2021 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this block: Five! (This is going to get confusing if Channel 5 don't get back in synch soon...) Fairly sparse for everyone else, with only Leah, Marilyn, Roo and Justin managing three episodes.

I still have a hard time viewing Marilyn as any sort of victim.She's spent weeks disrespecting John, then as soon as the boot's on the other foot, she turns on the waterworks and gets Alf playing her knight in shining armour, then acts in her usual rude and childish manner when John turns up.I was glad that he refused to take her nonsense, although they seemed to clear the air later.

Lewis and Christian's truce lasted as long as it took for them to speak again.Lewis still seems to be looking for someone to blame and Christian continues to be an easy target.If there had been any mistakes made, I'm not sure the hospital would cover it up without Christian knowing, so he shouldn't really give in to doubts.

I guess things were going a bit too well for Leah and Justin...Hopefully they can find a new (reputable) lender. Some nice sibling banter between Tori and Justin.

[H&Alover]

19 hours ago, Lila_Q said:

Rob looks much older, and I believe that Ari's character is supposed to be in his late 30s. Apparently there's supposed to be a big age difference between Ari and Tane. Anna (Mia) is also 30, but considering that Chloe is at least 18 on the show, Mia's character is probably in her late 30s as well.  

Mikaere was the oldest Parata, then Ari, then Tane.   Mia may well have had Chloe at a young age, similar to Gemma having Nikau young, so possible she could be late 20's. 

Just now, H&Alover said:

 

I guess TPTB at Channel5 could squeeze an extra episode in, though we could catch it on My5 if we have it. 

Fair enough you aren't  a fan of Marilyn Red, but John letting Susie the floozy - nice one Alf like it - deliver the divorce papers because (a) it would have cost him having an official do it and (b) she offered was not on.   Of course she bloody offered anything to rub Marilyn's nose in it. Maz didn't ask Alf to step in, he heard it from someone else and she has always been there for him so he's just returning the favours.   Alf's words to John - and why does Susie the floozy have to be at John's side whenever Alf wants a word with him, butt out lady - sorry as Alf said - what lady - woman.  That conversation was private.  Alf's words hit home though, Marilyn has also always been there for John, even if she hasn't always agreed on his methods, they've through  a lot together and she deserved better.  Old Soos didn't like it though when John insisted on going to talk to Maz alone.  John does know Maz very well so knew patience, which he doesn't have a lot of, would pay off.  Their talk cleared the air, but he was right to stop her having a go at y-k-w.  She had managed to drag Willow into listening to her lament the fact John had left her out of him going to see Marilyn and oh dear it made her cry.

The old curse of things going too well strikes again, this time for Justin and Leah, nothing to do with Susie - yet. Not only Leah and Justin missing seeing Grace's first steps but Jasmine has too.  Good to see the Beach House is still standing and one of the bedrooms is getting used.  Jas and Lewis had a good afternoon/night.

There does seem to appear to be a misunderstanding between Christian and Lewis, I'm sure Christian didn't apologise for any mistakes he may have made which resulted in Anna  dying but he had apologised for her dying despite him and the hospital doing all they could.   I don't know if Lewis intended for Christian starting to doubt himself and anything he had done/not done in the past but that is what has happened.  Not a good thing for a surgeon to begin to second guess themselves.

[Lila_Q]

45 minutes ago, H&Alover said:

Mikaere was the oldest Parata, then Ari, then Tane.   Mia may well have had Chloe at a young age, similar to Gemma having Nikau young, so possible she could be late 20's. 

 

Mikaere was the oldest, but Ari is closer to Mikaere's age than Tane's. Ethan said in his initial interview that Ari was supposed to be 10 years older than Tane.  Also, Tane told Mac that by the time he started school Ari and Mikaere have already finished it and moved to Australia.

Considering that Chloe can legally drink, she is at least 18, so even if Mia have had her at young age she can't be in her 20s (unless she gave birth at 11). 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

To be honest, Alf calling Susie a "floozy" bothered me greatly and seeing it repeated on here as something laudable bothers me even more. It came across as small-minded and borderline misogynistic, and was a side of Alf we haven't seen in a long time. Susie might be unpleasant and manipulative, but I don't see any reason for slut shaming just because she's living with a man who's technically still married but whose wife made it clear she didn't want to be with him.

Today and, well, Jasmine managed to put a smile on Lewis' face for a bit at least.Otherwise, Tori's assessment of his attitude towards Christian was pretty accurate.I'm probably being unfair but Marilyn did annoy me again by feeding Christian's paranoia.

Dean was a very good brother here, I'm not sure we've really seen that side of him with Mackenzie before.We get a bit of an update on the Paul gang, and at least the question of the Paratas being charged was raised.I dunno, I have limited sympathy for Ari still: When you dump your girlfriend for someone else, it's a bit much to expect her to be polite about it.Not that he deserved to be hit by a car, of course!

[H&Alover]

On 13/04/2021 at 14:27, Lila_Q said:

 

Considering that Chloe can legally drink, she is at least 18, so even if Mia have had her at young age she can't be in her 20s (unless she gave birth at 11). 

 

Oh yeh, good point.

[H&Alover]

Forgive me if you think I was overstepping the mark Red, it wasn't meant in a detrimental way, no excuse but blame it on my age.  In no way do I think it applies to the fact Susie is living with a married man, there's been plenty of unmarried people living with unmarried/still married folk on the show over the years.  Not that's it's any excuse but Alf is being made to feel pretty useless at the moment as he told Marilyn and is  just lashing out.   Susie isn't helping or endearing herself to anyone by her attitude, especially to an older statesman like Alf.

I, once again, saw it differently, I saw it as Christian stirring up Marilyn's worries about her health and making her paranoid.  Christian quizzing her when she apologised about dropping the change and had she been doing things like that  a lot more since her bang on the head. Had she had dizzy spells when she stood up.  Marilyn has always been health conscious  so it would play on her mind.  Tori and Irene tried to play it down but then he suggested she go for a check up - just in case. 

Dean was a good brother and didn't put any pressure on her.   As I thought it wouldn't be just as simple of Mac going and having the termination just like that.  She said she was going to the appointment to discuss her options.  It's not that simplistic of course but she is in a much better position to have a baby and be a single mum than Amber was.  She's older, has money and a good support group around her.

It's easy for us to say, but Mia is still refusing to let Ari put his side of the story, not that it would excuse the fact Chloe was put in danger.  No surprise us seeing Paul run Ari down, he really has become very reckless when before he was careful to be pulling strings on the quiet. 

 

[Slade]

She won't admit it but at least it looks as though Tori realises she's made a mistake allowing Lewis to work in the same department as Christian.

Given how Marilyn was with John leading up to them separating, I was glad Susie was the one to deliver the divorce papers to her (As much as Susie isn't a good person).  And I wasn't too keen on John being made out to be the bad guy.  As Susie isn't with John because she actually wants to be with him, I would like to see her actual end game and this particular storyline wrapped up.

I was on the fence about Mackenzie telling Ari about the baby but I do think morally she's doing the right thing deciding to tell him.  I would rather she had a termination although given what happened to Ari, not a chance of that now I would imagine.  Although on the other it's a shame as I was enjoying the trouble in paradise with Mia.

[Red Ranger 1]

Wow, after all that build-up, Paul turned out to be totally rubbish.It was like the show got bored and so decided to write him out in the dumbest way possible.How exactly did Tane find him in the space of a couple of scenes?Did he always know where Paul's secret hideout was, or did Paul actually send him an invitation?Because given Paul's complete lack of back-up, he was obviously going to come across second best in a physical confrontation, and he didn't even have the sense to run Tane down as well or just drive off, just sat in his car looking smug until he got beaten up.Apart from a plot device for a couple of dramatic cliffhangers that are probably not going to have a lasting effect unless Ari actually dies or something, I'm not sure why the show even brought him back.

After being pretty silent until now, Chloe finally voices an opinion on Mia deciding to cut Ari out of her life again: I loved the way Alf casually sidled out of the way on finding himself stuck in the middle of a family argument.So everyone descends on the hospital and Mia does an about turn in her attitude to Ari. Lewis is back to shooting Christian evils from the sidelines, but they just about managed to work together.

A shame that right after Mackenzie makes a decision about telling Ari he ends up in no position to listen.I did love the bonding between Mackenzie and Amber though: I never quite got why Amber seemed to dislike her on sight, so nice to see that one walked back from.It seems to have improved Dean's opinion of her anyway...

[Nephlim14]

On 13/04/2021 at 20:27, Red Ranger 1 said:

Dean was a very good brother here, I'm not sure we've really seen that side of him with Mackenzie before.We get a bit of an update on the Paul gang, and at least the question of the Paratas being charged was raised.I dunno, I have limited sympathy for Ari still: When you dump your girlfriend for someone else, it's a bit much to expect her to be polite about it.Not that he deserved to be hit by a car, of course!

 

11 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Dean was a good brother and didn't put any pressure on her.   As I thought it wouldn't be just as simple of Mac going and having the termination just like that.  She said she was going to the appointment to discuss her options.  It's not that simplistic of course but she is in a much better position to have a baby and be a single mum than Amber was.  She's older, has money and a good support group around her.

It's easy for us to say, but Mia is still refusing to let Ari put his side of the story, not that it would excuse the fact Chloe was put in danger.  No surprise us seeing Paul run Ari down, he really has become very reckless when before he was careful to be pulling strings on the quiet. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Slade said:

I was on the fence about Mackenzie telling Ari about the baby but I do think morally she's doing the right thing deciding to tell him.  I would rather she had a termination although given what happened to Ari, not a chance of that now I would imagine.  Although on the other it's a shame as I was enjoying the trouble in paradise with Mia.

1. Why was it so surprising that Dean supported Mac. Need I remind that he never complained about whether Mac kept the baby or not, just that she was lying to Ari about it. That's the part of this arc that gave me a headache. They keep treating it like an abortion story, with Dean being the straw misogynist, when thats not even the issue. Dean's only problem is Mac excluding Ari just because he dumped her, and that should be considered understandable given the potential landmine he is still living with. 

2. Ari's side of the story might not excuse what happened to Chloe, but it would make it clear that Tane was the one who brought Paul on. Ari just decided to back up his brother.

[630si]

I concur Red, my favourite scenes of the week so far are the ones between Mac and Amber. Felt like a real grown up chat. I think Amber fits in really well in the bay nowadays, something I didn't think/say when she first came on the scene and was partying in Yabbie Creek every night cause trouble with Mac et al. 

Looks like Amber's story is heading for reconciliation with Dean, which I'm not totally against now that I'm finding her likeable. The Unhinged mother won't be happy though.