Red Ranger 1

Alf's episode count this week:Three. A fairly quiet week mostly, with only Irene, Leah, Marilyn and Justin also managing three. They finally addressed the issue of why Cohen hasn't been at school then, at least partly. And it seems he's the right age for Summer Bay High, so at least 11? Having teased us like this, I hope he actually does start there instead of getting pulled out like Eliza did. As I've said before, they can have school age characters without actually needing to show them in school. Anyway, the end of the episode shows one way they might put a stop to it. It's kind of frustrating because up until then Roo had done a good job of telling something wasn't quite right with Cohen (Alf was utterly clueless) and handled it fairly well. I hope she doesn't go blaming Cash, who might have chosen his words more carefully but obviously didn't intend for Cohen to do this. But then that ending demonstrates how Roo jumped the gun and, instead of giving Cohen a home for as long as he needs it, convinced herself that he should be there permanently, even though there were avenues still to explore. I mean, she would have been with Frank when Tom and Pippa adopted Sally, so she probably knew about that, but they waited a lot longer (even if it did kind of go the same way near the end). Remi actually handled things reasonably well with Bree, and gave Mackenzie an apology that was necessary on two counts. Bree acting as though play the song would solve something showed a lack of understanding though. It doesn't matter how good the song is or how much work he did on it, Remi's going to be reminded of what it led him to do. So Bree's next mission is to try and reignite his love of music. Given that she's not in the episode, I'm not entirely sure whether Eden's agreed to this? We did get a reference to an album today so I guess Avalon managed to pull enough together for that. Levi and Mackenzie are mostly wandering around and occasionally intersecting with other people's storylines, but we get a bit more information about where they are on their IVF journey, even though a lot of it went over my head!

I did feel sorry for Remi, being blasted by Bree over something he'd literally just found out about. Still, he lost a lot of sympathy by going round to corner Mack like that. I'm not sure Levi needed to go as far as he did in response but he needed telling. I'm actually glad that Kirby kept her side of the bargain and publicised Avalon's release. I don't know if the idea is that she couldn't finish the album as planned but she's managed to get one single done? Anyway, it's sent Bree spiralling again. Eden and Abigail get included in the very small loop aware of Mackenzie's IVF. How serious is Mackenzie about not wanting to go through this again? I'm glad Eden finally put her foot down and told Abby to stop pushing her to make a decision about the dress. It was inevitable that Leah would have a go at Justin about Irene being upset but they had a nice chat.As Leah pointed out, getting people's names wrong isn't confined to those with Alzheimer's by any means, but I get why Irene thinks it's different for her. The blackly comic part of me wonders what happens if Irene can't remember she's written everyone's names on the back of the photos...

I did ponder the fact that Damian was best man, but if that was the connection she'd probably have one of the whole wedding party up.

I wonder if Cash and Eden have realised that their original wedding date would have coincided with the season finale and decided to move it back so there's less chance of anyone being kidnapped or crashing a car on the way there. Even though they left things in a better place than they could have done, I was surprised to hear that Eden's not only stayed in touch with her father but invited him to the wedding. And I'm not entirely sure of the wisdom of that, given that chatting on the phone and texting is one thing but Eden did seem to find being in the same room as him triggering, so see how that works out. Abigail being the matron of honour from hell to Eden was amusing and rather scary, and a nice callback to when Eden was on the other side and desperately trying to find a wedding dress that Felicity would like. John pulling out of being celebrant is a shame. I can see his reasoning, such as it is, but it feels like an emotional gut response.I don't think Irene actually thought he was Jett, she just got the names confused. And while I can understand his desperation, if Irene is going to forget him, I'm not sure spending all his time hanging around her is going to stop it. So I hope he changes his mind, because it would mean a lot to them and it would mean a lot to him. Bad timing for Irene to walk in on Leah and Justin messing around, the fact she wasn't angry, just upset makes it worse. They seem to be positioning Sonny as a kind of lovable bum, which works to an extent, but even little things like him handing Leah the money for coffee last episode had me thinking "Where did that come from? Does he have a money tree?" Is the idea he does odd jobs to make what little money he needs? I like that someone finally used the phrase "found family" which does seem to be what the fostering angle and the whole show has evolved into, the idea that the people around you that care about you become your family.

Given your reference to Irene's death shelf a few episodes back, I wondered if you had an insight!

Watching it again and freezing it, that's not Kane and Kirsty and I'm not entirely sure who it is: Darcy and Rocco, or at a pinch Harley? (By the way, did I mention I could make out what I think was Matilda's sleeve in that clip of the Diner opening last week?) Also, I was glad Dana and Sonny did actually get some time away!

Whilst we're probably meant to share Theo's shocked look, Lacey hiring a private investigator is probably a sensible idea. It can possibly give her the answers she needs. There does seem to be a concerted effort to soften David these last couple of weeks, moving him from a hardass into a broken man covering up his grief. He did at least offer an explanation for what might have caused the accident, even if he does seem to be treating absence of evidence as evidence. And he extends a bit of an olive branch to Tane as well. We got another nice flashback montage for Irene: Mostly post-2004 clips (or whenever they moved to widescreen), although they managed to sneak Selina in there. At some point I'm going to have to go back and look at that latest nostalgic photo shelf: Shane and Angel's wedding photo front and centre, and a familiar Kane and Kirsty photo off to one side. I wondered why they included that phone conversation with Jett, but I guess it was to set up Irene getting him and John confused. Irene still manages to be straight talking with Dana though, and a nice moment between her and Sonny at the end after Justin explains her history.

I dunno, I guess I'm mainly wishing that Theo would show Lacey a bit more empathy and not come out with lines like "this isn't the Lacey I fell in love with" when the Lacey he fell in love with was a gang leader's moll. I think Lacey did a pretty good job of being the bigger person and arranging a truce. David and Jo might be happy with "I just drove the car into a tree for no reason" but I can understand why Lacey feels there's more to it than that. It definitely sounds like if their mum didn't die the day she got the ring then it was certainly not long after. Tane glosses over a few details when talking about Mikaere's death. I'm not sure if I should be seeing red flags but Cohen definitely still seems a bit insecure about his new set-up and seemed to latch onto Cash's recollection of doing odd jobs while missing the point that he didn't need to. Alf had some nice moments tutoring Cohen on the fine art of barbecuing.

Alf's episode count this week:Three, plus a stock footage appearance on Monday. Marilyn was in four, but she wasn't credited on Tuesday and only appeared in one early scene before abruptly disappearing, so I'm guessing that was moved from the previous episode. I can't quite decide if it's Roo that hasn't thought this adoption thing through or the show, because there were a lot of moments that had me going "But...but...but..." Roo tells Cohen that she's not replacing his mum, but that's exactly what she is doing, both legally and practically. Again, she seems to have overlooked the fact that adoption isn't the only way to provide him with a permanent/long-term home, and she's continuing to compare it to Cash being taken in by Gary while ignoring the key difference that Cash's parents were dead and he had no-one else. As atrus notes above, what if his mother suddenly wants to step up again in two years when she gets out? It seems far too early to be proposing something so drastic and irreversible. And the lack of a dissenting voice now Harper isn't in the episode and Alf's done an abrupt 180, with everyone gushing about what a great idea it is, doesn't help. I also felt like Cohen writing the letter to his mum in order to sort things out underlined how little he's really understanding the situation, since it'll almost certainly be sent back unread. The ring is a difficult one. I guess my feeling is that Lacey took off and left it behind and kind of relinquished her claim to it, so I'm not saying Jo should hand it over, although it'd be nice if she would rather than just dogmatically digging her heels in, which reinforces my feeling that she's not the reasonable one here as she's sometimes perceived to be. Lacey trying to grab it off her neck wasn't the right way to handle it either way. Some very confused dialogue made it sound like their mum got the ring the day she died? I guess it's not a surprise since we knew they'd gone away, but given that Levi and Mackenzie heard on Monday that everyone has long waiting lists, it's a bit abrupt to suddenly have them doing the IVF anyway!

Yes, Alf and Roo were both very frustrating here. Alf assuming that because Samantha's distanced herself from Cohen the adoption won't make any difference was absurdly simplistic. I did appreciate Harper trying hard to be a voice of reason. I don't think it was entirely unreasonable for her to agree to write a reference if it's what Cohen wants, because that's a big if. I guess Roo had to address it sooner or later but Cohen ended up asking questions that she doesn't really seem to have an answer for. (Harper continues to work well when just doing her job, by the way.) I like Lacey, but dragging Dana in to back her up always had the potential to backfire. Sonny did a reasonably good job getting Dana to open up to him, and even Harper seemed impressed. I do feel like Lacey is being a bit one-note, and taking it out on Theo doesn't help, but when David was saying he was making all the effort and she wouldn't meet him halfway, I found it less than convincing.Sure, he's the one holding out olive branches, but it feels like he wants Lacey back in the family on his terms and is expecting her to accept his version of what happened without giving her any reason to.

I can't say I remember Irene mentioning Nathan to Bella. I'm wondering if someone's got mixed up with her mentioning him to....a character who's name I can't be bothered to look up. The one that thought she was her daughter around 2016. Anyway, today. Ever since telling Leah and then Marilyn, Irene seems to have well and truly moved into acceptance mode with regard her Alzheimer's, although it was still obviously a wrench to have to tell Harper and Dana. I'm tempted to wonder if she actually had forgotten where John had gone. Dana and Sonny learn that you really don't argue with John when he's being that intense. Dana was well-meaning, but a bit much for Irene, who also doesn't want to handle the guilt of Dana giving up her life for her. Alf abruptly knows (did Leah or Marilyn tell him?), but it doesn't seem to be common knowledge with Remi apparently in the dark. I can see why Remi said Bree didn't need to apologise but she kind of did. It was unfair of Remi to blame Eden, so I'm glad he apologised too. There's been no brilliant insight into their troubles but I guess deciding to keep working at it is something. I'm not sure if Abby's disconnect, wandering around town trying to find where she'll do the least damage, is leading somewhere or just a way of involving her while Mali's away.

Jo and Abby should start a club: It was almost painful watching Jo trying desperately to find the right thing to say to Bree and failing miserably. We got the cliffhanger in the promo again, although it's not as important this time since it doesn't feel like such a pivotal moment, plus Bree and Remi aren't exactly the main focus. Hardly a case of "All good" as things remain incredibly awkward between them.Cash might have been a bit more helpful but I guess there's no easy solution, certainly not the one Bree went for. Tane and Jo seem to have decided to build a friendship, which is a good start if they want to take things further.Cash and Eden had a nicely angst-free chat about having children. John turns up and discovers he's missed a huge chunk of Irene's storyline.He gave her some sensible advice, and Leah certainly didn't want her to gift her share to her, but there was something rather uncomfortable about the way Irene seemed to be relying on John to tell her what to do.

A nice flashback montage as Irene finishes at the Diner. It would have been nice to see some of the Diner's other incarnations but I get why they chose to focus on that one and it gave us a nice glimpse of Geoff, Annie and Miles from the Pier Diner's early days. Given the presence of Jett and Chris, I'm guessing the other "old faces" clip is from after Chris accidentally poisoned a bunch of customers? So Marilyn's clued in and Irene got a nice chat with a supportive Justin. Tane and Cash's Two Men and a Baby routine was quite amusing. I would not have been as quick to volunteer as Cash was, nor as convinced it would be easy! He must have given that bottle a big shake to demolish it like that...and doesn't everyone keep their milk in the fridge door? I really didn't like Mackenzie pressuring Jo to go out with Tane, and even less the way she treated Levi who definitely didn't want to get involved. Now Cash seems to have decided to play matchmaker between them. I did feel sorry for Abby a bit: She's been too enthusiastic and indiscreet at times, but she's obviously feeling the strain of being the one who constantly puts her foot in it as a result of being out of the loop. Mackenzie just seemed to gloss over the fact that couples doing IVF tend to have been trying unsuccessfully for years, not two or three months, but I guess her family history does factor into it.

School counsellor, actually! (Yep, she was that memorable...)

Alf's episode count this week:Three. Wow, not only was the last scene of the promo not the last scene of the episode, it wasn't even the last scene of the storyline! Very tentative steps forward from Remi and Bree then, I guess they've been together a long time on and off and aren't quite willing to ditch it just yet, and once Bree relaxed a bit and stopped critiquing Remi's choice of conversation topics they actually seemed to get on quite well. Abigail only seemed to be in the episode to say the worst thing at the worst times.She's been a bit premature about Mackenzie and Levi's baby making more than once now.So, with nothing apparently wrong with Levi (sorry, Oz pace fans!), it's time to turn to their family history for a worrying parallel. I can't make my mind up whether IVF is a good idea or not, it was the way for Mackenzie's parents to have her but presumably they'd been trying a lot longer than this before going down that route? Harper seemed to be on an apology tour to make up for her crazy jealous ex routine.But it seems that being told the bold facts was even more off-putting to Jo than Harper turning up mid-date to shout at Tane. All of which added up to a rather full episode that didn't leave much time for Irene and Leah, who quickly accelerate into trying to carry on as normal. (Alf's comedy grumbling wasn't entirely in-keeping.) It feels like now Irene knows she has Alzheimer's, she's attributing every slip of memory to it: I often can't remember if I've done something or not either! But one disastrous shift later, she's apparently decided she can't stay working at the Diner.

I'm not sure about the other showings, but the 6pm 5Star broadcast that I watch only has one ad break.

I identified Noah and Hayley's wedding photo but would not have guessed that was Nick's farewell, I assumed it was from c.2001 when they were a couple. The partly visible one next to Noah and Hayley seems to show Sally as a bridesmaid: I'm guessing Vinnie and Leah's wedding? Yes, you're right, there's one of Peta and Gypsy together on the next page we see, from Peta and Edward's farewell judging by the banner in the background (next to a photo of Tasha). You could be right about that being Lou rather than Roman, it's the one on top of the picture of Leah that Irene picks up.

That was a nice nostalgic moment with Irene looking at the photo album, and the little flashback of Chris (with bonus Sasha). I did laugh at the rather random collection of Smith children publicity shots with what were hardly their main love interests: Will with Dani? Nick with Kirsty? (I wondered if they were all from the same era, but the Hayley/Noah one looked a bit later.) The references to Selina and Chloe, her OG waifs and stray, were welcome. I froze it on the albums but didn't see much that wasn't obvious from the first look through other than a page of April(!). (Actually, I tell a lie, there was one of Irene with Ailsa and Fisher that I didn't spot first time round.) I should probably take a closer look at the ones on the table some time, I swear I saw one of Irene with Roman. As for the present day stuff, well, for the second episode running it was a long wait for a final beat that we've already seen in yesterday's promo (does tomorrow's episode end with Remi trying to kiss Bree?), but at least there's the promise of some decent Irene/Leah stuff next episode.Irene had some nice scenes with John before that and Justin was doing his best caught between a rock and a hard place. Harper's back and trying not to be as awful as she was before she went away.Despite grumbling about Tane the moment she stepped in the door, apologising to him and letting him have Archie overnight were steps to make up for things. And Dana, continuing to revel in her unfamiliar role as the more together sister (shades of Flick again!), did a decent job of giving her some home truths. I continue to find Jo more likable in her friendship scenes with Dana than in her family stuff. Aden and Belle.

Yes, Irene mentioned last week that she'd heard alcohol abuse can lead to Alzheimer's, but I guess there's no way of knowing for sure. We do, however, now know for sure that she's got Alzheimer's.I guess I can understand her not being ready for people to know, but with her already fumbling her way through conversations and needing John to bail her out, it can't go on for long.I've seen people commenting that it's a shame this is so similar to her hiding her alcohol relapse last year, but at least the show's making a virtue of it by having Leah wonder if history's repeating itself. And the promo indicates it's not going to last long. Talking of, another example of a promo actually showing us the end of the next episode so we're sat there all episode waiting for Justin to tell John he's figured it out, and then he does and the episode ends! Nice to get a look at Irene's photo collection too. They didn't have a better photo of Tasha and Robbie? (I know it was their wedding but it look liked someone had taken it with their camera phone during the service, which I don't think you're even meant to do!) It's been established that David and Jo are renting a place nearby, so looks like the old house has been empty for at least a few weeks. Not sure when David got the "triggering suitcase". It did lead to Lacey attempting a conversation with him but finding out one of her most precious childhood memories didn't mean as much to him put a stop to things. Skipping work to deal with it might not have been the best idea either, especially if she's clinging onto the job by her fingertips. I do like Cash and Eden together so it was nice to see him in supportive boyfriend mode and perhaps pushing Eden down a new life path, via some pointed sarcasms from Abby.

Well, what Cash said didn't seem to change Roo's mind.I wonder if the fact that he and Felicity didn't need a formal adoption, just to know they had a home where they were safe, struck any sort of chord.Her record of looking after youngster isn't that bad: I'm not sure how much of the credit she can claim, but as was mentioned a short while back, Maddy and Ryder both turned out okay and I think her giving them a loving and safe home was a part of that. Chinks of hope with Remi and Bree then. I think Remi was at least honest, even if it didn't exactly catch him in a good light, and even Eden could understand him feeling like that, if not the cheating bit. Sonny was a bit optimistic but wasn't wholly wrong. I'm glad Theo and Lacey's brief spat didn't seem to last long. I believe that Theo is Team Lacey but he's sailing close to the edge by being friendly with David. Lacey probably should have listened to David so the news didn't get sprung on her in a dramatic fashion.I can understand how losing the house would be a blow but really, when did she last go back there anyway?

Alf's back and right at the beginning of the week too for maximum impact! He let the question of Roo fostering again drop remarkably easily, but ironically she's kind of proved his point that she gets too involved: Suddenly deciding to adopt Cohen is a massive leap from where they are. I grew up believing that if you get tonsillitis then they remove your tonsils, but I guess that's me being a 20th century throwback! Well, a lot of people in Australian Discussion were predicting something wrong with Levi. That remains to be seen, of course, but it was odd that he didn't get tested at the same time as Mackenzie just to make sure. Bree seems to be compartmentalising quite well aside from being snappy at Sonny and anyone else that mentions Remi. Sonny, meanwhile, finds himself in the odd position of being the most together one. I'm not sure that Remi's making any ground in talking to Bree like that, does he really have anything new to say? I guess putting it on the line isn't the worst plan.

I seem to remember there was a point, must have been around 2003, where Kit was living on the Hunter farm on her own and ran into Scott Phillips, who I think was living rough or travelling around, and commented that it was her brother's name.

As far as much of the forum is concerned, there isn't one. Episodes not shown in the UK should only be discussed in the Australian Discussion, Spoiler and, by consensus, Character/Actor Discussion sections. General Discussion in particular is strictly UK pace.

Well, even though the WA holiday ad is still running, we got the full title sequence today, with Jo and David added! I guess we'll have to wait and see whether they go back to having it on every episode or if it just appears occasionally like it does in Australia. As to the actual episode, Harper may not have deliberately set out to wreck Tane and Jo's date, but she was in full-on crazy jealous ex mode. Tane should really have gone back and explained to Jo but at least he sent Cash to do it. Jo standing up to David instead of showing her usual blind loyalty earned her a few points but it didn't do her much good with Harper getting her own way and Tane deciding to focus on Archie. Harper and David's attempts at an intervention with Cohen didn't do much good, but it seems what Roo thought was down to mental health is actually a physical problem. I'm not sure whether Mackenzie breaking down at every failed pregnancy test is justified or not. It still feels like they haven't been trying for very long.

I think both kind of puncture the fictional world of the show in different ways.If Kirby goes off with a real-life band and is going to be their support act, then that kind of underlines that the characters exist in a different world to us, since that's not happening in "our" world.On the other hand, having her take off with a fictional band has a similar effect, but perhaps no more so than Kirby and Lyrik being big in the show. Anyway, today. I thought Abigail was unnecessarily harsh towards Lacey in places, accusing her of getting the job by lying when it was more a case of Mali making assumptions.Really, this is Mali's fault: He should have had all this stuff in place before leaving, not expected Lacey to be able to keep things afloat single-handed when she's barely been shown the ropes and was just expecting to sell sunscreen. Anyway, between them they seem to have worked something out and maybe they're on the way to a friendship. Bit of poor timing all round for Irene's appointment to clash with Leah and Justin's holiday.John's disappointment when Irene failed to tell Leah the truth was palpable. He's kind of carrying this on his own, even though Bree knows and Dana knows some of it.Serious situation but I had to smile at Irene telling Harper to look after her own flipping kid. Lacey was in full-on irritating sister mode interrupting Jo trying to ask Tane out, but at least she recognised Jo was flirting with him, something Tane seemed oblivious to! Anyway, they got their drink in the end, even though it might not have been the best time for him to have his phone on silent...