2022 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

I wouldn't call Alf laughable - more sad - he's alienating himself from everyone, in fact  I can see Ryder moving out and into Leah and Justin's if he doesn't ease up.  At the risk of boring the pants off folk I still feel it's because of the fact he can't do anything about the Martha situation so is taking his frustration out on Theo, if it hadn't been him some other poor sod would have been catching the flak.   Alf's always been on the grumpy side, hence Ryder's nickname for him - Grumps -  but before at least he was open to hearing people out.  Despite Theo and Ryder trying to tell Alf that - he decided they were blaming him as  he wasn't there when they started as he was with Martha.  That question was answered - partly - they did get the money from the challenge and Theo has given Ryder his share so Ryder was able to pay off Alf which he stubbornly refused to take - the great galah - no surprise it brought on another panic attack, but thankfully Roo arrived and thanks to Jasmine knew what to do to calm him down.  It did, sadly, give Alf another reason to hate Theo and get him nicked for the theft of the Polaris. It seems Ryder had a blank spot about making his audio will.  Right decision I think about them deleting their account.  

We and most people know Theo 'borrowing' the Polaris was technically theft even if was only for a a short while, John just let it go as he probably thought it wasn't worth the effort of filling in all the paperwork involved when all Theo would have been likely to get would have been a warning.  But Alf wants his pound of flesh so has taken it upon himself to bring charges, is he now back as President of the Surf Club so caries more clout than John?  I suppose the point of it is because it is what could be called an emergency vehicle and not available to be used and Theo had used all the fuel up. Not looking good for him by the looks of it. 

I wonder, if things were different with Chloe how she would be involved in the Ryder/Theo thing, would she be supporting Ryder, putting the fact they'd split behind them and just being there as a friend?  Theo was meant to have gone back to see her after he and Ryder had done their challenge but that all went pear shaped and he's probably forgotten about it. 

It was good to see Bella and Ryder re-connect, they are mates after all.  She completely hijacked Ziggy and Dean's moment - I'll just echo what they said to  Logan and Mac - "get a room".   I wouldn't say she guilt tripped them into asking her to stay but she did end up at the Farm.  It has to be less crowded than the flat now Neve has moved in.  Ziggy offered Bella 'my sister's room' had she forgotten her name - it's Coco Ziggy in case you had!  As generous Dean and Ziggy are being Bella will need to get some more photo gigs to start earning money so as  not be seen as a bludger.  

 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

One thing bothering me on Friday: Where did Bella's change of clothes come from? For most of the episode, she was wearing a vaguely tiger-patterned top with a skirt, then later in the evening she suddenly had a black t-shirt and trousers/leggings which she was still wearing the next morning...and in today's episode, set the same day, she's wearing a different outfit again! Even if the black outfit was meant to be what she slept in, does she routinely carry a change of clothes around? Anyway, I'm glad we got even more Ryder/Bella scenes today (have they always been that tactile or is that just what nearly dying does to you?), and even though she was repeating what she said on the phone last week, I'm glad she again made him promise not to do something like that again.(Reminiscent of his reaction to her self-harming.)Shame they didn't get to finish their game of pool.

While Alf is being petty and is clearly determined to get Theo punished one way or the other, it's hard not to agree with him about some things. John and Justin did do a pretty poor job of pulling Theo back into line, and may if they hadn't been so casual about him taking a lifesaving vehicle for a joyride, things wouldn't have escalated as much as they did. In fact, Theo seems to be the one treating the situation with the gravity it deserves while Alf overreacts and Justin and Ryder think they can somehow make it go away. It is a shame Ryder didn't come up with a better argument before confronting Alf though. Also a pity that Roo's undermining her argument about supporting family by ignoring Martha, even though I'm fully on her side over that.

Ah, another of Mia's brilliant ideas falling spectacularly flat, with Nikau and Chloe completely unimpressed by her "We can get married in prison! Won't that be great?" idea to cheer everyone up...

[CaptainHulk]

More Misery at the Stewarts.

Alf and Roo need to calm their proverbials and soon. I wouldn't be surprised if Martha takes another trip to Merimbula only this time, she's outy for quits.

The Rydella/Bellyder interaction was nice. *waves his shipper flag despite being friends*

 

[pembie]

Roo calling Ryder Theo’s best friend is just beyond silly for me 

Oh great another Dean and his Mom story she just reminds me of Cheryl Braxton 

[H&Alover]

Mayhap you're right Red and Bella does carry a change of clothes around with her, she does ping pong backwards and forwards between the Parata's and you can only really wear the same set of clothes two days running before they start getting  a bit whiffy. She questioned the fact Ryder and Theo were suddenly friends.  I liked that top she had on when playing pool with Ryder and his little joke about her treating him gently as he'd just come out of hospital. 

Theo is an adult - though granted for most of his time while he's been in the bay he hasn't acted like one - so how was Justin supposed to "pull him back into line", that didn't work before did it?  Theo was completely thrown by the fact he was getting nicked for the theft of the Polaris and not what happened to Ryder. He, mistakenly, thought it was John who had changed his mind about reporting it to the police.  Alf was coming across as totally unreasonable at the cop shop with frayed tempers all round, I felt sorry for Cash, Murray and Watson trying to keep the peace. I don't think any of them wanted to be there, Cash certainly didn't want to be telling Theo what the charges were and how it could affect his future,  he was very wise in asking for a brief.  That's the problem I guess in nicking people you know and live amongst, you're not as detached like Murray and Watson.

Not sure if it's fair on Justin with Theo telling him he mustn't let his dad or Leah know - once Leah does know and she will - it's Justin who will get it in the neck even though, yes I'll say it again - Theo is an adult  - so old enough to decide if he wants his family told and Justin can't override him.   I get the feeling Dimitri won't be  over the moon when he finds out. Theo was somewhat curt with Ryder when he offered to post bail for him as he wanted to help but I can see he doesn't want him dragged in any further. he's certainly 'grown up' in the past week. 

It was a case of pot-kettle-black with Roo & Alf.  He couldn't understand why Ryder walked out in the morning with just a "whenever" in answer to Alf's "when will you be back", even though she tried to tell him, but then she walked out on Martha.   

Dean is tying himself in knots poor guy over Karen going walkabout, not surprising given her track record. It was sad when Ziggy was trying to think of places Karen may be and spoke about the special place Maggie used to go to and Dean told her about the time Karen left him on his own for about three days when he was eight for her favourite place wherever it was. Oh and Ziggy's taking more time off at the drop of a hat, just when Justin, once again, needs more help not less, to go with Dean to look for Karen. 

Short stint with the Parata's - an unseen - for us - visit to Ari who seemed, from what we could gather, OK with  the getting married in prison suggestion. 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

The ending of Ryder and Theo's five minute friendship is hardly the most important thing going on at the moment, so it was a bit bewildering that the characters acted as though it was. Theo trying to inveigle himself with Chloe didn't exactly grab my sympathy. Ryder again chose completely the wrong argument: Telling Alf that Theo isn't speaking to him was never going to elicit a response other than "Job done." He came up with a better argument with Roo, although Roo had a point that Martha's choosing not to save herself. So Martha's off to Merimbula, can't say I'll miss her.

I continue to derive some small amusement from the fact that Mia's morale boosting always falls utterly flat, with Nikau and Chloe giving her plans the short shrift they deserved here.Looking at Chloe's journal, I have to ponder if it really would have been the end of the world if she'd moved to the city with Matthew. I doubt he'd have hurt her or been a worse influence on her than this lot...

[CaptainHulk]

Those flamin' Stewarts...

I'd lose my appetite too at that table. Pure salty energy!

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Mackenzie seems to be realising the disadvantage of having Neve just down the hall. I'm glad that she and Bella haven't suddenly stopped talking just because she's moved out.

I was kind of hoping Martha would be gone already rather than taking all episode but at least she's gone now.Alf came across better without Ryder and Theo to shout at.

Mia continues to be a terrible parent, more concerned with keeping secrets than the effect it's having on Chloe.Never mind her never being born, the Paratas would be a lot better off if the two of them had never come to the bay.Tane and Nikau's training was interesting from a character and cultural point of view.

[Slade]

I continue to find Alf laughable and utterly unlikeable.  I can only really tolerate him, when it's just him and Martha.  I was finding Roo's childish attempts to have a pop at Martha for not going through with the transplant quite amusing and even when Martha said goodbye to her Roo still wouldn't acknowledge her.  Never mind.  At least Keiran will appreciate the time with her.

Part of me felt Neve was coming across slightly mental going for Bella's camera like that but given what's she's been through I do understand the paranoia.  Given how Bella's been in the past, I actually didn't mind it anyway.  I'm guessing Bella's glad she doesn't have to live there any more.  It was mentioned in this thread 2-3 weeks ago (I think) when Neve kissed Logan that it wasn't entirely one-sided.  I was leaning towards that as well but reserved judgement.  No I do have doubts about him.

Not only do I have very little sympathy for Chloe but part of me is glad she is suffering and as a result of that Mia is suffering too.  I did say I wanted her in jail initially.  A small part of me thinks it's harsh but someone has died, so there has to be some kind of repercussions.  Although I'm not sure she deserves a lengthy jail sentence.  Can't really say I'm enjoying this storyline and would probably like to see Matthew's family involved, especially considering his mum paid Chloe off.

 

[H&Alover]

I thought  Theo and Ryder would have made a good team after their initial antagonism and I got the feeling Theo called a halt to it because of the trouble it was causing between Alf and Ryder. In his eyes Alf & Ryder are a lot closer than he is to his dad so knows how important it is to them. 

Same with his talking to Chloe, I felt he was being really genuine with no ulterior motive in mind, he just wanted to be there if she wanted someone to talk to.  

Alf's now managed to drive Martha away - intentionally or not - she's not just got Roo avoiding her, she's got Alf and Ryder at each other's throats.  Not good for her ongoing condition I would have thought, no wonder she's wanting to go back to Merimbula, be a lot more peaceful for one thing. She's got somewhere sorted for her dialysis at least.  I was half expecting Roo to dash out and wish her a good journey, but she didn't, then she is a Stewart so would have inherited stubbornness from both sides. 

No way should Mia have read Chloe's diary - like eavesdroppers never hearing anything good about themselves - she found out how bad Chloe felt about herself.  I know a lot of people on here don't like her - but it was heart breaking to know she felt she'd never should have been born. Mia had no such regrets, she could have had the abortion or had Chloe adopted but she didn't, no-one forced her to have and keep Chloe as young as she was.  I suppose Mia thinks she is protecting Chloe from a prison sentence, but persuading her to keep quite is going to do more damage than a possibly short term inside will do. At least then she would feel she'd atoned somehow. 

Neve really does have some mental issues - very PTSD - her anxiety when she heard the seaplane going over - was that the first one she'd heard since being in the bay - Mac seemed to imply they were so commonplace no-one took any notice of them. Then the way she snapped at Bella and tried to take her camera, whacking Logan in the process.  As he told her all she had to do was ask Bella to delete the shots with her in them. Logan certainly wasn't gone long enough for anything to happen between him and Neve - but only we know that - but I'm thinking maybe Mac didn't know he'd only been gone about two minutes.  

Those scenes with Nik and Tane were very moving - I'm guessing the process Tane was training Nik in is some kind of rites of passage ceremony?   The taiaha's looked like they'd been well loved and cared for, once used as weapons but maybe now more  for  ceremonial purposes. The scene of Tane going through the ceremony was beautiful - quite spell binding so well done Ethan Browne - that must have taken you hours to get all the movements right, unless he did know them anyway.  Apparently he did take lessons of mau rakau even though he did know the basics.  Although it's great us viewers get to see Maori culture by way of the Parata's who are there no Aborigines in the Bay so we can see their culture?  I know it's only a small town but none at all in all the years it's been on?  It did show how Tane has matured since he came to the bay - it should have been Nik's dad who showed him the way or Ari but it's fell to Tane as he felt the time was right.