reappear.

Not good enough. I don't want to see their opinions of Ruby retrospectively I wanted to see ALL of them confront her in the heat of the moment and tell her exactly what they thought of her right to her face. And it was no more than she deserved. IMO that would make good TV (And yes I am saying that because I don't like her).

It's curious that you think that because I feel it's at odds with your other argument, that the episode treated Ruby with more sympathy than you think she deserved.We were treated to a scene where April tells Ruby what she thinks of her and Ruby makes no real attempt to defend herself or excuse her actions and just stands there crying.Now imagine if Sid had also started laying into her and if Indi and Sasha had been there as well and joined in.You've got four people, one of them older and more physically imposing than her, joining forces to berate Ruby, who's already feeling a massive amount of guilt and beating herself up without anyone doing it for her and would already know anything they could say to her.Frankly, I think that scenario would have made Ruby come across as more sympathetic and I think only the most fervent of Ruby haters would find it satisfying.

Re:Alf and Brax, I'm not sure Alf has ever been against Brax in any meaningful sense.Before Alf and Brax had ever met(in fact, aside from the odd line here and there have we really seen them together before?), we had Irene making a big speech about how she thought Brax and Casey were all right, it was only Heath that she had a problem with, and in many ways she's as good a barometer of how the writers expect us to feel about characters as Alf is.

[James Martin]

I think there's a very good case for self-defence with Casey. Danny's obviously got previous when it comes to the law. At the end of the day, he was passed the gun and given the instruction to shoot the Pub Manager - fatally. I think there's every reasonable chance had Casey done nothing, Danny would have got the gun and had the pair of them. He didn't have a choice.

Wasn't there a similar situation in the late 90s in Emmerdale, where Zoe Tate shot the guy holding Chris Tate hostage? I remember the jury returned a verdict of "lawful killing". Given the Australian system is largely based on the UK's, being in the Commonwealth, could the same happen here realistically?

The way I see it, he acted in self-defence. I hope he's got Morag in his phone book!

[H&Alover]

I can understand Brax wanting to take the blame, he's looking out for his little brother, the only Braxton not to be in any real bother with the police. But there was no way Casey could have lived with himself if he'd let Brax carry through his plan. Let's be honest here, none of us know what really happened between Danny and Casey and how he got to be shot. Casey isn't saying and the we haven't heard from Pete yet who is the only independent witness. Did Casey and Danny fight over the gun close up and it went off or did Casey tell Danny to back off or he'd shoot, Danny not thinking for one moment he'd do it took no notice and went for the gun? Casey has never handled a gun before and more than likely fired out of panic. Whatever went down I can't see it being murder, certainly not premeditated, self defence or manslaughter would be more likely. I think and I may be wrong, the intial charge is always murder (or suspicion of) until more facts are known. Actually Slade now Casey is 18 he'll be going to prison and not juvvie. Sorry James, I think Morag will be otherwise engaged! Poor Maz btw it came as a real shock that Danny wasn't turning over a new leaf (a pub yes) and he'd been misleading her all this time. Liked Alf's line though about her always seeing the best in people and not to change.

Yes Red, that is that Tim! Didn't she return to the States with the money after getting it from Xav via Gina? Seemed very contrived that meeting with Tim and Harvey (true soap) and Harvey happened to be banging on about him when he came back to the house with Tim (Graham), couldn't be could he?, in the kitchen listening to it all. Does seem against Alf's normal beliefs for him to be OK for Tim to be married whilst seeing Roo, though Roo may have told Alf she was 'OK' with it, he still wouldn't have been as friendly towards him as he came across in the diner.

Going by the promo it's still not looking good for Dex.

[Shibs]

Very good week last week -

Monday - Enjoyed Dex and April moving in to the house, and the little documentary they were doing.was sweet. Thought the crash was done brilliantly and very realistic! Indi/Liam getting together was sudden but I kinda like them together!

Tuesday - The aftermath of the crash was good. Felt sorry for April when Bianca turned up at the door and when Alf gave her the picture. So sweet of Dex to get that Eiffel Tower picture! Why did Romeo bring the whole Indi/Liam thing up at the hospital surely it would have been the last thing on everyone's minds!?! Also felt for Sid, people seemed to forget that it was hid kid that was in the hospital bed rather any other paitent.

Wednesday - Jett's face when he found out the Richard wea his dad was cute, bless him. I couldsee why he was keeping his distance all day though. John and his chocolate cake made me laugh Sid standing by Dex's bed was sad, I really felt for him. It seems that Irene and April have forgotten that Dex is his son and not just any paitent. Ruby's farwell was sad but i'm glad she did the right thing in the end. Going to see Dex was an odd move though, but the chat she had with Brax was sweet and I'm glad they sorted stuff out before she left. Brax saying goodbye to Charlie was quite emotional, but i'm glad it was done and that he's fianlly letting her go! Nice to see Watson again

Thursday - Gina's birthday was a nice happy moment in a week of drama, despite the news they had at the end of the day Jett buying her the book was sweet and then his passing comment about John's buses was classic! Must have missed the bit where John and Harvey became friends though, unless that was just normal plesentries! Danny and the robbery was really full on and full of drama, I failed to see what the point of the kid sitting in the car outside was though? And Brax shouting at Marilyn was out of order and a bit to Heathlike for my liking, but I'm glad he found the plans and went after Danny, although I kinda wished Natalie would've stayed behind.

Friday - Aftermath of the shooting was good. I felt sorry for Casey and the pub owner. I could understand Heath's anger though after learning that Danny had been shot, he was his Dad after all. Natalie needs to but out and let Brax deal with it though, it will be better for all involved!

Roll on next week!!

[H&Alover]

( Jett buying her the book was sweet and then his passing comment about John's buses was classic!

Talking about John's 'buses', didn't he lose that contract, so unless he got it back, the writers must have forgotten about it?

[Red Ranger 1]

^John lost the school run contract.This was a local bus service to Yabbie Creek which is presumably separate.

Kind of in two minds about the Braxton storyline, mainly because once again they seem to be trying to make Brax the big hero, even though in many ways he's least suited to the role.Georgie pointing out that his trying to help Casey "his way", by leaning on the only independent witness to give a false version of events, has actually harmed his case is the sort of thing they should follow through on, to show the real consequences of Brax's methods, but it feels like they're just paying lip service.It doesn't help that Brax's attitude to a man dying, however unpleasant he was, is pretty much to break out the champagne, in contrast to Heath's "He wasn't a nice person but I'm sorry he's dead" attitude and Casey's refusal to just brush it aside as immaterial.It's a shame the alliance between those two has dissipated and it's back to Brax helping out his favourite brother and dismissing Heath.I wish Heath hadn't hit Casey but I guess it's payback for all the time Casey's hit him without provocation.Which he then proceeded to do again, which caused me to lose a bit of sympathy for him.Wonder how many viewers had more of a problem with Heath punching Casey because he killed their father and goaded him about it(albeit in what was clearly a moment of "I hate myself and want you to hurt me")than Casey punching Heath because...well, he needed to punch someone and Heath's his default target?At least Heath's got Bianca, shame he seems to have been shunted off the scene for a few episodes so he doesn't get in the way.Liked the scene between Casey and Marilyn:I was expecting Marilyn to try and pep Casey up but instead it ended up the other way round.Perhaps another sign that they should have kept these storylines apart rather than have them bleed into each other:One minute Ruby turning himself in because she feels guilty and thinks he needs to be punished is portrayed as the right thing to do, the next Casey turning himself in because he feels guilty and thinks he needs to be punished, albeit in very different circumstances, is portrayed as a sign of mental instability.(Actually, I'm suddenly left wondering:If Casey was granted bail, does that mean Ruby's out on bail somewhere?Hard to imagine her being ruled an ongoing threat to society or flight risk and I'm sure Morag would be given a bail address.Be nice if someone told us...)

So, jaws hit the ground as we find out Alf did know Roo was seeing a married man.That's hard to stomach on several levels and I'm left feeling that, somewhat ironically given the complaints that Roo Mark 2 is too nice, they've actually managed to spoil the character by turning her into exactly the person Colleen accused her of being when she first came back.Even though Tim's a bit smarmy, Harvey warning him off Roo was uncomfortable reminiscent of the way he acted towards Sid when they first got together and I'm left actually enjoying Tim stirring up trouble between them.