2021 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

Although it wasn't said out loud it was obvious, to me at least, Nik meant body enhancing drugs as in steroids,  but Tane cleverly chose to not know what he meant by it, he did mention his concerns to Mia so there will be someone else to keep an eye on him.  Nik has decided to go the conventional route but definitely overdoing it, agreed with Tane about resting, but the moment he left the room was back on the  weights. Tane has been doing this for years so knows what he is talking about, it's slow and steady, it's not going to happen overnight.   Nik's got a great bod anyway, if I'm allowed to say that without being called sexist, some of those guys in those photos actually looked grotesque, not natural at all. Still appears he hasn't touched the appetite suppressant.

The one with the real drug problem is Justin, he's doing a good job conning Leah, who to be fair to her, is keeping  a better eye on him, but of course she doesn't know about his new secret stash.  That could be the reason he doesn't want Ziggy back there as he couldn't dip into them when he wanted/needed to.   Were his shakes due to pain or the drugs?  I was confused.com, one moment he said he had fired Ziggy as there had been complaints about her work, so why not tell her at the time, next moment he's willing to give her a good reference.  He's gone down the buying pain relief off the net then, and it's costing him - over $300 - let's hope that is all it costs him and not anything serious health wise cos God knows what could be in them.   Wasn't Christian supposed to be taking over his care again? I know he's looking after Rachel but she wouldn't be his only patient, that isn't how it works in hospitals, it's not a private clinic. 

I'm still in two minds about Stephen, what he says is plausible and makes sense.  I wondered if he was sending the texts as he does appear before or walks off  just after John gets them.  It did throw him and John though when Leah took it upon herself to text 'Susie' back to call her out.  I still can't get over the reason why Susie would contact John, not like any con artists we've seen before, normally after they have conned their victim they disappear, they never return to the scene of the crime and risk getting nicked.   Shame Irene isn't there as she sussed Susie out, but then she didn't seem to have the same feeling about Stephen. 

Don't forget whose daughter Roo is Red, she can be just as stubborn as he is.  She is going to need some help, even if it is just putting back the paddles in their place.   She going to knacker herself if she isn't careful which would defeat the whole object  of making life easier for Alf.  As I mentioned before there was more to running the bait shop than she thought. 

[Red Ranger 1]

There has got to be a reason why John keeps getting texts just before Stephen comes in or right after he leaves.If Stephen is sending the texts, I've no idea why, unless he's got some reason for wanting people to think Susie's still in the area.That spot for the secret meeting, far from being perfect, seemed absolutely dreadful: It was a busy road, and Leah and Stephen only seemed to be making the barest attempt to hide.No real attempt to explain how Susie managed to see them without seeing her, which is another reason to be suspicious.

We are at the point where Mackenzie needs to be pulled up, although we did get a tiny moment of vulnerability when it looked like she's finally pushed Dean too far.Still, it wasn't going to be solved overnight, and I found myself wondering if Dean should maybe find somewhere else to stay with Jai (Ironically, Justin did that with Ava when Brody was bad!), but he actually thought that himself, so good on him.Ari gets dragged back into things after being sequestered away with Mia for the most part.I'm not sure why Ryder and Chloe didn't just tell the customers to ignore the crazy lady that was obviously nothing to do with them.I thought when Ari started listening in, it was building up to him blowing his stack thinking Ryder had got Chloe pregnant, but it was cleared up quickly and it seems he now thinks Mia is pregnant.

And, after not doing much all episode, Justin has the good timing to collapse just before the end.It looks like a lot of things may finally come out...

[CaptainHulk]

Gigantic Red flag hanging over Stephen

[H&Alover]

It's either  a very clever ploy by TPTB regarding Stephen and they are leading us up the garden path by making us think Stephen is in league with Susie or is playing at being her or maybe he is an OK bloke.  It's seeming very obvious, to us at least,  he's a bad 'un but is it too obvious?    Maybe John suggested it be in the open and where, having said that when was a location decided on or did we all all miss that and timing was vague 'tomorrow morning'.  If Susie has nothing to do do with this in any way, be simple for Stephen to send that text about being just the two of them.  Stephen had left, again, when John got his answer which he kept to himself.  Did Stephen know John's mobile no. to be able to text him that first message? Mr. President was Susie's name for John so either it is her or she told Stephen or he found out. At least it's getting our leetle grey cells working.

How is John's house sale going btw?

I guess that must have been Mia's bag Ryder opened and where he found the pregnancy testing kit.  He spent  a few hours sweating before he got up the courage to actually ask Chloe about it.  Yes, it's likely Chloe is on the pill, not that I'm assuming, but accidents can still happen and the pill can still fail.  Ari was restrained but blowing up at Ryder in a public place wouldn't have looked good. Ryder's "Thank God" reaction seemed to have gone unnoticed.  I thought it had been a quite couple of days outside Salt, had the  Truck been somewhere else?  Mac may have a more established business but even she can't keep food/drink  away and having all these Special Offers. They sell different kinds of food, Ryder and Chloe are only there during the day, plenty of scope for both of them. 

Dean has been remarkably patient and we all know that isn't his forte but Mac is really pushing him to the limits. Another random bloke who's company  Mac insisted she was enjoying. How much of a strain would it be for her to abstain for a couple of days/nights and it is Dean's flat so he does have a say in what goes on, he'd be the same if Colby had been bringing back random women and Jai was staying over. But he went for Plan B. Jai is her nephew as Dean reminded her, but maybe a painful reminder considering.  I wasn't that surprised that Ari was concerned about Mac and offered to keep an eye on her while Dean is away.  Though  maybe not the best idea to approach Mac, but she did look pensive when he left.  I'm still of the thinking she is not happy but needs to admit it to herself first before she admits it to anyone else. 

Well no surprise those on line drugs were dodgy, giving him the hot/cold sweats, shakes and collapse - though they have to be found yet - Monday going by the trailer. Leah, understandably, was still unaware but she soon was when she pitched up with Justin's lunch which was lucky he could have lain there all day.  Justin's fave sarnie is a BLT then, good taste, mine too. 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this block:Three, and he was credited on Friday for no appearance.

I'm glad Chloe confided in Ryder, and those scenes were rather sweet.I can definitely see her perspective and I thought Mia and Ari's way of handling it, telling Chloe they wouldn't proceed without her support, was a tiny bit manipulative: Chloe was hardly going to turn round and say "Right, I'm not letting you try for a baby then", so giving in was her only option. Oh, and the show's still trying to say Ari's known Chloe since she was a baby. So...a baby clambered up into his lap?

Alf, Leah and Tori work out what's going on with Justin, but he's still mired in denial, delusion and deceit. Tori not only decides to go straight in playing hardball but doesn't do a very good job of it, letting Justin call her bluff and getting herself removed as his doctor...which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since she was hardly being objective, but it doesn't look like Justin's in the mood to listen to anyone.Alf keeping his confidence when Marilyn and Roo came looking for gossip was a nice touch.

[H&Alover]

I liked how Ryder was there for Chloe and that she hadn't taken umbrage over his "Thank God" remark when she said the kit wasn't hers.  I can see why he was in two minds about contacting her so the text was a good idea, she didn't feel pressured to answer right away like she would have if he'd rung.  Lovely talk they had on the pier and her telling him how she felt each time Mia lost a baby, then losing Cody.  Wise words from Ryder to tell them how she was feeling about their decision.  Ari and Mia must have thought they had been so careful keeping all their hurt from Chloe seeing how young she was, but as she told Mia, probably for the first time, she remembers hearing her crying when she thought Chloe was asleep. Then added to all that they lose an actual baby and  everything went wrong for all of them.   It certainly came out all wrong when Ari said he and Mai wanted a child of their own, he didn't mean it as Chloe thought he did.  No baby this time and another in depth talk between Ari and Mia before deciding to carry on.  I suppose it may have depended on Ari's definition of baby,  a slighter older baby who was crawling may be able to do it.  Chloe being Chloe could have said no, maybe they caught her in the right mood. 

Did chuckle at Ari's garbled questioning of Mia, was she OK, was she late?  

Was going to ask how Leah got to the hospital as she asked Alf to drive her to the garage, but of course she would have gone in the ambulance with Justin leaving her car at the garage so forget that. 

Once again, surprise, surprise, protocol goes out of the window at ND, Tori treats her brother because no other doctor is about.   Justin had mentioned to Leah and she said to Tori his new GP, if there is one, told him to stop taking his meds and go cold turkey, what even  halfway competent doctor would do that?   Tori got it right when she said even withdrawal wouldn't cause those symptoms, the shakes, the fitting etc. moment by Leah which is when she hijacked Alf.  Strewth indeed Alf on finding Justin's stash.   All the hospital has to do now is find what the heck was in those pills, so he can be given the right meds to undo the damage, it didn't look like he'd taken that many either which is scary.   He could have died or ended up with brain damage. He was hardly likely to admit he's got a problem even when he was still groggy he was denying he's an addict, aggression the next phase.  He made the right choice, even in his condition, to 'fire' Tori as his doctor, she far, far too close and wouldn't be objective, be wearing her sister's head and not her doctor's one.  Did Christian offer himself as the replacement or did Justin ask for him? 

 Yes well done Alf, of course Roo and Marilyn would be concerned for Justin and Leah but he was right in keeping his own counsel and Justin's secret. If Leah wants to confide in them she will. 

[Red Ranger 1]

I didn't think either Tori or Christian really came over well here. Tori's rather sulky accusation that Christian's been too preoccupied to notice something was up with Justin was hugely pot-kettle-black, but to be fair she did apologise for it. Christian volunteers to keep an eye on Justin, but got way too easily distracted by Rachel for way too long and let everyone down. Then Tori's immature streak comes out again: Whilst I think Rachel is getting a bit too attached to Christian (she doesn't appear to be having any visitors, so I guess she's not got much in her life), she is a patient and one in a precarious situation at that, so Tori having a go was indeed unprofessional. And then she tries to demand explanations from Christian and, really, there was no answer that could have satisfied her, but I guess he hasn't handled things as well as he should have done.

And in the midst of this, we have Justin deep in denial, insisting his withdrawals are just back pain and he's only doing what he has to to manage it.(The fact he binned the pills to prove he can do without them and he can't seems to have escaped his attention.)The stuff with Ari and Mia just felt like padding really.

[Slade]

The way Chloe was crying, had to be consoled by Ryder and how she confronted Ari and Mia about the pregnancy and them not telling her just shows her self-centred nature.  Because it's all about her.  And having seen her here, it makes the way she's been acting towards Mackenzie even worse, particularly as she of all people should know what Mac is going through (Although I do agree with her about never having kids).

The head of ED was acting very unprofessionally with Justin when he denied the pills were his and I thought she was out of order blaming Christian for Justin too.  However I do still feel a bit sorry for her and think Christian is also slightly out of order.  He does seem more focused on Rachel than Tori.  I do feel sorry for Rachel as well as it's not really her fault and she has no next of kin (as far as we know) so has nobody.  I do think Jasmine trying to steer her away from Christian and onto the physiotherapists is better as she's become dependant on him now.  Even if Rachel did have family, given their conversation about both of them being in the right place at the right time, I'm not sure it will make any difference to how she sees Christian now.

Getting pretty fed up with the Ari and Mia show.

[H&Alover]

Neither Tori or Christian were without blame. He sent Tori home and she shouldn't be so involved with Justin medically anyway, only as a sister. Her nagging Justin wouldn't work, as she well knows or should do.  Justin isn't his patient as Justin didn't want to know as soon as Christian refused him drugs. Justin hasn't reached the stage where he is ready to admit he has a problem so of course he's still in denial, not your drugs eh, so how come they were in your locked locker? In his mind Brody was a real drug addict as he was on the hard stuff, he's taking prescribed drugs so it's different.  I don't suppose it would be any good Tori ringing Brody and telling him what was going on with Justin. I wonder how it went with Dr. Singh, it wasn't properly explained.   Is Justin really in pain from his back, I think even if he did get a scan and they didn't find anything he'd say the scan was wrong.   That outburst of anger was worrying, withdrawal from the bad drugs? Bad move on Christian's part as he had told Tori he'd keep an eye on Justin but got distracted by Rachel though it was all innocent.  Rachel would be dependent on Christian as he saved her life and she trusts him.   She does seem lonely, no family that anyone seems to know of, no friends either and being stuck in a hospital does limit your changes of finding new ones, though it looks like Jasmine could become one. Tori shouldn't take it out on her though.  

Christian was evasive about the wedding and and how he saw his future and was she in it, doesn't help that Tori can't get her head round his new thinking of life.  No blame on her, not everyone could. 

Good for Alf, keeping an eye on Justin and phoning Leah who was was able to talk him into going back to hospital rather than nagging him. Again Alf side stepped Roo and Marilyn's questions, just conceding enough to say that Leah would need them to be there for her and they were later when she revealed what had happened.

[Red Ranger 1]

I found myself slightly divided with the two main storylines today. I mean, I know whose side I was mostly on (Christian and Bella), but logically..? Even though I find Tori annoying a lot of the time, I can see how recent events have been very hard on her, with Christian postponing the wedding indefinitely with a day's notice and now acting as though he's not really interested in it. I do think he still wants to marry her, he's just got other things on his mind at the moment. And Tori being dismissive of the way he's feeling and looking for someone to blame, or something to blame him for, isn't helping: She still hasn't really admitted she was wrong to have a go at Rachel the way she did, preferring to deflect back onto him. I do hope they work things through but maybe some space is what they need right now.

Elsewhere...not sure what to think of Nikau's behaviour in general. The mentality of trying to entice followers onto social media, and posting photos of your every move for complete strangers to comment on, is something I've never really understood, but he's been told he needs to do it as part of his job. So, yeah, it might seem strange to his friends but at least there's a logic about it. And I can't blame him for bringing Allegra and Sienna back to his house when Bella and Emmett were working there. (Extremely weird that they decamped to Salt rather than her place: If they were trying to avoid Mackenzie, her business seems an odd place to go!) But I really didn't like the way Nikau expected Bella to cancel her planning meeting with Emmett to "support" him whatever that means: Stand around watching while he puts on a show for the cameras, apparently. Chloe's dismissive comment about the exhibition not being tomorrow seemed rather redundant given that Nikau's not doing a photo shoot tomorrow, it's just preparation work which is what Bella needs to do. That said, he is using it to throw some work Ryder and Chloe's way, so he's not completely self-involved. I really didn't like the way Chloe spoke to Bella though, and I wish Ryder had said something at the time rather than just standing there while Chloe was unnecessarily nasty and then questioning it later.