1992 Episode Discussion

[Natasha]

Fin, Sally and Sophie were meant to be Meg's friends yet they didn't spend that much time with her. Just the occasional hospital visit. The party was also very random. Meg didn't have much do with the community, mostly with Blake.

[Old H&A Fan]

Yes. I think one person mentioned in passing it would be nice for them to spend their final night together, but other than that we were talking about their trip to the city.

It's a bit annoying about the wrong people being at Meg's farewell due to who was in the episode. And then Greg mentioning that Sam and Meg got along like a house on fire when breaking the news of Meg's death. Yes, they got along like a house on fire for the whole 45 seconds they hung out.

Where was Meg's grandfather when all this was going on?!

....or even Meg's father? He never appeared or even rated a mention by anybody??

[Red Ranger 1]

^I think we were told he walked out on Julia before Meg was born, so it's entirely possible no-one knows where he is.

Yeah, the fact that Meg's grandfather was used in one episode to introduce her and then largely forgotten about apart from one brief mention of Meg being next door visiting him is pretty much the definition of "weird".

[akiralx]

Fin continues to be a bit of a brat at times and it doesn't help that her character seems to change from episode to episode or even scene to scene.At least we're laying the groundwork for Damian's arrival.Hearing Irene being talked about as if she's the devil incarnate kind of falls under Early Installment Weirdness.

Yes, her character changes rather annoyingly - she joined the cast as a confident teen with some good comeback lines, then seemed to veer wildly between a lovestruck drip/hesitant infant and mature young lady, with the occasional sassy piece of dialogue. She had a nice smile but sadly most of her storylines seem to make her miserable.

Even her age seems debatable: 'the Department' last week acknowledged she was 17 when Pippa and Michael offered to foster her, but I thought she was supposed to be the same age as Sophie, about whom Ailsa (I think) recently remarked 'you're supposed to be 16 not 60...'.

Fin, Sally and Sophie were meant to be Meg's friends yet they didn't spend that much time with her. Just the occasional hospital visit. The party was also very random. Meg didn't have much do with the community, mostly with Blake.

Yes, the absences were bizarre, as were the references (by Simon et al) to Don's alleged rapier-like wit at the party - whatever zingers he did come out with were certainly not included in anything we viewers witnessed...

Also in the party prep meeting Simon agreed to handle the music, then this was also gone over again in a slightly later scene, as if the earlier one had been forgotten.

[matty]

Really weird about Meg's party, I agree with previous comments, the guests weren't the right ones, and greg's comment about Meg and Sam gettong along so well, when they shared all of one scene together in the entire show, was ludicrous. Also, Meg's funeral was far too brief, all that we saw was Alf saying a few words, when he wasn't even that close to her. We should have heard from Julia or Blake.

[dncllpyk]

Meg died it was sad. I knew she was going to die but it was still sad.

That dog that Sam found was so cute and so was the name he gave him Hot Dog lol.

[beau_t]

Do you think we (the audience) were supposed to know she had died at the end of that episode? Or do we only know it because we have seen the clip 1000 times.

[CaptainHulk]

^ Think it's left open to interpretation.

Having owned 975 and 976 and watched a ton of times, I skipped to 977 on youtube.

The Hot Dog stuff was a good way to break up the misery. Corny but it worked and H&A was riding pretty high at the time and could get away with it!

[Red Ranger 1]

I think we were meant to know Meg was dead at the end of 975.The beginning of the next episode seems to play out like a kind of Greek tragedy with the audience knowing, Julia "knowing" and Blake sort-of-knowing-but-having-a-hard-time-accepting-it while Alf, Ailsa and Simon carry on oblivious.Nice touch to show the news spreading around the Bay:Sam being told might be a bit arbitrary but Michael telling the girls is one of those little moments that we really need to see.Feels like by the end of that arc Blake and Julia have worked through the grief in their own way and come to some kind of catharsis.Surprising but apt use of Blake and Sophie's often neglected friendship.

Bit strange that we've got the light-hearted story of Sam and the world's most well-groomed stray dog running alongside the aftermath of Meg's death, before segueing into the ongoing storyline of Adam and the massive coffee order, but it worked to add a bit of light to the shade.Characterisation of Ryan is rather curious:He does seem to show a genuinely kind side of his personality with Sally and Sam, and Sophie to a certain point, but whenever he's around Nick and Lou he goes into full-on smug snake mode.

Maybe it makes sense that he becomes more likeable when Lou's gone.

Seemed incredibly naïve of Pippa to assume that phoning the Department automatically means Damian will be all right...

[CaptainHulk]

1992 Two-faced Bastard Ryan has more going for him than 1991 one-dimensional limp noodle Ryan.