Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Eleri]

Ricky has had a miscarriage. Her hormones and emotions are all over the place and the one person who should be aware of her vulnerability because he's her doctor, thinks it's a good time to try his luck. Nate has to be the least professional doctor ever!

I am really enjoying Kyle and Phoebe together and hope she sticks around. Most of the other storylines have gone off the boil for me. The stuff with Sean seemed pointless so I was pleased he got whisked away. I'm not really interested in the Maguires and although the actor playing Harvey is doing a great job I am losing interest in his turmoil.

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't know if it's because she stuck a spanner in the chances of Kyle and Tamara getting back together but I'm really not warming to Phoebe at all and I'm not keen on this whole storyline.At least Phoebe seems to be vaguely sane now but she's still annoying.I much preferred the interaction between Kyle and Tamara, even if it did feel uncomfortably like goodbye, especially with the way she then put her feelings aside and pushed him towards Phoebe.

I was surprised that Evelyn didn't want to go to the funeral, I guess she finally reached breaking point when it came to trying to ignore Ethan's flaws.It was a nice touch to have Oscar be the one to talk her into it rather than using it as an excuse to turn Zac and Hannah into superparents.I think she would ultimately have ended up regretting it if she hadn't gone.The attempt to pad out the guest list with random regulars felt...well, random.Okay, Leah's close to the family, Ricky went camping with Zac and Evelyn that time, and Nate works with Hannah but I don't think any of them ever met Ethan.

Not sure what to make of Nate.We're probably meant to see him as a nice guy but the more he loses his initial sulkiness the blander he gets.It doesn't help that he seems a bit purposeless, especially since he ended up as a doctor without a hospital, leaving him hanging around Ricky all the time.

[H&Alover]

Thanks for the 'what happened previously' bit H&A it reminded me that Sean learnt Sasha and Spencers' (and by extension Chris') parents were doctors from them at the party!!!

It would have been far too easy for him just to leave town, have to drag the drama out a bit more. Good for you Chris (and Spencer) tackling him like that. Nice to see Irene being encouraging to Chris later on, it wasn't his fault, he had know idea how badly he was injured. As for Andy being worried about Sean's mates wanting revenge, it's an unwritten rule they usually scuttle once the main man has been nabbed, they don't want to end up inside as well.

Had a thought about Kyle's down mood, he could have killed Sean, which would have made him the third Braxton to have killed someone. Added to what he nearly did to Casey no surprise he was feeling the way he was. When did Phoebe move into a caravan and how did he know she was there? Wise move on her part turning Kyle down when he first turned up, rather sad when he turned up later and asked for her to help him get back to the way he was, lovely as that might be, to use an old cliché, too much water has flowed under the bridge for that to happen. Surprised she made him sleep out side, what was wrong with the floor? Or would that have been too tempting - for her?

Although it's great to see Kyle happy and smiling when he's playing his music, still not keen on Phoebe, she sounds keen on re-starting the band and fuddy duddy as it sounds Kyle has responsibilities now otherwise known as Angelo's. Tam is finally stepping back from being so involved with the Braxton's by quitting work to 'concentrate on her studios'. Even if she can manage not to see them socially, working with them means she can't avoid seeing them.

Kyle may not have been subtle about Nate and the way he is hanging around Ricky, but he's right. They (Ricky and Nate) have only known each other for a short while and Ricky has been in a vulnerable state, despite her previously having been a tough cookie, Brax going to prison, dumping her, finding she was pregnant, then losing the baby. I don't know if he is doing it intentionally and does have genuine feelings for her, but now is not the right time. He needs to step back. Technically he is still her doctor and is being very unethical the way he is going, especially after the kiss.

I can understand Evie not wanting to go to Ethan's funeral, she invested a lot in him and stood by him, even returning to the Sanctuary to 'save' him. Then he betrays her belief in him by becoming the new leader. Though I don't believe he was ready to kill them , it was just bad luck, timing, that he was killed by the bomb before he could get back to them. It was his 'followers' who deserted her, Oscar (and Kyle). I'm with her though I hate the word closure!!!! I suppose Nate went to support Hannah seeing as they work together, Ricky as you said Red because she helped Evie adjust to life outside the cult. As Oscar said to her it was to draw a lime under their previous life. Sad it was such a small gathering and Zac was truthful about Ethan and his life without making seem like a saint. So we have a mysterious stranger, a woman this time, turn up, how many times does that happen at soap funerals? We saw from the trailer Zac and Hannah quizzing her, how did she know about it would be one question?

So Harvey is off again, hopefully Roo won't be ringing him every five minutes.

:offtopic:OK call me dumb, but I've only just realised why the koala's are called Al & Di, pronounced Dee.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well.Part of me thinks that it's a bit too soon to have another previously unknown half-sibling to turn up, what with Sasha and Kyle.(The fact that the MacGuires live in the same house as the Walkers and it's a carbon copy of Sasha's arrival apart from the father dying instead of the mother doesn't help.)That said, I did find Denny instantly appealing and don't think she deserved the hostility she got from Hannah.Maybe springing it on Oscar and Evelyn right after their father's funeral isn't the best time but I hope they don't keep quiet for too long.Zac's response was interesting:While Hannah would put the kids first, he's probably intrigued by having another niece.I'm assuming from his comment that this was all long before Sarah, although given that Denny's only four years older than the twins it can't have been that long before.

I'm finding these quirky John/Marilyn/Jett storylines less and less engaging.John probably is going a bit far with the punishments but Marilyn didn't help the situation by undermining him, having a word with him in private would have been a better way to handle things.

I didn't quite buy Heath encouraging Ricky to go after Nate.I get that he cares about her and would want her to be happy but his sudden anger towards Brax for abandoning them just came out of nowhere, even if he does arguably romanticise him less than Casey and Kyle do.As it turns out, Ricky isn't ready to go there yet anyway.I can understand Heath's frustration but losing his temper with Bianca really doesn't help matters.They'd be better off writing things down for her like Nate said.

[H&Alover]

Oh yes the stranger at the funeral turning out to be an until now an unknown daughter/son plot. I thought it was more of a replay of the story of Alf's unknown son Owen (father of Ric). His mum, Viv Standish,was whisked away by her parents when Alf was a lad and never seen by him again, well until it was revealed she was top dog in the prison where Danni was banged up. Getting like Sons & Daughters where they popped out of the woodwork on a regular basis. After what had happened before I can see why Hannah was wary. Denny seemed nice enough, something of Evie about her, and of course mum doesn't know she is there. Going by what Zac said Ethan was 17 when his girlfriend went away, Denny is 20, the twins are 16 making him 21 when they were born so allowing for the fact he knew and married Sarah when he was 19/20 no not very long before. At least he hadn't cheated on her al a Sid with Sasha's mum. Yes agree both Hannah and Zac hadn't better hang around too long before telling Evelyn and Oscar. I don't know what Denny's grandparents were like but seeing as she was only born in 1994, they must have been pretty old fashioned to go as far as to move away so the baby could be born away from people who knew them. Different thing in Alf's case, it was a different era and generation.

Is what John putting Jett through really going to make him see the error of his ways? He seems to have been working him pretty hard, on that subject no mention of what punishment Leah had for VJ. Marilyn wasn't helping, I know she meant well, but it's not her place, yet, to interfere.

I was surprised as Ricky that Heath was for her getting together with Nate. But seeing as he is the next eldest he knows what it was like for his mum waiting for Danny being locked up for years. She is still young and now has no ties since she lost the baby. Nate at least knows that Ricky will be ready for a relationship with him sometime, but he does need to give her time like she asked. She seems to have taken on the mantle from Brax of worrying about the family and Bianca (and Heath) need her now. Heath said himself patience wasn't one of his virtues and so far he has been very patient with Bianca and I couldn't blame him for snapping, he had started writing down little reminders on the post-it pads. It must be like living with someone with Altzhmiers or dementia, you keep reminding them of things but the next moment they have forgotten it. Unfortunately like Nate said there is no way of knowing when (or if) her short term memory will return. I wonder if the school board know of her condition, I know school is out for now, but it can't be long before they go back and they will need to find someone to replace her as principal until such time as she recovers if she does.

Wonder whose necklace that is in the box Jett and VJ dig up? Marilyn looked shocked by it as if she recognised it.

:offtopic:I see Bianca has gone brunette now.

[c120701]

How long ago did Marilyn steal the money for that bracelet? Lucky she knew where she buried it (and it moved to the new caravan park!).

I thought the idea of Irene having Bianca around for lunch was for Heath to go off and get some sleep, but then he was there with them.

[Brian]

Bit bored by the last 2 episodes. No comments.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four.Roo was also in four, although she wasn't credited on Thursday.(The UK/International credits have been doing very funny things this week, as if they were assembled in a hurry.)

I did find it a bit odd that Irene invited Bianca round for lunch and then left without her, it's not as if she was going to go there on her own.(Okay, as it turned out Heath took her but that wasn't clear at first.)People are already giving up explaining things to Bianca, as Irene and Heath let her carry on in ignorance here.The ending shows that Heath can't watch her 24/7 and they really need to sort out a way of handling this.

The revelation that Marilyn stole money from Alf, presumably shortly after she came to the Bay, is very left field and feels like another instance of the show's history being tampered with for no good reason.Okay, I'll accept that Marilyn had a bit of a selfish streak in the early days so stealing from Alf isn't entirely out of character.And, if you overlook the fact that it staying hidden for around 25 years seems unlikely given how easily Jett and VJ found it, if we assume she buried that box around the time she stayed at the caravan park in 1990 then that fits pretty well.But the reference to Roo being blamed and grounded suggests she was a schoolgirl at the time, when in fact she was an adult to all intents and purposes when Marilyn came to the Bay.Would Alf really ground a grown-up daughter?Hmm, actually knowing him he probably would...

After fluttering back to life by focusing on Harvey's PTSD, the storyline is now floundering with this bizarre personality change from "I'm scared of everything" to "I want to get out there and see the world!"Are they just making this stuff up as they go along?

[H&Alover]

Apart from the little flash of recall Bianca had at Irene's right after she reverted back when she forgot her handbag. This of course was after her forgetting she had already put pepper on her meal. I think that is the first time we have seen Bianca doing any cooking at their place, but although her falling asleep after could happen to anyone it does still highlight her condition.

The timeline for Marilyn burying that necklace does seem vague. If it was really as long ago as the letter seems to indicate, are we meant to believe no-one has been near that mulch patch in all that time? If I remember the words right it said something like the writer knew they had done wrong by stealing Alf's money and letting Roo take the blame and it had brought bad luck on them. I didn't think Marilyn was into the karma thing that long ago. It did come across to me that Roo must have been have been young at least a teenager. Clever thinking of VJ to compare the handwriting. Jett obviously has something planned for Marilyn.

So Harvey pops up again, didn't stay away that long did he? Maybe his lucky escape has made him realise he's not getting any younger and his second chance at life is a chance for him to explore the world while he can.

[Brian]

I like the loss of memory shots with Bianca and Heath going crazy. Not much help, is he. So Jett got caught out again and another red face for poor John

I wonder how Jett puts up with him. Nice of Alf to forgive Marilyn so easily - he can be nice when he wants to, and with the rent for Andy. What's come over him? Nice that Josh is going back to school, so we more of him with Maddy. Poor Ricky finding out like that - will she team up with Nate now?