Neighbours Spoilers – JJ Varga-Murphy in new knife crime storyline

Next week on Neighbours, JJ takes drastic measures to protect himself from bully Slade, while Jane and Terese’s plans for an Erinsborough High and Eirene Rising joint venture look to be over before they’ve begun.

It’s been all systems go ever since feuding friends Jane Harris (Annie Jones) and Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) finally found a compromise to their friendship-ending dilema.

With the numbers at Erinsborough High dwindling, the Department of Education made the decision to close the school and sell the land off to the highest bidder, devastating Jane. Enter Terese, whose grand plans for a retirement complex needed just one thing – a plot of land.

The two friends quickly turned against one another, as it soon became clear that Erinsborough High was doomed.

It was on Jane’s daughter Nicolette (Hannah Monson) to team up with local busybody Wendy (Candice Leask), as the pair instigated a protest to save Erinsborough High.

When Terese saw the strength of feeling at the protest, and the devastation the development was causing to the local community, she hatched a plan – to work with Jane to see their contrasting visions become a reality, with a smaller Erinsborough High and the new Eirene Rising development coexisting on the same site.

As long as they could convince the council to let them do it, they’d be onto a winner.

Yet corruption reared its head when Terese’s ex-husband Paul (Stefan Dennis) paid off one of the councillors to ensure the vote landed in their favour.

After a revote, the mayor was thrilled to deliver the verdict: a unanimous yes by the council. Erinsborough High was to reopen and Eirene Rising would, indeed, rise!

Although movement on the business front has been slow in recent weeks, taking a backburner to the scandal unfolding between Terese and husband Toadie (Ryan Moloney), business is back at the forefront next week.

Lana, Head of the Department of Education, decides to pay the school site a visit. With only one shot, Jane is determined to pull out all the stops to make sure that nothing throws the day’s proceedings off kilter.

When she learns of that Slade (Charlie Di Stefano) and his gang have been hanging around the school, she’s worried, but becomes even more adamant that nothing will stand in their way.

Unfortunately, it seems that Terese’s head is in a different space. With her rocky marriage and her grieving ex-husband at the forefront of her mind, Terese’s usually strong business acumen isn’t on point.

When faced with the serious concerns the Department has about the safety of the Erinsborough High students during the construction of Eirene Rising, the typically savvy businesswoman is caught out…

Will Terese’s stumble spell the end for Eirene Rising?

There’s more sinister happenings for the Department of Education to be handling when, during their inspection of the site, the school is forced into a lockdown.

Slade is Neighbours‘ newest “bad boy”, and recent weeks have seen him torment Melanie (Lucinda Cowden), daub graffiti around Lassiters, and anger Aaron (Matt Wilson) by vandalising the Drinks Divas van, painting over Melanie and David’s (Takaya Honda) caricatures.

Having called out Slade’s bad behaviour this week, JJ (Riley Bryant) finds himself the target of the bully and his gang next week.

Initially brushing off their threats as all talk, JJ becomes concerned when Slade rocks up at school, and later at the Lassiters complex, confronting him and his brother Dex (Marley Williams).

With JJ backed into a corner, he is dealt a blow (literally) when Slade punches him. In a world of embarrassment, JJ forces his brother to promise that he won’t tell anyone about the attack. Dex reluctantly agrees, believing his brother is strong enough to cope with the threats.

However, JJ is secretly scared. Later, when in Harold’s, his façade cracks as the terrified teen steals a chef’s knife from the café as a defence mechanism.

Later, when Cara (Sara West) pays JJ an unexpected visit at the school, he panics and is forced to stash the knife out of sight, high up between the lockers and the wall.

It doesn’t take long before teacher Curtis (Nathan Borg) stumbles across the weapon and enacts a lockdown, just as Terese and Jane are showing Department Head Lana around the site.

The Head rips into Terese, unable to believe that the school’s pupils are carrying knives. She expresses her concern that there could be more danger ahead if the new development’s construction equipment isn’t kept securely stashed.

Will Lana put a stop to the development before it’s even begun?

Dex mistakenly believes that the knife is Slade’s, but the police are soon on site and discover that the weapon is actually a commercial kitchen knife, throwing doubt on the idea that it was brought in by the gang.

Andrew (Lloyd Will) soon learns that the knife was from Harold’s, and that it went missing during the lunchtime rush hour.

Setting his sights on JJ, Dex and Nell (Ayisha Salem-Towner), who were all in the café during that time, he begins to interrogate them.

JJ initially tries to lie his way out of things, but he eventually confesses to stealing the knife. He’s dealt an official warning from Andrew and a suspension from school, but Andrew is forced to admit that Slade himself may get off uncharged, considering there were no witnesses to him punching JJ.

With the Slade storyline set to continue for more weeks, will JJ be faced with further danger?

---

Here are the Neighbours spoilers for the next two weeks:

Monday 26th February (Episode 8996 / 93)

Sadie makes a surprise confession.

Toadie struggles to redeem himself.

Andrew has a big decision to make.

Tuesday 27th February (Episode 8997 / 94)

Andrew goes out on a limb.

Sadie has her eyes on someone.

JJ finds himself in trouble.

Wednesday 28th February (Episode 8998 / 95)

JJ makes a poor decision.

The Education Department throw a spanner in the works.

Nicolette struggles with her resentment.

Thursday 29th February (Episode 8999 / 96)

The walls close in on an anxious JJ.

Chelsea attempts to control the narrative.

Tension simmers in Number Twenty-Four.

Monday 4th March (Episode 9000 / 97)

Nicolette makes a divisive choice.

Chelsea is taken on a ‘Paul Robinson’s Greatest Hits’ tour.

Toadie seeks comfort in all the wrong places.

Tuesday 5th March (Episode 9001 / 98)

Sadie’s night takes an unexpected turn.

Jane struggles to keep her family together.

Mike has an update.

Wednesday 6th March (Episode 9002 / 99)

The Rodwell house expands as three become four.

Byron feels betrayed.

Toadie is propelled into action.

Thursday 7th March (Episode 9003 / 100)

Felix is confronted by a terrifying possibility.

Paul embarks on a less than glamorous mission.

Toadie’s commitment wavers.