Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Hmm.Well, I can't say I'm too pleased with Brax threatening Zac, which seemed to have less to do with Casey being hurt and more to do with him being jealous of him and Natalie.Other than that...Well, I'm glad that he offered his support to Heath in the end, shame that he was so easily put off helping him with Darcy although I'm not sure there's anything Brax could have done that would make the situation better.Heath saying Kyle's the nerd as he sorts out the accounts was a bit out of the blue, it really does feel like he's slotting into Casey's role in the household.I'm guessing Liam is taking the money because he thinks he's owed a manager's wages but it's somewhat dubious.

So, we don't really find out what happened to Casey and, even more oddly, how Courtney seems to have ended up more badly hurt than him.Hopefully those answers are still to come although I wouldn't count on it.Jamie calling out to Casey as he left felt like it was mostly for show:Once again, you get the feeling he's hurt someone who could have been a friend because he was scared to stand up to the rear villain of the piece.Although how much of that is down to the performance I don't know, it almost feels like we're meant to take the view of the other characters who act like Jamie's Attila the Hun.Tamara turning up to visit Casey when she'll see him in a couple of hours seemed a bit pointless although he didn't need to be that rude.Brax was clearly thinking of Natalie when he told him he can only push her away so many times.

Well, Romeo and Indi came across a bit rubbish again, they seemed to be the only people who didn't know what to do with the gym.While they've asserted themselves by the end, I'm still not entirely convinced and Sid being used as an approval tool is starting to wear a bit thin.Although it's nice that he's considered enough of a pillar of the community that we're expected to automatically agree with him.

[Blaxland 89]

Really enjoy watching the walker family scenes when they are all together Apart from April. She does my head in. Pushing Dexter to go to Uni, Then trying to stop him. What a control freak. Since the crash she's been a nightmare. She always seems to turn it around to be about what she's feeling. I like Dexter's character and I hope it won't get dragged down with this monotonous relationship.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, Brax didn't do anyone any favours by acting like a bear with a sore head, it's possible Kyle would have told him about what's going on with Liam if he hadn't shut him down every time he opened his mouth.Sounds like things are progressing quickly between Natalie and Zac off screen.I liked the phone conversation between Liam and Chelsea, it's good he's having some sort of contact with Ash. His reasons for stealing the money are a bit vague though.Is it because he needs the money to improve things with Ash?Or is he just tired of being subject to the Braxtons' whims?Casey deciding not to testify against Kyle...Well, I can see why he'd do that but would it really be that simple?Surely the police wouldn't just let it drop, he'd be subpoenaed and forced to testify.

Couldn't quite see the logic of Romeo proving to Indi he can make the tough decisions by...giving Casey a job, even if he did make some good points about Casey being loyal as a result.Actually, Romeo didn't seem to do too bad a job here, his suggestion of cancelling the outstanding fees made sense.Did think that Sid's "I am here" in the middle of Romeo and Indi's love-in would have worked better if the viewer hadn't been able to see him throughout the scene when Romeo and Indi apparently couldn't.Nice to see Sasha back among the other Walkers and some decent interaction between her and Dex.Her death glare when he supported giving Casey a job was great.Casey and Tamara actually came across as quite natural here, maybe they work better without their usual angst.

Surprised that April seems to be fussing about Dexter going to uni so soon after giving him her big speech about how they're going to live happily ever after.Aside from being pretty transparent, I'm slightly puzzled by her suggestion Dexter stay with Sid, were they planning to move to student accomodation or something?

[H&Alover]

Red, I'm guessing you meant to say Jamie looked as bad as Casey after the fight. The usual prison code of silence applied as to why Casey said he 'fell down the stairs'. Jamie, obvioulsy, doesn't want to be the bad guy, he's in the same position he was with Adam, only this time there is no where to hide. Jamie did seem to want to be friends with Casey, but is vulnerable to bullies and fititng in.

Just what does Brax expect Zac to do, he can't be with Casey 24/7 and can't be seen to be giving him special treatment, that would make things a lot worse. And as for Brax's bright idea of moving Casey that is just not on, aside from the fact he's going behind Casey's back, who wouldn't be agreeeable. Tamara's decision to visit did seem very odd, he's only in there for 48 hours for heavens sake!!! I can understand why he got upset and which he explained to her later, he wants to keep that side of his (inside) life separate from their outside life.

I was thinking that (he meant himself and Nat) when Brax was warning Casey about not to keep pushing Tamara away or he'd lose her. His off hand approach towards her is obviously his defence mechanism kicking in, hell, even Heath asked him if he wanted to talk about it.

I really like Kyle, which isn't something I don't think anyone would have said when we first 'met' him. He's good friends with Liam, yet torn because he is stealing from Brax, his brother. He's tried to defend Heath's rubbish management to Brax by saying he was trying to step up to the plate and fill the gap he'd left. He's really trying to fit in, I'm guessing he must know somehting about accounting, if he's willing to try and tackle the accounts. Plus of course he's got his court case coming up.

I had to smile at the look on Brax's face when Kyle and Casey passed each other and were pleasant rather than sniping at each other. His 'What happened, did I miss something?' Um, yes, you have been out of town for a week!

Liam's argument was he was owed the money as overtime, but I'm wondering if it's because of his treatment by Heath. I liked his one-sided chat with his ex, at least she is talking to him now.

I missed a little bit last night, when Liam was putting the money back, did he get caught?

I'm on the side of Indi and Romeo here, I get people wanted to help, but they were taking over! Fair enough getting Roo on board to do the advertisng, but Irene chipped in with her ideas on how to decorate it, John coming up with the colour scheme, what parts to open, Alf doing the measuring up, no wonder Indi cried 'enough'! Sid was the only one keeping out of it and he has a 'sleeping' invested interest in it. He was impressed when Indi and Romeo finally put their collective foot down and said it was their business and while they appreciated everyones help, rhe final decisions were theirs. I think it's a good idea for Romeo to employ Casey, the gym isn't going to open in a week, so plenty of time for Casey to get the qualifications he needs and Casey is a good worker given the chance and will be loyal. Not sure sure about his 'amnesty' against the outstanding fee payers and the only one who should get free membership is Sid. While I liked Roo's suggestion about a 'show' on the beach, it shouldn't be confined to the young and beautiful, it ought to be a cross section of the bays citizens.

Btw I remember who used to have the gym before this mystery guy, Tony and John ran it together before Tony went to the States. Their partnership didn't get off to the most promsing start, this was before he had his change of character, and clashed often.

I like that Red, Death Glare !

So Dex is having trouble concentrating but April's 'idea' of suggesting Dex stay at home with Sid until he (Sid) feels better about him leaving home was so transparent!!! He may have brain damage but he's not stupid. She should have been honest and admitted yes she was wrong to persuade (nearly said pushed, but Dex still has a mind of his own) him to go back so they could be together. Anyway won't Sasha, Indi and Romeo still be there so he won't be alone.

[Red Ranger 1]

Red, I'm guessing you meant to say Jamie looked as bad as Casey after the fight.

No, I meant to say Courtney seemed to be worse off than him:We're told he's in sickbay with suspected internal injuries.

Have to say, whilst I'm not usually a fan of them, I haven't actually minded April and Dexter these past couple of episodes.Maybe it's because there's actually been some decent conversations and conflict rather than the usual shallow and slightly creepy "love scenes".I found April's sudden turnaround a bit odd to start with but looking at it maybe she's coming from the same place as Sid:She's spent all this time supporting Dexter and helping his recovery and now that he doesn't need constant help she's at a loss as to what to do.In a way, him not being well enough to go to uni would help her since then she'd have a goal to aim for rather than everything being fine on the surface with the fear it could suddenly blow up.Whilst I'm not sure why he was so keen to push April and Dexter back together(or at least I don't agree with it), Sid actually worked well as a genuinely supportive presence for Dexter, although he's not afraid to set boundaries:Dexter trying to drive the car was a dumb move as he eventually acknowledged.Not sure what to make of their break-up, we seem to have had several scenes like this in the last few months and I can't see this one sticking for long.In fact, I was expecting Dexter to say "Actually, I've changed my mind" when he stopped and turned round.(Got a feeling Charles Cottier fluffed one of his lines in that scene:"I can't stop it from letting me live" was probably meant to be "I can't let it stop me living" or something similar.Fluffs used to be quite common about five years ago but not so much nowadays, don't know why that one got through.)

Hardly a surprise that Spencer and Maddy came back, although wasn't expecting Spencer to turn up on his own.Not really sure that worked, it might have been better to have them turn up at the same time.Roo chose a very odd method for stopping the bus, parking behind it and waving her arms about.(Wouldn't parking in front of it be more effective?)Maddy seemed more spruced up when she appeared than she has in the past, I thought Spencer was supposed to be the one from the privileged background?Spencer's father turning up at the end was a bit of a bell curve.He seems, shall we say, like someone who's used to getting his own way.

Tilda is coming across as a bit of a panto villain in places to the point I actually found myself laughing at some of her and Jett's exchanges("Be a pity if you...died" being her campest moment).But then we get the violence to remind us that she's still a pretty unpleasant person.Gina seemed to jump to conclusions about the nature of her and Jett's relationship although it did result in some great moments from John, especially his practising the speech he's going to give Jett(giving up and handing him the pamphlet is probably the best option).Even if John didn't actually see the blow land, it was pretty obvious Jett had just been punched at the end, so I'm guessing John and Gina are going to know what's really going on.

[Blaxland 89]

I see Irene was vital again in today's episode. I swear, Matt Wilson did more then she has done in the last year.

[H&Alover]

OK, my misunderstanding Red!!!

Looks like April & Dex haven't split up forever, perhaps they do just need a break. Maybe no fault of her own but she has been acting more like a nurse/mum to Dex instead of a girlfriend. Sid seemed to have more faith in him. No reason why he shouldn't go off to uni and see how he gets on, otherwise he is always going to wonder, I don't think there is any time limit on how long he takes to do whatever courses he has. The uni obviously knows what he has been through, they wouldn't have offered him a placement otherwise, so I would imagine they would be undersanding. I think Sid wanted them to say a proper farewell rather than just leaving it up in the air. Dex hopping into the driving seat did seem a bit odd, but that's the first time since the accident and it did bring back some flashbacks, I don't think he had any intention of driving off.

It was so obvious that when Roo was being all wistful about Maddie and Spencer one or the other of them would turn up. I was expecting it to be Maddie first, but hey ho. It came out Spencer is also 16, though he does look older. I guess we were meant to assume he knew where she was being sent off to school, or was he going to her home? Perhaps Spencer was making his way to the back of the bus and just happened to see Roo waving her arms around, otherwise the better bet would have been for Roo to chase after the bus, tooting her horn. Did Spencer get his fare back?

Tilda was a tad OTT and she's a lone bully which is unusual as they normally have a little gang, perhaps no-one else wants anything to do with her. For an intelligent lady Gina certainly got it wrong this time and I loved that talk with her & John and his 'talking' to Jett about the birds & bees, it certainly drew a strange look from Irene. Wouldn't have taken a genuis to work out what had happened even though John did walk round the corner and only caught the end of it. No why would Jett have hit her!

His logic as to why he deserves to be bullied when he was talking to Sasha is a bit skewed. He was a bully when he first arrived (talking about VJ) in the bay so it's now his turn.Methinks as he has stopped Gina doing something Sasha will have some 'discreet' words with Tilda without making it look like Jett is hiding behind her skirts.

[Slade]

I'm still not sure about Rosie. Last week she came across as manipulative with regards to her and Sasha humiliating April in class and today it seemed the same again. To me she seemed to try and emotionally blackmail Sasha when Sasha wanted to spend time with someone else. When she told Sasha she was going to name her new fish after her, bought a love friendship necklace for both of them and hung around waiting for Sasha during her entire shift at work with regards to the whole clingy thing it seemed like Jamie lite. Sasha gave her the opportunity to meet other people but she turned it down flat. I do think that being by herself plays a big part in her loneliness and why she's putting all her eggs in one basket.

I have to admit, in a sadistic sort of way I was smiling at some of the stuff with Tilda and Jett yesterday (not at the comment about Jett's mum). I'm glad Jett is able to draw parallels with what is happening to him and how he treated VJ when he first turned up. I really liked the chat Sasha had with him. She seemed really mature about it, in stark contrast to when Rosie manipulated her last week.

So Alf sees Heath as a thing does he? Not too happy about the way Celia came across with regards to Heath's relationship with Bianca (although I did like Heath's amusement at her comments with regards to his tattoos) and was in agreement with Irene before but at least she redeemed herself afterwards even though Heath looked like he was struggling to understand what she was actually saying.

Although I expected it, I'm really not happy about Spencer and Maddie returning. I was hoping that they wouldn't return but I don't think they would introduce two characters like that, just to write them out so quickly. Seems as though the writers made Spencer's dad a particularly unpleasant individual in order to justify Spencer and Maddie staying with Roo and Harvey. In saying that I was quite shocked at the remarks he made towards Maddie. For a grown middle-aged man to refer to a teenage girl (who is not a bad person at all) as "trailer trash" and a "parasite" is quite disgusting. And irrespective of how I feel about them anyway those comments don't make any sense. When they first came to the bay they were struggling to afford to buy something to eat. So it's not as if Madelyn was sponging off Spencer. It's obvious this whole thing has been about love. Not sure why Spencer's dad dislikes her so much.

I've been torn about Jamie this week. Whilst I was disgusted with him for what he did to Casey, I keep thinking he's in an impossible position. If he didn't beat Casey up he probably would have been hospitalised himself. It's not as bad for Casey, he's only there a couple of days a week but Jamie is there (I'm assuming) for the foreseeable. So even if he and Casey could take on these guys, Jamie would be on his own most of the time.

Really can't stomach Natalie at times. The way she sometimes has that gormless happy-go-lucky expression on her face really grates on me. I couldn't stop smiling when Heath snapped at her when she quizzed him about Brax. She tells Zac she doesn't want to get involved with him because she doesn't want to lead him on, tells Bianca she's still into Brax and gets Bianca to speak to Brax because she's too hurt to face him herself and just because Brax wouldn't say hello to her she cops off with Zac anyway and then gets all upset because Brax wouldn't stay and talk to her when she did see him.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four.

As unpleasant as Spencer's dad was, I'm not sure Roo and Harvey helped the situation by being so deliberately obstructive when he first turned up.And whilst I fully appreciate why Spencer did it, I admit I did feel a bit sorry for him when he had his bluffed called and had to walk away from his son, seemingly for good.Still, I do actually like Spencer and Maddy and I'm glad they're sticking around. And I'm glad Alf finally got to give Maddy the violin.

Whilst it was potentially rude if you took it seriously, like Bianca and Heath I just found Celia's rant at them amusing.Along with Heath explaining the "significance" of his tattoos.("I got the grenade because I liked blowing things up.And because I was drunk.")Celia's later lecture to Heath(and his bewildered response to being called "Mr.Braxton")was similarly amusing and also rather sweet in places.Still, Alf's right in that Celia's probably going to be on a hiding to nothing if she wants to fulfil herself by "saving" the Braxtons.

Loved John's "What, you thought it was going to be a secret?" expression after casually telling Gina about Jett's problems.Jett saying he feels he deserves to be bullied because he used to be a bully himself is interesting and I'd like to have seen it followed up on.Next week presumably.Whilst I can understand Sasha agreeing with Gina's request to help him, she really should have told Rosie instead of just leaving her waiting.I like Rosie but...I can kind of understand that it took a lot for her to open up to Sasha and so she might not be keen on other girls knowing her business and I get that she's lonely and that's why she's being a bit possessive about Sasha but she's really not doing herself any favours.Sasha obviously cares about her but being solely responsible for Rosie's happiness is a responsibility that I really don't think she's ready for.

[Blaxland 89]

Really enjoyed today's episode. It felt very character lead. When Marilyn said her best friend at school do you think she was talking about Greta?! I really think Celia's great and she still fits in to the modern show well, whilst making a nice contrast to most of the other characters. And although she was a little rude, Bianca being a poor example for her pupils is something I have thought for a while. Its like when after years of Jack Holden breaking rules Sam Holden finally said in an arguement "you've got to be the world's worst cop". I was thinking, finally someone has said it.

I do think that the "Next time on Home and Away" clips spoils the feel of the ending scene in each episode. The last scene should be what sticks in your head. Whether that be happy, sad or any other emotion. And be enough to make you want to watch the next episode. Bamboozling you with three or four short clips immediately afterwards ruins that, and the show end with the same tone each time.