Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[James Martin]

Loving Rosie. Hope she sticks around.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm disappointed at the rather offhand treatment of Sasha:Gina suggests she repeat a year and a week later she's doing it without any sort of discussion.Can't help wondering if it's a weak plot device to have her hanging out with new characters, as if she'll never speak to her old age group now they're in different classes.Still, it's acceptable because Rosie is actually a pretty good character:She's quirky, lively and engaging yet there's a real character underneath it all and the relationship with the rather dry and caustic Sasha("You're being attacked by leaves" has got to be the line of the day)works well.

Well...We perhaps learn quite a lot at once about Celia here, while suggesting that maybe we've made a few too many assumptions about Spencer and Maddy's role in things.It's nice how her out of character behaviour is deliberately out of character and her reactions are pretty consistent.Alf is becoming pretty canny but he's going to have a hard time getting to the truth about Celia's sudden desire to joyride other people's money.Although there's a pretty big hint in her behaviour earlier in the week...

Not quite sure how I feel about Casey's prison traumas.It's something of a bog standard prison storyline and it's only prevented from being completely tedious by the way it really does manage to make us feel empathy for Casey.Which it actually does pretty well, to the point that I do actually care what happens to him even if I suspect it won't be very interesting.Meanwhile, Jett's storyline...Oh dear.Jett having a crush on Indi was a potentially good idea but it's really not working.For a start, Jett's underhand behaviour is pretty hard to justify(bad memories of Dexter's crush on Marilyn here). And, while this may be personal, Romeo and Indi as a couple, and perhaps Romeo as an individual, just come across as deathly dull when I'm not actually finding them objectionable so it's pretty hard to care about anything that happens to them.

[alreetlike]

Ugh, yet another student repeats a year. I'm actually finding it borderline comical how often this gets done.. every year! (Or close enough)

That said, I find myself quite liking Rosie, even if she is extremely intense and I'd probably find myself hiding in the most ridiculous places just to avoid her, if she was someone I actually knew. It's nice to see someone completely different for Sasha to bounce off though.

I thought I'd have no interest whatsoever in Casey's prison dramas but I actually find I don't mind it too much.. until he comes out and we see Nat and Brax and everything else I dislike about the show at the moment.

[c120701]

I agree about Casey, I actually think Lincoln Younes is one of the best actors on the show, he just seems really natural at it and shows up one of his onscreen brothers regularly.

[H&Alover]

The Braxton/Sharp showdown, pretty well done and I guess it shows in a way how Brax can have people (in the shape of John) who were previously against him, help in bringing Adam to justice. Why was I not totally surprised that it was Jamie who killed his mum and lover? All very well Adam saying Jamie would hopefully now get the help he needed, why couldn't he have done that ages ago? I did slightly soften towards Adam, but not completely, Jamie was still scared of him which doesn't actually show Adam in a caring father role. Let's not think though this could be the end of Adam, he must have lots of people he 'knows' in prison and the legal system to make it an easy ride for him and Jamie. Not forgetting revenge on Brax.

Brax really should give Heath a lot more credit, he has proved himself perfectly capable of looking after things and has matured a lot over the months. He could easliy have gone totally off the rails after Rocco died, but he held it together a lot better than Bianca. Or, and I may be going a bit deep here, does Brax not wanting to let Heath 'go' be more for him needing to look after Heath, Casey (and now Kyle) than accepting Heath is an adult and doesn't need him as much as he thinks he does? Also as been already said, Gina asked him to look out for Jett!!!

Jett isn't the first young lad to have a crush (Dex was a bit older than most), there was Jay who had one on Matty(?). I had to laugh when he pulled the old yawn and stretch routine before laying his arm across the back of the sofa, before being interrupted by Romeo, Indi of course is blissfully unaware. Didn't think it would take Romeo long to rumble him, being a bloke and all, will he alert Indi so she can keep it at a safe level?

I guess Bianca's therapy sessions must have gone well (we must have missed those) seeing as she is back at work.

It looks like Sasha retaking year 11 was all done and dusted off screen. Where did Rosie spring from? She certainly seemed very full on at first and second meeting, but after the accidental ducking by Sash cooled it a bit. Sash does need a friend and perhaps she'll be good for Rosie and calm her down from excited puppy mode to great mate. She, Rosie, does seem to have an interest in Casey though.

My feeling that Celia is into gambling is growing, though how and how she managed to slip away from the bay without anyone noticing is a mysteryand that wad of cash Celia had couldn't have come from anything else. Pretty ridiculous putting that $20 dollar bill under the table when Irene would surely have seen it earlier.Bit unwise all that spenidg on food and presents when last week she pleading poverty, it's definitely got Alf's antenna twitching. You don't think she lost all the church or charity funds on gambling do you?

May be only two days in prison but it's going to be a very long time for Case, Courtney obviously thinks he was going to be a pushover, but good for him he's sticking to his guns.It's not going to end well. We already saw from tongihts trailer he's been knocked about and Brax is going to want to barge in and take his revenge. Zac whilst trying to appear to be giving Casey a hard time whenever Courtney is around I don't think is really fooling anyone.

[Red Ranger 1]

Ugh, yet another student repeats a year. I'm actually finding it borderline comical how often this gets done.. every year! (Or close enough)

Actually, it pretty much is every year:April and Casey last year, Romeo the previous one(although admittedly he dropped out early on), Nicole the one before that.Last time everyone moved up to where they should be was 2009.

Well.Zac went up in my estimation by putting Brax in his place.Natalie, on the other hand, clearly has no sense:If, as seems to be the case, she didn't want Casey to know she was friends with Zac, why invite him for dinner?I really wish Casey wasn't living with her, giving her more of a license to meddle.Shame that again Casey gets fed up of Brax running his life, then goes round and apologises later.(Suppose Brax deserves credit for apologising to Zac, be nice if he managed not to be a twerp in the first place though.)

Hmm.I did wonder for a bit if Rosie's only being friends with Sasha as a way of getting close to Casey, who she's obviously got a crush on, but she seems equally keen on being friends with Sasha so maybe not.Interesting that Casey seems to know who she is when Sasha didn't seem to have a clue, unless he was being polite.Are we meant to assume that Casey saw, well, pretty much everything when she had her wardrobe malfunction?Casey and Sasha's interaction makes me wish they hadn't broken up.Surprised no-one offered to make Casey a toga rather than have him stay in his own clothes all evening.

As for April and Dexter...Well, nice continuity to bring back Dexter's two classmates from last year.(Where have they been for the last nine months, though?)Sid's reaction is in character and he probably should have been consulted before his children turned his house into a bombsite but he probably went a bit over the top and I can understand Dexter being fed up.Given the pained look on April's face for most of the party, she seemed to be enjoying that random guy doing a striptease for her a bit too much.Was she trying to make Dexter jealous?By the end, I really can't tell if she was annoyed because she thought Dexter was overexerting himself or because he was talking to other girls.Or both.Wish we'd had a bit more Dexter/Sasha interaction too.

[H&Alover]

Hear, hear about Brax and Zac! Courtney himself said Zac couldn't be there 24 hours a day. Glad that once Casey had explained what had gone down he went and apologised, though I don't remember Casey telling Brax Zac had told Casey to hit him? Brax and Nat were taking a chnace talking about Zac when Casey was only in the bedroom. Casey is anything but stupid but Zac staying for dinner and those looks between them was a dead giveaway. Actually I'm glad Casey went to apologise to Brax following Sasha's talk with him at least it's cleared the air and guess what Case is going to study for his HSC (AGAIN)!!!!! I liked Brax and Case's exchange -"when did you grow up?" "Before you did!"

I've been thinking about Brax and his reluctance about not interfering in Case's and Heath's life. He's looked after and out for them for what must must be getting on for 20 years at the expense of getting on with his own life. If they move on/out he's going to feel pretty redundant. Mind you he now has Kyle but I'm guessing he's in his early twenties and had been looking after himself so wouldn't take that keenly to having Brax always on his back.

The thought crossed my mind too, Red, about Rosie getting chummy with Sasha to get close to Casey, it did seem one of the first quesions she asked about the party was was he going to be there. Is it just him or the fact he is a River Boy, not that he ever was, not really. Her saying he was like a 'prince' was funny and she always seems to make Sasha laugh. I wondered about the fact Casey said he remembered her from the previous year. She did jump on the idea of going out for a coffee with him and nicely sidestepped by Casey. I liked Casey and Sasha's little chat outside, has she finally accepted they will only be friends?

It's been so long since we saw those two I'd forgotten who they were. Could April being moody be because she wanted and was looking foward to a quite night in with Dex? Dex didn't handle it well, by that I mean he should have told Sid he was going ahead with the party, he knew Sid would have come home at some point. Why on earth did Sid and April think Dex had been drinking ? He was just being the Dex he was before his accident. He would have warning he was going to have a seizure and I can understand why he blew up at Sid. I know Sid cares for and about him, but he needs to trust that Dex knows what he is doing.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm pretty sure Casey did tell Brax about Zac letting him hit him.Personally, I don't remember anyone telling Brax about Casey refusing to be a drugs courier...

Alf's episode count this week:Three.

I'm beginning to revise my opinion of Spencer and Maddy, who don't seem to be the stock characters they initially appeared.Making Maddy the more mistrustful one and Spencer the one willing to ask for help is an interesting move.I do wish we'd learn more about them though, it feels like the storyline's moving very slowly at present and they aren't interacting enough with the other characters.If they move into a caravan, that may change.Alf's comment on finding random kids to take care of made me smile a bit.

Did kind of like the way April was eyeballing Dexter at the start, makes a change from the usual soppy gaze, even though it was back by the end.Found Dexter somewhat petulant once again even though I can see where he's coming from.I'm not really sure why he and April were arguing:Mutual jealousy?Because she was on Sid's side?Some nice material for Sid, I liked his little scene with Alf, they could do with having more to do with each other.

Well, it's always nice to see Darcy and I'm cautiously pleased about Heath's decision at the end but we've had similar pronouncements in the past and they've come to nothing so I'm reserving judgement.Bianca didn't seem too pleased about it:Is she worried about being a stepmother again or is she worried about Heath getting Darcy's hopes up?Got a feeling that's the first time Darcy's grandmother has been given a name, which could be significant.

[Slade]

I had a real problem with the conclusion to this Adam/Jamie storyline. Brax gets Kyle who already kidnapped and tried to kill his own brother to kidnap Jamie. Then Brax basically threatens to have him bumped off unless Adam comes clean to the police about everything. I wonder if Kyle would have gone through with it if Adam hadn't fessed up. The most frustrating thing for me is that Brax has won and has come up smelling of roses AGAIN. I remember John having a right go at Brax a couple of weeks ago but he participated in helping to bring Adam down and probably sees Brax as the good guy. I felt really sorry for Jamie. I still don't believe he's a bad person, just a sad, messed up kid. And I hope he gets the help he needs when he's inside. Ironically the revelation of Jamie killing his mother actually raised my opinion of Adam slightly. Forgiving his son and not turning him in does seem to be on the par with Brax's attitude towards his brothers. He still should have gotten him help way before Jamie even met Leah. Also why get his own son to commit murder? With a good lawyer I wonder if he can claim the confession is under duress.

Have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying the relationship with Sasha and Rosie. These two seem to work really well together. I think what Sasha really likes about Rosie is the fact that she's so open and honest and different. It kind of reminds me of the Lottie/Sasha relationship which I really liked. Rosie seems to have a serious case of foot-in-mouth though. Initially at first I wasn't sure what to make of Sasha not trying to dissuade Rosie from pursuing Casey. Small part of me thought she'd given up on him. Last week she'd spent a whole day baking Casey a birthday cake and didn't even stay to have it with him. Then when she told Casey how much she wanted him in her life it reaffirmed what I originally thought in that she's playing a slow patient game i.e. trying to be a friend to Casey, not putting pressure on him with the hope the he will eventually want to get back with her. Seems a stark contrast to Tamara who wanted Casey to make a decision on the spot.

I was really glad Casey decided not to do the drug run in jail even if it meant him getting bashed.

Not particularly happy at the inclusion of Spencer and Maddy. I can't say, I'm interested in either of those characters, don't like Spencer, don't enjoy the storyline and rather they weren't in it at all ATM.

[H&Alover]

I thought Casey told Brax about refusing to be a drugs courier.

Seems sometimes TBTB can't get it right no matter what they try, either they rush a storyline along or they drag it out. I think Spencer must be a bit older than Maddy, he did do the right thing about contacting Roo, now all he has to do is convince Maddy to stick around. Nice to see Roo and Harvey working together and not biting each others head off.

Seems like both Dex and April were jealous of each others friendship, at least they cleared the air and didn't let it fester. Glad that Dex finally apologised to Sid properly and Dex reassuring Sid he does still need him and yes, nice scene between Sid and Alf, more please. I guess part of the problem with Sid being over protective with Dex is because he is a doctor rather than just an ordinary dad, he has more knowledge of what can happen in cases likes Dex's.

Heath and Biana and Darcy - it's lovely to see Heath so involved with Darcy now and his bringing in Nat (who else!) to have a word with her, once Sid had given her the all clear medically wise. His talk with her on the beach was light years away from the Heath we first met, he wouldn't have known where to start back then. Odds on once a character has a name they are brought into the cast, though we have seen her briefly, at Rocco's funeral for instance. It's all very well him promising Darcy she will be able to come and live with him but it won't be that easy, jumped the gun a bit there. I know he has had his own child and through no fault of his (or Bianca's) he died, but getting custody is whole different thing. I had the feeling Bianca's looking unsure may be that she is thinking Heath is wanting to replace Rocco with Darcy, maybe he should have talked to her first. They will have to get their own place now, can't see SS, docs or whoever handle cases like that being overjoyed at Darcy living at the Braxtons with their history.

Great scenes with Irene and Celia with Celia (hopefully) not meaning to insult Irene by saying her 'job' as Caravan Park co-ordinator (or whatever it is) being a step up from working in a diner and loved it when Irene said Celia meant exactly what she said.