Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

I guess Brax's reluctance to help Tamara was his having to get involved in his brothers' problems again!! The meeting between him, Casey and Tamara had didn't resolve much. Where was Brax supposed to look to find Nelson in the first place?They all seemed to ignore Nat. Well done though Tam for putting Brax in his place and telling him, in no uncertain terms, to butt out!!! The look Nat gave Brax all but said "That told you!".So Nelson now hasTamara's new mobile number, and although that doesn't mean he knows where she is, I think we all know he's going to turn up in the bay at some point! Btw how old would you say Tamara is, I reckon she must be 18/19 20 at the most, but because she is so small, especially next to Casey, she looks a lot younger. Casey did seem to go cool on her the morning after the night before, He's in the same position he was with Sasha, he's got to spend two days in prison for the next year, not the best prospect for any romance. For all Sasha's protests that she doesn't care what Casey does, it's obvious she does. April was doing her sticking her nose in it bit, but it sent Casey round to Sasha's to fill her in on the latest develpment. Dex was reallylovely telling Case to sling his hook and comforting Sash afterwards.

Poor Heath was so nervous preparing the the Community Services guy, though Bianca was right in saying he should dress a bit more causually, all that tea he bought in and it turned out he didn't like tea! I don't think that place has ever looked so tidy. Heath's past prison record was bound to have been brought up, but depending on long ago it was will have a bearing on his case. In his defence, weren't he (and Brax) lead to believe she was his, Brax's that is. Seemed a plausible explanation that Darcy was better off being with her gran right after Tegan's death, he was hardly in the right frame of mind to deal with her then. Not sure how much Brax and Casey coming home having a row may or not damage it.

Jett really does have it bad doesn't he? All that scheming to get John and Gina out for the evening to get Indi all to himself comes to nought as John arranged he go over to the Walkers! Romeo was barefoot so Jett did have the advantage in that score in keeping ahead of him. Handy how that shed just happened to be there with a padlock ready to be used wasn't it? Don't suppose the people in the caravan park would take much notice of a young man chasing after a young boy, probably thought they were just larking about. Romeo did snatch up his top before he set off after Jett.

I'm glad Marilyn caught Celia sneaking off and stopped her so she and Alf could clear the air. Now she has confessed all, well nearly I suspect, do you reckon this Sheldon guy doesn't actually exist?

[Red Ranger 1]

It's odd how we see people differently.I assume Tamara's meant to be about 18/19 but frankly when I see her next to Casey he looks like her toyboy.She might be small but facially she looks a lot older. (The actress is actually 25.I think the guy that plays Casey is about 22.)

Anyway, today's ep.Actually, all of the storylines were nicely interlinked here.I don't want to sound like a broken record, April worked fine in the Walkers' scenes but I'd happily have traded her for Sasha in this episode and her having more scenes with Bianca.After Dexter makes a big deal about Sasha attending last episode, she's suddenly missing with no explanation.(Okay, someone does eventually say "Where's Sasha?" but the answer's less than satisfactory.)Sid does cut a bit of a lonely figure here and his family's horribly unsubtle attempts to make him feel wanted were never going to be much help.

Given that we were shown him fully conscious and apparently okay in yesterday's promo, it seems odd that the episode spent so long trying to make us think Romeo might be dead or at least seriously hurt.Perhaps more pertinently, it's odd that he's unconscious for what seems to be hours then is fine the moment he wakes up.Indi was surprisingly pleasant towards Jett once the truth came out, which could have gone wrong but he seemed to get the message and I guess she needed to be gentle with him.Surprised that Romeo went from "I'm going to kill him" to being sympathetic so quickly as well.Still, the final scene on the beach between John and Jett managed to be funny and genuinely heartwarming and shows why their relationship is one of the show's biggest assets at the moment.

I said a week or so back that Roo's defence of Spencer and Maddy was reminiscent of Gina obsessing over Jett but not as bad.I think it crossed the line into "as bad" here, with her martyr complex about not helping them and the crazy cooking extra food just in case they show up.Mind you, for a couple of runaways they're not too good at the running away part:They've been gone about two days and they still haven't left the caravan park?Bit of a relief that they explained they're not brother and sister before we got the kiss.They've been tactile enough to have some viewers wondering about incest but are they going to kiss all the time now we know they're not related despite never doing it when we didn't?(Wink wink.)So, maybe they are the same age and we're just meant to ignore the fact that Spencer at least looks older than 16...

[H&Alover]

It did seem odd that Sash wasn't part of the Walker family dinner, guess she must have done her three days!! Another thought about Romeo seemingly having been knocked out for what seemed hours, shouldn't he have gone to hospital, I would have thought Sid would have suggested it, or will we see the effects later? Can't remember back to Wednesday, but did Romeo have his top on when he fell? When John finally asked Gina what the (non) special occasion was and they realised they had been set up and stormed round to the Walkers just at the same time as Harvey & Alf bringing Romeo home, oops!!!

You have to kind of admire Jett for his ingenuity, when Indi phoned Romeo, didn't realise Jett had lifted his phone, cracking on oh yeah we have the same ring tone and pretending it was Gina checking up on him! Then nipping out to the loo to text Indi (from Romeo's phone) to say he was in the pub, after suggesting to Indi that is where he was, Romeo that is, did that make sense? Good try Dex but Jett wasn't interested in the games you were suggesting. He certainly jumped at hepling Indi, then complimenting her sauce. Guess Romeo had his 'Jett's got a crush on you' talk with Indi off screen, it was briefly referred to the next morning. He did seem very nervous when he said Indi had asked to meet him. She was very good with him and let him down gently as I hoped she would, it hadn't descended into outright creepiness. I loved her dress btw!!! His talk with John after was so right, John telling Jett about his own experience and when he cried John telling him he's on the start of a wonderful, exciting, sometimes heartbreaking journey.

Know what you mean about Spencer and Maddy, they don't travel very far do they, the other day it was on the beach, this time in the woodland surrounding the caravan park sheesh!!! Mind you, just as well as goodness knows how long Romeo would have had to lie in the shed otherwise. They did do the right thing, despite Maddy not wanting to trust anyone, they could have just done a runner, proves they are decent kids after all. Perhaps Roo knew something none of us did with the manic overcooking expecting unexpected guests. They are a lot older than Jett so not as vunerable apart from Maddy's cough that is. They should have thought about her being given anitboitics for flu though, as it's a virus as Harvey said . Maddy certainly did a u turn, now she wants to trust them, well, specifically Roo. Then came the "We mustn't let them know we're not brother and sister" revelation. Not too surprisng about their being tactile, some familes are like that. Haven't we been down this storyline before though? Little do they know though Roo tracks Maddy down on the net and surprise, surprise there will be no mention of a brother!!! So, has she run away with Spencer as her family didn't approve of him as they didn't consider him good enough, he was a distraction from her budding career as a violinist?

We see Connie tonight and it may be my memory playing tricks with me but is she the same woman we saw at Rocco's funeral?

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four.Roo was also in four.(Sasha was only in two, making her non-appearance at the big Walker family gathering even more perplexing.Guess they didn't want to have to deal with her reaction to Casey's new relationship but given that she seemed perfectly calm at the end of the previous episode it didn't really have to be an issue.)

Surprised that everyone found out the truth about Spencer and Maddy so quickly, I was expecting another week or two of it being kept quiet.Maddy does seem to have done a bit of a U-turn with regards suddenly being the one that wanted to trust Roo, although right from the start she's been the one least happy about the situation they've found themselves in.So, is it as simple as them running away because they want to be together?And if so, what's the objection?Are they old enough that they don't have to go back if they don't want to?Roo again seemed a bit manic, stalking their caravan and then interrogating them when they turned up, but her heart's in the right place.Agree with her stopping Harvey calling the police straightaway:He might be frantic if Lottie was missing but that doesn't mean Maddy's parents are like him, they should at least understand the situation first and maybe have an informal chat with Georgie Watson or someone about the legal position?Have to add that I'm actually quite liking Spencer after not being too keen on him at first, even if he does seem a bit impulsive at times.

I guess Liam and Bianca's divorce was always going to be just a formality but it's understandable too that Liam would be left with the realisation that that's two years of his life wasted and he's back to having nothing.Liked the chat between him and Kyle, there seems to be a nice bond building between them and Kyle's rumination on revenge not being worth it was a good character moment.I've said before but they are doing a good job of making Kyle surprisingly likeable.His and Brax's lack of support for Heath at the start was disappointing but I liked the way that Kyle didn't quite seem to be part of things when they got the news, hanging back while the others are talking and almost being dismissed by Brax when he tried to join the conversation.So, we meet Connie.(We haven't seen her before, it was Cheryl at Rocco's funeral.)I can't say I'm overly impressed so far, I get that she loves Darcy but she seems to be keeping with her for largely selfish reasons and it's a shame Heath didn't stand up to her more and point out that Darcy's unhappy with things as they are.(He seemed to rely on Bianca to plead his case.)And punishing Heath, and by extent Darcy, by keeping them apart is just wrong.Maybe Heath should have got everything sorted before applying for custody, instead of making the application and worrying about that later, but it seems pretty ridiculous that not only would it be rejected in less than a week but he'd lose the rights he's already got when his situation has improved if anything(in a relationship, hasn't been in trouble with the police in over a year, knows Darcy better and had experience looking after children).The only logical reason is that it's Connie pushing for the change because of things souring between them, which doesn't say much for her if it's true.Brax gets physical with Heath again and he hasn't even done anything this time.Guess Mangrove River Primary School must have as rubbish security as Summer Bay High if they'll just let some random man walk off with one of their pupils.

[H&Alover]

Was a quick reveal about Maddie and Spencer, and their admission that they weren't brother and sister which actually they didn't need to do, just because Roo only found Maddie's name on the missing persons list didn't mean Spencer couldn't have been her brother! I guess Harvey was looking at it from a parent's point of view. I know Roo is also a parent but Martha is a grown woman. Glad she talked him down until they found out the full story. Pretty astute of him to pick up on that slip by Spencer about his dad having boats. Btw where has Celia disappeared to, it would have been interesting to get her point of view on it. On the subject of Roo & Harvey, they're getting on so much better now they're married, obviously suits them!

I felt for Liam and although she nagged him to talk to her I'm glad he confided in Nat. I liked that talk between Kyle and Liam, very deep remark of Kyle's about revenge not being all it's cracked up to be. Nice to see he's sympathtic about Heath's situation about Darcy, he can after all know what's he's going through. Oh, cheers red for that reminder about who was at Rocco's funeral. I an see Connie's point about not wanting to lose Darcy, but she wouldn't, as Bianca tried to explain. Though her living at Heath's wouldn't be the same as her living with her. Of course Heath doesn't know her favoutreite subject at school, who her best friend is etc. That is something he would find out as he went along. As for DOCs deciding one of the factors he couldn't see her without Connie's permission was that he only found out she was his daughter last year wasn't his fault, that was down to Tegan keeping it from him. Has Connie thought of Darcy about deciding to keep Heath from her, she'll have her running away again. I don't know how the system works in Oz but here any school, especially Primary, have a list of people who are allowed to collect children. Can't remember if Heath has ever done that, but surely that is what the school would have told Connie? Might have known Adam would get bail with his connections.

Looks quite interesting next week and guess who turns up, it didn't take him long!

[Red Ranger 1]

Actually found myself getting quite into the Braxtons' storyline here.There was some decent character work for both Brax and Heath.I thought Adam's reappearance would be frustrating but actually it seems to be addressing loose ends quite nicely.We never did get a conversation between Brax and Heath about the fact that Brax kept on insisting Adam was all right while Heath tried to warn everyone about him and, while I think Heath laid a bit too much of a guilt trip on Brax, Brax's desperation to make things up here was perhaps very much needed.I'm assuming that Connie and possibly the police were informed Heath didn't take Darcy off screen?Did have to stifle a laugh at Adam sitting in his villain's lair flicking switches, especially the way that door slides up to let Brax and Heath in.

Well, Spencer and Maddy's story wasn't anything particularly unique, although it was a nice twist that Spencer is the one from the privileged background and Maddy is the one that's being looked down on, when it seemed like it was going to be the other way round.I can see both Roo and Harvey's points of view here, although I'm leaning towards Roo.Ironically, I think Harvey's the one with the black and white outlook, despite accusing Roo of that.However, it's clear Spencer and Maddy can't go on indefinitely.It looks like they're too old for their parents to force them to return, so what's really needed here is for them to call their parents, with Roo, Harvey and Alf there to support them, and make it clear to them that they want to stay in Summer Bay and their parents have the choice of accepting them and having a relationship with them on that basis or staying away for good.It is nice to see Alf more involved and more sympathetic towards the teens, rather than just sitting around grumbling, although the references to Roo leaving home are a bit odd, I can't tell if they're talking about one or more of the falling-outs she and Alf had in the '80s(most likely the last one, where Alf misjudged her and she refused to come home when he realised his mistake), her going off with Frank(and, er, not coming home for 20 years)or something that happened before we even met them.

The Walkers' storyline was the weakest unfortunately.It's a shame because it seems like there's something moderately interesting starting up with Sid but it got kind of buried.Frankly, even though it was misaimed, Sid had every light to lose his temper since his family were being pretty patronising, acting like they could make him feel useful by throwing him a few crumbs.Romeo fails at yet another job, keeping up his reputation as the town's biggest loser, while Indi is annoyingly perky, constantly insisting he's great.And again, why April and not Sasha?Do the writers really think it's more important for her to be waving a packet of biscuits about than be there for the sister whose stepdaughter has been kidnapped?

[Blaxland 89]

Actually found myself getting quite into the Braxtons' storyline here.There was some decent character work for both Brax and Heath.I thought Adam's reappearance would be frustrating but actually it seems to be addressing loose ends quite nicely.We never did get a conversation between Brax and Heath about the fact that Brax kept on insisting Adam was all right while Heath tried to warn everyone about him and, while I think Heath laid a bit too much of a guilt trip on Brax, Brax's desperation to make things up here was perhaps very much needed.I'm assuming that Connie and possibly the police were informed Heath didn't take Darcy off screen?Did have to stifle a laugh at Adam sitting in his villain's lair flicking switches, especially the way that door slides up to let Brax and Heath in.

Well, Spencer and Maddy's story wasn't anything particularly unique, although it was a nice twist that Spencer is the one from the privileged background and Maddy is the one that's being looked down on, when it seemed like it was going to be the other way round.I can see both Roo and Harvey's points of view here, although I'm leaning towards Roo.Ironically, I think Harvey's the one with the black and white outlook, despite accusing Roo of that.However, it's clear Spencer and Maddy can't go on indefinitely.It looks like they're too old for their parents to force them to return, so what's really needed here is for them to call their parents, with Roo, Harvey and Alf there to support them, and make it clear to them that they want to stay in Summer Bay and their parents have the choice of accepting them and having a relationship with them on that basis or staying away for good.It is nice to see Alf more involved and more sympathetic towards the teens, rather than just sitting around grumbling, although the references to Roo leaving home are a bit odd, I can't tell if they're talking about one or more of the falling-outs she and Alf had in the '80s(most likely the last one, where Alf misjudged her and she refused to come home when he realised his mistake), her going off with Frank(and, er, not coming home for 20 years)or something that happened before we even met them.

The Walkers' storyline was the weakest unfortunately.It's a shame because it seems like there's something moderately interesting starting up with Sid but it got kind of buried.Frankly, even though it was misaimed, Sid had every light to lose his temper since his family were being pretty patronising, acting like they could make him feel useful by throwing him a few crumbs.Romeo fails at yet another job, keeping up his reputation as the town's biggest loser, while Indi is annoyingly perky, constantly insisting he's great.And again, why April and not Sasha?Do the writers really think it's more important for her to be waving a packet of biscuits about than be there for the sister whose stepdaughter has been kidnapped?

I also thought what Alf said about Roo running away and not coming back were odd. Did you mean the scene on the pier. I accept what Celia said about Roo running away and turning up at hers and Morags as I assumed she meant when she was younger before the show started.

But what got me more baffled was when Roo more or less said she had been in the same situation as Spencer and Maddie. Have they just re-written Roo's history of something?

[Red Ranger 1]

^Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd been thinking.Alf's comments on the pier were a bit odd, I'm leaning to one of the three explanations I gave above but it does seem like they're trying to force Roo's history into matching Spencer and Maddy's.

[H&Alover]

Heath could so have easily reverted to his bad, old ways, but with both Brax and Bianca there to calm him down, he did pretty well under the circumstances. I'm assuming Adam must have met Darcey at some time, otherwise she would never have got into his car, she's a pretty savvy kid. Once again I have to mention the schools very lax security policy. I'm supposing (again) that as Kyle wasn't involved he'd 'done' his three days? Good to see the Braxton Boys working together and Brax's calling the River Boys shows they still have connections with them. Adam had Heath right where he wanted him, though he must have realised Brax would go with him. Quite an admission from Brax that he didn't know if Adam would hurt Darcey and he was wrong about him. Was kind of James Bond-ish Adam sitting in the warehouse, where is he hiding her and who is looking after her? Him keeping them waiting was a ploy on his part to wind up Heath. Doesn't sound like this drug deal is going to go down well.

Was a switch it being Maddie whose Spencer's parents thought wasn't good enough for him. The same old story - parents banning their daughter/son from seeing their boyfriend/girlfriend and they do a runner! I can see it from Harvey's point of view he does have a daughter near to their age, he'd at least want to know Lottie was OK. But Roo was also right, if they contact their parents behind their backs and they found out they be off and they'd never know where they were. It's up to them to ring their parents. I liked Alf's subtle input (wise as ever) on how he felt when Roo did her disappearing act(s) and how pleased he was when she came home. I think she/he must have been referring to when she was a lot younger, he and she had been in touch when she was in the States, he'd even visited her there. Reading Roo's bio, Every time Roo has 'left' Summer Bay house, it's been because Alf threw her out!

Sid & the Walkers storyline did seem a bit random, but there is definitely more to it than Sid being a bit down. When he was at the hospital we 'saw' him thinking about Lisa and Dex's flare-up at him.

I know Romeo wasn't exactly in love with his job, but still a shock to get made redundant, even if he wasn't the only one. Indi did make a couple of good points though. He may not be eligible for redundancy pay, depending on their policy and how long you have to be there to qualify, but he should get a reference. I'll put him not asking about one down to shock.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, that was...dramatic.It's nice to have such a strong demonstration of Brax and Heath's loyalty to each other, which is probably the only reason they're both still alive.And yet in a way Adam has shown the same loyalty, towards Jamie and ultimately towards Brax, meaning he dies with his halo on.Shame that I found Brax's rant to him beforehand a bit unconvincing(and Heath's casual "He's dead" unintentionally hilarious)and we never really got an explanation for why Adam took Brax and Casey under his wing but only saw Heath as cannon fodder.(Maybe why Brax seemed to take the same view at times?)Bianca being the one to persuade Heath to be there for Brax was an interesting development. Wonder if we'll ever find out what that USB stick was about?Some elements did seem a bit contrived:If that driver was really trying to kill Brax, why not turn round and have another go?And if Adam was all set to follow his supplier, why did he just sit in his car while the guy sped away?Wasn't he ready?Have to wonder what Heath actually did with the gunman as well.We can probably rule out the obvious, presumably he secured him somewhere and is now going to spin a yarn to the police.

Despite the word meningitis being thrown around, Maddy doesn't seem that serious and seems to be in the right place so I don't think she's in that much danger.Harvey's dogmatic attitude annoyed me somewhat and I'm left with the feeling that Roo and Harvey just aren't the right couple for serious storylines, they're just far too jokey, Harvey showing off his dry wit while Roo throws one of her comedy strops didn't really fit the situation.I'm not sure if Roo was right to keep Maddy's details from the hospital though, they need her notes to treat her properly and it'd probably be protected by patient confidentiality.

So, it seems Celia's been away at a retreat.At least that explains her recent absence.She has a photo of Alf, Morag and Colleen in her wallet?Is that really likely?

Oh, by the way, did anyone spot an advert with Samara Weaving encouraging us all to visit Australia during yesterday's evening showing?Never has she looked more like Indiana Evans...