2018 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Back after a few days without internet access and feeling the need to defend the town's reaction to Robbo somewhat.Yes, they are ignoring all the good things he's done since he came to the Bay, but in a sense I think it makes things worse.This is someone that they befriended and welcomed and all went out of their way to help out, only for it to turn out that he wasn't the good man they all thought, and that when he learned the truth he kept it from him, killed the only person that could identify him (which, whatever happened off camera, could only be called self-defence in the loosest sense possible), took a couple of people hostage when the truth came out, and then got one of their friends killed in an escape attempt.It might seem ugly to see them all ganging up on him, but I think it's only human for them to feel enraged and betrayed.Yes, John was on the receiving end, but he did his best to take responsibility and make recompense for crimes he couldn't even remember and still doesn't.Marilyn has mistrusted him ever since she saw him breaking into Kat's flat and must feel vindicated.Ash has plenty of reason to hate him so gets a lot of leeway in my book.I think where we are at the moment is the police still believe he's Beckett Reid, and Robbo still doesn't remember it but thinks it's probably true even if that's not his real name.

I'm getting increasingly ambivalent about Robbo now he's apparently decided he's bored of feeling guilty and is going to become another character who thinks "taking responsibility" and "fighting the charges" aren't mutually exclusive.His being out on bail becomes even more absurd as the psychiatric treatment that was supposedly so essential is revealed to be one session every fortnight, the first of which he threw a tantrum and walked out of, and he's only going to have two before his trial anyway.It doesn't help that Tori's super-doctor seems more interested in studying him than helping him.Tori is increasingly cloying, blinkered and self-centred, and I think is currently the character I most dislike on the show apart from Hunter.I cheered when Robbo yelled at her and told her to stop trying to run his life (which seems to be nothing more than self-justification), and am annoyed that he's now gone soft and given in to her.I also want Ash to wash his hands of her, not keeping trying to talk sense to her and let her make a sanctimonious speech and get the last word in, then take it out on Justin who seems to have got it in the neck far more than the person actually pushing this.

Ben choosing to hide things from Maggie is kind of understandable but also rather frustrating after he rightly concluded they couldn't keep things from the girls before.I doubt the case will be dismissed, I am assume he's pleading guilty and it will just be "Community service/good behaviour bond/suspended sentence/fine (choose any of the above)".I'm guessing that's Brody's original lawyer, who went on holiday at a bad time so Scarlett had to take over.

Justin and Willow have been together how long? Hard to say given that it just seemed to be friends with benefits at first, but over a month.That seems plenty of time to mention you've got a daughter.Nice to see Ava again, but had to look up to see if that was the same actress playing Nina after Brian's accompanied her on her more recent visits.I'm very frustrated though that that apparently means another month of Raffy not living there, a creative decision I struggle to understand: Her living with John and Marilyn was an utter disaster in terms of character last time round, and it's only better this time because she barely has any scenes with them and mostly hangs out with Ryder, Coco and their families instead, yet both times it's been dragged out for no reason.Raffy works really well with the Morgans and I don't know why the show keeps separating her from them with excuses that make no sense: Robbo's no more a danger to her there than anywhere else in town, if at all, unless Tori brings him home with her which I wouldn't put past her admittedly.(And which she did here, although Justin thankfully shut her down.)

I'm liking the Mason/Jasmine friendship/maybe more.It was perhaps a bit easy for both of them to get placements at the hospital but if it gives them more interaction I'm all for it.Meanwhile, a very brief hint at what's happened between Dean and Colby with Dean's oblique mention of a crash, which I'm thinking might be connected to his new medical emergency..?

[atrus]

30 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Back after a few days without internet access and feeling the need to defend the town's reaction to Robbo somewhat.Yes, they are ignoring all the good things he's done since he came to the Bay, but in a sense I think it makes things worse.This is someone that they befriended and welcomed and all went out of their way to help out, only for it to turn out that he wasn't the good man they all thought, and that when he learned the truth he kept it from him, killed the only person that could identify him (which, whatever happened off camera, could only be called self-defence in the loosest sense possible), took a couple of people hostage when the truth came out, and then got one of their friends killed in an escape attempt.It might seem ugly to see them all ganging up on him, but I think it's only human for them to feel enraged and betrayed.

I think it's not that I blame them for feeling betrayed, necessarily - it's more the odious, virtue-signalling way they all went about expressing it, setting upon him at a public meeting like a pack of hounds before they'd even bothered to wait for his side of the story, despite the fact that he had enough courage to show up in front of them and provide it. Added to the fact that the whole saga is really none of any of their business; if they weren't all so permanently preoccupied with sticking their noses into what doesn't concern them, they wouldn't even have grounds for those feelings of betrayal in the first place. Not saying Robbo has been behaving well, but he can claim some pretty unique mitigating circumstances. Kat is far more to blame for her demise than Robbo is - she was incompetent at her best and corrupt at her worst - but of course nobody in town could ever concede that St Kat could do any wrong, so they blame the man who's so psychologically troubled he can't remember his own name. And I get that Tori hasn't behaved well either (I'm still of the view that she shouldn't have harboured Robbo at her house), but the fact she's prepared to side with the underdog against the baying mob definitely wins her points in my view.

Onto today: no idea whether it's been announced, but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that Willow, Dean and Colby will all be series regulars - they're getting sustained scenes alone without anyone else, and even their own cliffhangers. By this stage I'm probably okay with that; I've grown to like Dean and Colby over the last few weeks (having already liked Willow), and the three of them actually share a pretty interesting backstory. I'm still very much Colby/Dean-shipping - seldom has the procurement of a bacon and egg roll prompted such misty-eyed yearning, and Colby looked genuinely lovesick to see his ex-bestie laughing on the beach with Willow. As I suspected last week, there's far more to their fall-out than Colby becoming a cop - and even Willow doesn't know about it (a fact she lamented about 15 times in this episode), so even if it's not a passionate love affair, it's clearly something neither wants getting about. Perhaps Mossy's (or is that Chekhov's?) homebrew will prove the suitably dramatic catalyst that forces everything out in the open?

So, way to call ahead, Nina! It seems pretty dubious for her to just turn up unannounced and dump Ava on Justin like that - guess she just didn't want to give him a chance to think about it and possibly say no. In which case, it seems pretty rich that she was then placing a load of terms and conditions on Ava's stay. All the same, I can understand why Justin bit her hand off for the chance to spend more time with his daughter. But a month's a long time in Summer Bay: I give it a week before Ava's first run-in mortal peril. And given that it's been set up that Nina wasn't comfortable with Willow hanging around, and that Willow is 'really awesome with kids', it's a pretty safe bet that she'll be the cause of it.

Meh at Mason and Jasmine. I get a strong feeling with today's talk of her moving to the Bay that Jasmine's likely to be joining the ranks of the regular cast as well, but at this stage I'm just not particularly interested. I said that about Colby and Dean too, though, so we'll see.

[Slade]

20 hours ago, H&Alover said:

I never said you did.

I never said you said I did.

 

20 hours ago, H&Alover said:

He was prepared to plead guilty - to what charge exactly we don't know - but as we know he didn't get that far.  In the eyes of the law they only have Robbo's side of the story about what happened between him & Novak.  The fact both their prints were on the gun doesn't help either way. I'm probably biased being on team Robbo but I don't believe it was pre-mediated, at least not on his part.  In fact when Robbo did have the gun in his hand he couldn't shoot Novak which Novak taunted him about.

 

I thought he was being charged with murder.  I'm also team Robbo.  My original point was about the inconsistency with him feeling guilty and that he should go to jail but still standing trial.  I don't know whether it was premeditated but the only argument for the defence is that Robbo was acting in self-defence which based on the evidence looks dubious but I hope I'm wrong.

Still thinking about this, I don't think it's a case of Tori fancying Robbo (well not yet) but it feels to me that she almost likes spending time with him.  Have to reiterate that she was supposed to be in love with Ash and he finished with her but she really doesn't seem that bothered, especially when he went to try and 'rescue' her from Robbo on the beach.  I actually found it quite funny how Tori was a little shaken up and even though Ash was having a go at her she still took Robbo's side and even pointed out Ash was acting like Robbo was.  I didn't like the way Robbo was with Tori or the way he stormed out of his first session but I'm glad he calmed down afterwards when Tori took him to Kat's grave.  I am looking forward to seeing a few more scenes with the psychologist as I quite listening to her overemphasised British accent.

 

I'm glad Robbo has decided to get out of his whole defeatist attitude, try to make an effort with the psych sessions and to actual fight in court.  Rather than actually heeding the previous warnings what could happen with her pursuit to help him (which I fully support) Tori actually now sees it from Justin's perspective i.e. messing things up with Ava.  I actually thought he wasn't too bad with Robbo considering (and I do think with regards to Tori opening up to Justin about Robbo his attitude has been very balanced).  Although he was probably trying not to loose it so any animosity wouldn't reflect in his attitude towards his daughter.  Have to admit, I enjoyed seeing Willow get out of shape with Justin not telling her about Ava (I wonder if she's said to any other guys she's never felt that way about anyone).  It will be interesting to see how Ava's presence plays out over the next month.

From what I've seen so far Colby isn't too bad although I don't like the way he often has a smug expression on his face as it makes me slightly suspicious.  It's interesting that Dean appeared to have some sort of fit which I'm guessing is a result of the accident.

I wonder how long Mason is going to wait before he makes a move on Jasmine.

[Red Ranger 1]

22 hours ago, atrus said:

I think it's not that I blame them for feeling betrayed, necessarily - it's more the odious, virtue-signalling way they all went about expressing it, setting upon him at a public meeting like a pack of hounds before they'd even bothered to wait for his side of the story, despite the fact that he had enough courage to show up in front of them and provide it. Added to the fact that the whole saga is really none of any of their business; if they weren't all so permanently preoccupied with sticking their noses into what doesn't concern them, they wouldn't even have grounds for those feelings of betrayal in the first place. Not saying Robbo has been behaving well, but he can claim some pretty unique mitigating circumstances. Kat is far more to blame for her demise than Robbo is - she was incompetent at her best and corrupt at her worst - but of course nobody in town could ever concede that St Kat could do any wrong, so they blame the man who's so psychologically troubled he can't remember his own name. And I get that Tori hasn't behaved well either (I'm still of the view that she shouldn't have harboured Robbo at her house), but the fact she's prepared to side with the underdog against the baying mob definitely wins her points in my view.

Well, I'd like to see what would have happened to Robbo if they had decided he was none of their business and left him to fend for himself rather than helping him out with homes and jobs: Even now, he's dependent on charity from Colby.Given that the town meeting was held because the locals had understandable concerns about someone who's either a suspected murderer or a self-confessed murderer being let loose in their community with no real supervision, it's hardly a surprise that they, well, "expressed concern".They did seem to listen to him and for the most part their attitude, even Ash's to a large extent, seems to be that they don't like him but they'll tolerate him.And yes, Kat brought it on herself and it's a bit frustrating to see her get sanctified (Ash is being rather naïve in assuming that supposedly intelligent women like Kat and Tori wouldn't really throw their lives away to help a criminal), but Robbo went along with her plan to the extent of knocking out Ash and leaving him locked up, then ran off leaving both her and Jasmine injured, albeit after calling an ambulance and waiting until it was nearly there, so anger towards him seems a pretty understandable reaction.Saint Tori really has carried on where Kat left off, spouting identical "Don't let it be for nothing" dialogue and cloying "Kat wouldn't want you to give up" manipulations, and generally thinking the law is for lesser mortals, she knows better than anyone and she has the right to trample over everyone that gets in her way in order to "help" Robbo because she knows best.I wouldn't care a bit if she forgot to look both ways as well.

Anyway, today. So we get some of the story behind Colby and Dean's fall-out, and on the face of it Dean has every right to feel betrayed.(Maybe this is why Colby's so ready to help Robbo!)Having him go from car thief to cop leaves me slightly uncomfortable but I haven't quite crossed the line into disliking him yet and he did seem to be doing his best for Dean here.And there's clearly more to come, with Willow frustratingly shutting him down when he tries to tell her the whole story.I was thinking earlier that it was a bit odd that Willow, who seems to have been in regular contact with Dean all along, didn't know about the crash so it made sense that she knew the edited version.Meanwhile, Mason's return to medicine thankfully isn't as smooth as it seemed to be last episode: He still has his demons, but he also demonstrates a better handling of relatives than the doctor in charge, even if his way of breaking potentially bad news continues to be a little too matter-of-fact.I continue to like his interaction with Jasmine and it was good that he opened up to her about Beth.

I basically like Ben these days but there are times when he really seems to have no brain, doing everything in his power to make a bad situation worse.Brody didn't help by acting as an enabler, with Ziggy left as the frustrated voice of reason.If he absconds from his court appearance in order to visit Maggie in hospital, then neither she nor anyone else will thank him (if nothing else, he'll cost her the bail money she borrowed from Diana, as well as landing himself back in custody), so hopefully he'll see sense in time.

[atrus]

3 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Given that the town meeting was held because the locals had understandable concerns about someone who's either a suspected murderer or a self-confessed murderer being let loose in their community with no real supervision, it's hardly a surprise that they, well, "expressed concern". They did seem to listen to him and for the most part their attitude, even Ash's to a large extent, seems to be that they don't like him but they'll tolerate him.

I think what you're saying probably makes more logical sense than my emotional reaction to the scene; truth be told, the lot of them just wound me up with their sanctimonious tone. 'At least he has a conscience,' Marilyn simpers, well within earshot of Robbo, while Leah overestimates her own importance, flattering herself into thinking he'd be the least bit interested in murdering her by demanding to know where he'll be living. OK, Robbo killed someone - but in fairness, it wasn't just a random Bay denizen, but someone who had hours earlier tried to crush his girlfriend with a car compactor. Even if it wasn't self-defence in the strict legal sense of the term, I think self-preservation is a reasonable argument; this guy was a cold, calculating killer himself and Robbo had no reason to think he wouldn't come after him and Kat again if left to roam freely. The correct thing to do would have been to involve the police, of course, but that doesn't always turn out well in H&A and so I guess he decided to improvise. But I don't see why anyone else would particularly feel threatened. As for Ash, I think he only tolerated Robbo in that scene because doing what he'd have liked to have done would have seen Colby cart Ash off to a lock-up - whereas the moment Ash got a chance to be alone with Robbo, he deliberately and calculatedly goaded him into attacking him.

So, moral of today: don't drink homebrew, kids. But at least the gaps in the Colby/Dean love story are beginning to be to be filled in. Colby left an unconscious Dean and dead Jai at the scene of the crash, but presumably there's more to it than that, which Willow simply isn't prepared to hear yet. Clearly there's no absence of concern for Dean on Colby's part, so I'm guessing something other than selfishness necessitated his decision to flee from the scene.

Everyone knows that the gears of the state turn slowly, especially the courts - and I was just baffled as to why Ben thought he ought to risk getting away with pulling the wool over Maggie's eyes, rather than at least calling her with a decent excuse as to why he might not make it. Brody was designated Bearer of Bad Advice today, although I suppose his keenness to maintain his alliance with Ben kind of justified it.

Good to see Mason's trauma over Beth hasn't been forgotten.

[H&Alover]

I can see, in a way, why the townsfolk turned against Robbo, he isn't the guy they thought he was, but then again he isn't the guy he thought he was.  He is a good man underneath, he proved that a couple of times, I have said before I believe 'Robbo' is the guy he was before 'Beckett Reid' namely Ryan Shaw. When he first arrived he kept to himself pretty much and took a while for him to let other people in. He's never put any of them in danger, yes he 'kidnapped Tori for about five minutes but soon let her go. What good would have it have done telling anyone when he did find out 'the truth', he couldn't understand it so what chance anyone else would have. Ash is the only one who can be 'forgiven' for hating him but now even he has calmed down and is willing to let things be as long as they stay out of each others way and I imagine Robbo  would feel the same way. Well as much as is possible in a small town.  Have to admit his psyche treatment being so stretched out is stupid, wonder if it will be increased now they have his court date?  Now you mention it Red, it did come across he was being studied than actually helped.  I do feel he's more at rest now he's said a proper goodbye to Kat and while I normally hate people saying 'she/he wouldn't want you to do that' or other similar sayings I think Tori was right this time about Kat not wanting Robbo to give up. He is looking forwards rather than back whatever the future  may hold. Colby vey wisely made his exit when Robbo and Tori were talking lawyers.  However, we do still have the mystery of Dylan and Rose the girlfriend that died in a diabetic coma. Having watched enough cop/ law  dramas over the years I think the initial charge is murder until further investigations are made then it's down to the legal team to argue another defence.

Oops Colby's halo has slipped a little.  Left two of his friends for dead , one, Jay, did die and Dean nearly died and it took him a year to walk again, not only that he was behind the idea to steal the car in the first place. Dean also took the rap for car theft and spent time inside. Colby must have disappeared off the scene completely. I was frustrated Willow wouldn't let him tell the whole story, but I guess she was in no mood to properly listen.  I'm thinking maybe it was about 10 years or so ago from the way Dean & Willow were talking on the beach, rather sad in a way there was only the two of them as the rest of the River Boys had family and jobs so couldn't just drop things for a do on the beach.   Willow did keep nagging Dean for an explanation as to the rift between him & Colby, bet she wishes she hadn't now!  Nothing really to do with what is going on on here, but some on the Aus page have been having a dig about Dean's height which just because he isn't a  muscle bound strapping six footer has no bearing on anything and is an insult to the actor.  Anyways, that was pretty scary him hallucinating then arresting in the hospital, Willow was being rather stupid by refusing to tell the staff who were trying to save Dean's life and couldn't care less if the stuff he had taken was illegal or not, that's a police matter.  Thankfully, at last, she admitted he'd been drinking home brew which luckily Colby was able to retrieve  a couple bottles of.  Massie obviously had added little extras to it  in the intervening years.  In a way Dean's 'overdose' couldn't come at a worse time seeing as Willow is 'barred' from the Morgan house while Ava is there. She's concerned about him and while he may be ill I wouldn't put it past Dean to take advantage of the fact.

So the sudden appearance of Ava has been explained by Nina, her mum who should have been 'baby' sitting had broken her leg and Ava opted to stay with her dad instead. Even so asking him to look after her for a  month is short notice but I reckon Nina knew Justin wouldn't turn it down.  I seriously hope Nina didn't think Justin was living the life of a monk, it was incredible bad timing they rocked up just as Willow and Justin had finished 'enjoying' themselves, not the most ideal introduction  between ex and current girlfriend in history.  That old 'I was waiting for the right moment' excuse and now the added insult Nina would prefer it if you weren't around!  Actually if Ava can stay at the Morgan's now all the River Boys and Ash hunting for Robbo threat has gone why can't Raffy come home? Yes Robbo blundering in was an unwanted surprise but he soon left with no trouble, he wanted to tell Tori the news he's got his court date.

Certainly a quick decision by NDH to re-instate Mason's placement and oh how lucky just as Jasmine was thinking of leaving she gets an interview and her agency gets her  a shift there!   He tried to cover it well but he was nervous about being back not only that he said the q word - you never say that!  From the trailer it did look as though it was going to be a different outcome to what we actually saw when Dean arrested.  Mason had been OK until that happened that would have been bound to have brought back bad memories, not what you would want at anytime, but on your first shift back - no.   It must have given him doubts but he pulled himself together and yes it was good he felt able to open up to Jasmine about Beth.  Jasmine is very tactile when it comes to thanking people isn't she, gave Colby a hug when he told her about David being banged up and did  the same to Mason when he told her about the position at ND, it's probably just the way she is but may explain why David got the wrong idea - just saying.

Oh Ben you wouldn't listen to your daughter would you, so convinced you'd get your case up first and you'd be at the hospital in plenty of time for Maggie's tests.  On that point just as well you had been exiled away from the house no way could you have kept it secret otherwise.  It may have seemed to Ben Ziggy was being the voice of doom but she was thinking logically and sensibly., she said what I did, he would be in the doghouse when Maggie finds out.  Brody did a very good job of convincing him not to walk away and risk being banged up and having to explain that to Maggie.  We saw him last night in the trailer talking to Maggie so either as you said Red Community Service/good behaviour bond /suspended sentence/fine now he's got to explain why,  in his mind, the perfectly valid reason he didn't.

Ryder, as we also saw, takes the plunge and asks Coco out on a proper date.

[Pierced Musie]

... Is the Dean/Colby story supposed to be so subtexty? ... Wait, is it texty? I just have no idea. When I mentioned it the first time it was just a joke but I feel like I'm being smacked in the face with this pairing. If it gets any stronger I am gonna start thinking it is queerbaiting. It actually feels like a first love deal between them.

Does anyone else feel this way in a non-jokey way?

I like the Dean & Willow friendship. Both are struggling with moving on/growing up away from a life that to them was awesome until it wasn't. I like that this is played out alongside the obvious distruction of the River Boys. 

[Red Ranger 1]

20 hours ago, atrus said:

I don't see why anyone else would particularly feel threatened. As for Ash, I think he only tolerated Robbo in that scene because doing what he'd have liked to have done would have seen Colby cart Ash off to a lock-up - whereas the moment Ash got a chance to be alone with Robbo, he deliberately and calculatedly goaded him into attacking him.

I agree it does seem unlikely that Robbo would attack people at random: Even if he turned into Beckett Reid, he'd presumably only kill those he'd been paid to, and if he wanted to get rid of anyone who can identify him then he'd have to nuke the entire town and then some.(That said, he does have a tendency to lash out when he feels threatened, what with attacking Alf without provocation when he first appeared, the hostage taking and brawling with the police who searched the flat.It's all right for him to cite trauma and mitigating circumstances but it doesn't help the people caught in the crossfire.)As for Ash, I agree he wasn't at all moved by Robbo's speech, but I do think after his goading of Robbo failed to produce the desired result of convincing Tori to stop helping him, he's basically decided to leave it for now and perhaps give Robbo enough rope to hang himself.(I say for now because I wouldn't be surprised if he goes after him again at some point in the future.)

Random thought: Why did Willow hit Colby when they first met if she didn't know what happened between him and Dean? Because of him skipping town when Dean was seriously injured in hospital and leaving her to cope on her own? Okay, let's go with that for now.

So after all that fuss, Ben's court appearance was a non-event and he made it to the hospital in time for Maggie's appointment.Or something.Given that she only had five minutes at the end of the last episode, I'm assuming she went in for the scans on her own/with Ziggy and what we saw was her discussing them with Callan afterwards.Raffy is definitely coming across as a Shipper on Deck for Coco and Ryder, which I'm taking to be because she wants them both to be happy.She recognised that she's the third wheel, showing more awareness than Jennifer credited her with.I'm kind of on the fence with the Astonis teasing Coco, given that she's not the most secure person, although I don't think they have to worry about Ryder trying to seduce her, he'd probably start hyperventilating at the idea.

Okay, Doctor Logic has to ask: "Given that last time we saw Nick he was dragging Jennifer away and saying she'd never see Hunter again, why is he now perfectly fine with them living in the same house?" I appreciate Irene having a word in Hunter's ear about not putting the boot into Olivia at every opportunity, and it probably wouldn't hurt for him to be civil, but it was slightly disappointing to see them swiftly slip back into the old routine (without the sex, at least for now) and possibly a bit too much of a reset to have Ziggy friends with them again in the same episode.In the process, Hunter comes across as extremely inconsiderate towards Jennifer: He really should have twigged she wasn't as fine with him hanging out with Olivia as she claimed and gone when Olivia told him he could.She's obviously insecure and needing reassurance as he spends all afternoon with his ex, then brushes her off to study and virtually ignores the brownies she's made him.That said, a few consent issues at the end there: A gender reversal where a girl wants to study and her boyfriend ignores her wishes and keeps on trying to have sex with her when she's repeatedly said "No" would make for even more uncomfortable viewing.

[Slade]

Liked the voiceover yesterday by the announcer - "Hunter becomes the prey."

 

Jennifer made an interesting point with her three amigos remark which Raffy herself acknowledged.  Raffy is very much a third wheel with Coco and Ryder.  They probably need to add another boy into the clique.

 

Do have to admit, I enjoyed most of the Jennifer/Hunter stuff not some much the pashing but the fallout.  It was funny seeing Alf getting out of shape about them.  Then when she started getting smart with Alf and you could see Raffy's slightly surprised face and her "she's brave" comment.  Then when Alf went to the Diner and saw them all over each other.  Also when Olivia forced herself to serve them and started trying to make casual conversation.  I didn't like Irene having a go at Hunter as Olivia's actually been very childish about the whole thing and their talk to try and be amicable only seems to have made them get closer which I wasn't happy about. 

I did feel a bit sorry for Jennifer when she saw Hunter and Olivia getting on at the Dinner.  You could see that Leah did as well.  I really liked the way she spoke to Jen afterwards trying to reassure her.  And I thought Jen was extremely impulsive making out with Hunter in the bedroom after Alf warned her that she would be chucked out but she obviously did it because she was feeling insecure and felt she had to try and validate the physical part of their relationship to keep Hunter onside.  It wasn't clear to me when Alf caught them again whether he just threw Jennifer out or both of them but I guess we'll find out later on today.  So I would infer from Maggie's conversation with Leah about them that Jennifer and Coco are actually friends.  I wasn't sure when Jen told Nick she was studying with Coco that was a totally lie and an excuse to spend time with Hunter.  Still it's hard to recall a scene where they've interacted outside school.

 

It was big of Olivia to forgive Ziggy but I guess it's OK now that everything's out in the open and Olivia and Hunter are good.
 

Can't believe Ben was even considering missing his court hearing although it looks like Maggie's probably 'cured' now.

 

[H&Alover]

I missed that Slade - good one!  They do slip those in now and again.

Well Ben got off lightly and I don't mean him getting a years good behaviour bond, I'm talking about him being let off so easily by Maggie when he told her why he wasn't there for her. Yes she would have liked to have been there for him, but it would only have been for moral support Brody and his testimony was what mattered. I did like that mad dash from the court to hospital with Ben doing a kind of superman thing and changing in the car so Maggie wouldn't ask why he was wearing a suit. I'm guessing he's keeping Ziggy out if it. 

We are certainly divided on the Robbo front - though of us on both sides of the fence are being very civil about it.  As you say Red Robbo would only attack the people he had been paid to not random members of the public unless provoked like when Ash taunted him.  Don't forget when he whacked Alf over the head he was in a disturbed state with his recent head injury and could have easily killed him but he didn't.

Hunter and Jennifer  - I think he may be coming to the conclusion that we and Irene and Olivia already  thought she's a rebound. I don't believe he set out to get so involved, he admitted as much to Olivia  and Jennifer  agreed it was just fun, which I doubts about when they had that talk on the pier a while back. But and it's a big but, she's now definitely more into him than he is her  - even Alf made the comment it wasn't Hunter that was the problem as such  after he caught them the first time. I also think Jennifer is needy but that is because she is insecure  - she tries to bluff it out with her 'he's mine now' remarks and Hunter is moving on 'with me', and her attempted put down with Raffy who soon came back with her own barbed remark. Jennifer coming on so strong with him when he came back from his talk with Olivia was pretty much proof of that, certainly a role reversal and it would have been frowned and commented on if it had been Hunter or any other guy coming on Jennifer or any girl in a bedroom with the door shut. I did like Ryder's signal to Leah about why she should do her ironing downstairs by pointing his eyes ceiling ward,  sadly Grumps walked in just as he said 'before he comes home'. I'm not clear either if Alf meant both are out or just Jennifer.  There had been the comment earlier between Alf and Leah that it was about time Jennifer went home as it wasn't her/their responsibility to look after Jennifer, well that's become academic now I would think. Thing is what spin is Jennifer going to put on why she has been asked to leave when she does go home.  Is she going to say Hunter came on to her and she was 'saved' by Alf coming in just in time.

I know Hunter broke up with Olivia and for a very good reason , but he could have resisted flaunting his new girl in her face so much, though Jennifer didn't help at times gloating  over it but in a subtle way.  If it was the other way he wouldn't like it would he? Maybe Irene went a touch too far in revealing to Hunter Liv was having counselling sessions but it did make for a calm discussion between them with no blame being flung about and did prompt him to admit he had moved too fast but felt he couldn't get off the train he was on. He did try slowing it down when he got home but we know where that led.

That was unnecessary teasing by the Astoni's when Coco admitted she'd agreed to go on her first proper date with Ryder, she's nervous enough.  Her confession to Ziggy that they had already had their first kiss was meant to be between them and not something to be shared but at least Ben seemed cool about it. I guess in the great scheme of things and with everything else going on it's no big deal. Poor Ryder was getting himself in a right knot screwing up the courage to ask her in the first place but with the encouragement from Raffy and Jennifer he got the words out.  

Tad uncomfortable at first but it does seem Ziggy and Olivia are friends again.