Home and Away Spoilers – Roo discovers Eliza’s fiery secret
This week on Home and Away in Australia, Roo fears for her safety as the evidence against Eliza mounts, while Mac rocks Levi with a baby bombshell.
Roo’s (Georgie Parker) new foster child Eliza Sherwood (Martha Kate Morgan) has already managed to make some waves in the few short weeks she’s been in Summer Bay, but some shocking news could make Roo wonder whether she’s severely underestimated the 14-year-old.
Eliza came to Roo as an emergency placement last month, after her last foster home was destroyed in a fire.
Her fellow foster-siblings were still inside as the fire took hold, and all Eliza was able to save was her music box, in which she kept her most precious possessions.
But as Eliza settled in that evening, we saw that she was keeping some disturbing items hidden away in the box, including a lock of blonde hair, a photo with two faces scratched out, and more significantly, a lighter…
As Roo began home-schooling Eliza, she began to exhibit a strange fascination with medical science, or more specifically the process of surgery.
Eliza began looking up the techniques for major operations, as well as the implements required, and started watching videos, which Roo found a little disconcerting.
Both Alf (Ray Meagher) and Marilyn (Emily Symons) have already voiced their concerns about Eliza’s odd demeanour, but Roo pointed out that they had promised to support her in bringing a foster child to Summer Bay House, and reminded them of what Eliza had been through.
Unbeknownst to them all however, Eliza had already swiped a fishing knife from Alf after spotting it in his bait shop, and had added it to the collection in her music box.
Eliza also expressed an interest in babies, demonstrated when she walked up to stranger Harper (Jessica Redmayne) in the surf club and placed her hand on her belly, hoping to feel the baby.
She went on to steal an ultrasound printout from Tane’s (Ethan Browne) bag as she attended her first session of the youth program, which is when she found herself at odds with fellow student Scott (Finnian James).
Unhappy at his insistence that she return the scan to Tane, Eliza floored Scott with a punch to the nose.
It seemed progress was being made when Eliza later apologised to Scott, but when he later took her new phone off her in order to input his number, a furious Eliza smashed a bottle and threatened him with it.
When Roo asked Cash for some background on Eliza, he did some digging and found that Eliza had been forcibly removed from her parents at a young age before being placed in the custody of her grandmother.
When Eliza was 10 years old, her gran died after falling down the stairs. Eliza was found hiding in a cupboard and refused to leave, with police forced to drag her out so the coroner could get to her gran’s body.
Roo realised this was probably the reason Eliza reacted so badly to Cash coming over to talk to Eliza about the incident at the surf club, and comforted Eliza as she told her how sorry she was about what had happened in her past.
As Roo embraced Eliza, Marilyn was deeply unsettled when the teen looked over to her and gave a smile, having displayed nothing but aloofness towards her before that point.
Concerned for Roo, Marilyn decided to go behind her back to do some digging of her own, and managed to get in touch with Eliza’s former foster parents.
After claiming to the couple that she was actually Roo, Marilyn was stunned to learn that they believed Eliza had been the one to set fire to their house.
Marilyn explained to Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin (James Stewart) that, like Roo, Eliza’s foster parents had put her issues down to her past traumas. But nothing they did made any difference.
Eliza was very unhappy when the couple subsequently welcomed more foster children into the household, and the next thing they knew, the house had been burnt to the ground.
The three realised that if this was true, Eliza clearly needed more help than Roo would be able to provide. If, on the other hand, they were mistaken, then it would be an awful accusation to place upon a troubled 14-year-old girl.
This week, Marilyn decides the best thing to do is to come clean to Roo and tell her about the suspicions. Roo doesn’t believe for a minute that Eliza could be capable of such a heinous crime, but nevertheless decides to hear her former foster parents’ story by getting in touch with them herself.
“She doesn’t know much about Eliza but for the fact that the foster family she was with had their house burn down and Eliza needed somewhere to go,” Georgie told TV Week. “She finds it hard to get a read on her.”
In the meantime, Eliza ramps up her gameplay with Marilyn, as she begins to make veiled threats towards her.
As a promo for upcoming episodes recently teased, Eliza chillingly taunts Marilyn about how terrible it feels to always be on edge, not knowing what’s next, as she circles around her.
The same day, Eliza sits down for a cup of tea with Marilyn, offering to pour it for her. “You don’t want to burn yourself,” Eliza states, sending a chill through Marilyn.
Marilyn voices her fears to Roo, telling her about the threats and how she shouldn’t trust Eliza.
The call to Eliza’s former foster parents certainly doesn’t ease any doubts that Roo may have, leaving her with more questions than answers.
But when Eliza discovers what Marilyn and Roo have been up to, she feels betrayed. Roo’s guilt soon turns to anger towards Marilyn, furious at what her meddling has caused.
As Marilyn decides to go and stay with Irene (Lynne McGranger) at the Beach House for a while, Roo is left alone in the house and decides to have a look around Eliza’s room.
She draws a blank before spotting the music box, which she had been particularly protective over on her arrival.
As Roo takes a look inside, she’s shocked by what she finds. The scratched-out photo, a wad of cash, Alf’s missing knife… and the lighter.
When Roo then goes to leave, she finds Eliza standing in the doorway… has she been caught red-handed?
Elsewhere, Mackenzie (Emily Weir) and Levi (Tristan Gorey) return to Summer Bay, following a rather eventual trip to Queensland.
What should have been a pleasant trip, to enable Levi to meet Mac’s brother Dean (Patrick Thompson) and his partner Ziggy (Sophie Dillman), quickly took a sour note as Dean refused to accept Levi as part of the family.
They had no choice but to put their differences aside however when Mac and Ziggy’s lives were threatened by two escaped crims, who forced Ziggy and Mac into Dean’s car to drive them to the state border.
After a dramatic car chase, Dean and Levi were able to save Ziggy and Mac from harm, and there was a little happy note amongst all the drama as it was revealed that Ziggy was 12 weeks pregnant with her and Dean’s second child.
When Levi notes that Mac seems particularly distant this week, he presumes that she’s still coming to terms with the trauma of what happened.
But Levi is stunned when Mac instead states that she’s thinking about them starting a family together!
Levi is dubious however, wondering whether she’s simply reacting to Ziggy’s good news and hasn’t really thought it through.
Is Levi right, or has he inadvertently dashed Mac’s hopes for their near future?
Here’s the full spoilers for this week’s Home and Away episodes in Australia:
Monday 24th March (Episode 8454)
Dana puts wedding pressures on Tane. Theo’s thrill-seeking pays dividends. Roo questions Eliza’s past.
Tuesday 25th March (Episode 8455)
Levi is concerned for Mackenzie. Marilyn’s fears escalate. Are Mali and Abigail ready for the next big step?
Wednesday 26th March (Episode 8456)
Mackenzie comes clean. Roo senses danger. Will Tane warm up in time for the wedding?
Thursday 27th March (Episode 8547)
Sonny’s ready to pay up. Kirby gets great news. Eliza spirals out of control.