Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Heath and Bianca's stuff in the city continued to be fun and they did actually look the part when dressed up for the wedding.Seems that despite his acting like he's not interested, Heath does want to do this properly.And Bianca was mainly using it as a distraction from the principal's stuff.

I'm glad to see Sid back in the supportive parent role but it does feel like dodging the issue a bit to have Dexter decide to quit because of his seizures rather than because of the choices he made, as does the way the seizure's blamed on him getting his medication wrong.The Spencer/Maddy stuff continues to be fairly well written, you can see the point of view of everyone involved which means you can sympathise with the people that feel hard done by without disliking those on the other side.Harvey and Spencer breaking into smiles while sat together on the wharf was a nice moment.

The self-defence class seemed a bit sparsely populated, did Zac actually advertise it or just mention it to people he passed in the street?Shame there was no mention of April signing up for Tony's boxing classes when she first came to town, could have been a good continuity moment.Rosie continues to show definite progression:It's hard to imagine that, a few months ago, she'd have been so quick to make friendly overtures towards Bella and been happy to partner up with her while Sasha helped Maddy.But the flashback shows she's really not over this and it's nice that Mullens changing school isn't a magic fix:Rosie's still left with a lot to deal with and, with Bella's story, the likelihood of him doing it again becomes even greater.

[H&Alover]

Heath certainly looks good in a suit, a lot of muscular men just don't look right but he carried it off. Seems Bianca also was having second thoughts.

Maybe Dex thought his, um, incident with Steph would always follow him round together with his, very unlikely, possibility of having a seizure while tending to a patient. I'm guessing he won't want April finding out any time soon as she will almost certainly try and talk him out of it. He was already insistent she didn't find out about his seizure.

Just because you are the one who did the breaking up doesn't mean you can't be sad as well especially as you still love that person even if you aren't 'in love' with them. Harvey and Roo definitely do need to talk to each other before dispensing advide to Spencer/Maddy.

I knew there had been another self defence class going on besides the one that Elijah held and wasn't there one way back in Cassie's day? They never seem to last long do they? Zac must have put posters up somewhere, gym, surf club, school. Hardly a massive turn out Sasha, Rosie, April and Belle, Maddy only joined in by accident. Bella's pretty astute to catch on why Rosie was there and she does seem more street wise than her. If Bella comes from Yabby Creek how did she know about the self defence classes when it seems most of the women in the bay didn't?

I can see why the police aren't willing to charge Mullens, it did happen a couple of months ago and she and Rosie had been talking about it, comparing notes a good defence lawyer woud argue. At least they have it on record and should it happen again or some other girl comes foward by going straight to the cops he will find it harder to wriggle out of it.

His ex 'mate' (does he have a name) that was hanging back from the others taunting Rosie, I'm unsure as to whether he really doesn't want to be part of it and is too scared to break away or is lulling us into a false sense of security. Bianca handled that very well.

I loved how Bianca went to see John and Jett to let them know she would be taking over Gina's post (temporarily), can't have been easy to do that. To me it would be better having her she is more likely to respect her past work and what she had done than someone new coming in and just sweeping it all aside. Btw didn't the Principals office used to be up that little flight of stairs opposite the front doors beacuse it looked like she just walked along the corridor on the ground floor.

I do feel for John he is trying so hard (too hard) to keep things as they were when Gina was there by wanting to do everything all by himself. He can't do that no matter how much he'd like to, he'll be making himself ill and Jett definitely doesn't need that to happen. At least Marilyn managed to persuade him to let her help out and everyone else is willing pitch in. Maybe though he is wanting to do it all to stop him having time to think about Gina. Jett may have been out of order telling Bianca to get out of her/Gina's office but to his eyes it looked like she was removing all trace of her when she'd only been there five minutes. Zac had a good idea about taking the students out of the class room to help them relax, after all he couldn't do that in his last job could he , but he should have OK'd it with Bianca. It would have been on her head if one of them had had an accident. I think Jett was going to speak up on his behalf before his blow up at Bianca.

Where on earth did Tam get the idea she and Casey would be getting married?? He's only 18 and she's 17(?), they have no money and haven't known each other that long!

[c120701]

They got rid of the stairs following the rebuild of the school.

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm a bit confused over Bella's introduction now.She clearly wasn't wearing an SBH uniform so she seems to go to another school, presumably Yabbie Creek.So as well as, as H&Alover said, the question of how she knew about the self-defence class, I'm left wondering how exactly she met Mullens.The implication seemed to be that her rape occurred some time ago but the possibility exists that Mullens moved to her school after Summer Bay and it's happened in the last few weeks, which arguably makes Kyle indirectly responsible by scaring him off.(Although that would mean Alf and Harvey gave up their plan to keep an eye on the caravan park very quickly.)Lachlan has always been a bit apart from Mullens and the others when they're causing trouble and seemed uncomfortable with it, I get the feeling he realises Mullens is no good but doesn't want to rock the boat by speaking out.

John was well-intentioned but doing things the exact same way Gina did wasn't going to convince Jett that nothing had changed and it's good he finally called him out on it.I'm surprised that they were so quick to embrace the bachelor lifestyle though.Nice parallel with Bianca, who's also trying to be Gina and actually managing it quite well.Although it was nice to see John and Jett bond, I think Bianca handled it wrong by walking out of the office like that and just leaving him there.(Nice to see Natalie earning her pay by standing around in a corridor doing nothing while a student has a breakdown...) Zac was well-intentioned but taking the kids down the beach was a step too far:Don't they have a playing field?Nice to see Casey keeping his promise to Xavier and playing the big brother figure with Jett.

Indi and Roo's chat is the closest indication we've had yet that the situation with Romeo is common knowledge.Although Chris has only just found out.I am actually finding him more likeable now, even if he is rather annoying still.It wasn't really Casey's place to tell him but Indi overreacted by firing him and it's good that he finally stood up to her and she realised how much she relies on him. Casey should be 19, I'm guessing Tamara's the same, we've been told she's older than the rest of her class.

So, seems Brax went away without telling us again.Kyle just sitting there while he and Ricky fool around on the couch and Brax jumping a mile was a great comic moment.I can't see I've seen any sign before that Brax has been handsoff with the restaurant since Adam died, he seemed as involved as ever.I'm guessing that Ricky was meant to be transferring the money from the Angelo's account at the end(given how eager she was for Brax to look at Kyle's records and the way she was paying so much attention to Kyle entering the account details)but it wasn't really clear.Why to Connie, though?Surely she's not one of Adam's creditors?!

[H&Alover]

Is SBH one storey now? Bella mentioned she went to school in Yabby Creek but still doesn't answer the question how she knew about the self defence classes. I got the impression it happened before Rosies',oh I remember now she said she tracked him down to SBH only to find he'd moved on. Glad Lachlan has a name, thanks Red.

I can see why John was trying to keep things the same for Jett believing he was doing the right thing, but all it was doing, as Jett said, was reminding him she wasn't there any more. Their living a 'bachelors life' may be just what they need short term, I reckon they would soon get fed up with going out to eat every day, even if it will be free meals at Angelo's, they would have to pay at the Diner, and living in a tip would soon grate. John suggested getting a cleaner but they would have to pay her! It was good to hear Jett laugh after John switched on blow instead of suck on the vaccuum cleaner. John's chat with Harvey was moving, the fact they weren't bosum buddies made more of an impact then Maz, Alf or Irene may have done because he didn't pussyfoot round him. His advice that he shouldn't keep trying to be strong for Jett so he didn't feel he had to be strong for him was very good.

Casey maybe shouldn't have told Chris about Romeo, but he was only doing to get him to back off which to his credit he did. Indi did say to him about not telling customers her private life so yes I gues most of the bay do, or at least friends of her and Romeo. I'm glad he gave as good as he got and didn't just roll over, luckily she wasn't too proud to admit her mistake and went and apologised and is even going to get temporary staff in to ease Casey's burden. I reckon as she coudn't take her frustrations out on Romeo she was using Casey as the next best thing.

Didn't even realise Brax had gone missing until Kyle welcomed him back! So OK he's not getting as involved in his brothers affairs as much but he does still own Angelo's and does need to be consulted on certain things, especially anything financial. What is her plan with transferring money to Connie's account, wouldn't she need more than the account holders name? Didn't spot how much was in Angelo's account before she took the $100,000 out but it's sure to make a dent! Is she going to make it look like Brax had paid for Connie to take Darcy away thus creating a rift between him and Heath?

She gets Kyle to do an ilegal job, and plants a 'package' in Casey and Tamara's place, she's more like Adam than we thought!

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Three.

Again, I'm finding Chris hugely entertaining even if he is someone that would probably be annoying if you knew them in real life.He and Indi are actually making a pretty good double act, it's nice that she's loosened up a bit.There's a kind of naivety about him that stops him being too obnoxious:His "I think she likes me!" after April gives him the brush off and Indi's long-suffering look to camera was a great comedy moment.April initially being flattered about being chatted up was nice, shame it didn't last and she's soon back believing her own publicity and declaring she's better off dying a lonely old spinster than dating someone other than alleged "soul mate" Dexter.Presumably she came to that conclusion after she spent months sleeping with Heath(and trying to sleep with Xavier), with no suggestion she was missing him.(It's possible there was meant to be a subtext there about Indi wondering if she's the same, if she's never going to replace Romeo and be alone for the rest of her life, but it's hard to be sure.)

Shame John didn't tell Jett about the adoption being put on hold:Going straight round to school to do it was a bit much but he should have told him the next time he saw him.Hopefully he'll get it sorted that evening rather than dragging it out.

Ricky's clearly up to something but not clear what so far.When she first told Kyle about Brax's supposed financial problems, I wondered if it was to cover up the missing money but maybe she had it in mind to get him to do a "job" all along.You'd think Kyle would have more questions than that, especially about Connie being the recipient of the money, but I guess he still finds Brax a bit intimidating, it's hard to believe Heath or Casey would be that quick to fall for Ricky's "If you ask him, he'll get angry" claim.

[H&Alover]

I was wondering about Indi identifying with April and not having another boyfriend/husband after having lost their respective 'soul mates'. AS we saw Indi does go on a date with Chris and and going back to his caravan! Maybe he's just what she needs, a bit of fun, nothing serious.

John should have told Jett when they were on the beach, but maybe he didn't want to bring him down. Hope he doesn't leave it too late. I just knew he was going to say he played the nurse when he was in his schools production of Romeo & Juliet.

Ricky is definitely up to something, I did have the feeling that maybe she hoped Heath will find out the 'payment' and he will tackle Brax about it. I said before Kyle may be the manager and is in charge, but wouldn't Brax as owner still need to keep some sort of control on what money is being spent and on what? I had a theory that Ricky was getting revenge on Brax for what had happened to Adam but something happens next week that I certainly didn't see coming and blows my theory right out of the water!

[Red Ranger 1]

Well.Once again Chris was one of the entertaining things in the episode.He might not have much depth to him but his reaction to Spencer's flunk was spot on and I'd probably have got fed up and dragged him out of the caravan too.Even Harvey seemed to approve.That said, despite his trying to put on a front with Indi, Spencer's speech about never having cared for a girl probably got to him. Ironically, Indi is possibly the only girl he ever has had conversations with.

I winced when the continuity announcer spoke about Indi trying to get April and Dexter get back together but actually it wasn't too bad, with a manageable amount of April/Dex interaction and a lot of Indi back to her bouncy self and showing excellent comic timing as her attempts are repeatedly frustrated.I have to say, with Romeo hopefully out of the way for good, on the basis of the last two episodes Indi seems to have had a new lease of life.Dexter's sarcastic reaction to the most obvious set-up in history was a delight as well(His faux shocked "I think you're going to have to go!" was the line of the episode).But then we get that ending, with April going off on one simply because the episode has to end with her and Dex falling out again.I could try and come up with a deep explanation for it but it doesn't really deserve that much thought so I'll settle for "April's annoying and self-righteous".That fits.

It's probably proceeding at a realistic pace but despite the pleasing way Alf and Marilyn were involved I'm finding it hard to get involved in John's storyline.We had endless scenes of the adoption being discussed without any real plot progression before Gina's death and now it feels like we're getting them again.It doesn't help that we've basically had half an "inciting incident" to go all Robert McKee story structure, with Jett still unaware of what's going on and no reaction from him.

[H&Alover]

Spencer definitely hit the nail on the head with Chris when he said he'd never been in love so wouldn't know what he (Spencer) was going through. Not sure Harvey's speech helped either! I think you could be right Red about Indi being the only girl/woman Chris has had a serious conversation with. I'm guessing he doesn't usually do a lot of that apart from 'Hi I'm Chris, want to come back to mine?'

Her rant at Casey last week seems to have snapped Indi out of her down mood seeing as she was dead set on getting April & Dex back together. I liked Dex's 'I suppose you will be getting an urgent phone call now' remark to Indi. It didn't turn out like she had planned though as April accused Dex (rightly or wrongly) of using his epilesy as an excuse to stop nursing, methinks she was nearer the mark than Dex would have liked.

Come on John tell Jett what is going on before he overhears others talking about it and loses faith in you. Wise move to get Morag's view on it and loved Alf's 'Your'e not gong to charge your own brother are you?' I think most soaps have people moaning that a particular storyline is taking too long or has been resolved too quickly, TPTB can't win sometimes.

[Red Ranger 1]

Oh dear.I knew the show wouldn't be brave enough to leave Dexter and April apart.I'm aware I sound like a broken record but they don't work as a couple and never have.Nothing has changed since they broke up and the show's so desperate to convince us they have that they end up contradicting themselves all over the place.We get April helping Dexter resolve to fight for his nursing, the implication being that she's the only one that can help him, but then we get a load of "I wasn't treating him like a patient"/"We're not needy and codependent" speeches that seem to go completely against that moral, before the show waves a white flag, accepts there's no logic, throws around the term "soul mate" a few times and treats us to five minutes of pure drivel with the forced fake cuteness of their parallel chats and them running into each other's arms.Spare me.

What else?Oh yeah, Adam's alive.Presumably it's meant to be a shock but actually it's more of a disappointment.His exit was very affecting and effective but now he's been brought back in a manner that completely undermines it as well as defying credibility.Brax and Heath got a good look at his body and clearly believed him to be dead, his death has been discussed openly enough for us to be able to safely assume he's been legally declared dead, Jamie seemed to believe he was dead and mentioned a funeral...Even with a lot of dramatic license, we need a better explanation for all this than "I got hit by a car but I got better", yet I suspect that the throwaway lines of dialogue at the end, which seem to suggest Brax and Heath just left him lying there and he got up after they'd gone, are all we're going to get.(Actually, the whole thing makes much more sense if you assume that Heath knows he's alive.But they wouldn't go there, would they?)

So, actually the best part of the episode is the Indi/Chris stuff.I am really starting to like Chris as well as finding him entertaining.Could have done with a bit more build up to his and Indi's hookup, which just seems to sort of happen in a way that leaves the audience thinking they've missed a scene, but there's some nice subtext going on here, with Indi symbolically abandoning all hope of a reunion with Romeo, Sid clearly realising something's happened but deciding to keep the peace, and the irony that after all the time they've spent together Indi is now more than some hot girl Chris wants to have some action with yet she's only interested in casual sex.