2018 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[CaptainHulk]

LBH, Quinn has only ever really given a monkeys about herself.

Ryder needs to fix up. And at the time of Alf/Roo's departure Duncan and Bryce clearly needed them more.

Maggie continues to entertain. She's actually one the better things about the current product.

[Slade]

On 15/11/2018 at 15:31, H&Alover said:

Are you suggesting Slade that  Raffy's accident is now John  & Marilyn's fault and it wouldn't have happened if she'd been at the Morgan's?

Wrong!

Could have done without Marilyn and John trying to be pushy with Brody so I was glad he told them the Morgans had it all covered re Raffy.  But then she was going on and on about it, to Alf, to Leah and to Irene.  I generally find her annoying as hell and found her and John to be quite desperate regarding Raffy and was thinking at that point that perhaps they should reconsider fostering and try to help other kids.  Then they wouldn't be so focused on Raffy, although Justin did come up with a fairly amicable solution given the circumstances.

Whilst I don't have one iota of sympathy for Marilyn or John, despite finding Ryder annoying a lot of the time I do feel a little bit bad for him at the moment - when he went to see Raffy and the Morgan's wouldn't let him see her. Alf and Roo forgetting his 18th and the next day when he discovered Raffy was home and allowed visitors .  He still clearly blames himself for what happened to her.  And I can actually understand him up and leaving like that.

Once again Raffy shows how kind hearted she sending Ryder a text wishing him happy birthday despite being in a hospital bed.  Great to see her back home with her actual family.  Although she did make a very valid point to Justin about nobody asking her what she wanted.

[H&Alover]

Sorry Slade I must have misunderstood your post.

Irene said - and later Raffy herself - what I've been 'saying' did anybody ask/consult her about what she wanted when she came out of her coma no they didn't so the Morgan's fully deserved her rant and about keeping Marilyn, John and Ryder from seeing her.  She isn't brain damaged and  is 15 not five.  Raffy obviously wants John & Marilyn to be involved in her care now she's home, she loves them and has missed them, why when the Morgan's and John & Marilyn were discussing it did they shuffle Raffy off to her bedroom, it was her and her future they were talking about.  It makes sense the more people watching out for her the easier it will be for all especially as Tori is likely, hopefully, have other things to think about. We know it was just John & Marilyn dropping off Raffy's things the day she came home, but to Ryder it wouldn't have looked like that, to him it  was the Morgan's keeping him away from her because they blame him for the accident though it hasn't actually been said. I can't be so understanding about Mason deleting Ryder's message, the phone was on silent. Not quite the way I thought Ryder's revelation about him being 18 would come about but he certainly shamed Alf & Roo.  I'm guessing Mason drove Raffy to Alf & Roo's as I couldn't see her walking how ever far it is between the Morgan's and the caravan park. 

No way would Brody know it was Ryder's 18th so I'll forgive him for questioning his age, but no excuse for Alf or Roo and I suppose we could/should include Coco for also not remembering.   Ryder was right when Alf & Roo tried belatedly to apologise to him they do only take notice of him when he's messed up, as in  assuming he'd forged his ID to buy drink and  forgetting an ordinary birthday is bad enough but your 18th is a big one. Ryder was 17 when he was left in the care of Roo & Alf so hardly a vulnerable child and he was more then willing.  I don't know how good ship to shore communications are in this modern age (I think she's meant to be on a cruise ship) but there must have been someway Quinn could have sent a Happy 18th message to Ryder. 

Again not as I envisaged it but after Ryder storms off he bumps into Dean who from the look of it persuades him to go back home.  Will he get any thanks, erm we'll have to wait and see. 

Talking of Dean it looks like he does track down his dad after all, of course it being a soap it doesn't go well.  From the talk we saw between Justin & Willow it may get worse for him as Justin asks Willow to choose between him & Dean never a good idea. It can't be he's jealous of their fling because that happened after they split and it was a rebound thing on Willow's part.

There did seem to be a jump with the Ben/Maggie story, but as usual with them they did talk about what Maggie wanted to do with her life, even if she wasn't sure at first what she wanted to do. Laughed when Coco rang Ziggy to come over because Ben & Maggie were acting weird.  Must have been embarrassing for Coco more than Ziggy to see them spread out on the sofa giggling like a couple of drunk teenagers.  Now Maggie has decided what to do, she now needs to sit down with the family and think of a plan. 

For us there are going to be a few storylines left up in the air next week.

[atrus]

Back up to speed, and I've found myself surprised to the extent that I've been affected by the Ryder storyline, which seems to me to be a cautionary tale about the potential impact of what I'd call soft emotional neglect. By 'soft' I mean that no-one's done anything desperately wrong towards Ryder - they just haven't clocked what ought to be obvious signs of distress. Pretty much everyone has something to answer for in the way they've overlooked his feelings recently - John horridly going off at him and blaming him for Raffy's health problems; the Morgan mafia stopping him from visiting Raffy; and Roo and Alf for, yes, forgetting his birthday - but more importantly than that, not realising how fragile a place he was in emotionally, particularly after the trauma of seeing Raffy go into a fit like that on the pier. They and Leah seem to have spent so much time trying to whip him into discipline in terms of his academic achievement, general behaviour and not spending time with Dean, that they've missed what's really going on with him. Not saying it's solely a gender thing, but I think there's sometimes a subconscious assumption by guardians of adolescents that boys don't feel in the same way that girls do. But it's clear Ryder's a more sensitive soul than anyone seems able to give him credit for; he's been absolutely sick with guilt over Raffy, on top of his sadness over his relationship breaking down, and all he needed was some unconditional emotional support.

The only two who seem to be vaguely providing that in an adult manner are (ironically) Coco and Raffy. And of those, Coco has treated him so shoddily up until recently that, although she redeemed herself with unusually mature words to him when she found him crying in the trees, it's no surprise he doesn't believe her when she tells him he's loved. So I was cheering when Raffy, who out of everyone had by far the most excuse to have forgotten Ryder's birthday, not only didn't, but then proceeded to give half the town a spirited serve for the way they've treated him, and brilliantly announced that she was "storming off" to go and give him some support. I will say in Roo and Alf's defence that at least they have taken Ryder in, and had forgotten the big day under the extreme circumstances of Caroline's death. But equally,  where was his mum on his eighteenth birthday? Nowhere to be seen or heard from, as far as I can tell, which may be the crux of the problem. While I'm sure Roo and Alf will be feeling rotten for how things have panned out, it's too little too late, really, and no wonder Ryder feels like leaving.

The Morgans' behaviour has also been lacking towards Marilyn and John, I think. I'm almost regretful of saying it, because I continue to think that Raffy living with her siblings would be the preferable state of affairs - and John and Marilyn have certainly been too possessive of her, to say nothing of far from competent in the way they've handled her care in the past, including the management of the Raffy/Ty situation, which I maintain should have prompted a rethink about the living situation. What's more, it absolutely makes sense that, given her medical condition, Raffy should be in a house with two doctors on call, and I don't dispute the logic of that at all. But all that said, I do think it's clear that the siblings have been as complicit in the contracting out of her care to the Palmers as the Palmers themselves - so it wasn't really on that they should cut them out all of a sudden in the way they did, after everything they've done for her. I get things were stressful with Raffy being so ill, but that was no excuse to treat John and Marilyn like any other non-family members and be prevented from seeing her, excluded from decision-making etc. Ultimately, whether we like it or not, they've been her de facto guardians for a fair old while now, with the Morgans' full consent, and so they really did have a right to see her and be included in the decisions. But as ever, John and Maz didn't help matters by bitching and whining about the Morgans to anyone else who would listen, rather than just airing their concerns to them directly. Once again, Raffy was the only one who managed to enunciate what needed to be said with anything like the directness required, moreover pointing out that she hadn't even been consulted herself about whether or not she wanted to move back to the Morgans'. She is old and mature enough to decide what she wants, after all, which regardless of what we feel about the silliness of her living with John and Maz, is surely a key consideration. All in all, it's Raffy who comes out of both storylines looking like by far the most sensible and responsible party, which is doubly impressive given she's been seriously ill in hospital. Very glad to have her back on her feet and apparently healthy for the time being, anyhow, even if the medical issues are likely to be ongoing.

The Dean story continues to be excellent and moving. It was pretty rum of Karen to be cracking onto Colby but, by that stage, not unexpected - she's clearly got a hell of a lot of psychological problems. Loved her scene with Dean at the campfire; she obviously loves him in her own, mixed-up way, which makes it all the more tragic that she keeps hurting him the way she does. It's a very proficient portrayal by the actor because I find it impossible not to like Karen in lots of ways, even though she's so volatile and downright dangerous at times. The scenes of the police coming to fetch her on the beach were a particular highlight, as well as the flashbacks we got as he and Colby were clearing out Karen's house. What's more, the story really seems to be poking at the heart of deprivation in Mangrove River and embarking on a more general exploration of the social factors that lead to the formation of gangs, in a way that the show often glossed over in the Braxton era, I think. I never thought I'd say it, but at the moment, the show is stronger for the River Boys, or at least the remnants of them that we have in Colby, Dean and Willow. We're not in black-and-white morality territory here, however much Chelsea has been insistent on stamping around complaining about Colby having committed a 'cuh-rime' years ago, as if it's a concept she simply couldn't wrap her mind around. As such, I loved how Willow sat her down and explained to her how the River Boys provided a support network for Dean and Colby when their real families proved sorely lacking - which, in fairness to Chelsea, did seem to have a positive impact and caused her to reassess her stance towards Colby. And I do also think Chelsea was right in trying to deal with the Karen situation straight away, for everyone's sake. Delaying the inevitable only made things worse and ultimately more painful - but I do understand that it wasn't an easy call for Colby to make given his history with Dean, and I don't think they were decisions he took lightly, albeit being the wrong ones.

In other news, good that Tori clarified that having a relationship with Jasmine and having the baby with her needn't be an and/or decision for Robbo - a possibility which everybody seemed to have been ignoring for weeks - although it became clear as things progressed that the process was inevitably going to impact on the relationship. Jasmine can't on one hand be all lovely and understanding to Tori's face about it, and then in the next breath be whingeing to Irene et al, and making passive-aggressive remarks to Robbo about how he stood her up. I'm afraid she's going to have to decide whether this is sustainable in the long-term - because if she thinks the time she and Robbo spend together is being sapped by Tori now, just wait till the baby arrives.

Well, much as Maggie has totally cheated in the speed at which she's been crossing days off that chart, I'm glad that she seems to be out of the woods, despite the eleventh-hour bruise scare. I think I understood what she was experiencing with the sudden urge to go and see the world, and I felt Ben should just have given her the space to explore her thoughts about her future without trying to read too much into it. Still, glad they resolved things and that she appears to have identified a focus for herself.

Has Mason just got over his douchiness naturally, then? It seems to have evaporated more or less completely over the last fortnight - but I can't remember anyone counselling him out of it, as would normally be required?

[Red Ranger 1]

On ‎18‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 15:54, H&Alover said:

I can't be so understanding about Mason deleting Ryder's message

He only turned the phone off, didn't he? If he'd deleted the message, I'd have a hard time justifying that.

I'm still not feeling very generous about John and Marilyn's "de facto guardian" status giving them special privileges.The whole point of being a temporary guardian is that once the child goes back to their family, you take a step back, like they have done with Ty and Jordan. This is only an issue because of the bizarre set-up whereby John and Marilyn are living in the same small town as Raffy's family, which they think gives them the right to a say in any decisions concerning her, even though they didn't feel the need to consult the Morgans when Raffy was living with them.The Morgans may have consented to Raffy living with them, but given how they were ambushed, their only alternative was dragging her home.(Which they've finally managed to do:Good for them.)The first half of the episode confirmed by worst fears, with John and Marilyn back acting like parents to Raffy, even in someone else's house.(What happened to the roster?What happened to having someone medically trained on hand all the time?How did Raffy end one episode with Mason and begin the next with the Palmers?)Fortunately, the second half picked up a bit, giving her a couple of proper scenes with Justin.The one outside the Diner showed us just what we've been missing for most of this year.

Meanwhile, still very mixed feelings about Ryder.Yes, he's been let down a lot, he's had no-one looking out for him the past couple of weeks, and he's probably still suffering a lot of guilt and trauma over seeing Raffy at death's door twice.But as Dean says, "Man up." He's got people who care about him (including Quinn, who I'm glad got a mention even though there's no acknowledgement or explanation for her missing his birthday), and he's being a pretty bad friend to Raffy, not for the first time lately, by putting her in exactly the same position he's been in, spending all her time worrying about him and feeling guilty about what's happened but not being allowed to see him or speak to him and know he's all right, meaning she's not putting enough effort into her own well-being.Dean didn't exactly keep his promise to Alf by not letting him know where Ryder is and taking him on an impromptu road trip instead, but at least he's looking out for him.So Dean did try and track down his father after all, discovering a whole other family in the process.A curiously uncredited Mark Lee there, who previously played Casey Mitchell's father back in the 90s and popped up as a gardener mixed up in the infamous year-long mystery back in 2009.

I prefer Coco as chipper rather than selfish, so hopefully she'll keep this personality for a bit.Her enthusiasm for any idea Maggie had was nice to see, and Ben's also being supportive.I have a hard time imagining the show actually letting Maggie go off to climbs mountains though, unless it happens during the end of season break!

21 hours ago, atrus said:

Has Mason just got over his douchiness naturally, then? It seems to have evaporated more or less completely over the last fortnight - but I can't remember anyone counselling him out of it, as would normally be required?

I think those conversations he had with Tori a few weeks back covered the end of it.

[H&Alover]

Admittedly it was hard to see what he had done, but if he'd only turned the phone off she would have seen the message later.

The idea was Raffy goes back to the Morgan's as there were more people there to look after her - HUH!!! That worked out really well didn't it, no-one noticed she'd slipped off to go looking for Ryder.  Did neither Tori or Mason check on her before they went to work? Before that who was it Justin charged with looking after Raffy while he looked for Ryder - why Marilyn & John!  It was them who took her home, made sure she took her meds and stayed until he got home seeing as neither Tori or Mason were around, nor for that matter were Brody or Ziggy and even Buddy has done a disappearing act. Not sure I like the expression 'dragging her home' whiffs of child abuse and Raffy is 15 so has a right to say where she lives and who she sees.   It was Raffy once again who seemed to be the voice of reason regarding Ryder and why he ran off, even blasting John when he had a go at him and although agreeing he could be a dork, reminded them he was a good soul and did care about people. No way she should  feel guilty, Roo yes who did have the grace to admit it, but not her.   Having said Raffy is 15 she didn't actually act it when she didn't take her meds with her when she did her runner.  I get she is new to all this and good idea by Justin by putting the alarm on on her phone to alert her. She is really distressed about Ryder as he is a very good friend, talking of friends where is Coco, how come she hasn't been round to see Raffy or even called her?

Ryder, as right as he was about Alf & Roo only noticing him when he messed up, did make one error, Alf did praise him over the Ty situation by telling him he was proud of him, otherwise nothing.  I'm not suggesting they pat him on the head and give him his favourite biscuit when he's had a good day, but just some sort of comment wouldn't hurt.  Oh big deal Quinn phoned, forgive me if I don't get too excited, but it's a bit  late isn't it, suddenly remembering she has a son? Raffy understands why he's done what he's done, like her being 'dragged home' without being asked or consulted, he's been ignored.  Dean's remark to John, Roo, Marilyn and Raffy that Ryder would be OK as he's 18 and can look after himself didn't go down too well.

OK Dean has trotted off to find his dad, telling Alf he'd be out of town for a few days, um what about his Community Service?  Lucky Rick Booth is/was  a celebrity was fairly easy to find.  Fair do's he didn't ring Alf to tell him he'd found Ryder, what are the odds eh, Ryder picks him to cadge a lift from, but he did nag him into ringing Raffy who will pass the message on. Ryder, has been said enough times, is 18 so can't be forced to go back.  Liked that jibe "Man up princess" from Dean to Ryder who later tuned it round and used it on Dean. There is a good friendship there, and although he had to be pressed did confide in Ryder what he was up to and it was good he wasn't alone when they rocked up at Rick's not so humble abode. Handy Ryder was able to alert Dean with the 'incoming' text. Daddy, I guess to his credit, didn't come out with usual "never heard of her" comment when Dean said he was Karen Thompson's son.  Not going to end well though. Oh there's a half sister! 

I do think Maggie is trying to be too ambitious by flinging herself into training so vigorously, not a competition you know, you are allowed to take it at our own pace. Great idea by Ben to get advice from Tori and seemed  Maggie was also getting advice from Mason. 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

10 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Admittedly it was hard to see what he had done, but if he'd only turned the phone off she would have seen the message later.

Raffy is 15 so has a right to say where she lives

I assume Raffy didn't turn the phone back on or check her messages until after Ryder came round.And, no, she doesn't, she's still a child and has to live with her family or other responsible adult.Are you seriously now suggesting that the Morgans are child abusers for taking Raffy home?!

Anyway, today.Looks like Dean's lucked out with both parents.Ryder continued to be a bit too annoying in places and it's to Dean's credit that he didn't tell him to rack off whenever he failed to stop talking.Alf does eventually thank Dean for bringing Ryder back, although it feels as though now he's got the Alf Stewart Seal of Approval we're meant to think he's always been a lovable misunderstood guy who's never done anything wrong, which really doesn't match his history.I was disappointed with the conversation in Salt: It feels they talked around the issues instead of addressing them, and Ryder has gone back to being the dutiful nephew and grandson so quickly that I'm not sure why he even bothered running away as he meekly allowed himself to be "dragged home" by that "child abuser" Dean.(And the fact his first instinct was to go to Quinn suggests he doesn't see her as the monster some forum members do, and makes Dean's actions even more suspect.)Roo's back to thinking all he needs are hugs and platitudes, at least Alf acknowledged his mistakes.

I liked seeing Mason involved with Maggie, he doesn't get enough screen time.As Irene said, it appears things are starting to get a bit real for Jasmine, as she faces the prospect of sharing Robbo with another woman. Part of me thinks she should just cut her losses, but I'll give her points for at least trying to be all right with it, even if some of her questioning was a bit over-sensitive.

[Slade]

Pretty much finding the scenes with Raffy, John/Marilyn unbearable.  Especially they way they keep trying to mollycoddle her.  The one good thing is as usual Raffy talks a lot of sense as she had a counter for every argument they and Roo had re Ryder up and leaving.  Didn't like John almost blaming the Morgans when she ran off as I suspect the same thing probably would have happened had she been living with him and Marilyn.

Again re Ryder didn't like Roo's attitude towards Dean but at least she immediately apologised.  I was more annoyed with Alf but kind of understand why he would be so sceptical of Dean given what happened to him before and he did square things with him afterwards.

With Dean's dad, first impressions are I don't like him at all but I could kind of understand his attitude.  Some guy just rocks up at his house claiming to be his son after he essentially had a one night stand with a women he met over 25 years ago and he thought the situation was laid to rest.  I really think Dean should just leave it because the guy's clearly not interested.  Perhaps he's concerned with the press - "Former AFL Star Rick Booth has love Child".

LMAO.  Jasmine can't get her end away with Robbo because he has to be 'ready' for Tori.

[H&Alover]

Raffy is 15 not five so ought to have been asked her feelings about being taken back home and it not being assumed she'd be OK with everyone else's decision as 'it's for her own good'.   She's also a pretty savvy 15 year old. She was living with responsible adults, though even I think it would have been too much for John & Marilyn on their own. I don't think I suggested the Morgan's were child abusers, maybe a knee jerk reaction after her accident and they would be in a better position to care for her.  You're right Slade the same thing could have happened if Raffy had been with John & Marilyn, well it did in a way, she told them she was staying at Coco's when she, Coco and Ryder went investigating, but the point is, I suppose, there are three of the Morgan's - not counting Brody or Ziggy - as they are living outside the house so more of them to notice she had snuck out.

Dean should know by now  Ryder how  annoying can be, but he did talk to him, no-one else about, liked him defending  his half sister (Kayla?) when Ryder referred to her as hot. From what I could gather she is not much younger than him (same age even) as Rick said she was expected when he got the letter from Karen informing him about Dean. I may be wrong but maybe he looked just like baby Dean so that is why he accepted Dean wasn't lying. Bit of an aside but where was Mrs. Booth, dead, divorced? Bit of a twist on what I was thinking would happen but Dean did persuade Ryder to go home by reminding him he did have a family that loved him. Ryder is an adult, though only just, so couldn't be 'dragged home'. That was your expression Red.  Quinn wasn't even at home was she, so maybe Ryder just meant home?

Different responses from Roo, running around like a headless chock to Alf being Alf all stoical.   At least Roo did thank Dean when he & Ryder first showed up, Alf just had a go at him for not telling him he'd found him.  I was glad that Alf did thank Dean properly later as only Alf can with a back handed compliment thrown in. Yes Dean has done wrong, I don't think anyone is denying it, but he's not two dimensional, there is a lot more to him than first meets the eye, a lot of  that tough guy act is just that, had to be with Karen and later with the River Boys.  Not unlike Ryder when he first arrived appearing all cocky when we later found out he was quite sensitive underneath, perhaps that's why they connect.

Ryder was right it wasn't just because they forgot his birthday, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back, he'd like to be listened to now and again.  After all this reminding Roo & Alf he's an adult I hope he does act like one, well most of the time at least. I like the fun, annoying Ryder.

Maggie was trying to do too much too soon.  Lucky Mason can fit her in in  his busy schedule, studying, shifts at the gym, working at the hospital and looking after Raffy.   Those climbs look pretty daunting but they don't have to done in one go, I wouldn't think, as long as they are all done.  

I think as Irene suggested to Jasmine it is becoming real about Robbo/Tori and the baby seeing as the deed is being done the next day.  I believe Jasmine really thought she would be OK with  it, but seeing how excited Robbo was brought her down to earth a bit. No reason why Robbo can't be 'with' Jasmine.

Justin gives Willow his ultimatum about Dean tonight, well I thinks it's tonight! 

More drama to come from another quarter before the week is out.

[D.B]

4 hours ago, H&Alover said:

but the point is, I suppose, there are three of the Morgan's - not counting Brody or Ziggy - as they are living outside the house so more of them to notice she had snuck out.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't she sneak out during the middle of the night? And even if that's not even the case, it wouldn't be considered likely that someone just straight out of hospital with as serious as a condition as Raffy has would be going out, not matter how headstrong and brave she is. Also, have you not considered that Tori and Mason would be at their jobs, so that just leaves Justin, one person. And most likely she'd be able to do the same even if she was still living with John and Marilyn. 

Well, Raffy is back and things haven't gone so great. I honestly didn't appreciate John and Marilyn using the excuse to drop things off the Morgan's house to ambush the Morgans into when they can see Raffy. I accept that they would like to visit her from time to time, but them acting like they need to see her everyday is, to me, just tiring. Raffy still continues to be the definition of a good friend, though taking off without her melds was very risky, so thankfully Justin had a talk with her about it.

Ryder does have a right to feel abandoned, I mean, no-one should have their 18th birthday forgotten by their family, and all the trauma and guilt haven't made things easily, but getting drunk on Raffy's first day back-not the best thing to do. While I get that Roo and Alf would feel guilty about Ryder feeling abandoned, but I can't really but much blame on them, Duncan and Bryce needed them more, and they trusted Leah to look after him, though as they said at Salts, they could have made sure that he was in the right head-space before. We had some interesting scenes with Dean and his father, which is weird since he before said to Colby he won't investigate it, but in the end, it got him nowhere. It must have been hard for him seeing his step-family there in that fancy house, while him and Karen were in far less rich housing, but I'm glad he was able to knock some sense into Ryder, he has people who care about him, which is more than others can say. I did like his conversation with Alf; though Red is right in saying he's far from a guy who has done no wrong, he does have some good qualities about him and he does want to make a positive change. 

Jasmine is beginning to see the problems with her agreement with Tori and Robbo, though I have to give her credit for being unbelievably patient and understanding. She is trying to be happy for Robbo and Tori, but can't help the jealous feelings creeping in. Though he's still one of my favourites, I cringed at Robbo's statement to Tori; "where else will I be?". I get that he's excited, but he could a bit more wiser with his words, in consideration to Jasmine. 

Maggie's to help and cure cancer, after a lot of time feeling tired and battered down at work, is a rather extreme but very pleasing decision. This could be a good move for her character, and as well as the loving scenes with Ben, she also got some very nice and good scenes with Coco and Mason, two characters I don't usually  have much time for.