Home and Away Spoilers – Ryder Jackson farewells Summer Bay

Coming up this week on Home and Away in Australia, Ryder Jackson says goodbye to Summer Bay as he accepts his dream job offer and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

It’s time to say goodbye to another Summer Bay regular this week, as Lukas Radovich bows out as Ryder Jackson after 4½ years.

In recent weeks, Salt’s resident barman and second-in-command has graduated from TAFE and received a pay rise, before Mackenzie (Emily Weir) revealed that the business was on the brink of collapse.

Mac’s agreement to Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) suggestion of holding glamorous after-hours poker evenings saw Ryder spruced up and serving his finest cocktail creations.

As the evenings have continued, Ryder has watched in awe from the behind the bar, which has inspired him to consider a new career—that of a casino croupier.

Ryder started practicing his card shuffling techniques in the storeroom at Salt, and whilst a request to be a dealer at the next event was turned down, he revelled in putting on his own poker evening for Bella (Courtney Miller), Nikau (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) and Chloe (Sam Barrett).

The next day he admitted Bella and Nik of his wish to change career, but little did he realise that fate was about to deal him a lucky hand…

In Tuesday’s Australian-pace episode, we learned that Ryder has been in touch with his mother Quinn to tell her about his new dream. She quickly found him the perfect job opportunity on a huge cruise ship—the Pearl of the Sea—complete with a zip line, ice rink, and, most importantly, its own casino floor.

He would start as a mixologist, but there would be plenty of opportunities to move around the ship. After finding his feet, he could apply to train as a croupier. The job would also provide him with food and board, meaning he could save heaps of cash.

Naturally the job would also see him travel the world, something which has also been a dream of Ryder’s. He expressed his desire to do so back in 2020 after meeting his uncle Owen (Cameron Daddo), and the presentation by grumps Alf (Ray Meagher) of the Stewart family compass on the occasion of Ryder’s 21st birthday has only heightened his dream all the more.

It was only a few weeks back that we saw Ryder gazing at the compass again wistfully…

The job is exactly what Ryder is looking for. The only catch, the ship leaves in a matter of days. While it’s a difficult decision to leave his family at such a turbulent time, Dean (Patrick O’Connor) reminded him that opportunities like this don’t come around very often. Eventually, he decides to take the job.

It’s the adventure of a lifetime, and Thursday’s episodes see his friends and family prepare a sendoff at Summer Bay House, before they say goodbye.

However, there’s still time for one final moment of drama for poor Ryder, as tensions fray and his goodbye party turns vicious.

Will Ryder diffuse one more awkward situation before he heads off for his dream job?

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As Ryder says goodbye after 4½ years, we take a look back at his time in the bay.

Ryder first arrived in Summer Bay back in October 2017, where he quickly caused a drama by stealing money from Hunter King (Scott Lee) and VJ Patterson (Matt Little).

The pair caught him and presented him to Alf, who recognised him as the kid who he’d earlier spotted nicking food from the juice bar. He was stunned when Ryder then announced that he was his grandson.

After an interrogation by Alf and Roo (Georgie Parker), it was eventually established that Ryder’s mother was Alf’s estranged daughter Quinn (Danielle Spencer/Lara Cox)—the result of a relationship Alf had during the Vietnam war—who Alf had only met for a few weeks back in 1995.

Quinn held a grudge against Alf for his abandonment of her mother, but by the time she learned that he genuinely had no idea of her existence, Quinn had already sabotaged a development that Alf was planning in Summer Bay.

Alf wasn’t interested in her apologies, but when he had a change of heart and went chasing after her, Quinn had already boarded the seaplane out of Summer Bay. The two hadn’t spoken in over two decades.

It was revealed that Ryder had run away from a boot camp that Quinn had sent him to, as she struggled to deal with his behavioural issues resulting from a sleeping disorder.

Quinn’s return to Summer Bay was tense for everyone, and when Ryder overheard Quinn telling Roo how his erratic sleeping pattern had ruined her life, he took off in Alf’s car, accidentally hitting Roo.

After a blasting from Alf, Ryder initially hid out at friend Raffy Morrison’s (Olivia Deeble) place before the pair took a boat and headed to a secluded cove—only to find the washed up body of Dennis Novak which prompted their return.

As Ryder began to settle in Summer Bay, his sleeping pattern improved, and Quinn agreed to let him stay with his grandfather, knowing that there’d be more stability. Ryder was soon turning on the charm with both Raffy and Coco Astoni (Anna Cocquerel), ultimately ending up in a relationship with Coco.

Ryder was enrolled at Summer Bay High and supported Coco after her mother Maggie (Kestie Morassi) was diagnosed with cancer.

Ryder was the first of the family to greet a stranger who arrived at Summer Bay House, unaware that she was actually Alf’s ex-wife Martha (Belinda Giblin), who had faked her death over 30 years previously.

He struck up a friendship with John and Marilyn’s foster child Ty Anderson (Darius Williams), and was dumped by Coco when he became jealous of her talking to a guy she had met whilst away at camp.

Since Ty had begun dating Raffy, Ryder was shocked when Ty planted a kiss on him, after Ryder had complimented his music creations. Ryder supported Ty as he struggled to deal with his sexuality, before Ty left after reuniting with his mother.

Although Ryder and Coco got back together, things became awkward as Ryder tried to divide his time between Coco and Raffy, and the pair ultimately decided they’d be better off as friends.

With Coco and Raffy hanging out more, Ryder found himself at a loose end and ended up striking up a friendship with Dean Thompson (Patrick O’Connor).

When Ryder suggested that he, Coco and Raffy spend the night at an abandoned River Boy hangout he’d heard Dean talk about, Raffy suffered a head injury after an old escape tunnel collapsed on her.

Ryder’s guilt was only confounded when, after witnessing Raffy have a seizure, she was diagnosed with epilepsy as a result of the injury. Ryder started drinking and his 18th birthday was forgotten by all apart from Raffy.

After turning up at the Morgans’ house drunk one night, Ryder decided to leave town the following day, but after hitching a lift with Dean he ended up bringing him back to Summer Bay.

After a shaky start, Ryder entered into a relationship with Raffy whilst Coco was away, with both of them fearing Coco’s reaction on her return. Their delay in telling Coco meant that she walked in on the pair kissing at Salt, and whilst she was initially thrown, she came to accept their relationship.

When Coco eventually left Summer Bay for boarding school, Ryder found a new friend in the form of Bella Nixon (Courtney Miller), with her unpredictable nature giving Ryder plenty of opportunities to get her out of scrapes. Ryder had also supported Raffy as she suffered with her epilepsy, even going to the lengths of buying some cannabis for her to use.

Though the pair chickened out after panicking about being able to hide it, it was the catalyst for Raffy’s half-brother and medical student Mason (Orpheus Pledger) to try out an unofficial (and illegal) medicinal trial of his own.

Working for John at the juice bar brought little satisfaction for Ryder, and the amount of shifts given to him began to affect his schoolwork on the approach to his HSC. Although Roo later intervened and stopped Ryder working until after his exams, his tardiness caused him to lose 40% of his HSC mark.

Not wanting to go to Uni, there was a better job opportunity for Ryder on the horizon when Mackenzie offered him a position behind the bar at Salt.

Ryder and Raffy eventually broke up, and she departed for a new medical trial in Victoria whilst Ryder started a hospitality course at TAFE. Ryder was thrilled when Alf bought him a classic car he’d been eyeing up, with Justin agreeing to do it up for him.

He found himself enamoured with a new guest at the caravan park, Jade Lennox (Mia Morrissey), and lost his virginity to her.

After helping her score a job at Salt, Ryder caught her stealing money and threatened to tell Mackenzie, before Jade gave him a sob story about sending money home to her mother and sister. He refused to stand by when he caught her stealing again, and told Mac what Jade was doing.

Jade responded by seducing Ryder and covertly filming their sex session, before posting the video online and telling the police that Ryder had done so without her consent.

After it was discovered that the video had been uploaded from Ryder’s phone, Ryder was charged and he lost his job at Salt. It was only by joining forces with newcomer Nikau Parata (Kawakawa Fox-Reo), who stole Jade’s phone after he saw through her lies, that Ryder was exonerated.

At the same time, Ryder was proud to act as best man for grandfather Alf’s remarriage to Martha.

Ryder was shocked when a stranger, Evan Slater (Cameron Daddo) turned up on his doorstep claiming be his father, which was confirmed after a phone call with Quinn.

Although Ryder initially wanted nothing to do with Evan, he was eventually convinced to give him a chance after hearing that he wasn’t aware of Ryder’s existence until he was about two years old. But by that time, Quinn had moved on, and he wasn’t able to track her down.

The two gradually began to bond but Ryder became suspicious of Evan’s choice to reach out now. It was eventually revealed that Evan was dying from mesothelioma, a result of playing as a musician in a large number of asbestos-filled dive bars over the years.

Wanting to see his dad in his element, Ryder talked him into performing at Salt, under the guise if it being a TAFE assignment, and was moved to tears when Evan performed a song he’d written for Ryder as a child, ‘Son and Moon’.

See the music video for Son and Moon, an original song by actor Cameron Daddo and starring Lukas, below:

As Evan’s condition worsened, he didn’t wish for Ryder to watch him die and so decided to leave Summer Bay.

An emotional Ryder let him go, on the condition that Roo accompany him as he sought palliative care. Roo returned a few weeks later with the sad news that Evan had passed away.

The whole family were stunned a few weeks later when Evan’s ghost turned up in Summer Bay.

It later transpired that the man, Owen Davidson, who had somehow been drawn to Summer Bay whilst driving down the coast, was actually Evan’s twin brother—with them both having been adopted out separately at birth.

This was news to Owen, who was upset to learn that he had missed out on knowing his late brother, but he and Ryder were glad to find each other.

Owen embarked on a short-lived relationship with Roo, but she ended things on account of the fact she had been in love with Evan in the final weeks of his life, and was finding being with Owen too difficult. Owen left town shortly afterwards.

Ryder immediately clashed with newcomer Chloe Anderson (Sam Barrett) when a lack of ID meant he refused to serve her in Salt, and found his pride at being Salt’s top barman dented when Chloe applied for a job and impressed Mac with her equally impressive cocktail skills.

The two continued to bicker whilst hanging out with Bella and Nik, but began to bond over their shared ordeal when the four were kidnapped by a gang of drug dealers that the Paratas had made enemies of.

Ryder and Chloe embarked on a secret relationship before they were spotted kissing by Nik, and his nervousness at telling Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams) about the relationship saw Ryder ask Nik to teach him Maori in order to ask for his blessing.

Unfortunately for Ryder, Nik pranked him by teaching him to tell Ari how awful a person he was and how he deserved to be punished for lying to his friends. Ari saw the funny side whilst assuring Ryder that he had no problem with him seeing Chloe.

Ryder was promoted to Mac’s second-in-command at Salt, which backfired when she ordered him to fire Chloe, given her connection to Ari who had just dumped Mac in favour of reuniting with Chloe’s mother Mia (Anna Samson).

When Mac sacked Chloe herself, Ryder quit in solidarity, and the two started up their own Mexican food truck.

A rivalry with Mac ensued when they pitched up outside the surf club, but it came to a swift end when a faulty gas pipe caused the truck to explode.

With Alf, Roo and Marilyn having provided funds towards the set up of the business, and the van not yet being insured, Ryder and Chloe were faced with having to raise some cash to pay them back.

The two set up a food delivery service by using the diner kitchen after hours, but were eventually discovered by Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin (James Stewart). Owners Leah and Irene (Lynne McGranger) agreed to let them continue using the kitchen for a share of the profits, but Ryder’s working two jobs, as well as TAFE and helping out at the board shop in Dean’s absence, began to take its toll.

When he overslept after two days of no sleep, he found that newcomer Theo Poulos (Matt Evans) had become Chloe’s knight in shining armour by assisting her with the day’s deliveries.

Ryder was further aggravated by Theo when he was tasked with delivering Ryder to a local club for a surprise 21st birthday bash. Unaware of Ryder’s previous kidnap experience, Theo put a hood over his head and threw him in the boot of his car. Chloe neglected to see why Ryder was so angry over the ordeal, and he responded by drowning his sorrows.

After learning Chloe had spent the rest of the night with Theo, Ryder demanded to know at his family birthday gathering whether Chloe had slept with him. Although she hadn’t, the two realised that their relationship wasn’t working, and split up.

When a banking mistake saw Ryder wipe out the rest of their business funds, he reluctantly joined up with Theo in partaking in online video challenges, after a video taken of Ryder screaming at Theo during his ‘kidnap’ went viral.

The two were a hit with videos such as a chilli-eating challenge, a fire-walk and a disgusting cocktail tasting, and generated a good income from their following.

With relations between the two strained, Chloe was given money by her biological father Matthew (James Sweeny) to cover her half of their debts and to buy Ryder out of the business. Ryder signed over his half without accepting any money for it.

Their final video nearly cost Ryder his life, as a live stream of Ryder being buried alive for five hours went disastrously wrong when Theo tripped over some barbed wire and knocked himself out.

When he came to, his leg was snagged up in the wire, and it wasn’t until the next morning when Roo and Justin found their location that an unconscious Ryder was dug up and rushed to hospital.

Ryder struggled with panic attacks in the wake of his ordeal, which were made worse by Alf’s vendetta against Theo, who was determined to hold him fully responsible for the accident. That, together with the tension between Roo and Martha, caused Ryder to move out into a caravan temporarily.

Alf eventually apologised for his treatment of Theo and the two made up, with Ryder finally able to pay Alf back his debt following the income from the coffin video.

With his debts paid off, Ryder has been able to give his TAFE course his full attention.

Now equipped with his Certificate of Hospitality Management, he’s perfectly qualified to take up the job on the cruise ship that will see him depart Summer Bay for the opportunity of a lifetime.

Goodbye, Ryder Jackson.

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Here’s the full spoilers for this week’s Home and Away episodes in Australia:

Monday 2nd May (Episode 7783)

Mackenzie gets an offer she can’t refuse. Alf and Roo battle over Martha’s care. Can Rose handle small town policing?

Tuesday 3rd May (Episode 7784)

Jasmine bolsters Xander’s confidence. Rose finds her small-town-cop groove. Will Ryder take his dream job? Failure hits Theo hard.

Wednesday 4th May (Episode 7785)

Ziggy is Theo’s secret coach. Jasmine hustles a job for Xander.

Thursday 5th May (Episodes 7786-7788)

Xander delivers an awful truth. Justin is wounded by Theo’s secrecy.

Ryder chooses the adventure of a lifetime. Nikau reads Chloe’s disturbing diary. Is Xander getting too close to a patient?

Ryder’s farewell party turns vicious. Theo’s heart thaws for Chloe. Martha romances Alf.