2022 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

They abolished the death penalty in Australia in 1973.  Interesting...

Sulky Jasmine's always quite amusing.  Really funny when she pretends to be OK but clearly isn't.

Really didn't like how Mackenzie was with Felicity on Monday's episode.  If she doesn't like Felicity then it's not going to work out at Salt.  Because of how Mackenzie was with Felicity I subsequently didn't like when she was straight with Neve even though she was right.

Yes, more on Theo's backstory.  I agree that the smugness and arrogance doesn't really tie in with someone being abused although I guess you can argue it was some sort of coping mechanism.  I suspect it did John the world of good that Theo felt he could confide in him.  I quite liked that girl Theo was doing his community service with.

[Red Ranger 1]

It's occurred to me that Theo's scams at his father's business might have been a way of hitting back at him more than about simple greed, although it was always going to backfire if so. I'm not sure when we got to the point where Theo was the decent one and Ryder was the petty one: It seems his treatment of Felicity last week has extended to everyone else.Alf continues to suck at olive branches though: Asking Ryder to move back in right after accepting his money was poor timing.

Ziggy interfering in people's love lives never seems to go well, at least in the short-term. I was rather disappointed that they sent Bella away: I'd rather have seen Karen trying to teach her to cook than her being exiled back to the Parata ghetto. Talking of which, after the rather sickly behaviour last week, they all seem to have sunk back into depression again.

John's trivia about capital punishment was a bit simplistic: It was abolished federally throughout the Commonwealth in 1973 but remained on the books locally for certain offences until 1985.(In practise though, there hasn't been an execution in NSW since 1939 and hasn't been one in the whole of Australia since 1967.)Conversely, some parts of the country abolished it as early as 1922.

[c120701]

Dean & Karen are a joy to watch, but words can not describe how much I hate the green of the Farmhouse set or the boxiness of the living room.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf’s episode count this week: Five! Logan was in four.

Well, I’m glad that the “We’re getting married in prison, isn’t it great!” vibe didn’t last long. Given that Mia was on the verge of tears over her own wedding dress, I’m not sure why she thought getting Chloe to play dress-up was a good idea. I cheered Bella giving her a serve even if I wished she was in the episode’s other storyline, shame Nikau stepped in. Of course, then the show doubles down on it as Mia grasps at the straw of another miniscule victory: “Great news, Ari might be able to come home for a couple of weeks before rotting in jail for mine and Chloe’s crimes!” So there was a certain satisfaction in seeing her bubble get well and truly burst. Chloe might be to blame for a lot of things, but Ari having terminal cancer isn’t one of them. It probably would have helped if Tane had written something useful like "Ari's in hospital" on that note instead of just "Call me." (Incidentally, the guard we saw with him was the one who dealt with Colby. Which begs the question...are they in the same prison? Because I'd love to see that reunion.)

Ziggy and Dean ambushing Karen with a visit from Brett was just as terrible an idea as I was expecting, but at least a bit of straight-talking from Dean got her talking to him later. Dean insisting on finishing his breakfast before giving them space was mildly amusing.

Instructive chat between Alf and Roo, with Alf admitting for the first time that Roo was right about the transplant and he should have backed her up. And looks as though Ryder might be ready to let things go as well.

[CaptainHulk]

Guess it's picked up this week. Last 3 eps have been pretty powerful.

And Dean, you may just wanna torch Jai's Surfboard Doona!

[Red Ranger 1]

Do we have to have Nikau being a whiny manchild over everything? At least he calmed down quickly. Ari made the right choice: What had he got to live for, a few more months in prison? Mia meekly went along with him making stupid decisions when she and Chloe benefitted, but goes into a sulk when it doesn’t fit her narrative. Ari says he’s the cause of everything bad that’s happened to her: Try reversing it. I’m glad Bella filled Felicity in, I was worried she was going to be left out, although in the end, neither of them made it to the wedding. I’m glad we got a bit of interaction between them though. It’s hard not to feel a bit bitter than the show screwed VJ and Billie over by declaring their deathbed wedding invalid because no-one bothered to get Billie to sign the papers even though she was lucid for hours afterwards, yet here Ari practically has the pen forced into his hand as he lies in pain just so his and Mia’s pointless union can be legal. I felt a bit at his passing but not much: It feels like he’d already been ruined by being turned into one half of the unearned relationship with Mia instead of being a strong character in his own right, so in more ways than one it was kind of a mercy killing.

A bit of light relief with Dean and Ziggy increasingly freaked out by Karen’s very active sex life…

[pembie]

I didn’t watch it today seeing as my mom died of cancer I wasn’t going to watch that crap I think about my mom everyday

in my opinion it shouldn’t be brought in for storytelling really seeing how serious it really is

Having Ari die in a way that isn’t really realated to the story is rubbish I know they wanted him gone quickly but I don’t know just leave him in jail or die in a prison fight if he must die 

[CaptainHulk]

8 hours ago, pembie said:

I didn’t watch it today seeing as my mom died of cancer I wasn’t going to watch that crap I think about my mom everyday

Sorry about to hear that

[Slade]

Yes, sorry pembie.

We've got the fake besties - Even Ryder couldn't understand when he saw them at Salt.  Yes, the premise from going to hating each other to where they are now is based on Chloe killing someone.

Whilst it was childish, I didn't mind Ryder giving Alf the cold shoulder for a bit given how Alf has been as of late.

Have to admit, I found it funny Dean giving Brett advice re Karen.  The whole stuff with Karen/Brett and Ziggy/Dean has veered from amusing to cringe worthy to vomit inducing.

I was disappointed Dean wasn't at the wedding as he and Ari are/were supposed to be good mates and especially given he was in the actual episode.

Tane was very calm throughout the whole thing.  Almost immediately resigned to his fate.  Not sure what to make about him.  He seemed to put up very little resistance when Ari took the wrap for Matthew's death.  I would have thought there would be more fight from him given he lost a brother previously.

Well, it looks as though Chloe and Mia are going to get away with it.

Really looking forward to seeing the fallout from this.

[Red Ranger 1]

I don't object to cancer being included in a story, but it does feel like a bit of a cheap plot device to have Ari die of something completely unrelated to his confession and incarceration, thus leaving Chloe and Mia with a clear conscience because he would have died anyway (albeit perhaps not as quickly), rather than dying or being left in jail because of them.

Anyway, after two episodes focusing on the people closest to Ari, we switch back to the wider community and see them getting the news. Dean seems to use Logan as his verbal punchbag a lot these days (he actually went all the way round there to yell at him for not curing cancer?), but fair play to him, he calmed down and apologised pretty quickly.Not the best way for Mackenzie to find out though.Logan kept quiet about what he knew for a bit longer than necessary but got there in the end.

I can kind of see both Alf and Ryder's point of view here.In principle, it was a good idea for Alf to get everyone together and have them celebrate something positive, but he put a bit too much emphasis on that side of it.I can understand Ryder not wanting to sit around sipping champagne the day after Ari died so his outburst was understandable but he was perhaps expecting too much for Alf in expecting him to have the answer of what to do with the Paratas.So Chloe joins the Dead Dads Club twice over! Odd that Ryder didn't think to text Bella, who'd probably be the best person to give him an update on how everyone's doing.(She even had the presence of mind to let Dean know.) Ryder appeared to be magically transported from the beach to Salt at one point!