Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Slade]

If I was Kyle, I'd risked getting killed by Casey/Heath to have a shot at Tamara. She's got to be the sexiest chick in Summer Bay at the moment. The tutor sessions should be interesting to watch in the future, I wonder where they will take place. Braxton house (surely not), kitchen of Angelos?

Agree about Romeo's improved acting skills. Be sorry to lose him. Any chance the diagnosis could turn out to be incorrect?

I like the way you think Brian although I'd prefer to have a shot at Sasha myself. Kind of agree with you and PM about Romeo too although I never thought his acting was that bad, just the character wasn't that great.

Really liked that Sasha opened up to Indy about missing Rosie. Rosie did the right thing listening to Natalie's advice with regards to staying away from Sasha as I'd hoped. She just needs to stay away from Sasha a little while long and Sasha will be the one asking to resume their friendship. I'll assume from Sasha eavesdropping on Tamara's conversation with Gina and the fact she followed her into Angelo's to speak to her about the protest that she doesn't blame Tamara for Casey anymore. Hopefully when they're in school they'll spend more time together although I'm struggling to see that Tamara would want to be friends with her.

Can't really blame Brax for wanting nothing more to do with Natalie. I've had sour grapes in the past when it comes to girls so can understand where he is coming from. The best thing about Brax's family meeting was how knocked Tamara down a peg and Bianca's facial expressions during the whole thing. I also liked the way Bianca was smirking at Kyle when he was at work with Tamara. They do seem to be getting on a lot better now.

[Red Ranger 1]

The upper age limit for high schools may vary from state to state in Australia, but in Victoria, it's 20 years of age for Year 12 (Last year of High School)

Here's a link of where I found the upper age limit enrolment for Victorian schools from years 7 to 12.

http://www.study.vic.gov.au/deecd/index.cfm?BCF14DEF-826C-457A-A7F0-476F0993111F

I'm surprised to hear that, I'd have thought there wasn't an upper age limit.I'm pretty sure both Neighbours and Home and Away have had mature age students who are older than 20 in the past. Maybe they've tightened it up since the 90s or maybe it's dramatic license.

Not really sure what to make of Brax in this episode.At the beginning, he felt very much like the odd one out:For all his complaining about problems for him to solve, it seemed like his brothers and their girlfriends were having a meal together, getting on fine, bickering a bit but only in the way that all families do and he wanted to be on his own(loved Heath and Casey telling him the outcome of the match).His laying down the law seemed unnecessary and if it hadn't been for Casey running to him asking him to sort out a non-existent problem with Heath then I don't think he'd have had any right to do it whatsoever even if there were a few good points in what he said mixed in with at least one really bad one.He basically had to threaten to throw Heath and Tamara out to make them listen to him and I don't think Bianca listened at all.It does feel like, however much he protests, sorting out his family's problems is the only way he can relate to them and, with no children, no girlfriend and a business he employs other people to run, he doesn't seem to have much else in his life except going for a surf.That said, I'm glad he told Natalie to get lost when she once more looked for any excuse to spend time with him and thought Casey moving out was all about her.(Wasn't she the one that wouldn't let Tamara stay there in the first place?)I don't think he had any right to order Tamara to not testify against Kyle and I'm glad that Kyle told her she didn't have to go along with it and she chose to do it for her own reasons.Shame Kyle didn't thank her properly because of Bianca watching him like a hawk.I have to say Casey and Tamara have never really gelled for me, it's always felt a bit forced and like they rushed into it without really knowing each other.So I'm actually kind of in favour of Kyle and Tamara, which seems to be developing naturally.Oh-and why didn't Heath just tell Casey that Romeo wants them both to stay on?To wind him up probably...

So, seems I was right about Liam leaving town when he roared off on his bike last week.I'd have thought we'd have got past Romeo holding a grudge against him by now, are we really meant to think Liam was in the wrong for getting together with Indi when they were both single and Romeo had just gone off with someone else?But at least they seem to be over it now and I'm glad to see their friendship used and Romeo putting things in perspective for Liam:He's still got the time that Romeo doesn't have to make things up with his son.I think we got a hint of the real reason Romeo's keeping his cancer from Indi as well:As long as she doesn't know, he can pretend things are okay when he's around her.

The Jett storyline didn't really work because they didn't really explore his reasons for not wanting to go through with the adoption.Does he have self-esteem issues?Did he think it would be a betrayal of his real parents?Or does he just like things the way they are and not wanting to rock the boat?Still, it's nice that spending time with Harvey and Spencer seemed to make him realise he can have a family.(Forgot to mention, loved his guesses about the news last episode:"Are we moving?Are you pregnant?")

[H&Alover]

Jett's reaction to John and Gina wanting to adopt him was OTT, his mentioning Gina's own children made me smile since they have left home she's never talked about them, it's like they never existed. Anyway they are all adults so it's not as if they will feel pushed out. His overhearing Spencer talking about Roo and Harvey making him and Mattie feel part of their family seems to have changed his mind. Was that girl Jett was chatting to the same girl at the dance? Credits go by too fast, was is her name?

Heath can be pretty astute when he likes, probably right in the fact Kyle likes Tamara and there definitley has been a thawing towards him on her part, Bianca seemed to be of the same mind when she saw Kyle and Tamara chatting after Brax's Headmaster meeeting. I said ages ago it will be Casey and Sasha and Kyle and Tamara. Quite a surprise in finding out he is a lot smarter than he has been cracking on, he really is a deep character and I reckon there's even more to him. He'll be a good manager, he does have more of a business head than Heath. Who knows if Brax had had a chance of a normal life and finished his education how far he could have gone? His foster parents did a good job in giving him some stability, wonder when he met up with Danny? I did think Casey could help Tamara but then he would be tied up with his own studies. I guess if Kyke stopped (or tried to) Liam stealing he felt he had no choice but to stop Heath doing the same. If Casey is moving back in it's going to be pretty crowded che Braxton, perhaps this will be the excuse they need for the annexe opened up?

Haven't Brax and Nat agreed they won't have anything to do with each other before?

I like that Romeo feels he can trust Heath enough to employ him full time, will that mean Heath will be Casey's boss when he can work?

Can see why Indi was confused by Romeo suggesting maybe they sell the gym, after all she doesn't know what we know, he's probably feeling why waste any time he has left working when he and Indi could spend the time together enjoying themselves. That scene with Sid was very moving, any plans he and Indi may have had are now nonexistent and although Sid may have had his doubts about him in the past his hug was so right and showed he has fully accepted Romeo as his son-in-law, even go as far to say another son. If he does decide to take up the oprions availabe to him how is he going to explain his absences unless he does tell her the truth.

Lovely reconcilliation between Liam and Romeo, I guess people forget their earlier closeness and he did know where to find him. Liam may will be older than Romeo (30's?) but he's not in his dotage and can still reunite with his son and has that chance if he's brave enough to make it, he's only in Europe not on the moon! Your'e right Red it did put his problems in perspective compared to Romeo's, I guess he will be coming back to town now to be there for him.

[Red Ranger 1]

Jett's new girlfriend is called Nina Bailey according to the credits, I don't think she's the same one from the dance.My assumption was that Romeo suggested selling the gym because he's worried about Indi being left running it on her own when he's gone.

Anyway, today's ep.Hard to really care about the Brax-Natalie-Zac stuff, it just seems to be going round and round in circles.Natalie seems to cut all ties with the Braxtons on a practically weekly basis so it's hard to see this as significant.To be honest, I'm hoping both Brax and Zac will decide they can't be bothered with her.

Have Dexter and April really broken up?It's hard to tell.This trial separation is seeming stranger and stranger and I'm really not sure what the rules are.Dexter tells April to keep the key as if he's expecting her to move back in eventually, Sid makes a big speech about her being part of their family...so it's no wonder she's getting mixed messages and thinks they're getting back together.Whilst getting back together because she's lonely isn't a good idea, it's hard to work out what they're trying to achieve by staying apart:If it was to give them space, they're not getting it, they're basically acting like a couple without the coupley bits.Not sure what Sid's comment about Dexter's memory being better when April's around was meant to signify:That having her around helps him or that she gives him more help than she should?(I thought maybe she was telling him where the card was.)Nice touch to bring back April's OCD, it makes more sense that relationship withdrawal.

Given how long they were holed up in that caravan together, I'm surprised Spencer and Maddy haven't, ahem, taken things further.Roo and Harvey's way of handling the situation didn't really help.If they were going to give them guidance, they probably should have compared notes about what that guidance was.In fact, in the circumstances, rather than the boy/girl split, it might have been more sensible for them to all sit down as a family and work out the best way of handling it.(And who knows, if Marilyn hadn't sent them to their rooms, it might not be an issue any longer...)Harvey putting the wind up Spencer and telling him that sleeping together can mean the end of a relationship was fairly bad advice.Then Spencer goes and makes a mess of things with Maddy:Okay, if he wants to wait, that's his perogative, but the way he did it made it seem like he doesn't like her anymore and left her feeling hurt.

[H&Alover]

To be honest, I'm hoping both Brax and Zac will decide they can't be bothered with her.

What as in they run off together!!! That'll teach her! So long do we give it before she drifts back to, um, help Tamara, seeing as she is now a Summer Bay High pupil and eligible to apply for counelling?

As for April & Dex, yes and no! He did give her mixed messages when she offered to give the keys back and he said no, I'm confused so it's no wonder she is. Sid was left not knowing what to say.

Sid was quick to spot her OCD has reared it's ugly head and mentioned it to Dex which helped when she showed him her 'follow the coloured paths' maps and then it all fell apart they moved classes. I liked Dex's reasoning if he could ignore his brain not listening to him she could work through her OCD like she did before. Pity she later understood him being sorry they had split as him wanting to get back together whcih would be doing it for the wrong reasons.

I know I shouldn't have assumed Maddy and Spencer has slept together, not just since they have been at the caravan park, but while they were on the run, but I did.

The sofa was probably not the best place to get up close and personal, especially with both doors open so anyone (cue Marilyn) could walk in! Spencer did seem a bit, urm, uncormfortable when he walked out. True Roo and Harvey should have discussed how they were going to tackle each teen, so they were both coming from the same direction. The result, from where I was sitting, looked like Harvey was telling Spencer to back off a bit and Roo was encouraging Maddy to go for it if she was sure that is what she wanted. He, Spencer, could have explained a lot better why he had changed his mind leaving her thinking he didn't want her aymore when he said they should cool it down. What is it with the teenagers in the bay that they feel once they have reached 16 they should take their relationships that step further?

With Romeo's cancer results (and Jett being bullied) I was wondering do they give out help line numbers like they do in British soaps if anyone has been affected by the storyline?

[Dan F]

Jett's new girlfriend is called Nina Bailey according to the credits, I don't think she's the same one from the dance.

Hmm, thought I recognised the name - could prove difficult technically if she ever gets a profile http://www.backtothebay.net/characters/bailey_nina.shtml

[Brian]

Slade, my opinion of you has gone down, if you prefer Sasha over Tamara. Even Casey only toyed with her and was never serious.

H&Alover, maybe your predictions will come out right : Casey and Sasha, Kyle and Tamara, but I think that Casey would be a bit desperate to go there again and Sasha might not want him back. I didn't expect Kyle to declare his intentions so soon. Be interesting to see how long it takes to wear Tamara down - if he does.

I'm fed up with Dex and April - that relationship is going nowhere.

Good to see Harvey and Roo sparing - they get their words out very quickly after each other. very effective. Poor ole Alf having to listen to all that - why doesn't he kick them out of his house?

Good episodes this week.

[alreetlike]

Hard to really care about the Brax-Natalie-Zac stuff, it just seems to be going round and round in circles.Natalie seems to cut all ties with the Braxtons on a practically weekly basis so it's hard to see this as significant.To be honest, I'm hoping both Brax and Zac will decide they can't be bothered with her

Me too, and then hopefully instead of just wandering around at random poking her nose into everybody's business and giving AWFUL advice.. she'll just wander off completely and we'll never have to see her again.

I dislike Natalie, by the way.

Dex and April... man this is dragging on a bit, isn't it? Either break up or don't (actually, PLEASE DO!) but don't have some sort of half-relationship which suits nobody. I'm pleased April's OCD is getting a mention though, continuity makes me feel warm inside. Romeo & Liam's little reunion was also good, for this reason. I'm not a fan of either character but I'm pleased one of the writers thought "hey.. didn't they used to be friends?"

[Red Ranger 1]

Jett's new girlfriend is called Nina Bailey according to the credits, I don't think she's the same one from the dance.

Hmm, thought I recognised the name - could prove difficult technically if she ever gets a profile http://www.backtothebay.net/characters/bailey_nina.shtml

Guess we'd have to list them as Nina Bailey(2010)and Nina Bailey(2013)or something.There's probably been a few characters with the same first name and no surname given after all.And that's before we get on to how many characters were credited as 'Ambulance Officer' or such...

Alf's episode count this week:Two(although he was credited on Thursday for no appearance).

Somewhat disappointed that Spencer's absence meant no follow-up on his and Maddy's relationship problems.Given that between them Roo, Harvey and Marilyn threw a spanner in the works of an up-till-now happy relationship, you'd hope they'd get them together and try and help them work it through rather than arguing about whose fault it was.Roo and Harvey arguing is hardly a newsflash and the real issue was surely Maddy blaming herself rather them going out to lunch because they forgot to have make-up sex or something.

I don't know what the heck's meant to be going on with April and Dexter.Dexter says that they're getting too dependent on each other and need to learn to stand on their own two feet.Okay, fine, that makes sense, I even agree with it up to a point.But then by the end of the episode they're sat on the sofa, exchanging their usual forced "cute" banter and gushing about how special they are.So, the only thing different is they didn't drop everything to have sex instead at the end, which is an improvement but not really what the break's meant to be about.(And why was Dexter helping her memorise her timetable instead of actually helping her study?Maybe it would help an OCD sufferer stay in control, at least until it all changes again, but why not just...look at the timetable, like everyone else does for the first few weeks?)April took a long time to realise her new study buddy thought they were on a date, given he was asking her about her favourite colour.Then again, he seemed to take a long time to twig that she had a bunch of textbooks in front of her and wanted to talk about DNA.On the subject of confusing reused names, apparently his surname's Smith.Okay, it's a common name so it's not like he's an unrelated Braxton or Bezmel or something but with Romeo on the show why didn't they just call him something else?

Loved Heath getting dressed up in shirt again, same it was for nothing.Connie was out of line suddenly changing plans, even if they wanted to celebrate Darcy's win, why not let Heath come with them?Good that Bianca stood up for him and arranged for Darcy to stay over but Heath was majorly dumb in keeping Darcy beyond the agreed time.Okay, it can be hard to say no to a crying child but given how Connie reacted when she thought Heath had kidnapped Darcy before, she wasn't going to just take it when he effectively did just that.He's just undone all the progress they've made. Not that Connie's giving Darcy much consideration, it's not going to do much for her to be separated from the father she loves by police officers, it's lucky Bianca was allowed to take her home so she could soften the blow.

[Slade]

Slade, my opinion of you has gone down, if you prefer Sasha over Tamara. Even Casey only toyed with her and was never serious.

Good to see you haven't lost your charm since you've been away Brian. What's wrong with liking Sasha?

Me too, and then hopefully instead of just wandering around at random poking her nose into everybody's business and giving AWFUL advice.. she'll just wander off completely and we'll never have to see her again.

I dislike Natalie, by the way.

EXACTLY. I've said this quite a few times but Natalie does my head in. I frequently find her quite annoying. I'm still struggling to see where she fits in at the moment and still find her dubious as a counsellor. I mentioned this on Monday but she actually gave Rosie good advice telling her to steer clear of Sasha and shortly afterwards pressures Sasha into including Rosie in her school uniform campaign thereby contradicting what she did previously. Luckily Rosie had the sense to say no. Don't like the way she is indecisive regarding the whole Brax/Zac thing. It's like she's making out to Brax that she doesn't want to be with him but wants to be with Zac and when Brax tries steer clear of her, she gets all upset...please.

"If you follow your urges rather than your head it can be the beginning of the end" - loved that line from Harvey to Spencer, it's actually very good advice to a young person wanting to have sex for the first time and I loved that it made Spencer back out of taking things further with Maddie. Don't like those two as a couple at all and didn't particularly enjoy having to sit through them at the beginning of Thursday's episode. As a person, I can't really fault Spencer but the character doesn't particularly interest me at the moment. After liking Maddie when she and Spencer came back, I've gone off her. Find her to be a bit of a brat i.e. the arguing with Roo last week and found her annoying when she was getting all horny and then frustrated with Spencer, got into a strop and indirectly caused an argument with Harvey and Roo.

I think Dex/April is a classic case of codependency. They probably shouldn't be spending any time together whilst they are still trying to overcome their issues. And neither of them should be dating ANYONE. Still it will be interesting to see where this goes.

I'm definitely on Heath's side with regards to Darcy but he was an idiot for not bringing her back when he was supposed to and has simply played into Connie's hands.