Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[H&Alover]

I don't believe it the annexe to the Braxton's house actually gets a mention after ???? years. If I remember correctly the last time it was used was when Sam hid Johnny Cooper there. If they're tight for space why can't Kyle use it, he can't be expected to sleep on the sofa forever. 'They' do seem to forget how manybedrooms they have in various houses whenever it suits them. I think Kyle just wants to mend bridges between him and Tamara as he has more or less with Casey.

Casey had a very good point, Brax has never been inside, not even juvvie so he can't fully understand what it's like. I don't agree with him thinking Zac used him to get close to Nat, it just happened that way as things do. Zac isn't wrong in believing Nat isn't over Brax.

I'm glad Sasha decided to talk to Nat about what happened with her and Rosie, she is one damaged girl and Nat was right she should be a with a foster family (who has other kids) who while giving her the care she so obviously needs can get her not to rely on just one person for friendship. I'm not sure how long Rosie has been at Summer Bay High as we have only 'seen' her recently. While Sasha was willing to forgive Rosie she wisely declined to take back the necklace and keep some space berween them. I think Sasha told Casey to rescue Rosie first as she (Rosie) couldn't swim, I noticed she (Sasha) didn't thank him. Maddie seemed to catch on pretty quickly about Rosie and glad she decided to ignore Rosie when she said not to say anything to Sasha about their talk.

That was a lovely scene between Celia and Mr. Braxton ! Her saying both Les and he were fighters so deserved to put the ring to good use was very moving. I had to laugh though when Heath took it out and Bianca immediately thought he had stolen it. Rather old fashioned, for him, idea rhat he felt he ought to ask someones permission and nice that April gave it. I woiuld have liked for Celia to have seen them before she left so she knew her 'interfering' worked out OK. Hope we get to hear what she will be doing.

So Maddie wil be moving into SB house while Spencer stays in the van, do you reckon their public displays of affection will abate, it can get OTT at the times.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm beginning to think that Natalie and Zac belong together and not in a good way.By the end of this episode, I was left wondering why Brax still wants to be with Natalie after she yet again uses the flimsiest excuse to storm into his place of work and lecture him.Maybe Brax's advice wasn't that good but Casey was obviously going to do something and Brax helping him is more use than Zac getting in his way.Zac seems to have completely forgotten his "Hit me so they'll respect you" logic as he goes on treating Casey like his personal project in full view of everyone.Maybe it wouldn't have stopped what happened at the end, but Casey confronting Courtney in public, where there were guards watching, was more sensible than him having to interfere in a private brawl.It could be argued that Casey's making the same mistake as Zac in approaching Jamie in front of everyone but at least he's got some sort of plan.

Wasn't entirely happy with the way Romeo dismissed Sid's advice;Sid is basically bankrolling his latest business venture, he should probably show him a bit of respect.And people should have learnt after the mess he made of his place never to let John near fuse boxes.

How exactly did Tilda appear behind Gina and Jett without anyone noticing?Did she teleport in?Gina was surprisingly easy to fool with her cover story and Jett was even more surprisingly easy to fool. Okay, Tilda was pretty convincing but he's seen her turn the charm on and off before.By the way, is that the only time in twenty-five years that a Summer Bay High classroom has sat two students at a desk?

Yes, H&Alover, we get an acknowledgement of that annexe to the Braxton house!So, apparently "the landlord" uses it for storage, whoever that is.(Does Tony still own it?Did he ever?)

[H&Alover]

I do wish Brax and Nat would either get (and stay) together or not, all this dithering on both their parts is getting wearisome. Plus it's not fair on Zac who thinks he's in with a chance.

Casey was going to do whatever he was going to do with or without Brax and Zac's advice. I think it was Casey himself who said the guards were pretty useless and he wasn't/isn't wrong, they just seem to stand around and ignore any trouble. Obvious that 'brawl' was a distraction for Courtney and his cohorts to drag Jamie off and it doesn't look good for Casey (again). I'm glad he mentioned the fact Courtney was carrying on the bullying he'd (Jamie) had suffered from his dad.

I guess Romeo is trying to show he and Indie can do the job and doesn't want to give up at the first hurdle, namely him blowing the electrics! I'm giving Sid the benefit of the doubt that he doesn't know what we know about John's DIY 'skills'. He may well know how to dismantle a bomb, even blindfolded, he's even managed to difuse one without actually seeing it, but as for plumbing and fixing electrics forget it!!!

When Gina told Jett Tilda had been bullying him because she fancied him, and he replied "And you believed her!" that was exactly my reaction, I would never have thought Gina was that gulliable! I'm not so sure Jett was taken in and her later behaviour confirmed his doubts. Gets worse tonight when she falls to the floor and says he pushed her. As for sharing desks, no Sasha and Rosie were sharing one a couple of weeks ago.

Re the annexe, Sally had it built as Flynns surgery, then when Tony lived there Lucas stayed in it, it had a small living room, previously the waiting room and a bedroom, Flynn's consulting room. It has never been used since Roo stayed there and then the Braxtons. May be something to do with it being a 'viable cost' for TPTB to afford to furnish it.

[c120701]

It still annoys me that they painted the Braxtons door blue but left the old Surgery door purple.

[Red Ranger 1]

You're forgetting that Robbie and Kim also slept in there when the Hunters had the place!

Alf's episode count this week:Three.

I'm not really sure what I think of Brax's attitude towards Jamie.I can understand it and I think in the circumstances he did it quite reasonably and Jamie even seemed to accept it, but it still seems a bit harsh to just leave him to handle Courtney on his own.I only hope that Casey's words gave him a bit of food for thought and he'll manage to make his own way from now on.

Whilst it does feel a bit like the follow up to Jett's self-flagellation last week is a bit lacking, I did love him standing up to Tilda.His dismissive attitude when she was acting the victim and pretending he'd hit her and then joy when she overplayed her hand and let her make-up run were great.Looks like her true colours have finally been exposed.Found it hard to care about the gym opening but some more good moments from John when his phone battery dies plus Alf swooping in to save the day.

Finding Liam's behaviour increasingly hard to sympathise.Maybe he is getting fed up of having to keep things together while the Braxtons worry about their latest crisis but he's been happy enough to work for them up until now without giving himself "extra payments".His smugly superior attitude towards Kyle wasn't really justified.I get the feeling that Tamara's determined to go on hating Kyle and looking for reasons to justify it:She identified him with Nelson when they first met and she doesn't seem ready to revise her opinion, insisting on thinking the worst of him and deciding he only arranged her somewhere to stay to stop her testifying.I'm not sure Casey subscribes to the "blood first" loyalty she espouses here:He was willing to cover for Xavier when he worked for Brax after all. (Although admittedly Xavier wasn't stealing from Brax.Not in the "taking things and keeping them" sense anyway.)Kyle's decision at the end is pretty dumb, not only giving up on his family without any real cause but he's probably breaking his bail conditions as well.

[H&Alover]

I had forgotten about them, can't keep up sometimes!

Brax is probably more concerned with Casey getting injured (again) than feeling some kind of responsibility for Jamie, he was kind of responsible for Adam getting killed and now Adam can't fund Jamie's legal team he's in regular prison. I like how Casey wants to look out for Jamie as it was their respective fathers that got them where they are now. I also hope Jamie can stand up to Courtney, but he hasn't had much practice in doing things like that.

So glad Jett exposed Tilda's 'black eye', what is lacking in Tilda's homelife that makes her want to bully anyone let alone Jett? Definitely not the end though as her mum turns up next week and she looks a formidable character. Had to smile at Jett's little aside about Gina being taken in by Tilda so easily.

If Tamara is so against Kyle why the devil did she agree to move in!!! So she gets out of testifying against Nelson as he's admitted everything he did, thus sparing her having to give evidence.

To be fair to her she doesn't know that Casey has 'gone against' the Braxtons in the past and I think anyone of them would be torn between loyalty to the 'family' and a good friend who has stood by them. Case of point being Brax and Adam!!! His leaving is a really stupid thing to do, not only is he breaking his bail conditions, he's landing Brax in more financial strife.

I thought Brax had given Liam his job back, so is he paying himself the back pay when he wasn't manager? I think it's revealed why he's stealing next week.

Gym opening did seem a bit flat, though good speech from Romeo and Indi, liked his special mention to Sid. So John's battery was flat and he couldn't use the land line, er there other places near by and didn't any of the others have mobiles on them? I liked Dex's idea of fairy lights and well done Alf.

Could be jumping the gun, but it did look like we are going to have a repeat of Flynn and the curse of Summer Bay!

[Red Ranger 1]

Found today's episode pretty appalling in places, most of them centring around Casey's storyline.It seems like we're meant to see Casey as the one in the wrong when really he seems like the only sane man.Or rather the only one who cares about Jamie.I can understand Brax's point of view but given that everyone else seemed to feel the same, it feels like we're supposed to be urging Casey to look out for number one and abandon a troubled young man to repeated beatings and possibly death.While just feels totally wrong to me, that we're somehow supposed to feel that Casey, and by implication Kyle, are more deserving of protection than Jamie, who hasn't done any worse than Kyle at least, yet when Casey rightly challenges Brax over his hypocrisy the issue's just brushed aside.Brax's nonsensical tirade towards Zac, blaming him for not looking out for Casey and then telling him to leave him alone, sounded like he was just looking for any excuse to shout at him.As for Zac, I'm liking him less and less.He said a while back that helping Casey wasn't about getting in with Natalie but I really can't think of any other reason for his actions.Why exactly is he treating Casey like a special case and acting as though he's more deserving of protection that anyone else in danger from Courtney(he outrights dismisses Casey's suggestion that Jamie be offered a deal as well), other than because Natalie knows him?And Tamara.I came close to hating her on Friday but I got there today.Maybe we were meant to be marvelling at how much she loves Casey but she was utterly selfish and self-centred here, wanting Casey to do what's best for her rather than do the right thing.She comes close to being a psycho stalker at the best of times and once more I'm left with the feeling she's put all her eggs in Casey's basket.And has anyone even noticed Kyle's missing?

Once again, hard to care about Romeo and it'd be nice to have a couple on the show that didn't make me roll my eyes or cringe when they start having "cute" sexual encounters at inappropriate times.Sid keeping quiet about his fears about Romeo's health when Indi's in the room just screams plot device:You could argue patient confidentiality but it's not like Romeo's told him to keep anything from her and she is his next of kin.

Maddy seems to have had a personality transplant overnight.It kind of makes sense but it's a bit jarring.She's escaped from one oppressive home and she's doing her best not to end up in another one.Roo didn't really handle the situation well:Set rules and ask her if she's done her homework, yes, but pressuring her about practising her violin was unnecessary and just enflamed the situation. Despite Marilyn's gushing, acting like Maddy's mum isn't a good thing.It's a shame Maddy overreacted and gave the violin back to Alf.I hope he'll keep hold of it because further down the track when she's more settled she might change her mind.

[H&Alover]

Couldn't agree with you more Red about Casey. He's acting a lot more ethically than Brax ever has by not wanting to go back on his word about not abandoning Jamie. If he does, what message does that send Jamie, yet another person has let him down. Anyway what is supposed to happen to Courtney should Casey change his mind, is he going to be moved to a more secure prison or left where he is? I can, sort of, see Brax's point of view by wanting to protect his brother, but Casey is an adult now and old enough to make his own decisions. Tamara I can also understand why she is so worried, but pulling the old ultimatum trick isn't going to end well, if anything does happen to Jamie should Casey change his mind. How many more times does Zac have to say he can't be with Casey 24/7, what does Brax expect him to do, move into Casey's cell with him? We haven't heard Heath's opinion on all this, but I guess as Jamie tried to kill him he wouldn't be that bothered. But he would more of an idea what it is like inside and the 'games' you have to play to survive. I wondered about Kyle too, it must be a couple of days(?) since he packed his bags, yet as we saw from the trailer, he's stil in town.

Glad Sid persuaded Romeo to get his muscle pain checked out it's not a very good advertisment for the owner of the new gym to seem to have injured himself. Good that he decided to keep Casey's job open for him after he (Casey) beat him to the punch and said he'd understand if Romeo offered his job to someone else. Doesn't matter if Indi is Romeo's next of kin, without Romeo actually saying that Sid (or any other doctor) that it's OK to reveal his medical details he/they is/are bound by the doctor/patient confidentiallycode. He could have said that when Sid was being esoteric about going back to hospital, but chose not to.

I'm hoping Maddie is just going through a rebellious phase after being been kept on a tight leash by her mum. Roo would be fretting, she wants to do things right but not push Maddie away and she is new to this parenting lark, I had to smile when Alf said she never used to listen to anything he said. Oh Alf will definitely hang onto the violin!

[Slade]

Firstly I would like to state that I like Jamie and feel very sorry for him. He's just lost his dad and has nobody and it feels like he's in between a rock and hard place. I also take my hat off to Casey for the way he put himself on the line because he could empathise with Jamie and thinks he deserves to be saved. I don't like Brax but I can't really blame him for the way he's acting with regards to the whole situation. If my brother got stabbed in prison defending the person who tried to kill my other brother and refused to give a statement saying who stabbed him the first place, so he could go back inside and risk another stabbing (or maybe worse) to look out for my brother's attempted murderer, I would be doing everything to get him out of jail too. I don't blame Tamara either for giving Casey an ultimatum. As far as Jamie's concerned he's just another Kyle. Why should they risk someone they love for some else that means absolutely nothing to them.

I do think Zac's motives are questionable for the way he's gone out of his way to help Casey but again from the Braxton's point of view so what? If it gets Casey out of jail and prevents him from ending up dead who's arguing.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well...okay, I'll take that.I applaud Casey for maintaining his stance in the face of pretty much everyone he cared about telling him to abandon Jamie and save himself.I can understand Heath joining in the voices against him, since Jamie tried to kill him after he helped him, even though a part of me wishes he hadn't.Zac clawed his way back into my good books here by actually listening to Casey's concerns and working with him, doing his best to help Jamie as well rather than just adopting a "You're wrong, take the deal" attitude.I'd like it if we got an update at some point, if Casey checked up on Jamie and found out he was somewhere else and he was okay, but if that's the best we get then that's good enough.Heath bringing Kyle home and then his annoyance that no-one told him about Casey was a nice little thread.Brax's dismissive attitude annoyed me so I'm glad we got that quiet scene of him telling Kyle about their childhood, it felt like his way of confirming he's one of them.Seriously, though, the guy was gone for over twenty-four hours and no-one noticed.Not sure if there's something between Kyle and Tamara but their bickering was quite lively.Tamara did seem to completely flip her argument from "You'll never be one of them" to "How could you abandon them?" and it was nice that Kyle managed to turn it round on her and give her food for thought about her stance with Casey. I do actually think there's more of a spark between them than between her and Casey.

It's gonna be pretty hard for Romeo to hide that mark on his back from Indi for long going by the evidence here.Sid obviously not happy about lying to her as well.Other than that, my main thought seems to be so much for Belle saving the town from the cancer cluster:There seem to be just as many cancer cases since as there were before, now including Romeo, who came to town nearly a year after that was supposedly cleared up.Because I really can't muster enough energy to care about Romeo and I can't tell if it's me or the show at fault.I've heard people claiming that Luke Mitchell's acting has improved during his time on the show but I'm not convinced myself.He still seems to need a really good reason to change his facial expression(which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm all for minimalism rather than actors overdoing reaction shots)but he did a decent job in that last scene on that score.The real problem is his delivery:Everything's just so flat, with hardly any vocal inflection at all.Laconic can only get you so far, sometimes it's appropriate to the scene and it works, sometimes it doesn't.That scene with Heath could have been good but, not for the first time, he was acted off the screen by someone I find more talented.Yet I can never quite shake the feeling I'm letting my dislike for the character cause me to unfairly dismiss the actor.And that's probably off topic enough for today. Interesting that Indi was in favour of giving Heath a job despite being vehemently against employing Casey.Guess that had less to do with his criminal record and more to do with him breaking her sister's heart.