2021 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

It's good to see Mia Teresa not so squeaky clean.  I've never been convinced with her and still wasn't won over with the ridiculous way she saved Dean from certain death.  We'll see if using the stolen money to buy the gym comes back to bite her and Ari.  I just hope that if there is any fallout it doesn't affect Tane.

I quite like the whole interview scene with Tori and good to see her humorous mannerisms again on Friday.  Although we have the typical British person with the over emphasised accent.  I don't actually think Christian treating Theo after he stumbled in was detrimental and may have even helped her application.

Can't stand Theo though.  I'm glad Justin isn't falling for his nonsense.  And the fact that his own dad doesn't want anything to do with him should immediately illicit suspicion.

Loved the way Lustin displayed no interest in John trying to sell the tickets to the table he bought.  That did show the less likeable side of him.

[CaptainHulk]

Well Ryder got off easy better he takes out Step-Granny's easel than roll the car on Yabbie Creek with his tiredness.

John seems to have bitten off more than He can chew.

I'm not 100% on Theo tbh. 

We get the conformation about H&A timeslot change. That's fine. I'll just ⏺ the 1:15 showing and watch it later.

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, the UK would have been on BST at the time these were shown, AKA GMT+1, AKA an hour closer to Australia.I'm pretty sure Ryder explained the situation to Bella when she found him and Justin loading up a delivery, but it was Nikau that asked him for help anyway.

Alf's episode count this block:Four. A sparse week otherwise, with only Leah, Marilyn, Roo and Justin managing three.

I'm not quite sure what to make of Chloe's attitude towards Theo here. She did seem to be enjoying his company a bit, but she also defended Ryder to him and only grudgingly accepted his offer to help with the delivery.Whilst she gives him a lot of leeway, Leah doesn't seem 100% blind to Theo's faults, but I can't say I blame her for wanting to help out her nephew.I guess time will tell just how bad an idea it is.

There was a slight shift in emphasis for John here.He didn't exactly offer to give Ryder the tickets for free but he was desperate enough to offer him indefinite credit.Whilst I think a part of him is still worried about having to fork out for them all himself, I think he's also worried about bring left sitting at the table on his own.

EDIT: Oh yes, and we got a new end bumper with the cast telling us of the forthcoming schedule change...except there was no mention of the new 6pm showing, just telling us of the Channel 5 showing at 1.15pm and the First Look and directing people to the streaming service. (Neighbours also got an announcement of their new evening time.) I suspect it was only a temporary promotion, since it specifically mentioned "Starting 8th November", plus the sound quality was rather ropey, as if it had been done in a hurry.

[H&Alover]

That was out of the blue, or was it, about Channel 5 no longer showing the later screening aka repeat  of H&A but you can catch it on 5Star.  I'll be doing the same as I have been doing and like CaptainHulk recording the 1.15pm episode and watching it later.  Have Channel 5 given an explanation as to why they've done this?

I'm not a fan of Theo either, doesn't appear to have any yet oh apart from Leah and even she is wavering.  Maz seems to thinks he's the bees knees too, so that is two. Alf's not impressed though  and he's on Justin's side. Theo  does have a very high opinion of himself, he was very condescending towards Ryder and I was very pleased Chloe defended him.  I loved her telling Theo Ryder had three jobs and asking rather sarcastically  how many did he have.  While it was obvious Theo had non altruistic reasons for offering to help Chloe do the deliveries Chloe reluctantly had to accept his offer.  I hope she is understanding towards Ryder when he does turn up, he had a lot of sleep to catch up on and it was her that told him to go and get some sleep.  Despite what others may say I think Ryder and Chloe are a good match he's her Jiminy Cricket and keeps her grounded and stops her doing too many bad things. 

Justin finally got the truth out of Theo and no I don't think that will be the end of it, the Morgan's and Leah have been through a lot and really don't need any more upheaval, plus they have Grace to think about.  I'm glad Justin told Leah about what Theo told him. Theo really doesn't like confrontation well does he,  someone says no and he's off, chucking his toys out of the pram on the way.  Leah's trying to offer a solution paying for him to stay in a motel, she'll also have to pay for any food he orders from any takeaway too.   

Oh yeah why couldn't Theo make his own sandwich?

I'm not saying Theo's had a privileged background not from what we've heard about the way Dimitri has been treating him, don't think he's been able to duck out of doing the job he's supposed to have been doing, but still thinks he's entitled to be treated as someone who's better than others. 

It did look like another all nighter was being worked and this time Marilyn was pitching in so confused.com as to Leah saying  no to anymore.  Chloe does more or less the same hours as Ryder - minus the driving of course and works in the Diner so how come she isn't as knackered as Ryder.

Ryder was bloody lucky that all he hit were those easels and not something more solid causing injury to himself or another person.  His lack of sleep was also the reason for him snapping at everyone which is very unlike him. 

Oh John, I think he was trying to look good by buying that table but now having trouble to fill the seats free  or not. 

 

[Dan F]

47 minutes ago, H&Alover said:

That was out of the blue, or was it, about Channel 5 no longer showing the later screening aka repeat  of H&A but you can catch it on 5Star.

It's been known for certain since September - there's been two news stories on the main site covering it, and it's been discussed in the Channel 5 Transmission thread in this section of the forum.

There's also a pinned thread at the top of this section announcing it which contains links to the both the stories and discussion.

https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2021/09/24/channel-5-axes-home-and-aways-6pm-airing-as-neighbours-takes-its-place/

https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2021/10/25/home-and-away-and-neighbours-timeslot-changes-from-5th-november/

[Red Ranger 1]

I hope we get a proper announcement on Friday, ideally pointing people towards the 6pm 5Star showing, although maybe they consider that a lesser priority over the Channel 5 showing and the First Look.Honestly, Sophie Dillman and Patrick O'Connor are giving it their all, but with the sound level so much lower than the episode and continuity announcement, you pretty much have to hit the volume button quickly to work out what they're saying.

Anyway...it was somewhat disappointing that, after defending Ryder and being dismissive of Theo last episode, Chloe has pretty much flipped over in the course of one car journey.She's gone from being proud of the amount he did to being against it the moment it negatively impacted her.Alf didn't really help by letting Ryder sleep through his alarm three times:Did he think he set it just for fun?Oh well, he seems to have made a decision.Maybe John could keep an eye on the board shop.

I'm tempted to call Theo a Jekyll and Hyde character, which may be true literally rather than metaphorically: It's not that he's two-faced so much as he tries to present a certain image but his temper gets in the way.There may be some genuine insecurities in there and he may have some genuine affection for Leah but so much of what he does is a performance that it's hard to tell.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get behind Ari and Mia. Mia's speeches here were probably meant to garner sympathy but she seemed bordering on mentally unstable with her obsession with having a baby at any cost.When she spoke about something that was going to make her happy for the rest of her life, I was left wondering if she's forgotten she's already got a child.When this all started, Chloe asked if she wasn't enough. Going by the way Mia was pining all her hopes for future happiness on another child (which seems a bit too much to put on them) and Ari is determined to give her a baby by any means necessary, it seems the answer is a resounding "No." So I'm glad Tane gave her a bit of straight-talking.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, after all the drama of the previous episode, Mia seems to have snapped back into “Angst? What angst?” mode. At least Ari seems a bit bothered by what he’s done. In a sense, a shame that Tane got dragged into it, but in another sense, good that his and Ari’s bond remains intact. A really weird moment when Mia (outside the surf club) rings Chloe (just entering the surf club), when they pretty much could have just shouted to each other!

The moment Nikau came in while Ryder was looking for someone to run the board shop, you knew where it was going. Still, it’s an interesting idea and gives him and Bella something to do.

Theo still doesn’t seem to have much of a work ethic, despite Justin’s best efforts to get through to him. Leah might be giving him the benefit of the doubt but she’s not exactly leaping to defend him.

And so Tori gets the job. Well, I guess the storyline would be a bit pointless otherwise. I was bored enough to freeze frame the e-mail and read it. Sensible on the surface (I’m not sure how accurate the immigration information was, having never moved to the UK) but for some reason, despite us being repeatedly told they’re moving to London, the hospital’s address is in Birmingham and the exec has a made-up looking phone number which at best would be somewhere in Dorset! Justin handled the news well at first, but I was surprised by him refusing to give Tori away, and even more surprised that there was no follow-up on it. Especially since that’s their episodes done, so we won’t see them until at least two episodes into next week.

Unfortunately, while I like Bella, I thought she was completely out of order in yesterday’s episode when she spoke to Mackenzie. She’s known the situation for how many minutes and she thinks she knows what’s best for everyone? And somehow she manages to get in Mackenzie’s head and convince her to go behind Dean’s back for no good reason. It feels less like Bella’s doing what’s best for Dean and more like her desperately trying to get her favourite ship back on track. Dean sent Ziggy away because he couldn’t recover with her watching him: How has that changed? Best for him to recover properly and then call Ziggy back. (I also found all the references to “Ziggy’s sister” a bit odd: I guess it makes sense for Mackenzie or Nikau to call her that but Coco hasn’t been referred to by name once, even though Bella knows her!) I guess they needed to get Sophie Dillman back from her holiday somehow but this doesn’t feel like the right way.

Irene returns just in time to save John’s bacon. Given that Roo manipulated John into buying the table, I’m finding her behaviour towards him a bit cruel. I guess she misjudged the situation when she offloaded a table on him, turns out it would have been better to just sell him a single seat and leave the tables for the people that actually wanted them.

[Dan F]

51 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Sensible on the surface (I’m not sure how accurate the immigration information was, having never moved to the UK) but for some reason, despite us being repeatedly told they’re moving to London, the hospital’s address is in Birmingham and the exec has a made-up looking phone number which at best would be somewhere in Dorset!

Oh I had a field day having a moan about that when I saw it Bad graphics/props person!

Not only did they put down the hospital as being in Birmingham (they used the postcode of a real children's hospital incidentally), but they had completely the wrong street address for Tori, and the wrong postcode for Summer Bay which placed it somewhere in Victoria. Summer Bay's postcode (2495) is one thing that's usually been consistent over the past three decades.

If anyone's reading and wants to use a fake London number at any point in the future, the ones reserved by OFCOM for drama purposes are (020) 7946 0000 to 0999

[H&Alover]

For some reason I was unable to post yesterday so a big catch up today!  Seems like I wasn't the only one. 

Main story, like Red I froze the screen to read the letter,  it confused me too the letter coming from Birmingham when her job is London. I can't remember what number was on the email but.

0011 - Exit code when making an international call from Australia.

44 - UK country code for inbound calls.

121 - Birmingham city code.

0011 + 44 + 121 + Local Number - International dialing code format.

That was a bad error by whoever giving a real postcode. Not a bad pay cheque btw.  Tori was being sent the relevant paperwork to enable her to work in England  and there's been a creche arranged for Grace, but they are pushing it just giving her  a fortnight to sort everything out, for all they know she had  a house to sell and others things to sort.  Leah at least seemed happy for them, I can understand Justin's feelings in a way, I know Brody is in another state but Tori will be the other side of the world after all they have been through and having lost Mason.  Still not clear if Jasmine knows about this move. 

Methinks there is more to Ari just handing over all that cash and getting a cheque in return, he and Tane are definitely hiding something from Mia.  Lovely to see Tane being there for Ari like he was for Tane.  Mia is being very optimistic/naive  thinking she and Ari could adopt a baby, more likely to be an older child, unless she's thinking of a baby from overseas. I suppose you could say, whoever did the deal, technically owns the gym. 

My thoughts too when Nik and Bella were talking to Ryder about him having to give up the board shop, why doesn't Nik step in which he did later.  Ryder isn't that into what is involved in selling boards and was he also signing people up for surfing lessons.  Were we supposed to gather form what Dean was saying Ryder hadn't been paid for all he's been doing?  Only right Nik should be paid and Ryder gets paid for the hours he had been doing.   Was that the first time we've seen Bella and Dean together since he left hospital? He's come on since last week, he's out and about.  For someone who wasn't into paperwork Dean seems to have got it all organised, Bella appears to be more into that side of things so she and Nik could be a good team there. John's insistence that Nik read the rules and regulations came more from being in  a hurry  to talk to Irene than being efficient. 

Don't forget Bella didn't know the real reason why Ziggy wasn't there, if Mac had explained that to her right away, out of earshot of Dean, she may have understood, to her  it must have looked like Ziggy didn't care about Dean. It did look though that Dean was becoming very reliant on Mac, I guess Logan has gone back to work, so a lot of pressure on her when she does have a business to run and she has taken a lot of time off. 

Theo is  a puzzle, Justin having a go at him did jolt him into doing some work and he seemed to be getting into it, but does he really suffer from migraines, not saying he couldn't even if he is young, but it seemed, to me at least, it suddenly come on when Justin and Leah were getting, um, close.  Leah saying she'd rung him on his mobile to check he was Ok doesn't mean diddly, he could be anywhere, surprised she didn't go and check he was OK.  

Surprised Roo hasn't worked out John is struggling to fill his table, she knows him well enough.  At least he has one person on his table - Irene - would have been sad seeing him sitting there  all by himself. 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

8 hours ago, Dan F said:

Not only did they put down the hospital as being in Birmingham (they used the postcode of a real children's hospital incidentally), but they had completely the wrong street address for Tori, and the wrong postcode for Summer Bay which placed it somewhere in Victoria.

And is it even normal to put your address at the top of an e-mail? It was like someone had typed out a letter for posting and then scanned it instead!

5 hours ago, H&Alover said:

I can't remember what number was on the email but.

I don't remember it exactly but it was 1300-XXX-XXX. Being generous, that could be UK area code 01300 with the first 0 left off for international dialling.You'd have the right amount of numbers for a local call after it, even though UK phone numbers aren't usually written like that.

Anyway, today. I meant to record the (last!) 6pm Channel 5 showing to see what if anything was said, but I forgot. Anyone catch it? The lunchtime showing had absolutely nothing aside from the whispered to-camera announcement we've had all week.

As for the episode...Jasmine and Mackenzie both in new relationships and both having the opposite problem.Jasmine hasn't been able to take the step to the physical side of things, and Mackenzie realises she and Logan never really talk about his life.Jasmine's choice of Felicity as confidante was awkward but rather pleasing.

A shame Bella's used up her episodes for this week so isn't around for the fallout of her interfering.Instead, Mackenzie chooses to take credit for it.And it continues to be utterly bewildering, with Mackenzie going from respecting Dean's wishes to walking out on him and saying he's Ziggy's problem now, in the space of a day, for no other reason than "because the script says so".

I'm glad John got the last laugh on Alf and Roo, with a lot of help from Irene.Sounds like Justin and Leah are going to be on his table after all. Who are the other two going to be, Jasmine and Cash?