Red Ranger 1

Alf's episode count this week:Four. Leah, Justin and Cash were also in four. I thought there was an interesting contrast in the parallel complaining scenes:Leah was just ranting and not interested in anything Irene had to say, while Justin actually seemed to listen to John.Leah continued to be insufferable, blaming anyone convenient for Theo's injury, while Justin just blamed her for putting Theo offside.Anyway, she seemed to calm down and listen by the end, so hopefully that sticks. Mali continued to stick his head in the sand, sometimes for noble reasons, sometimes just out of stubbornness. Abigail was right to tell Kirby the truth, and Kirby grabbing random people on the beach and trying to get them to apply was probably the daftest thing she could think of. (Mind you, it's pretty much how she got the job!) Anyway, Mali seems to have come up with a plan that could work, so I understand Abigail choosing to support this. Cash was another one being daft, choosing to sit in the police station like a zombie chasing up pointless leads (and not thinking of the obvious solution, to get someone to keep an eye on the River Boys). Anyway, he managed to tear himself away and spend time with Eden eventually, and may even have found something else to focus on.

Lacey finally gets her safe house...and Cash suddenly loses his shadow, which is slightly worrying.It came right after Cash getting the call that Lacey was at the safe house, although thankfully even he doesn't know the location.Do the River Boys have a contact?(In which case, why haven't they been tipped off before?) Were they somehow listening in on the phone call? Or, less dramatically, were Gage's legal team informed? I liked the phone conversation between Theo and Lacey, with Lacey especially coming across as grown-up about it. I don't know what the chances are of her coming back after the trial? Would she be in witness protection indefinitely? Leah isn't completely wrong that they should have kept a closer eye on Theo, but her insistence on blaming everything on Lacey has become as frustrating as Justin trying to spin everything as being Sonny's fault, and didn't make it easier for Theo to listen to her.And now she's apparently taking it out on Justin just because he's not wholly in agreement with her! Meanwhile, just as Justin softens towards Sonny, Remi snaps back to seeing him as a screw-up. I'm glad he got more-or-less the whole story about Bree being the one to put them in contact, but it didn't seem to make much difference.Sonny shutting down Dana's hints about staying the night was the right thing to do and maybe shows some growth on his part. So, Mali's inevitably getting a backlash over the article.Kirby's between a rock and a hard place here: Mali's made it pretty clear he doesn't want help, and probably wouldn't appreciate her approaching him with an offer, yet it's hard to just sit back and do nothing.

Well, with Roo and Harper off screen dealing with the fallout of Eliza, and Alf and Marilyn getting a couple of (mildly annoying) contractually obligated scenes, it's onto other matters.Which basically means the River Boys, who continue to follow Cash about.They're not even really being subtle, or particularly useful, as evidenced with them parking up a few yards away out of earshot while Cash chats to Remi and Bree. So Sonny gets his own bodyguards.Hopefully they're not from the same firm Cash worked for or he could be in trouble.It was Bree who gave Dana a way of finding him, although to be fair, she doesn't seem to know what Remi was planning. I'd have thought Marilyn would have learned about enthusiastically getting vicarious about someone else's romance after Tane and Harper! Meanwhile, Leah comes clean to first Justin and then Theo. I'm glad Justin extended an olive branch to Remi and Sonny and shook Sonny's hand (and that Sonny acknowledged he wasn't entirely wrong), otherwise he would have seemed like a bit of a hypocrite. He really didn't seem to grasp Cash's "You can't tell anyone" instruction since he immediately tells Theo he's seen Lacey! Levi did a pretty good job getting Theo to play ball. No, Cash has just been staying away from her while the River Boys are after him. Well, 1996 started with Pippa, as pretty much every version for the first ten years did (but ironically not the first version, where Tom's on his own with her following) although I accept Alf, Ailsa, Irene and Marilyn are right at the end (Donald's kind of in the middle). Fair point on original 2000, which starts off with a bunch of youngsters and has Alf, Ailsa, Donald and Irene virtually at the end.

I feel obliged to point out that Harper never said she wanted nothing to do with Eliza. Tane went behind her back and told Alf and Roo to keep Eliza away from her like a heavy Victorian patriarch. Alf, being something of a heavy Victorian patriarch himself, falsely attributed the words to Harper, because god forbid she be allowed to have a different opinion to Tane. Anyway, that's it for Eliza it would appear. Harper tries to soften the blow by saying she'll only be institutionalised for "the short term" but it's hard to imagine her suddenly being all cured of her destructive impulses in a matter of days or weeks. At least she's not facing criminal charges, but other than that, she's likely to end up on the same ward as Heather. Some questions remain unanswered but I'd rather that than the show suddenly pulling a load of last minute reveals about how awful she is out of a hat. We don't know whether she started the fire at her old house or not, we don't know whether there's more to what happened her to her grandmother, we don't know if these dangerous fixations have happened in similar circumstances at the past. And without that, Irene, Marilyn and Tane continue to snip about her as if she's the devil's spawn makes me think badly of them rather than Eliza. Again, despite lots of predictions that she'd stab Harper or set fire to the house with Marilyn and Roo tied up inside, the only time she actively hurt someone was when she punched Scott. She didn't drag Harper into the bush or cause her to go into labour, she didn't make Alf have heart problems. Yes, she stopped them getting help, and that's dangerous behaviour, but people both on screen and off have been acting like she's a serial killer, which is ridiculous. Oh, and another reminder of how utterly incompetent and unprofessional social services have been: They're apparently "not surprised" at what Eliza's done, yet gave Roo no warning or support, which is downright negligent to a level on a par with Eliza's own. I'm glad Harper was there to support them all at the end rather than staying away like a little woman, and while Roo and Eliza don't end on a good note, I hope Roo realises she did all she could. Eliza remains ambiguous up to the end, with it unclear how much of her upset about being sent away was real. (She did, after all, have time to prepare after eavesdropping on Roo.) Elsewhere, we have Mackenzie's cluckiness and Cash being rather casual with Lacey, although his straight talking is probably the best way to handle the situation. Justin doesn't seem to share Leah's myopic belief that it's all Lacey's fault, but it's not clear whether he still thinks the same about Remi and Sonny. I understand Theo being worried about Lacey but he still needs to look after his recovery.

I kind of wonder why Tane waited until now to mention the phone call. Was he waiting until he thought the storyline was nearly over?

Yes, even after reading on here that it was coming, I was still surprised by the intro. I haven’t gone through it with a checklist seeing who’s there and who isn’t but there were definitely some individual and couples shots of Levi and Mackenzie on the beach in the middle. (I think it started with Remi and Bree.) Bit odd that all the oldies are bunched together at the end. Having first learned we weren’t going to have them, I’m trying to work out what this means. Have we now got them for good? Did someone send out the wrong copy of the episode by mistake? Did Channel 5 get bombarded with e-mails and make a special request? As to the stuff after the titles, you have to admire Roo trying her best to be the person Eliza needs, even if she’s clearly out of her depth by now. Aside from usual TV “the main characters do everything” rules, the question remains as to why it’s down to Roo to call the department, who appear to have dumped Eliza and vanished. Her only support is a seminar she had to arrange herself and a social worker on maternity leave who’s her neighbour. I did quite enjoy the opening scene of Eliza being ultra-nice. Her expression while watching the video was interesting again: It was like she was trying to fight off any emotional reaction to it and keep the stoic detached mindset in place. No word yet on her motivation with Alf, and even though she says the stories behind the box item were lies, we don’t get the truth. Ironic that she kept missing Harper and Archie even when they were in the same building. I continue to find Tane’s Leah-like attempts to dictate who can and can’t see Harper frustrating. I was disappointed that Harper wasn’t there with Roo and hope she’s been held up rather than bowing to the will of the patriarch like a good little woman. I still find it hard to believe Eliza would actually do anything to hurt Harper or Archie, her actions have been mostly passive. Aside from a couple of scenes of John worrying about the River Boys, the only other thing of note is Mali and Abigail’s latest spat. The show seems to be using a trick Neighbours is fond of: Dealing with an age gap relationship by making the older party immature. The result being that I’m left wondering if Mali is mature enough for Abby.

Geoff/Melody - It was very disappointing that she got written out so soon after they got together, and even more so when they brought her back just to make her an obstacle to Geoff being with Nicole, which didn't last long after Melody left again anyway.Looking back, they were obviously the better pairing and it would have been nice to see more of them. Dexter/Lottie - Probably the nadir of the show's habit of introducing girls perfect for Dex as guest characters.They had a nice slow build up to getting together and were a strong and sweet pairing...and then almost straightaway, the show had Dexter go off her and start mooning over supposed "soul mate" April. Despite Lottie being Roo's stepdaughter for a while, she seemed to get forgotten about very quickly aside from the odd reference.

Well, she did have that ectopic pregnancy via Ari.

I'm pretty sure he stumbled across them doing the walk of shame next morning. Alf's episode count this week:Three. I'm reaching the point where I suspect we're not going to get full answers about Eliza and I'm okay with that, although I hope we get some points clarified. There is a certain enigmatic quality about her which I guess is true to life, and I think even she doesn't fully understand her behaviour. Roo thinks she was going to let Alf die, yet she says if she wanted to hurt him she'd have done a better job. She certainly didn't get him any help, but she had started to help him towards the house when John turned up: Had she decided he'd suffered enough or was she just trying not to be too obvious? She was eager to go and get his medication before Marilyn did it: Was she going to hide that as well? And then there's Harper. She really wanted to see her and show her the video and thinks Harper would appreciate it, as if she really does want a connection with her and Archie (like with the teddy?), but then there's a feeling that's just a way of staying close to her out of curiosity, as with her not wanting anyone else involved in the labour. It's ironic that the situation has flipped, with Eliza charming Alf and Marilyn while Roo is suspicious. Irene finally meets Harper on screen and managed to be reasonably polite to her. Mali's behaviour is one of those "I get it but I don't get it" moments. It's not nice to be portrayed like that, but he seems to be taking it out on everyone except the person responsible. Abigail really should have been more diplomatic: She possibly should have placed more emphasis on the fact that any legal battle would point out factual accuracies in the article, rather than act as though he actually did treat Kirby badly (although she may think that). It would seem like the logical response would be for Mali and Kirby to make a joint reply online making it clear that whatever disagreement they had that day, they still like and respect each other. Will that occur to anyone? Mackenzie gets a blow when her "maybe I'm pregnant" gambit falls flat.Hopefully she'll manage to avoid getting her hopes up too much, these things can take a while.

She explained that she wanted to be with Gage playing the loyal girlfriend when the police turned up. If she'd disappeared, it would have looked suspicious. No, she saw that he wasn't on the couch, and thus his talk with Harper hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped. It kind of feels like (aside from saving episode counts) Tane took Archie out on his own solely so Harper wouldn't be there when Eliza approached and he could go all Leah on her and dictate who Harper can and cannot see. I was annoyed that Alf and Roo just accepted Tane's word was law instead of recognising Harper has her own mind.Even though the promo shows Eliza at the beach house, Archie's done his three episodes this week, so unless that's from next week, I can't see Eliza getting to meet him.It continues to be odd that, despite having been very anti-Eliza for weeks (possibly even more so than Marilyn these days), Tane hasn't picked up on her not phoning the ambulance.Again, I don't think Eliza had any preference for the outcome of Harper's labour, she just wanted to see it either way.Still, her fascination with Archie suggests there's more to it than that.Also...no mention of Roo telling her to delete the video? Of course, that's not the only thing centring around Eliza at the moment.She starts the episode being as civil as she's ever been (I was really expecting some snark about Marilyn turning up) but I guess Alf trying to manipulate her and then parroting Tane's diktats didn't sit well with her.There was a feeling of her trying to punish him at the end. Mali really was being ridiculous trying to do everything on his own, but Kirby and Abigail tricking him into leaving work was an even worse idea than turning up offering to help.But they got him to listen anyway, so hopefully he'll get some help soon. (Oh, and technically Mali fired Kirby while she was serving her notice after quitting.) Mackenzie getting more and more clucky! We are outright told that Theo's out of the woods. A nice touch to have Abby worried about him, it's easy to forget they were nearly a thing once since I don't think we've seen them together in ages!

Gage probably hadn't thought this through, having spent so long considering himself untouchable he believed his own myth.Lacey proves to have some smarts about her, manipulating the situation so she can make a statement against Gage without him knowing.And, yeah, Theo's awake and seems to be on the road to recovery.Leah wasn't as objectionable as Justin has been lately (and, to be fair, it is supposed to be family only) but there's still that feeling of blaming someone else for Theo's choices. Also...what was with Lacey constantly turning her phone off only for it to keep ringing anyway? Do phones not work the way I think? I don't blame Tane for putting his foot down (although the promo suggests I may be losing sympathy with him again soon).Sorry, but Harper's only got herself to blame: She got herself into this mess, twice, now she has to deal with it.Irene seems to be gushing about the situation in a way that's worthy of Dana, or indeed Marilyn.I'd completely forgotten Marilyn was supposed to be at the beach house these days, which makes her cooing over Archie a bit more justified, although it seems that's not an issue now.I'd have thought she'd have jumped at the chance to be in the thick of Tane, Harper and Archie, but maybe the reality's getting in the way of the fairy tale in her head.

Cash is continuing to hit brick walls here, although at least he's picked up Spanner (no mention of the two nameless River Boys who were holding Sonny so Spanner could give him a beating) and he may have found a way in with Lacey.Sonny was quite helpful in the midst of it all. It's a bit odd that Cash hasn't mentioned to any of the River Boys that Sonny saw them all there while Theo was tied up under the ramp, but maybe he's saving that for later. To damn with faint praise, at least Justin didn't stick around to have another go at Sonny while he's hospitalised, although he still can't let go of his mindset that Sonny's to blame for everything.(I don't think it's entirely down to Remi, who seemed to be led down that track by Justin more than the other way round.)To be fair, he's not 100% wrong that Theo wouldn't have got involved with the River Boys without Sonny, but it's more complicated than that. I'm glad Remi gave him a few home truths, hopefully he'll listen to these ones.It's a bit pointless to make us worry that Theo might not wake up and then show him awake in the promo! (Incidentally, I only recently found out that Ryan Bown who plays Sonny was in the show back in 2018 as the husband of the lecturer Hunter was sleeping with!) Tane's kind of in a no-win situation here. If he stays away, then he looks like a shiftless absentee father leaving Harper to do everything. If he's there all the time, it looks like he's trying to take over.I think he and Harper need to have a chat and work out exactly what role each of them is going to play: Last time they tried that, it ended with Harper cutting Tane out completely, and now she's reversed that but they haven't really decided anything concrete.

He just seemed to leave him a voicemail. That was a very abrupt jump from Sonny trying to get help for Theo last episode to him already being in hospital at the start of this one: It was like we missed an episode, with no explanation for how he got out from under the car.It's touch and go for him anyway, with Levi being left to work his magic.I continue to like that Justin is keeping Leah in the loop, albeit coloured through his insistence on believing black is white and that Sonny has been egging Theo on rather than trying to get him to back off.That said, I don't think Justin was as out of line as Dana made out: All he did was stop Sonny walking away, it wasn't done in a violent or aggressive manner, and maybe the sight of Sonny rolling around on the floor in agony will be enough to convince Justin he's not the villain of the piece here. Meanwhile, Cash is trying to get his hands on the actual villain of the piece and hitting a wall of silence.For all Gage's attempt to control things, Lacey could be the weak link here for all her bravado. I seem to recall Spanner gave Eden some trouble last year, but maybe she didn't catch his name. (Cash hasn't spoken to her, anyway.)

Alf's episode count this week:Three. Intense in some ways, downright silly in others.Justin is still in the middle of the wrong plot, having not noticed that Sonny's a regular and treating him like the latest troublemaker to be run out of town.Even at the end, Remi and Bree don't fill him in properly.At least Remi and Sonny had the sense to go to Cash, but the number of unlikely events needed to ramp up the tension made my eyes roll:Cash giving out his number and then leaving his phone in another room on silent; Sonny leaving a message but not telling anyone where he's actually gone; the artificial attempt to ramp up tension near the end by having Sonny suddenly collapse a few yards away from his phone; do the River Boys have a whole load of identical-looking hideaways and if not why does no-one know where they are? Theo and Sonny both take a lot of physical punishment here, while Lacey seems to be skirting towards the side of the angels. It may have been a good thing that Sonny wasn't able to lift the car and abruptly relieve the pressure on Theo. Then again, he hadn't been under there long, and ironically Gage's sadism may have done him a favour, since lowering the car onto him slowly rather than just dropping it might have done slightly less damage. Marilyn continued to annoy me greatly with her gushing over Archie (and Irene wasn't far behind but at least she's got less problematic recent history), although the message that all children need love and support, not just the cute ones that don't give you any trouble, seemed to seep through eventually.

Theo's getting himself into trouble, although to be fair to him, he did take Justin's advice on board and try to do the right thing by Lacey. Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten that he's not indestructible and people have very good reason to be scared of Gage.Sonny continues to keep Remi and Bree in the loop, but not Justin, who remains unaware of the problem with Theo going off on his own. Incidentally, did that count as Lacey's first Obligatory Bikini Scene? Cash and Eden really need to get better at communicating.I guess Cash was trying to not make a big deal of it, but dismissing the engagement ring as "just a ring" was the worst thing he could have said in the circumstances.I liked how Remi noticed she was still wearing it, and then when Kirby saw it and she and Justin thought she was engaged, only for Justin to get the heck out of there on realising this is not a happy time.I would quite like to have seen Kirby carry Eden over there, it would have saved her the half hour walk! Cash not wanting to be engaged until he's proposed properly feels a bit old-fashioned to say the least, but Eden seems to be happy with it which is the main thing. I'm not really sure Mali owed Kirby an apology, but they were good friends and so it was right that they shouldn't stay on a sour note.It was pretty incredible that Abigail was both the grown-up in the room and going into bat for Kirby, two things that were inconceivable when she first turned up.I can see this article coming back to bite them though:It's hard not to imagine either one or both of them coming out of it looking bad. Nice way of keeping Tane and Harper's situation in viewers' minds now they've used up their three episodes, with Cash getting that picture and Irene and Leah making up their own episode quotas chatting about it!

Incidentally, nice that Nikau was remembered and I liked how really uncomfortable Eden was babysitting Tane! Also, I liked the way Tane's culture was remembered, Home and Away is one of the best soaps for this sort of thing.

Harper was being ridiculous here.When she said people know why she's doing it, my response was "Because you'd rather hide under the sheets like a heartbroken schoolgirl than be a grown-up about it?" I was surprised Cash was so keen to take her side. Still, at least she came round by the end of the episode and realised this is about Archie, not about her and her fantasies.So it seems she and Tane are set to co-parent, which they really should have stuck to in the first place instead of trying to make it more than it was. You could probably make a documentary about Cash, Eden and engagement rings at this point. Talking of, Kirby just took herself off into her own little world and didn't realise the effect she was having on others again.She's already on thin ice with Mali over not doing her job when she's at work so doubling down on it was not a good idea.Being lumbered with an obnoxious photographer didn't help but Mali was obviously going to snap sooner or later.

Seemingly a happy ending then, despite all the drama. Well, kind of. Marilyn was being ridiculous again, insisting on blaming Eliza for everything that went wrong, and I wished Leah had pulled her up a bit more on her acting as though Eliza had somehow trapped Harper out there. Roo actually managed to put up a decent case with Alf, although she was obviously concerned by Eliza flashing a video of the birth around, to the point that she didn't object to Alf putting Eliza to work.Eliza did seem pleased when she started the filming.Again, the only (and I realise it's a big "only") thing she did wrong was not calling an ambulance. (Given that Tane's next after Marilyn in being suspicious of Eliza, I'm surprised he didn't pick up on that, but I guess he had other things on his mind.) I've come to the conclusion that Eliza didn't particularly want Harper to come to harm, but wouldn't have minded if she did. She just wanted to be at the centre of the action, and if the grown-ups had arrived earlier and whisked Harper off to safety, she wouldn't have. So Tane got to be at Archie's birth and have a few hours with him at the hospital, although Harper soon shut down after a dose of general anaesthetic. I do think Harper is being rather selfish here, keeping Tane and Archie apart simply because it was easy for her.I couldn't get behind Dana treating Harper like an innocent victim: Tane pushed ahead with a wedding he shouldn't have done because he wanted a family, but Harper pushed ahead with it because she wanted Tane by any means necessary. So I was disappointed that Mackenzie apologised to her. I did quite like Levi backing way away from being dubbed an "uncle".

Well, it feels like Eliza definitely crossed a line by lying about phoning an ambulance. And she seems to be doing it simply to satisfy her morbid curiosity.It was interesting that the only time she showed any hint of emotion, it looked like concern, as if she's trying to be dispassionate but can't quite manage it.I'm wondering if there's a story behind her obsession with scars, but it feels like we've been given a lot of bread crumbs about Eliza and I'm not sure how many if any of them will be followed up on.Marilyn continued her quest to be the most awful person in the storyline, once more demonstrating the callous attitude towards children that's led her to treat her own daughter like an inconvenience to be hidden away and ignored her whole life. The irony is that she's making out Eliza's worse than she is.Despite her claims to the contrary, no-one forced Harper to go out into the bush.And Eliza hasn't done anything to harm Harper, she's just passively preventing her from getting help, which isn't much better, I admit, but she's not the knife-wielding serial killer Marilyn seems to think she is.Even Alf was rolling his eyes at her inability to keep her trap shut.Ironically, in one way, she's done Tane a favour, since he wouldn't be at the birth otherwise! Elsewhere, Leah and Justin discover there's a new woman in Theo's life who isn't exactly unattached, but are blissfully unaware that her boyfriend's a River Boy and not one of the ones we're meant to like either. Justin was like a dog with a bone with Kirby, and given the situation, they should probably let Mali know all this is going on in working hours. CURS: Why did we see Gage spotting Theo and Lacey together when there was no follow-up on it at all?

I think it's more acceptable on something like Byker Grove, which is off screen for half a year so you can believe characters have moved away in the gap between series or just stopped attending the youth club, than with something like Home and Away which is on pretty much all year round and where we're meant to be privvy to every aspect of the characters' lives.

I'm still not seeing any logic to Abigail's attitude.Either she'd be upset if they broke up or she wouldn't.Saying the L word doesn't change it. Alf's episode count this week:Three. I am absolutely loving the way Eliza doesn't feel the need to treat Marilyn with anything other than disdain.Marilyn's constant hovering and nannying didn't help at all, and Harper and Eliza might even have stayed at the house if not for her getting in the way all the time.Eliza does seem to ask a lot of questions that most people would find a teeny bit uncomfortable, I have to admit.It was interesting that Harper didn't know John and Marilyn used to be married.Whilst he was a bit abrupt at times, John did have the gem of some good advice for Tane. Yep, this is why you should not treat promos as if they're part of the episode or even what's definitely going to happen next time:They're just some stuff that will probably happen in the future.And I've pretty much given up complaining about them giving away cliffhangers by this point.Sonny was another one that probably did more harm than good, as his attempt at an intervention simply led to Theo and Lacey having another liaison in one of the spots where they were most likely to be spotted by someone they know.

My issue with Abigail was that she's already in a relationship with Mali, and living with him, and it'd already hurt if they break up.Whether or not they exchange the L word didn't make a scrap of difference. I'm afraid that I have to agree that Alf was being ridiculous here.He has a frustrating habit of doing this, coming down hard on someone that he thinks other people are being soft on.He was the same with Maddy when she first lived there, deciding Roo was spoiling her and taking it upon himself to bully her and arbitrarily order her to do chores.He was the same with Theo, deciding Justin and John hadn't punished him enough so he was going to make his life a misery.And maybe Eliza's worse than them, but getting her to clean toilets is no magic solution and I'm glad Roo stepped in.Irene continues to lap up Marilyn's whining without actually meeting Eliza or even hearing Roo's side of the story, although she did at least point out she changed, and there was no real sign she wanted to when we first met her, as Marilyn should know given she didn't like her much when she first came back to town (partly because of that, partly because Marilyn's self-absorbed). Not that it made any impact on Marilyn, who's obviously decided Eliza's bad and therefore she doesn't have to treat her fairly. (I guess we see things differently because I found her "You'll have to ask Roo" a bit manipulative: It put all the responsibility on Roo and inevitably let to Alf charging in demanding to know what Roo had done to upset Marilyn.) Alf did finally make the point that Eliza's only meant to be there temporarily, but no-one followed up on it. Maybe something ambiguous on Eliza's face at the end? She looked triumphant but maybe there was a slight trace of vulnerability in there? I think a part of her likes having someone on her side. Elsewhere, Theo continues to be into fast cars and fast women. Bree trying to warn off Gage and Lacey was utterly ridiculous, did she really expect them to be cowed? (There was someone we didn't know behind the counter at the board shop at the time.Has Mali got new staff or was he being robbed?) Still, it's got Sonny sharing with Remi. And Justin's shared what little he knows with Leah, so that's that source of marital strife shut down.

This Eliza storyline is shockingly badly written. It feels as though we're meant to see Roo, who's coming from a place of compassion, as in the wrong, and the utterly awful attitudes of Alf and Marilyn, wanting a vulnerable child to be locked up or made someone else's problem, as somehow right. Well, sorry, but the more we get of this, the more I feel like I'd rather side with Roo than be wrong than side with the not-in-my-back-yard brigade and be right. It doesn't help that Marilyn's a pretty unpleasant character most of the time anyway (I really hoped to see some humility over her smug matchmaking towards Tane and Harper going wrong but nope), and that one of Alf's biggest weaknesses is his tendency to ignore her faults and overindulge her, so naturally he takes her side over Roo and doesn't even consider that Marilyn might be the one causing trouble. Abigail was being ridiculous as well.So, the problem isn't that she doesn't love Mali back (which, ironically, was the issue with Tane and Harper, not that she knows that), the problem is that she thinks moving in together isn't a big scary commitment but saying the L word is? I think the only way to sum that up is "first world problems". Oh well, she seems to have decided that being in love isn't relationship death by the end, so that's that little drama sorted. I wasn't too keen on another storyline of everyone talking about someone who isn't in the episode either.There was a brief moment of interest when Remi challenged Justin's assumption that Sonny's involved in stolen car parts despite being at odds with him presently, but then he just slipped back into towing the line. So Justin tells Remi and Bree what Cash said, even though he hasn't told Leah? Is he trying to create marital problems?

I had absolutely no sympathy for Harper here. She's not a victim in this. She hid the pregnancy from Tane for months because it was easier for her. She got carried away in her (and Dana's) schoolgirl fantasy of marrying a good-looking guy she'd fancied for ages, when it was obvious to everyone else that she'd never be more than a poor substitute for Felicity, and Tane wouldn't have looked twice at her without the baby. And now that everything's inevitably gone belly-up, she's back to acting as though what's best for her is the only important thing. Whilst Tane yelling at her wasn't helpful, I wasn't too keen on Cash acting like her guard dog. Tane shouldn't have proposed for the wrong reasons, but Harper was just as much to blame for letting things get that far. I wasn't sure Tane going to see her so soon after was a good idea but he seemed to get some concessions out of her. I can't really blame either Kirby or Mali here. Kirby does have a job to do and can't expect Mali to let her out of work whenever inspiration hits. But on the other hand, if she does want to focus on her music, resigning is the best option. It's not even as if she walked out and left him in the lurch, she's actually given him notice, something virtually unprecedented in television. Eden's attempt at an engagement discussion gets derailed again by Cash's ennui. Levi definitely blurted out too much information there. And Mali possibly has as well, given Abigail's shocked look and the promo.

That was a rather short "day before the wedding": It felt like it was still early in the day at the end of last episode but a few scenes in it's suddenly night again! I must admit that scene at Salt was possibly the only time I've felt sorry for Tane in the build-up to the wedding.It was obviously meant to demonstrate Tane's lack of interest in the ceremony but if I got ambushed the day before my wedding by a celebrant trying to make out that coming up with a "little surprise" for the bride was expected of me, I'd react the same way: I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where that was considered a requirement. That said, John's probably the person I feel most sorry for here, if this was only the second wedding he'd been asked to officiate and it hasn't happened. Anyway, both Tane and Harper let it go on longer than it should have done, but at least they stopped it going too far.(That said, given the show's determination to give Tane a family, I would not be surprised if they suddenly decide a few months down the line that Tane does love her after all and they get back together.)Dana seemed to have her head in the sand a bit, hoping it would all work out.So did Harper, for the most part, and it still seems to be there: Despite promising Tane they'll still be a family, she seems to have no idea what that actually means. I was wondering if the cache of goodies Tane found were from his family but it turned out not to be: Did they even know he was getting married? (We even saw that old family photo recently, and even though a good chunk of the people on it are dead, Nikau and Gemma are still around.) Oh, and I do like it when the show remembers Harper and Cash are friends, with him going to check on her. Elsewhere, Kirby was being a bit erratic in suggesting Eden propose to Cash after the wedding and then trying to get her to do it the previous night instead.And her trying to juggle her singing career with a day job seems to be coming unstuck.