Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Slade]

Really, really didn't like Tamara's reaction and the way she was in the hospital when she found out Casey might not be able to walk again. I wanted Casey and Tamara together before but I really want to see Casey and Maddie together now so if it means things working out for Tamara and Kyle so be it. I actually quite liked the way Maddie was crying over Casey. It shows that she really cares about him. My attitude towards Maddie has changed since she's away from Spencer now. When she stormed off crying when they arrived back at the caravan park, I probably would have said she made it all about her but now I'm gonna sat it was more to do with Casey than it was to do with her.

Sasha was a lot more likeable today. Not sure how the sudden turnaround occurred but it was good to see her not obsessively moan about Chris. I did think however that she was almost too nice and I also thought there was a bit of chemistry there too between her and Chris in a couple of the scenes, especially the one at the diner. With regards to Sasha and Spencer declaring their love for each other, although I don't like them as a couple it was almost a relief as I really didn't like the way Spencer stormed off and went after Maddie when he heard about the accident. Don't want him dampening a possible Casey/Maddie romance either.

Brax may have seemed harsh towards Sasha but I really didn't have a problem with it. He was only saying what she was thinking anyway and since she broke up with Casey and told him to stay away from her there haven't really been many scenes with those two. I didn't even think she really cared about him. I remember a while back when he saved her from drowning she didn't even express one bit of gratitude in fact she basically told him to get lost. Even last week she was warning Maddie to stay away from, it still felt like she thought the worst of him. Spencer did too but at least his argument was let's put it to one side. Peta ran some tests when he was in hospital so if he was intoxicated it would have shown up surely.

I thought Brax donating the $80000 to help Pippa's treatment was a really kind gesture. And I thought it was completely genuine (waiting for the comments about how inconsistent that was with his character, they won't buy it, bad writing etc). The way I see it who cares how they get the money, as long nobody's died to receive it and Pippa receives treatment that's the most important thing. It will be interesting to see the interaction with Sally and Brax if she discovers it was him who donated it.

I think Irene was absolutely crazy to let Chris stay. I can tell even from this episode he is going to be a serious pain in the backside to live with.

My first thought when I saw Hannah approach Zak was Holly mark 2 but I'm glad it wasn't as bad as that. Be interesting to see what happens next week.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Three(and he was credited for no appearance on Tuesday).Roo, Brax, Casey and non-regular Sally were in four(although, very strangely, Casey wasn't credited today). John and Jett were only in one(although they were also credited for no appearance on Tuesday).Dexter didn't appear at all, but at least we know where he is.

I have to admit being quite disappointed that episode counts meant we didn't get to see Spencer checking on Maddy.I'm not expecting a reunion, it feels like the show's determined to turn Spencer and Sasha into their new power-couple however badly they might be suited(is that the first time they've used the L word to each other?), but I like seeing them together even if it's just as friends.Glad Sasha seems to have come round about Chris, shame she's now turned her attention to Casey.I thought Brax was a bit hard on her at first, given he thought the same, but then she carried on spreading stories about him afterwards so my sympathy got revoked.Also surprised she went running to the hospital when she's barely spoken to him since he hooked up with Tamara.Incidentally, when Tamara said last episode that Casey wasn't messed up until they broke up, it left me wondering how well she knows him.Casey hitting the self-destruct in a crisis is nothing new.(She should compare notes with Sasha.And Ruby.And Henri.)Irene and Chris housesharing could well be comedy gold.She'd probably be grateful for any company given she was practically begging April to visit and not just because it's April.I can't remember if it was this thread or another one but I remember someone asking what Chris does for money since he doesn't seem to work.Do his parents send him some?The scenes of everyone in town slowly learning about the car crash were good and the sort of thing they'd have done in the past although two "Haven't you heard?"s may have been pushing it.

I thought Brax making the donation would annoy me but actually it didn't at all and I thought that underplayed chat between him and Alf was really good.I don't think it's out of character at all actually, he's always had that side of him that wants to help people out and given Heath and Bianca's reasons for setting up the wishing well and how helpless he felt when Rocco died, I think maybe part of him's seeing it as his way of making up for that.I am a bit puzzled that he'd have $80,000 lying around though, it's been a long time since he had limitless wealth and it's only a few weeks since he was relying on Kyle to scrape together the money for his fine.Did Connie give back that money Ricky transferred?I do get the feeling, though, that Alf realised how futile his request that Brax leaves sorting out the crash to the police was.Sally and Pippa's scene on the beach left me with mixed feelings, I'm glad Pippa's getting treatment but I'm going to miss both of them, it does feel like Summer Bay's where they belong and almost as if them being there has revitalised the town.I'd love them to come back when Pippa's better but I guess that depends on Kate Ritchie.Seems we're back to Alf and co buying the house, I'd hoped it wouldn't come to that.Are we going to learn anything about exactly how Winston went bankrupt?

I'm not sure if it was the lighting but Hannah did look a lot younger than I presume she's meant to be at first.It does look like lessons have been learned from Natalie's paperthin character and they're actually building on Zac and giving him a life beyond his role on the show.(And hopefully it'll take his mind off Bianca.)Be interesting to explore it.

[H&Alover]

Sasha assuming Casey had been drinking wasn't that hard to see, I don't think he and her have been around each other since he cleaned up his act. Brax, being family, thinking it is one thing, but outsiders is different. He did question Casey, and as Slade said any tests the hospital did would have shown up any alcohol in his system and the cops would have been called. Brax is obviously itching to find out more as to who may have caused, but neither Casey or Maddy could confirm it wasn't an accident. Casey may have his suspicions, but as neither he or Maddy know what kind of transport Andy and Josh have it's only guess work, so far.

Glad, though I don't suppose Winston would see it that way, that Harvey let Roo in on Winston's secret. Clever of Alf to work out just who is was and Brax didn't do that good a job of denying it. I was just as puzzled as to how Brax was able to lay his hands on such a big sum, he's going to need to get a lot of customers into Angelo's to recoup it.

Just where did that turnaround by Sasha towards Chris come from! Was it seeing him trying to help Indi and getting into a tizz over how to operate the computer, proving he's not infallible? As to how he's living, until he moved into Irene's he was sponging off Spencer. Indi may be able to take him on until Casey is (hopefully) fit again, is she can afford to. Second time Casey has been out of action due to an injury since he's been working at the gym. Would he be entitled to sick pay?

Lovely scene on the beach between Sally and Pippa, I'm sure a farewell party will be arranged so she can get to say bye to everyone. Didn't want to say goodbye, sounds too final.

Wonder of wonders we had an explanation of who Hannah was, she's the sister of Zac's late sister-in-law. Surprise, surprise though Zac is estranged form his brother. Perhaps she is younger, depending on how long the estrangement has been she may have only been a young girl when they last saw each other, especially when she said 'you do remember me'.

[Red Ranger 1]

I guess we need the exposition out of the way but it kind of feels like we're treading water with Zac and Hannah's storyline.On the surface, the commune merely seems a bit spartan-although the attendees seem rather spaced out-but this is Home and Away, it'd be a bigger twist if it didn't turn out to be dodgy.It's understandable Zac wants to see evidence for himself though and he does seem to be taking Hannah seriously.Leah and Zac's continued friendship is a nice use of her.

Kind of cringed at April and Dexter's reunion, which was typically overplayed with them both trying too hard to be cute and quirky.Thankfully, they settled down in the hospital scenes and handled their solo chats with Brax and Casey pretty well.I understand Brax is worried about Casey but his constant angry act got a bit tiring, Indi definitely didn't deserve to be spoken to the way she did.Lincoln Younes did a good job for the most part in playing Casey as sympathetic but no actor could have rescued that last scene, in which Casey's fall is entirely down to him being a plonker.

Irene and Chris continue to be great together, although I hope the tension goes at some point.Irene really doesn't know how to handle him at the moment, I'm surprised she kept a straight face when he made that comment about respecting his elders.Was unfortunate that he broke two of her ground rules straightaway, his own ground rules were pretty funny.

[Brian]

Really, really didn't like Tamara's reaction and the way she was in the hospital when she found out Casey might not be able to walk again. I wanted Casey and Tamara together before but I really want to see Casey and Maddie together now so if it means things working out for Tamara and Kyle so be it. I actually quite liked the way Maddie was crying over Casey. It shows that she really cares about him. My attitude towards Maddie has changed since she's away from Spencer now. When she stormed off crying when they arrived back at the caravan park, I probably would have said she made it all about her but now I'm gonna sat it was more to do with Casey than it was to do with her.

That's very generous of you Slade, sating you wouldn't mind Kyle and Tamara staying together. Thought you were all against that! I would like to see them continue, if only Tamara would sort herself out properly.

Red, I like the "Kylemara" bit!

[H&Alover]

Been a while since we had a cult storyline, though very different from the last one. This seems very upmarket, would I be right in thinking Ethan has been asked to make a 'donation' to them? They obviously, allegedly, zoning on in people who are vulnerable. I may have missed it but was the name of the place mentioned for Leah to be able to look it on the net? The police can't really do anything as Ethan and his children did go voluntarily. Seems odd that as soon as children reach the age of 16 they are packed off to some sort of boot camp, but they are not young kids. We did find out why Zac and he hadn't spoken, Ethan turned him in but it backfired and Zac got jail time.

Brax did what most people do in soaps when a loved one is ill, shouted 'why can't you help him/her' at the nearest medical person, in this case Peta. Casey obviously has some feeling in the top part of his legs. April, while feeling for Brax, backed up Peta in her prognosis, just explained it a lot more sympathetically. Dex, having recently been in Casey's place more or less, tried not to build his hopes up too much while still being optimistic. Agree he was a right idiot trying to stand! Indi didn't deserve what Brax said to her, she wasn't asking, like Brax thought, how long it would be before Casey was back at work, she was just saying that his clients were asking after him, because they like him. Ricky has her work cut out getting Brax to open up more to her, he's been so used to handling everything by himself.

Chris did rather have the sudden arrival of Indi sprung on him, but he could have protested more when she bought in the bottle, I thought Indi knew about Irene's rule about booze, even if she wasn't there? She's had troublesome house guests before so I'm sure she'll soon lick him into shape.

[630si]

I don't know how I feel about The Sanctuary Lodge. At all. I guess we will see, I think I'm finding it hard with the new characters so hopefully I'll ease into this one as it goes.

Nice to see more scenes in Irene's over the last few days, wasted set these last few months. Is anything going to come of Irene's tiredness? She's not mentioned it in a few weeks. I'm glad Chris didn't have Indi climb through the window, shows that he's not a complete tool and respects Irene's rules. Makes him more and more likeable.

Kyle and his paranoid behaviour is beyond boring now. The relationship is built out of a very strange situation and I think sometimes he forgets that!

[Red Ranger 1]

There's been nothing overtly dangerous about the commune so far but there's a disturbing undercurrent of weirdness in there.Oscar seemed extremely nervous, being ordered around by his sister and looking at Ethan as though checking what he's supposed to say.Evelyn was showing all the signs of brainwashing, trotting out lines about Hannah not being able to "progress herself" and viewing her as the enemy. Ethan is an oddity and perhaps the most worrying of all.While he showed signs of toeing the party line with his talk of Hannah not taking the proper steps to grieve and heal, his phone call at the end(to the commune leader?)suggests he's still got enough self-awareness to think that Zac won't approve of what's going on.(Incidentally, I have never heard anyone pronounce Evelyn the way Miss MacGuire does, three syllables with 'e' as in 'egg' rather than 'e' as in 'emu'.)

Wow, another mention of April's relationship with Heath!We're getting a lot of those lately.I'm not sure about Indi and Chris although I certainly don't object to them.Their interaction with other characters is great though, loved the way Alf and Roo reacted to getting far too much information.I'm glad Chris refused to let Indi use The Window and decided to respect Irene and get her onside.

Tamara's sudden attachment to Casey is making me as uncomfortable as Kyle, she seems to be falling back into old habits as evidenced by the way she almost kisses him goodbye then realises they don't have that sort of relationship anymore.Kyle is torn between trying to do the noble thing and being powerless to control his relationship and he's not going to find many sympathetic ears, although Ricky was more understanding than most people have been.Him blowing up at the end was possibly not smart but still.

[Brian]

Ah! Poor Kyle. He's been so good letting Tamara find her way with her feelings, never shouted at her or imposed conditions on their relationship. Quite mature for someone his age, I thought. So what happens next? Will Casey reject her? Will Tamara come back to Kyle? She is so unpredictable. Kyle should move on to someone his own height and with no complications.

[Red Ranger 1]

Aww, Heath is so loveable.His scenes with Casey were great and it's nice to see them showing affection to each other.Shame Kyle got left out in the cold again.Shame too that he's called time on things with Tamara although I can see why he did it if he's going to be left playing second fiddle to Casey.

The situation with the Barretts is being handled utterly wrongly as usual and the fact that characters other than the Braxtons are involved just makes it all the more ridiculous.Maddy, when you find out who was responsible, you don't tell Brax, you tell the police.Brax storming off like a one-man army as if knowing the first name of the person involved somehow means he can find him was one of many silly moments.When Bianca and Harvey suggest calling the police, they basically get ignored:Okay, we expect that response from Brax but why aren't Alf and Roo marching Maddy down to the station so she can give a statement?Do they not care that the guy who virtually tried to kill her is on the loose?It's not entirely clear whether Josh's involvement extends beyond merely being in the vehicle but Andy's clearly dangerous and needs locking up.But that would mean the storyline was over, so everyone has to act like idiots in order to prolong it.Plus point:We finally got a scene of Maddy visiting Casey in hospital and it sparkled between them.