1995 Episode Discussion

[Natasha]

Finally some emotion and remorse from Jack. He went to see Nelson-about time. Jacks redeemed himself so I forgive him now. He's done the right thing and I take back my earlier post. 

Its good that Chloe found her mum and that they are taking out a court order against Max. 

I hated Shannons reaction when she heard Fisher had been crying. Geez have some sympathy :/ the guy has lost everything and you thought it was hilirious. But at least they're doing something nice and sorting out an album. And aww Fisher and Ailsa used to date. And he's now one of her best friends.  

Oh and Sam is such a brat!

[Skylover]

2 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

"I think it's time we got to know each other better" is a bit vague to be drawing a drastic conclusion like "rape". And the difference between Irene and "some other teenage girl's mother" is that he was married to her. And like I said, there wasn't even the vaguest hint of any "sexual" connotation in his backstory. He simply up and left Irene 10 years ago, and that's it. No?

This is the thing. You'd expect if he was a proper creep he'd have perhaps abused his other kids (sexually I mean) but maybe he just took a liking to Selina, although it seemed like he enjoyed the power he had over her rather than having any true attraction to her.

Either way he definitely came across as a pervert. Thought the story was hilarious though and the actor seemed to be enjoying it far too convincingly !

[Red Ranger 1]

3 hours ago, Old H&A Fan said:

"I think it's time we got to know each other better" is a bit vague to be drawing a drastic conclusion like "rape". And the difference between Irene and "some other teenage girl's mother" is that he was married to her. And like I said, there wasn't even the vaguest hint of any "sexual" connotation in his backstory. He simply up and left Irene 10 years ago, and that's it. No?

Well, it is Home and Away, "vague" is all we get.I'm not sure if we can draw any other conclusion from it though.I agree that it has kind of come out of nowhere, but then 10 years ago he would have been a relatively young man and so him showing an interest in people that age wouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary.Maybe when he got older he realised he still liked the young ones rather than people his own age?I wouldn't say he's a paedophile, since Selina's post-pubescent, but he didn't seem particularly bothered about consent issues or the fact that they were living together in a family situation.I'm not sure that not being married to anyone else is enough of a barrier to say it wouldn't happen again.

[Dan F]

18 hours ago, Edward Skylover said:

Only just realised there is a 'Home and Away: The Early Years' group on Facebook. Made my day

Though despite the name it's not actually official, none of them are

Always knew that ITV must have snipped the scene where Shannon found the body, even when I first watched it I found it a rather awkward edit.

I only have the recap from the ep after to compare it to nowadays, but even that only showed Shannon walking and then her backing away with her scream clearly edited over it - no glimpse of what she actually saw.

At least it's another opportunity to hear my favourite piece of scary music from the time (the same as Bobby popping out the fridge).

[Old H&A Fan]

6 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Well, it is Home and Away, "vague" is all we get.I'm not sure if we can draw any other conclusion from it though.

We both agree it is rather vague, but to justify this vagueness "because it's Home And Away" is (in a way) an interesting way of putting it. I remember a little while back, earlier in the thread someone suggested Alsa was "raped" in that ordeal when the Diner was robbed, but other posters suggested that was being read into a bit too much. See, that's the trouble with vagueness, I mean when you say it's vague like this "because it's Home And Away" are you suggesting you need the skills to correctly read into what is really being said, to understand pieces of dialog like this? You seem to suggest like it's an accepted part of the furniture, it's traditional for Home And Away to be vague and you need to be able to read between the lines. Why? It's almost as if the producers like to get a rise out of frustrating the audience by beating about the bush and tiptoeing around things with ridiculous euphemisms and watered-down versions of what really happens.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think in this and other cases it's more a question of censorship and what they were allowed to show and say in the time slot rather than a deliberate attempt to frustrate the audience and start arguments on internet forums 20 years later.I don't think it's the same situation as with Ailsa: That was presented as a robbery (in my opinion), this was presented as sexual harassment that was becoming more serious. Unless you have an alternative interpretation?

[Skylover]

The modern show wouldn't be as ambiguous.

However, in this case I don't think it's ambiguous or vague. I'm pretty sure 'I think it's about time we get to know each other better' while climbing into bed is a fair assumption of predatory behaviour.

[Old H&A Fan]

5 hours ago, Edward Skylover said:

I'm pretty sure 'I think it's about time we get to know each other better' while climbing into bed is a fair assumption of predatory behaviour.

It sounded to me like literally what he said: to have a talk, to get to know one another, learn each other's lives, personalities, etc. like whatever the phrase "get to know each other better" actually means.

Sadly, what Red Ranger says about censorship and timeslots seems to ring true. It's a sad indictment that no matter how open-minded the producers wanted us to think they were, they decided that some things just can't be dealt with openly. It's just censorship. You wonder how ITV felt the need to butcher up the show any further when it was shown in the UK. Channel Seven had already done it here in Australia!

 

Red Ranger said previously:

I agree that it has kind of come out of nowhere, but then 10 years ago he would have been a relatively young man and so him showing an interest in people that age wouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary.Maybe when he got older he realised he still liked the young ones rather than people his own age?

I notice upon closer examination of the dialog Irene saying "I should have known from his past history", like there was more to it than just merely walking out on her family/marriage, and where did Alf get the idea that Murdoch was "trouble right from the start" from? Because he thought he could angle for credit for caravan rental, then hope to run off without paying? What's that got to do with his (erm) "behaviour" with Selina?

[Natasha]

Did anyone else feel annoyed over Selina going on and on about her birthday when there's just been a fire? Talk about insentive. She needed to reign in a bit. 

[Old H&A Fan]

Annoyed. Now that is an understatement. Her carrying on throughout the episode is proof what a spiteful, vindictive character Selina Cook is. Remember when I said earlier (and please pardon the pun as a bee will actually form part of a well-remembered storyline to be shown very soon) Selina had a bee in her bonnet about "guys fighting", well she really ranted and raved about it in today's episode. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this is ridiculous! I mean what business of it of hers if Curtis lays his fists into some stranger, I mean it would be a totally different story if he was laying his fists into her (and at the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I wouldn't blame him if he did, the way she has been driving him up the wall lately)