2021 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

Have to credit Sienna for being prepared to get her hands dirty, literally I guess.  What she is doing seems to have worked for now.  Bella continues to be an issue because of the influence she has over Nikau i.e. objecting to the Japan gig because of the explosion with Emmett and Chloe recovering from their injuries.  But as Sienna's now blackmailing him I guess Bella's not a problem as Nikau has to do what Sienna wants anyway.  The problem is she's not going to let him off after Japan.  Sienna's just going to get him to keep doing more gigs.  An alternative, is if he's under contract she can just use the legal route as leverage.  She seems quite narcissistic and devoid of compassion and empathy.  She used to date Emmett and doesn't even seem that concerned he could permanently lose his eyesight.

I'm guessing the Tane that first rocked up in the Bay wouldn't have told Nikau to fess up.  But Ziggy's seems to have changed him.

I actually really liked Keiran in that episode but I'm still sceptical of him and I did find it a bit funny him telling Ryder to chill.  Although, I do like the way he was just there for Ryder and I do think objectively having a family around Keiran is a good thing.

The thing that bothered me the most about Ryder's accusations wasn't just the fact how ridiculous they were but that he didn't have a shred of proof.  Wasn't sure Mackenzie was being entirely honest when she told Ryder she cared about both him and Chloe but she had to say something to get him onside.  I get that he's supported Mackenzie over the last year but I still wasn't keen on her offering him the job so quickly when he thought so little of her.

 

[christine king]

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

It certainly came across that she has come to terms with Ari finishing with her and had moved on with Mia by the way she was talking to Dean, there was no bitterness or anger in her voice.

Yes I thought it was very telling that Mackenzie said she realised that Ari moved on ages ago (which we knew) but didn’t mention anything about her doing the same. Probably because she hasn’t and she loves him. But she has now accepted that she has to move on because he doesn’t anymore.

[Red Ranger 1]

I thought Dean and Tane were being a bit over the top not letting Ziggy go to the garage, although they're certainly right that Justin's a loose cannon.Justin seems to have lost all sense of self-awareness and is slowly eroding what little sympathy people still have for him.It was a definite role reversal between him and Dean: Three years ago, Dean was the mess and Justin was the responsible citizen trying to straighten him out.

Bit of bad luck that the "tourist" Irene and John decided to challenge turned out to be the new homicide detective.She was quick to switch to playing hardball when Irene called her out on her "good cop" interrogation.Otherwise, still early days.

Not too bad a secret for Kieran to be hiding, but after Roo's exhausted the only recovering alcoholic she knows, they're still in a quandary. They're lucky Cash seems to be a second chance kind of guy.

[H&Alover]

Nothing new in Ryder accusing Mac when there is no proof, people do that all the time in soaps and after the way she had been towards him and  it was a knee jerk reaction after the tricks she had been playing on him and Chloe, but then after he had calmed down he accepted her insistence she wasn't behind it.  Mac offering Ryder his job back is the first step of her redeeming herself and she has acknowledged her part in it all. 

Even without the whole Sienna 'blackmailing' Nik thing she, as I said before, was so two faced about Emmett and how sorry she was to hear about his injury, did she actually go and see him as she told Bella and Nik she did, I  reckon that would be one visitor Emmett wouldn't have wanted by his bedside.   I said before I reckoned Sienna dumped him as he wasn't as ambitious as her, but thinking about it I reckon he dumped her as she was getting too hard and calculating which she couldn't forgive. As Emmett wasn't working for the agency at the time, he wouldn't have had any insurance so he has nothing to fall back on.   The Sienna and Nik one night stand thing is, unless as I said before Sienna has phone evidence, his word against hers, would he be brave enough to call her bluff?   Though as  you have mentioned Slade there is his contract which does tie him to the agency and whatever they decide they want him to do.  You've forgotten to add controlling to Sienna's list of attributes Slade.

Ziggy has two knights in shining armour looking out for her.  Not very PC maybe but although Ziggy can look after herself an out of control Justin isn't to be taken lightly. She's admitted she's scared of him and is glad Tane and Dean are there for her. Is Justin actually doing any work though, I wouldn't have thought he'd be in any condition to do his job properly or safely. Like the way Tane and Dean are 'working' in tandem but not mentioning the fact Dean & Ziggy use to be an item not long ago. 

Most people have tried to help Justin so why shouldn't Dean have a bash at it.  He has, briefly, been where Justin is, but Justin is still insisting that because he isn't using hard drugs and isn't using them to get high he isn't an addict.  They are pain killers for his back pain so completely different to Brody and Dean.  As Dean wouldn't help him get more under the counter drugs he told him to sod off, methinks he's not given up on going down the dodgy route though.  Definitely not a good idea I would have thought Justin drinking while taking his pain meds and having Tane, Ziggy and Dean sitting there watching him did not improve his mood. 

Of course no reason why Dean would know Justin didn't live at his house anymore, he'd either forgotten - booze amnesia - or just didn't tell him, he was pretty well gone.  Didn't help matters Stephen was there which aggravated him further.  So far Stephen has behaved himself with Leah, but not for much longer going by the trailer.    Way too soon matey.

I did breath a sigh of relief that Kieran's 'secret' wasn't that huge, he did move to the bay on the spur of the moment so there wasn't any time to sort out a sponsor.  It was a shoe-in Irene would be the one Roo asked and she was thinking about it until other matters intervened.   Good question from Irene about is it a good choice for Roo not to tell Alf and Martha Kieran is back.  What if they come back to support Ryder or just come back they'll get one hell of as shock walking into the house and seeing Kieran sitting at the table. A bit of warning for them both would be good. 

John has reappeared and although he asked Irene  about Jasmine  no mention of Marilyn.

I felt it was pretty obvious there was more to the lady 'tourist' than first appeared.  She didn't come across as just idly curious.  Cleverly done, I thought,  that as she walked off Cash appeared carrying two coffees and followed her but seemingly casually not like an underlying obeying his boss by getting the coffees in.   Detective Amy Peters, as we found out she was, certainly seems a no nonsense type, but I think she's ultimately fair and gives people a fair crack of the whip and doesn't make assumptions about them.   She seemed tough on Irene but she's just doing her job and is doing without any prejudice.   Not surprising Irene decided against being Kieran's sponsor, nothing personal, just her not wanting anymore to do with the cops than she has to. John, again no surprise, is next to be questioned.  No reason Kieran didn't know Irene was a recovering alcoholic although it's not  a deep dark secret, it's not something she announces to people the fist time she meets them.   Would the local cop shop have a list of AA sponsors?   Btw Red, we have seen Amy before - she was in the Revenge spin off. 

A little footnote to the hospital scenes - despite their personal problems Tori and Christian both acted as true professionals by the way they worked together. 

 

[christine king]

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Like the way Tane and Dean are 'working' in tandem but not mentioning the fact Dean & Ziggy use to be an item not long ago.

Yes Tane and Dean didn’t mention it. But I did find it interesting that Justin brought it up to Dean and Mackenzie also mention it to Ziggy when they both got mad at Dean and Ziggy in recent weeks  Even though it did them no favours by bringing it up at that moment lol.

16 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

They're lucky Cash seems to be a second chance kind of guy.

Accept when it comes to Justin apparently! What’s that about?!

[Slade]

Of course this hasn't been the first time someone has accused someone without proof in a soap.  That's not really relevant to my point.  I was expressing frustration because Mac and Ryder are/were friends so he should know Mackenzie well enough to realise she wouldn't do something like that, especially without a shred of evidence.

I do take on board Ziggy's point that Justin didn't become an addict due to recreation purposes but as a result of the tumour, however it still doesn't change the fact how volatile he is.  And that's the scariest thing for the people that have to deal with him, the sporadic nature of his aggressiveness.  Thought Tane showed quite a bit of restraint as there were a couple of times in that episode when Justin bumped into him and there might have been the temptation, not necessarily to hit him but to restrain him.

On the surface Keiran does appear to be genuine but again I'm not sure about him.  The Senior Constable was very reasonable with regards to him not having a sponsor.

I absolutely loved Irene's dismay when she first saw the detective at the police station without realising she had a go at her earlier on in the episode.  I also cheered when Irene tried to call out the detective during the interview and the detective brought up Irene's past misgivings re murder/attempted murder and Irene looked shocked.

[Red Ranger 1]

Stephen didn't drop John in it quite as much as it looked from the trailer, but if he is behind everything, it seems the method in his madness is coming out.And yes, he seems to have an interest in Leah, who dealt with it well.I'd forgotten about John's time holed up in the house on his own: Was Susie really killed that long ago? (And what happened to John selling the house, by the way? It seems to have disappeared anyway, given it's just him there now!) The likes of Irene and Roo seem to have accepted Stephen as part of the inner circle, as above suspicion as Leah or John, despite hardly knowing him. Mind you, the same's true of Cash, who seems to be treating the townsfolk as his people even though he's only been here a couple of weeks.

Seemed to be a lack of communication among the writers: Yesterday, Roo confirmed to Irene and John that Alf and Martha didn't know Kieran's back, yet here Irene asks Roo if they know.

Well, Justin's argument that he doesn't take drugs to get high took a massive hit here, given the effect those pills had on him.That may see his conviction crumble, or he may do what he did last time and just blame it on a bad batch.I thought, from the way Cash was watching him make the phone call, that he was going to turn up and bust him but no.

7 hours ago, christine king said:

Accept when it comes to Justin apparently! What’s that about?!

Well, Justin didn't make a good first impression on him, but on the whole I think he's been fair, he took the lead from Tori in keeping him in the cells and still let him out pretty quickly.

[pembie]

I get the impression that Cash is going to be a push over much rather keep the funny lady lead cop on Susies case

As much as I don’t like Ziggy I doubt really she needs Dean or Tane standing up to Justin for her she can handle herself 

Oh and Nik really should tell Bella really all this blackmail isn’t worth it 

The five star episode was the best one again there 

Just now, pembie said:

I get the impression that Cash is going to be a push over much rather keep the funny lady lead cop on Susies case

As much as I don’t like Ziggy I doubt really she needs Dean or Tane standing up to Justin for her she can handle herself 

Oh and Nik really should tell Bella really all this blackmail isn’t worth it 

The five star episode was the best one again there 

Oh and how boring have they made Kerain 

[H&Alover]

Ryder thought he knew Mac very well yet the way she treated him and Chloe and her reaction to their food truck took him by surprise, thinking she'd be more mature about a bit of healthy competition. Of course there was a very good, well to her, reason,  she was drinking a lot, not that is an excuse, so obviously not being her usual self.  I did say it was a knee jerk reaction and once he'd thought about it realised it wasn't her style.   Friends have been known to fall out big time before now. 

Ziggy can indeed look after herself, but that scene when she got home and Justin had somehow found a way in did scare her, no shame in that she called Tane.  Justin really wasn't thinking clearly, but then he hasn't been for weeks, but what put it into his head that  Ziggy would still have them?  

I don't think you can be arrested for making a phone call, otherwise half the bay would be in the nick.   The drug dealer lied about the drugs being pain killers -  - quel surprise.  They were definitely recreational and as Justin has never used them before the effect would be like being hit by a train.  Then of course he decides he's OK enough to drive.   Talking of said drug dealer, we'll skip how Justin found him, I had to rewind several times to make sure he wasn't the same bloke who walked through the Diner later. 

Amy is very sneaky, her plonking herself down with Stephen and Leah and casually asking them about John and his texts with Susie, dragging a reluctant Cash with her who was stuck as she is his boss and had to go along with it, he didn't like it though and wasn't afraid to call her out on it. Of course if it got that far none of that conversation would be admissible in court.   It was very subtle the way Stephen mentioned they, meaning him and Leah I guess, weren't present when John actually got the messages from Susie it was always just after.  That is what made us suspect Stephen as he mostly seemed  to turn up or leave  just after they were received. But I thought John had someone with him when he got the first text?  Yes it was that long ago Amy confirmed it again, Susie was dead when they were being exchanged, I thought they knew that already?   John did hide himself away when he came back, it was Dean who manged to ferret him out.   Say this for Amy though she is treating everyone the same, no bias, be an interesting interview with Justin depending on the state he may be in, Leah, naturally, is on the POI list.   Irene was right about the switching of flavour of the day as who-did-it is a ploy by Amy to get them arguing amongst themselves.   Glad Leah shut down Stephen's move in on her, he, of course, made out it was a stupid error on his part - yeh right.  Leah did say, she wasn't looking forward to going home to an empty hose, OK Tori is pulling a nightshift which means Grace was where?

Why did Tango sorry Amy & Cash turn up at Ziggy's looking for Justin? 

Marilyn was back and looking no worse for her ordeal. 

Has Irene actually murdered someone, she was charged with attempted murder - Tommy - but I've got amnesia over her actually killing someone. 

Kieran's off to his  AA meeting and hopefully as he said, he can meet someone who'll be his sponsor.  

Two offshoots of Emmett being out of action how will that affect Bella's internship at the agency, it was part of the deal of Nik working for them that they take on Bella, would whoever is replacing him be willing to take over?   Plus how about the Exhibition - it would be a shame if it was cancelled after all their hard work, I'm pretty sure Emmett would want it to go ahead. 

 

 

[Little bean]

19 hours ago, H&Alover said:

But I thought John had someone with him when he got the first text?  Yes it was that long ago

He was alone but he had just spoken to Stephen who then walked away. John had his phone in his hand at the time so if it was Stephen who sent it he would have been able to watch John’s reaction.