2018 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Three (and he was credited on Tuesday for no appearance).For some reason, Mason didn't appear at all.

I think that spending all your time posting a long string of rude remarks about someone would definitely qualify as trolling.I actually wondered if the "nice" comment that prompted Leah to keep the site open was posted by Ryder or someone but apparently not.Not that Ryder's chosen method of "helping" is any better.Secretly filming Leah and posting the result not only online but on her own website without her knowledge or permission is massively out of line and pretty much means he's trolling her himself.I don't think it was the message she intended to send out and is likely to make things worse.

So, Ty's reason for not playing Raffy his music was just that he considered it private.Okay, I'll buy that.He didn't seem to have even considered that he was attracted to Raffy until Ryder suggested it, but once the idea was in his head he definitely latched onto it.Raffy certainly didn't seem against that kiss.As for how John and Justin will feel about it, well, I'll reserve judgement on that one.

Once again Maggie is trying to find the delicate balance between carrying on fighting the cancer and thinking about what will happen if she loses.It's obvious from her breakdown with Roo that she really doesn't want to die so I hope people don't end up overreacting to her In The Event Of letters.

7 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Btw do we know what the young guys name was? 

Jason.

[atrus]

In terms of realism, the Leah story is just ridiculous: as if a brand new blog about nothing in particular would be attracting that number of comments, with the alert going off every three seconds. Surely the only way they can salvage this is if it turns out it's one person who knows Leah who is doing all the trolling, under numerous pseudonyms. My money's still firmly on Roo - not least because there's a distinct lack of suitable villains hanging around who could be responsible. Except maybe Ebony, on the tenuous grounds that all the people who have wronged her buy their morning coffee from Leah, ergo she must die. 

Really enjoyed the Ty and Raffy stuff, though - the acting from Olivia and Darius was great, and they seemed to have a really natural rapport, particularly as Ty started to open up about his music, and through it, his relationship with his grandad. Lovely scene with Raffy and Justin at the start too - if Raffy living at the Palmers' really is permanent, then at least I'd like to see a lot more of these scenes with her siblings. Ty certainly wasted no time in taking Ryder's advice and going in for the pash, but looks like they could have fallen at the first hurdle - it's difficult to see how Justin's going to want them under the same roof now.

Heartbreaking stuff with Maggie and Roo, meanwhile. I think if I found out I was that ill, wanting to write letters in case the worst happened would be the first thing I'd want to do, so I can totally understand that urge - it doesn't mean she's being morbid or has given up on life, although that could well be how her family construe it.

I know we're not long into Ty's journey and I'm probably being premature... but much as the Ty/Raffy scenes were lovely, I was simultaneously wanting to scream at the lack of foreshadowing in the Ty/Ryder storyline, and today would have been the perfect time to do that. Instead we get an inconsequential 'Ryder trolls the trolls' subplot, and numerous scenes which seem to wholeheartedly confirm Ryder's suspicions that Ty has the hots for Raffy. Perhaps they're just wanting to maximise the surprise of the twist later on, but knowing what I know, I feel that what they should really be maximising is the extent of the bond between the boys -- and given we've been waiting so many years for this storyline, as a viewer I'd have kind of liked to have been in on the truth from the start.

[c120701]

Speaking of Raffy, when was the last time she had a scene with Tori?

[H&Alover]

Good question - dare say that will be remedied  this week, getting a woman's point of view of that kiss and Justin's (over)reaction. Ty did make instigate the move, but Raffy wasn't pushing him away in any way.  Be interesting to know what DoC's stance on it would because wasn't that the concern when Ty moved in that he'd be living with a teenage girl.  To be realistic though he could be living there alone and Raffy comes over to help with his homework and bingo they still end up kissing!  Ty did earlier seem a bit put out Raffy had confided in Ryder about their argument over his music, it's just the way Raffy is, if Coco hadn't got other things on her mind, it may have been her.  He said the right things and Ty must have some feelings for her to go there, it must have taken some courage for him to play her his music, then his 'experimental' stuff. Anyway like Raffy is going to be happy with being dragged home (and locked in) by big bro. 

I think it was Roo who said you should expect negative comments on your website/blog, not everyone has to fall at Leah's feet and agree with everything she says, same as on forums, not everyone agrees with everyone else. She shouldn't give up, just ignore them and carry on. I can't see it as being Ebony, Leah had nothing to do with Boyd's death so it would be very tenuous.   Leah didn't mention VJ's name on her blog, but most people would know his name.

Must have been a relief for Maggie to confide in Roo, she's trying to be strong for her family and not let them know how scared she really is, but holding it all the time is not good for her. Good too that Ben confided in Justin of how useless he feels.  Letters like the ones Maggie is writing must be so hard, what do you say. Knowing you may not be there when your children marry, have kids and Ben, your soul mate, how do you say the right words to encourage him to carry on.   I hope this storyline gets a special mention in the Logies.

[Slade]

Of course Olivia doesn't trust Ebony.  She gets on with Hunter.  I'm glad Ebony got him involved in her plan if only to annoy Olivia (Don't you just love Olivia's jealous expression whenever Hunter or Irene's time is devoted to someone else).  Still absolutely loved Ebony winding Jasmine up re her relationship with Colby and that she made her look like an idiot.

Quite enjoyed the scenes with Hunter and Leah.  I really like their relationship and the way he's gone out of his way to setup the site for her.  The first thing that immediately occurred to me was I hope she's got thick skin.  However the comment about her whining did have an element of truth to it.  Ryder proved to be annoying yet again uploading the video he recorded of Leah without her permission to her website.  If Mick hadn't been injured the cynic in me would have wondered if he was behind the trolling.

I was afraid someone would let the cat out of the bag with regards to Colby being a former River Boy but actually couldn't believe Leah agreed to keep quiet about it.  The River Boys are so famous they are part of Gangs of Australia.

Didn't realise Maggie's actual name was 'Marguerite'.

I've always thought very little of Willow so how she's treating Dean hasn't really changed my opinion of her.  I do think it says a lot that even Tori doesn't agree with her hooking up with him.  I was glad Ash called her out as well.  I will say that the fact she's using someone who's such a close friend (you know close enough that she was prepared to ruin the career of another friend for) shows exactly what sort of person she is.  I have to admit I did find it quite amusing when Dean was winding Justin up about Willow.  Him firing Dean is unprofessional but I do understand it would be very difficult to work with him.

Every time I see Raffy and Ty in a scene together I end up smiling.  I found it quite funny how whatever they do seems to wind John up.  I thought it was a shame when they fell out again but really enjoyed their scenes on Friday.  They had such chemistry (a lot of that is to do with the actress who plays Olivia IMO) so really enjoyed it when they went in for the kiss.  Shame Justin and John had to interrupt them.

Funny how Ash and Robbo both showed up around the same time.  Wasn't sure if Robbo had gone for good or for the time being.  I did enjoy his scenes even with Ryan though.

[atrus]

So, Shannon and Curtis are full steam ahead. Justin did wind me up today; he can't subcontract out Raffy's care to the Palmers for the majority of the time but then just morph into a helicopter parent whenever he feels like it. I understand his concerns but I don't think he dealt with the situation as sensitively as he could have, to say the least - and it took a whole episode and Brody's intervention before everyone sat down to have an adult conversation, which is what was required in the first instance rather than dragging Raffy by the hair back to the Morgan cave. As for the conclusion of that adult conversation: I'm not sure on the rights and wrongs/government guidelines about whether relationships between teenage foster kids are in any way appropriate - I would guess that such pairings, like most at that age, are quite liable to end in tears quite quickly, and therefore aren't particularly likely to be conducive to a happy, healthy living environment for either party. So presumably it's heavily frowned upon, and this was the reason The Department had initial reservations when they learned Raffy was living there. In any case, I think (?) they're both still underage so the Palmers are certainly justified in keeping them out of one another's bedrooms. But how is that even going to be possible unless they're watching them 24/7? Not that I necessarily think Raffy should be frogmarched to the Morgans' against her will, but if they're intent on kissing each other as seems to be the case, it's difficult to see how diktats of "this must never happen again" are going to be practical in the long-term. I'm genuinely curious as to how such scenarios get resolved in real-life - would such couples be separated into different homes by the authorities?

Meanwhile, more unresolved sexual tension between Colby and Dean - good job Dean managed to shut him up before he revealed all the details of that dare, which sounded like they might be too homoerotic to be H&A-friendly. I'm still fairly unclear on what Jasmine's purpose in the show is, other than to make eyes at Colby. And the inconsequential Leah/Ryder trolling storyline fizzles out almost as fast as it began, with no damage done as a result of Ryder's meddling, some token contrition on his part, and a token bit of proselytising from Leah to round things off.

[Red Ranger 1]

I pretty much ended up wanting to throttle nearly everyone in the Raffy/Ty storyline, all of whom seemed to have their priorities completely wrong. John and Marilyn were mostly interested in hanging on to both their dolls, Justin wanted to stop his 15-year-old sister having a boyfriend, Raffy wanted to stamp her feet and get everything she wanted, Brody wanted to help Raffy get everything she wanted, and Ty...well, actually, he was the one I felt sorry for her, because while Raffy's whining about how terrible it is having to live with her family (you know, the people that love her, and took her into their home before they even knew who she was, and who she supposedly loves back but keeps rejecting because reasons), he's the one who doesn't actually have anything to do and had the most to lose if people didn't want him and Raffy living together and she refused to stop playing house with John and Marilyn and go home.(To their credit, no-one actually seemed to suggest sending him away to stop Raffy acting like a brat.) The obvious solution - have Raffy move back into her real home but carry on dating Ty - seemed to get suggested once by Brody and then get shot down by Raffy's whiney "I made my choice", so instead we have a situation which doesn't have a hope of succeeding, with the adults deciding they should live together but not be left alone together and them making promises that they're never going to keep.

I'm glad that Ryder got found out quickly and there was no attempt to suggest he'd done the right thing even if it does seem to be a case of no harm done, although Leah does seem to have taken him under her wing. The Colby/Jasmine/Willow/Dean "double date", which had the potential to be a disaster, actually went quite well.It's hard to feel sorry about Colby's past comic to light though, and there's a feeling of "About time too". The ending of the episode was downright weird though with a feeling of scenes being moved between episodes at the last minute, although it's probably more a case of the show not having anywhere to go after the final ad break cliffhanger except to repeat it: We get the reveal of the headline, and then it gets revealed twice more in case we weren't paying attention.

[H&Alover]

Ryder sure got found out quickly and by Alf no less who I didn't think was that tech savvy. His intentions were well meant and according to Roo it had the desired effect, more positive posts.  But that is not excusing the way he went about it, nothing wrong in him filming Leah having a rant but what followed was.  I must admit the tech side of how he was able to upload his 'illegal' film onto Leah's site was over my head. He does do act first and think second a lot. Another sign of his forgotten health problem.

Could Justin's over reaction partly be down to guilt that Raffy isn't at the Morgan  home, by her choice, and if she had been there she wouldn't be kissing Ty (or anyone for that matter).    Had to smile at Brody's 'is that all' when Justin told him he and John had caught them kissing.  Raffy isn't a stupid girl and one/two kisses aren't going to lead to them having mad passionate sex on the sofa or his/her room, despite Justin reminding Brody they were 15 year old lads once and Brody agreeing with him.  Marilyn came across as the most reasonable and didn't have the knee jerk reaction of John & Justin.  It is the DoC's issue that is at the forefront of John's worry, but do they need to know?  We needed Tori there I think to put another reasoned voice to the whole who lives where, what happens next debate.  So far no-one has done the banning thing because we all know that never, never works.  Is Raffy an official foster child of J&M?  lI thought John & Marilyn's terms were reasonable, no messing about in the house, they are both still 15 atrus,  but unless John, Marilyn and Justin have access to a drone they can't stop them meeting up away from either house.  We already saw Raffy text Ty and them meeting on the beach. Ty does have more to lose than Raffy she has another home, but he hasn't got anywhere else.

I was going to do that with the Dean/Willow/Colby/Jasmine "double date" as it wasn't really, only Dean and Willow could be called a couple.  Colby seemed genuinely pleased for them to be together but not very observant for a cop when we know her heart isn't really into it.  Started off a bit awkward with Dean crashing Jasmine and Colby's non date on that very excuse, but actually ended up quite relaxed, it was nice to see what Colby, Willow and Dean's friendship must have been like back in the day. As a total aside who took Jasmine home if anyone?  It didn't look like she'd spent the night at Colby's.  That glaring headline did jar a bit, Colby & Jasmine just happen to have walked off as the papers were dumped at the bait shop.  Funny how everyone only reads the papers when something big happens or there is a big scandal! Natural that Colby would accuse Jasmine but even though they, the newspapers, would have received the information the day before to be in that days edition suggesting she could have leaked it after their big row.  But she's not that petty or vindictive, Leah wouldn't go to the papers either after giving her word she wouldn't, why wouldn't she keep quiet, she did get to know one River Boy very well.  We all know who did leak the info. 

What scenes of Robbo with Ryan?

[atrus]

Ebony was really hamming up the "a gang member? Surely not Senior Constable Thorne?" stuff in the diner today, to the extent that Jasmine seemed to notice she was stirring the pot. If she's aiming to be the silent saboteur she should definitely stop piping up like that around the place; she'd already succeeded in her mission, so hanging around gloating is only liable to expose her. Which, at this point, wouldn't be unwelcome in my view. Anyway, the whole thing provided a prime opportunity for the John Palmers (and to a lesser degree, Alf Stewarts) of this world to get unnecessarily pious about Colby's past affiliations based on an anonymously-sourced news report. Even Leah got up my nose, preaching that it's none of their business and not to be judgemental, despite having wasted no time in having poked her nose in the other day the moment she found out about Colby's past, presumably because it made her feel just as important as John and Alf felt pontificating about it today. I wouldn't mind, but all these characters facilitated the River Boys' criminality for years by accepting them into their circle of trust. I wasn't particularly on-side with McCarthy's tantrum either: I get he has his job to do, but looking at it from Colby's perspective, personally I wouldn't accept any employer telling me I can't associate with my childhood friends no matter what they're ostensibly a part of - and if I did accept that (and Colby does have the search for his sister to consider, I suppose, so can't just flounce out), then I'd at least want to tell them face-to-face why I hadn't got a choice. As such, I felt McCarthy was harsh at the end there. There seems to be some ambiguity about Willow's gang status - she sounds to have been fairly closely tied to the River Boys judging by what we've learned so far. Is she not a member because she's not a boy, or is she just not on the police's radar like Dean is?  

Elsewhere, the chemistry between Hunter and Mason is almost as palpable as that between Colby and Dean, particularly when the shirts started coming off for the photo session. The clear subtext was that they ought to be taking each other to dinner, but as usual it was entirely lost on both of them. I wish the show would stop teasing us with these pairings and actually make one of them happen.

[Red Ranger 1]

I actually kind of enjoyed watching Ebony pushing Jasmine's buttons, which is another indictment of how I feel about the young characters at the moment, but she's being a bit too two-faced by now.If she's going to hang around with the gossips in the Diner tut-tutting about how awful it is and then immediately fawn over Colby and act like she's the only one who hasn't let him down, someone other than jealous fellow 20-something females is going to notice sooner or later.(Okay, I think officially Olivia's 19, but she'd be her in her 20s by at least a couple of the ages given over the years...)Colby was actually right about someone overhearing Leah and Jasmine chatting in the Diner kitchen, although as usual we get a recap to remind us that they've fudged the details and Jasmine actually told Leah near the surf club within earshot of some extras.I don't have any sympathy for Colby here, he knew the rules and he broke them.Any of us, even in jobs with a lot less public accountability than Colby's, would be in trouble if we lied to get the job when we applied, so I can't really see him as the injured party.

As for the online dating thing, I'd have thought Jasmine would have been a bit less keen to recommend it given that her last experience went less than well, but it's obviously just setting us up for the moment where either Olivia comes across Hunter and Mason's photos or vice versa.I've obviously entered by grumpy old man stage because I was pretty much nodding in agreement at John's talk about the good old days.