Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

Loved Harvey's Bucks Night! I mentioned before Winston has to be pretty loaded and so it proved when he flew Gary over from India to be there. He did appear to have been a very good friend of Harvey's (his only friend)? Roo seemed pretty OK with it, though she doesn't know about the,erm, dancers. Roo also took the news that Maz had forgotten to arrange a Hens Night for her well, but then she had her light bulb moment.

Looks like I was right and Bianca hadn't actually got round to telling Adam they were through, the look on his face when she said he had been a good friend said it all. Heath's remark to him about Brax seeing through him soon certainly displeased him. I'm with you Red about Jamie and his opening up to Heath, he had Brax and Casey, where he was on his own. I fell for it, then we saw Jamie and Adam on the beach watching Heath, and made me have second thoughts, then when Adam had left and we saw Jamie on his own I had third thoughts! Is he going to do something to Heath in return for Adam tracking down Leah? Btw when Adam and Jamie were in the diner, did Adam say he knew someone who could help or he already had someone on the job?

I like how John's got all protective of Gina and Jett over Jamie, did worry me when he went off on his own but it turned out he just went to the cops.

[Slade]

Once again I find myself only really interested in two stories. The storyline around Casey, the court-case and Sasha and the Jamie storyline. I'm now sick and tired of the Dexter storyline. Don't really care about Sid and Lisa anymore and although I sometimes find Harvey quite amusing as a character the stuff with him and Roo re their wedding I find is like watching paint dry.

With regards to Casey/Sasha and Tamara, I was afraid this would happen. I think the problem is, that because of what happened with Casey and Tamara in the desert when Kyle kidnapped him they've formed a bond and I actually don't think Casey even realises how much he's hurting Sasha. I assume that she wasn't with Tamara initially when Tamara came to say goodbye and just overhead what Casey said. I thought Casey was very lucky with the court case. Not so much the verdict but the punishment handed down. I'm very interested to see the direction the writers take with regards to the whole Casey/Sasha/Tamara thing. As I mentioned last time I'm torn and it kind of reminds me what happened when Mink turned up a while back. I wanted her and Xavier to get together but at the same time wanted to see Xavier with Sasha too.

I was worried that with Leah going the Jamie stalking storyline wouldn't be as good but I've still found parts of it really funny especially the lengths Jamie is prepared to go to and the way the music plays whenever he's up to something. The thing that amuses me the most is the way for the most part he is completely oblivious to how he comes across. The stuff with him pretending to be VJ to contact Jett via IM was really intense although the way Adam treats him goes a certain way to explaining his behaviour.

I don't blame Heath for wanting nothing to do with Bianca. She was completely vile to him. I didn't actually mind the scenes with him and Kyle. Also like that he and "Murphy" are on an understanding and are sort of getting on. Well sort of.

[James Martin]

Jesse went to prison early 00s. He became cellmates with Vinnie I think. So he's done bird 3 times.

[Jezz]

Jesse went to prison early 00s. He became cellmates with Vinnie I think. So he's done bird 3 times.

Yes that's correct. Jesse was in jail for about two years from 2000 until mid 2002. He was cellmates with Vinnie for about six months and he made a promise to Vinnie to take care of Leah and VJ while Vinnie remained in prison.

[James Martin]

Jesse went to prison early 00s. He became cellmates with Vinnie I think. So he's done bird 3 times.

[Red Ranger 1]

I enjoyed seeing Celia back for about twenty seconds, before it became clear that she's another character who's had zero character development since her heyday and indeed had the little she did have taken away from her, making her come across as a caricature of herself.Would she really be so fire and brimstone-esque or poke fault in Harvey that much?It's particularly obvious how two-dimensional she's being written when she's sat next to Morag, who was the nasty one back in the '80s but has developed since then.And after all that and Roo's recent behaviour, she's the one who decides to call the wedding off because Harvey gets angry with Winston, when she and Celia have both said a lot worse to him and, indeed, he's said a lot worse to Romeo, Sid and John among others for all her talk of "I never thought you could be like that"?Frankly, it's reached the point where he's too good for her.Shame that once again there was no sign or mention of Barbara, who was actually pretty close to Roo back in the day, although if Marilyn sent out the invites then, given the circumstances of their last meeting, that does actually make sense.And no Lottie?Man, the prospect of seeing her again was the one good thing about this ridiculous wedding.Guess my theory of Melissa turning up pregnant was giving the show too much credit, it seems they're going to be added to the list of relatives who never turn up for weddings and funerals.Did have a feeling that the plaster cast was a gag, shame it was a bit ill-timed.

There could have been a decent parallel between April and Bianca here but sadly they bottled it, refusing to portray Saint April and her on-off romance with Dexter in a bad light, so making Dexter noble instead of genuinely having had enough of April making his problem all about her.I could have throttled Bianca when she turned up at the house acting as if their relationship is perfect apart from April caring more about herself than him having a seizure, there has been more than "one mistake" on both sides.At least Dexter's words inspired her to keep trying with Heath but then she'd probably have done that anyway so what was the point?

[Shibs]

Thursday

John/Jett/Liam – John was very protective of Jett in this episode. I loved how his concentration went straight from Winston to Jett when he saw him walking by the Surf Club, and at the haouse making sure he had something to eat and didn’t open any doors. Liam was right in telling them what was going on and I’m glad Jett and John now knw how dangerous Jamie can be. Felt sorry for Jett though when his face lit up when a message came though, only to find out in the end it was from Jamie, bless him.

Winston/Harvey – Winston and his stag night ideas. With the wedding scheduled for next week he was really pushing his luck on some ideas and maybe following Harvey’s request for a nice quite evening round the BBQ would’ve been better. I felt sorry for Harvey when than ran into Liam at the Diner. Poor guy, what an awkward position to be in. The scene with John on the Beach made me smile though, John thanking Harvey for the wedding invite and Winston inviting him to the Bucks Night, and all we could see was Harvey shaking his head at John. John’s comment about his ticker not handling the dancers made me laugh The final scene of him kidnapping Harvey was a bit bizzare, how did he know he was there?!?!

Marilyn/Alf – Marilyn is so sweet bless her. Fretting about the hen night, just because Winston had been shooting his mouth off. It was also sweet of Alf to help her go through her list searching for the perfect night for Roo. His face at some of the suggestions were hilarious. Really enjoyed the scenes they had together.

Friday

Harvey/Winston/Garry – Kinda enjoyed the stag night up until the girls came in. I thought it was great just with the three mates having a laugh and catching up on old times. Harvey ringing Roo after one two many was funny and I’m glad she saw the funny side to it, rather than panicing once the phoine call was interupted! The final scene between Winston and Harvey was a puzzle, I take Harvey wouldn’t be that dumb in thinking that a Doctor would’ve bandaged his leg and sent him back to the pub afterwards?!?

Heath/Jamie/Liam – Really wanted to shout at Heath not to get too close to Jamie, but he played the sympathy card too well. I don’t trust him one bit and after what Adam tolod him at the end, things don’t sound too good for Heath. Heath and Liam joining forces against Adam was nice to see, I always enjoy the scenes where Liam and Heath get along, they are so rare, but together they make a great team. Hope Heath listens to Liam though and tries to fix things with Bianca.

John/Gina – John standing up and protecting his family is always nice. I am glad that he went to the Police instead of dealing with Jamie himself though, he needs to deal with the proper channels on this. Their chat on the soffa at home about dealing with stuff together was sweet. I really do enjoy simple scenes like this and they do them perfectly.

This week looks good -

[James Martin]

I've watched Monday and Tuesday back-to-back via 5* as I'm out tonight, so if I spoil anything I apologise as it did basically work like an hour-long episode.

Can't help but feel the return of Celia is a little token, but her return has been played very consistently with the slightly do-good, Bible-basher we remember from the 80s. Why aren't her and Morag at each other's throats a bit more like they were when they met for the 4000th? First time since the revelations about Colleen in 2008 we've had her and Celia cross paths I believe, and a nice nod to the fact they're blood related. Did Celia and Marilyn ever cross paths first time round? Great to get three returnees back, however.

Am I the only one left wondering what the hell's going on with Ruby, or more to the point why have we had no update via Morag on what happened to her given we're still witnessing the ramifications of her actions? Just be nice to know if she's on bail awaiting trial, got away with it (unlikely) or doing bird in the City.

For those that don't do 5* enjoy the wedding. It's a classic St. James Church followed by the Surf Club (well, Angelo's) Home & Away wedding.

[H&Alover]

Yes, what the hell has happened to Celia, she always used to be po-faced, but she came across as quite materialistic, thinking Gary was Harvey as he was good looking, having a pop because Harvey wasn't rich, being divorced (which OK would be against her beliefs) but so is Roo as she pointed out and having been tried for fraud. I thought as a Christian she is supposed to be forgiving of peoples past mistakes? Even Morag was on his side. I did used to like her, even though she drove you mad with her continual preaching at everyone, but I've gone right off her. Shame the game of pin the 'tail' on the 'donkey' had to be abandoned. Remind me why Marilyn wouldn't invite Barbara, what happened last time?

She must have seriously wound Roo up for her to have blasted Harvey the way she did just because he was letting off steam at Winston becuase of the plaster prank. He wasn't alone in it, Harvey's best mate Gary was in on it too, she should have been relieved. True they are always arguing, but some couples are like that, as long as they make up after whats it matter?

So no Lottie, I was looking forward to seeing her, she would have sorted them out!

Good for Bianca not giving up on Heath, though her situation and April's is different, so her going to see him wasn't going to help much. He couldn't say he didn't still love her though which is a

good sign for the future.

[Red Ranger 1]

Kind of surprised they had Roo and Harvey's wedding in this episode rather than saving it for the finale.Maybe they've noticed that no-one actually thinks they're a good match and that's why they buried it in the middle of the week? Seriously, you can find fans for pretty much every other pairing or pseudo-pairing on the show but Roo and Harvey tend to either generate outright opposition or simple apathy.But aside from it being presented as the wonderful union of two people who are perfect for each other, I actually didn't mind the wedding, even if it was pretty standard fare.Even the guest list wasn't too random, aside from April declaring "I wish I didn't have to go" when, aside from a plot device to get her and Dexter in the same room, I can't think of a single reason why she did have to go. (Similarly, Irene tried to get April and Bianca to go to the hen party of someone they haven't really had anything to do with, yet no-one invites Indi and Sasha who were actually close to Roo once.)I've changed my mind about Winston:I mostly just found him irritating when he first turned up but it's obvious that, despite having a problem with boundaries, he's got a good heart in there and, while the comedy stuff was a bit overdone in places, on the whole I found the character very sympathetic.Similarly, while it was hard to shake the feeling that we finally got rid of Colleen and then she came back, I actually found her exchange with Winston and realisation that he was feeling a bit lonely rather sweet.Guess it's obvious now why Celia's judgemental side got turned up to eleven, since she wouldn't have been noticed otherwise.Barbara's omission continues to be slightly glaring:For the uninitiated, last time Marilyn saw her was back in 1996 when Barbara poisoned Marilyn's then-fiance who is also Barbara's ex-husband(that's Donald for anyone trying to work out the family trees).I did think before the episodes that a reference to Ruby from Morag would have been nice but I didn't really miss it, they could have included it easily but the episodes were about Roo and Harvey's wedding, not about what Morag, Celia and Colleen have been getting up to the last few months/years.

So, cautious approval of the wedding, just a shame about the subplots.I positively hated the last five minutes.Irene says she's not a Stewart sister but it's hard to tell.She acknowledges it's not her place, yet, without even talking to Dexter, she goes and blabs his secret to Sid anyway.Worse, she does it at the wedding reception and ruins the event by causing a scene.While Sid could have taken it better, he did have reason for concern and Dexter was a complete brat in response.When he then walked away from his concerned father with the whiney cow who caused all the trouble, I seriously wanted to punch him:Sid's worried about him, April's worried about herself, but once more he thinks with the wrong part of his anatomy.And yet for some reason, with Indi's snooty behaviour(apparently she cares more about her night being ruined than Dexter's health too), it felt like we were meant to see Sid as the bad guy.

And as for Casey...He brushes aside Tamara's concerns about Sasha with a "She won't mind", then after making a sweet gesture and being supportive to her over Dexter, he just walks away from her when she's one of the few people actually upset about Dexter because Tamara has stormed off in a jealous tantrum because, horror of horrors, Casey is actually giving his girlfriend more attention that her.And then Tamara plants a kiss on him.Maybe she thought that made her point better than saying "I like you but you keep giving me signals and then going back to Sasha and doing the same to her", but no doubt part of her thought she'd show him what he was missing out on.And while she didn't know Sasha was looking, I don't care because Sasha got hurt and kissing someone else's boyfriend is bad form for any reason.There's a lot to like about Tamara but I'm having a hard time seeing it past the negative impact she's having at the moment.