Red Ranger 1

Well, inevitably this has turned into another thread for people to talk about everything they hate about the current show and blame it all on Lucy Addario, sometimes in completely nonsensical ways like claiming "Getting rid of children and school" is a recurring theme of hers even though she was in charge ten years ago when it seemed like at least half the cast were teenagers and high school children. As ever, I'm left thinking if people who say the show should get back to its roots even know what those roots are.Saying Alf and Roo are the only parent and child on the show as if that's somehow shocking: If we're being literal, they were the only ones when it started as well.(I guess, aside from rarely seen child characters, the next would be the retconned Bobby/Don/Morag parental relationship, followed by Michael and Haydn.)The show has never been that hot on introducing obscure relatives of past characters.You can still count the number of nuclear families in the last 36 years on the fingers of one hand.If the show actually did bring in young relatives of Alf and Irene, it probably wouldn't be long before people started complaining that they're just yet more "cookie-cutter" young people.Irene has always been closer to the Selinas, the Chloes, the Joeys, the Wills, the Tashas, and the Belles than her own children: It's entirely true to the character that, as she gets older, she's playing parent to the likes of Xander, Rose, Harper and Dana rather than to her biological family.(And I continue to applaud the show for recognising she's not in her 40s anymore and putting a stop to her acting as though she's only a generation older than teenagers.)The show brought in a nephew for Leah, a brilliant choice that gave her a purpose and a family unit after a number of periods when she's just been a background character, yet people are demanding children of her other brothers as if they've forgotten he existed. If you strip it down to the basics, it's still a show about families and found families living in a seaside town.The issue is that some people think they're the wrong families.Bringing back fostering wouldn't automatically solve that, because when they do that people often complain it's the wrong sort of fostering (Spencer and Maddy being the example that springs to mind).The cast's age has skewed older in recent years, and I can see why people would consider that losing part of its identity, but there's a feeling that that's the audience they have to cater for now, which may even be right. I agree there are some aspects I'm not happy with, notably the tendency to expect us to side with characters in the wrong, which the Braxton era heightened although it was an idea that had been growing for some time beforehand.In the earliest days, we'd get tearaways that needed taming and teaching right from wrong, but these days there's a tendency to have them start off worse and not get better enough.I thought they were moving away from that a bit and maybe they have, but it feels like we're sliding back a bit with the regression of Tane, and Mali, a character who was introduced as an anti-River Boy (a tattooed muscly young guy who's honest, hard-working and law-abiding), starting to head the same way. To try and answer the original question: I don't know. I think the worst thing a show can do is try and give the elder statesman fans the show they think they want, because they'll still find something to complain about. (It's what we do.) I enjoy the show as it is, but I'm very aware that other people don't.If there was some magic answer that could make the show appeal to the wider audience it needs, well, if I knew that I'd be making the show!

I continued to not really have any sympathy for Mali, or indeed for Levi when Mali passed the aggro on, although they seemed to have bonded over "We both like Mac" by the end.Mackenzie was being spectacularly obtuse in going round to try and get Eden to feel sorry for Levi and well-deserved that slammed door in her face: She'd have reacted the same if someone tried to paint Rick as the victim.Levi does have a point that Eden can't just keep rocking up to have a go, but even with him holed away up at the farm, it's going to be hard for her to ignore him completely.Someone in the Spoiler thread commented that when they did a similar storyline with Brody and Simone, they did at least move away for a fresh start not long after.To be fair, it's not like Levi has shacked up with Mackenzie a few streets away from Imogen, but he is not too far away from people who knew him when he was married and aren't entirely accepting of him moving straight into Mackenzie's bed. (Which, it seems, may include Mackenzie herself, but what else was she expecting?) I was amused at Dana's confused reaction to John claiming to have a sixth sense ("You see dead people?") and Irene managing to cut short his interrogation with the offer of free food.Still, it wasn't long before Irene was getting the thumb screws out as well, as Xander and Dana ponder not having been on a date yet.As nice as that set-up was, I'd have expected a date to actually involve leaving the flat, not just spending longer than usual in the front room, but that and the double-talk seemed to make them happy. Leah and Justin still haven't quite twigged how to respect Theo's boundaries.To be fair, Justin didn't initially know how personal what Theo was working on was, but he didn't exactly stop looking when he did. Well, she said she was surprised they'd left the bedroom, so I think she knew.

Stevie did seem to have her filter well and truly turned off today, first blurting out whatever came into her head with Remi and Bree, then barging into Cash's house determined to talk shop.She seemed to have got the message by the end but it remains to be seen whether it'll stick.Somewhat manipulative editing in the promo made it look like Remi and Bree were saying they loved each other, when they didn't say anything of the sort.Alf continues to be bothered about the disruption of a film being shot there but underestimated the effect dollar signs would have on John. I can see why Dana would think Rose didn't like her but I didn't like the way she was avoiding her or indeed the way Xander challenged Rose about it.I don't think it should have been Rose's job to clear the air but I see why she did it for Xander's sake.Whilst I think John overstepped in quizzing them, there's perhaps a degree of karma there. Eden's back from comforting Imogen and seemingly tired of the job.Her attempt to download to Cash kept being interrupted...so it probably wasn't the smartest idea for him to follow her back to her house, when there was a good chance Remi and Stevie would be right behind him! I can't complain too much about her giving Mali that serve, given how sanctimonious he's been lately.

Stevie was definitely in force of nature mode, with both Cash and Remi looking utterly bemused by her behaviour and Nelson not far behind. Still, she's clearly not as dumb as she sometimes seems, since it turns out she actually has a point.You could see Nelson thinking "Hey, this could work" as she acted out the scene on the beach.It's apparently just sinking in for Cash exactly what he's let himself in for.Stevie did seem to have trouble reading the situation when she set Remi and Bree up to watch their dates talk shop, but then Nelson didn't seem to twig either. Aside from a couple of scenes of Roo deciding to do a first aid course(seemingly as a way of writing her out for a few episodes), everything else fed into the main story.Roo is the latest Stevie Marlow fan and inevitable that Marilyn's dreaming of stardom, while Alf is being his usual grumpy self: His comment that he doesn't like change is very enlightening.

Yeah, I never saw the appeal.I wasn't that keen on him as a first boyfriend for her and I've no idea why the show refused to let her date anyone else and just kept having her go back to him no matter how badly he behaved. Ha! Yes, I think Ryder's charm with the ladies largely existed in his head at times.

I'm not sure you need to have watched it... Thank you for the comments, pembie and Zig! CHAPTER TWO Ryder had led Bella to the bar, guessing he was still meant to be off duty, and got them a table and a couple of drinks.“So, seriously,”he persisted,“of all the ships in all the world, how did you end up on this one?” “Right place right time,”Bella suggested,“Someone at the company knew Emmett and rang him up asking if he knew any photographers who’d do a good job on their promotional pics.” “And he couldn’t think of any?”Ryder asked teasingly. Bella gave him a mock glare.“Ha ha.So the job got passed onto me and I jumped at it.” “Especially when it meant you got to work alongside your favourite person in the world?”Ryder asked. “Oh, is Dean here?”Bella asked airily.She gave him a genuine smile.“I admit it’s not exactly a minus.” Ryder nodded before deciding he needed to venture into awkward territory.“Have you heard from Nikau?” “Last I know he was working at some luxury swimming pool complex.One advantage New York has over Summer Bay is that it’s big enough to avoid people in.” “I really thought if anyone had a chance of making it, it was you two.I mean, you kept on finding your way back to each other whatever happened.” “I guess maybe we should have thought more about why we kept breaking up instead of why we kept getting back together.Suddenly we were stuck out there on our own with no buffer and all the problems we had just got magnified.I guess that’s what comes from basing your whole life around one person.”She took a deep breath.“Anyway, what about you?Any girls been daft enough to fall for that dorky charm of yours?” Ryder gave an embarrassed laugh.“No, nothing.At all.I guess I’ve been too busy working.Plus, they take a dim view of us dating the guests and most of the staff kind of look on me in a maternal light.” “I’m sure it’s not maternal.They probably just see you as an idiot kid brother.”Bella smiled fondly and patted him on the hand.“Don’t worry, Ryder, I’m sure people will see the grown-up inside of you eventually.” Chase came over.“Hey, Ryder, are you working?” “Not at the moment?”Ryder guessed.He looked at his watch.“I’m due to start at the casino in an hour so I think I’m on break.” “You’re working in the casino this evening?”Bella asked,“That’s great!” Ryder smiled, pleased.“Thanks.” “It’s perfect:The casino is exactly where I’ll need to be to get the best shots and now I’ve got a model that I know!”She noticed Ryder’s disappointed look and gave him a placating smile.“Isn’t it great how what’s good for your career is good for mine?” *** “How long do I have to hold this?”asked Ryder, who felt as though he’d been posing with a big grin on his face holding a card in mid-deal for at least five minutes. “Just another second and…there!”Bella took a shot.“I almost make you look sophisticated.”She showed him the photos she’d taken. Ryder flicked through them.“Can you delete the one where I’m cross-eyed?” “I might keep it.Gives you character.”Bella took the camera back.“I think that’ll do for now.I’ll take some action shots during the night.” An olive-skinned man with a shaved head, a few years older than them, appeared.Like Ryder, he was dressed in casino uniform.“You starting early, Ryder?” “More like she is,”Ryder replied before remembering that the pair hadn’t met,“Bella, this is Denzel, he works here.Denzel, this is Bella, an old friend of mine who’s just been hired to photograph us.” Denzel nodded politely at Bella.“I’m running the craps table tonight.” “I’m sure it’s not that bad,”Bella said placatingly. Ryder shot her a look.“Craps is a dice game.”Bella glared at him.“You knew that, right?”She continued glaring. Denzel looked at his watch.“We’d better start setting up.” Bella grinned.“Don’t mind me.Just act as if I’m not here.”

Alf's episode count this week:Three. Well, that's definitely a piece of lateral thinking by Stevie! She and Remi make an oddly good match, with him giving her good advice on how to handle Cash.Still, he seems to be reading things less well with Bree, taking her claims to be fine at face value until Kirby gives him a metaphorical bash round the head.Bree's unaware that her attempt to move on has just brought her further into Remi and Stevie's orbit, although the promo suggests she finds out quickly! Despite his claims to the contrary, Alf never really apologised to Roo and it was a bit rich for him to claim he tried to talk to her when all he did was dodge the conversation and hope Marilyn would do his dirty work for him.Still, he gave Roo his support eventually.Hopefully she'll answer Martha's calls now too! In the show's earliest days, there used to be three big bedrooms and a smaller one upstairs and possibly one downstairs as well, but that's fluctuated wildly over the years and there now seem to be four of the big bedrooms up there.

So Theo's desire to leave Lyrik didn't even last one scene! Justin showed an even greater inability to shut up but did at least come up with a decent solution in the end.Kirby's suggestion that Theo just do gigs didn't seem too unreasonable but it's good that she was supportive of his decisions in the end.Leah talking about Theo being their responsibility did momentarily leave me frustrated that she couldn't show the same consideration to Valerie, but I guess I've beaten that horse enough. Well, Bree pretty much gave away the fact that she's still hung-up on Remi with her rant to Rose the other week and she kind of showed it again here.Remi finally finds out that she knows about him and Stevie but was too distracted to really follow through. So, yes, Marilyn was just being childish and making up a problem that wasn't there (is she still suffering PTSD from Roo, shock horror, not immediately forgiving her for the mess she caused last year?), but Roo did have a secret to share.Alf didn't really come across at all well here: He seemed to avoid the issue by passing the buck on to Marilyn (who was inevitably in favour of it, having already agreed to having Poppy there) and then retreat to his man cave to whine about it on the phone. I think Roo's being realistic about this, she knows it's a long journey but that doesn't stop her taking the first step.

Well, Mackenzie's finding out the down side of breaking up a marriage: Once the thrill of the affair is over, you're stuck with a mopey guy snapping at you. I'm glad Eden went to see Imogen and got a fair hearing and has decided to stay and support her: It'll probably only last until next week when they need her for some more episodes, but it'll be a shame if her and Imogen's friendship is a casualty of all this. I kind of got Eden's point in stopping Imogen calling Levi but part of me thinks Imogen needed to find out for herself. Mali did indeed seem like a third wheel.I quite like him and Rose together when they're like this. (I assume Xander and Dana had left and weren't still in the bedroom the whole time they were there!) I think both Leah and Justin had trouble realising that Theo wasn't in the talking mood.I understand his rationale but I really can't see Theo quitting Lyrik for good.Is this the latest setback to stop them hitting the big time, which they seem to have been on the verge of doing for about two years? I'm not sure if we should really be worried about Roo or it was just a case of Marilyn being a drama queen.It smacked of the show's makers needing to have Alf and Marilyn in an episode so they gave them this non-story.

Well, after yet another interruption with Rose coming home at the wrong moment (and then Xander's conversation with her gets interrupted by Mali!). Xander and Dana finally manage to have a talk.They've got good repartee and maybe he'll be a moderating influence on her impulsiveness, so yeah, I think I'm in favour.I liked her interplay with Harper as well. When Tane was whining about prison changing Ari, I just thought "Didn't it change him for the better?" It seemed like that (coupled with Mikaere dying) was what gave Ari the push he needed to stay on the right side of the law (well, unless Tane or Mia was dragging him into their mess).I'm okay with Felicity supporting him and even quite like the idea of her and Harper teaming up, but it feels like she's crossing a line by insisting on helping Tane when he doesn't want her to.Still, guess she's used to being in his bad books by now.I agree it's mitigation but Tane not knowing the mother had come forward doesn't exactly let him off the hook entirely: Poppy was still going to a safe home with caring people who had been vetted by social services and he chose to take that away from her. Levi indeed came across as pretty contemptible.His apologies and concern were meaningless because he's still making the choice to go and shack up with the woman he's been cheating on Imogen with.No sympathy for Mackenzie either, who's been asking for that serve from Eden.I did like Felicity once more being in the unfamiliar position of being the grown-up(shame she had to resort to "She's not worth it" cliches).Mackenzie was also incredibly rude kicking Rose out so she could moan to Mali: Maybe she didn't want to get into it, but if this is going to be public soon, why not let Rose in on it? Oh well, at least she had the decency to send Mali after Rose when he's too daft to think of that himself.

Thanks, glad you appreciate it! I always had a vague idea to do a story about them (they featured as supporting characters in one of my earlier stories) but it took me a while to come up with a storyline that fit.

I dunno, I actually rather enjoyed today's episode.Dana is an acquired taste, and there are times when I really find her frustrating, but I found her entertaining today while simultaneously rolling my eyes at her insistence on making a mountain out of a molehill and refusing to just talk to Xander.I rather enjoyed Irene and Harper's frustration with her, and especially that John was allowed to join in and actually gave decent advice, not that she listened.Irene says you can't just barge into people's homes without notice, even though it seems to be the done thing most of the time. (And sure enough, Dana does exactly that not long afterwards!) It was nice to see Cash trying desperately to be supportive to Eden, even with Hurricane Stevie paying another visit.It's kind of nice that she can be out and about with the public again.I was surprised at how disapproving Felicity was of her given they seemed to be kindred spirits until now. I appreciated Felicity's tenacity with Tane: Her sitting there waiting for him made me smile.That was about the only good thing though, as Tane's stupid enough to say he doesn't regret doing it.Just how stupid is he? Was playing daddy for a few days really worth jail?

Ha! Well, hopefully, if that does happen, they'll manage to find a piece of wreckage big enough for two!

To be fair to Roo, she showed a great deal of concern for the mother when Poppy was first found and wanted her to be found, and did make an attempt to talk Tane out of his dismissive attitude towards her (although she also seemed to be biting her tongue a bit around him).So I think that even if she hadn't met Sonia, she'd still see reuniting her with Poppy as the right outcome and be angry that Tane stood in the way of that.That said, her encouraging him to believe that he was destined to look after her long-term really didn't help.

This one's been bubbling in my head for a while and I might now have time to write it! I hope you enjoy. Story Title: Friends Reunited Type of story: Short/Medium fic Main Characters: Ryder, Bella BTTB rating: T/A Genre: Friendship/Romance/Mystery Does story include spoilers: No Any warnings: Mild violence and sexual content if any.No bad language. Summary: Two old friends reconnect on a cruise and shenanigans ensue. CHAPTER ONE Ryder did his best to keep a smile on his face as he mixed a cocktail for the latest set of idle rich customers.“One Summer Bay Roller!”he declared with a cheeriness he didn’t feel, not even able to muster up the enthusiasm to mention that he’d invented it.He waited until they’d charged it to their room and were safely out of the way before allowing himself to sag. To be fair, it wasn’t the customers’ fault.Mostly.As a rule, they were pleasant enough and probably hard-working people when they wren’t on holiday.It was just that he’d been on board the ship for two years now, worked over a dozen different tours, and couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he was pretty much doing the job he’d left behind in Summer Bay, but with a less stable floor and fewer surfers.His plan to move around the ship doing different jobs hadn’t been a complete failure but it still felt like he wasn’t quite living the life he’d dreamed off when he started there. He turned to the other barman, Chase.“Reckon it’s going to be a quiet one?” Chase shrugged.“At least we’re not going to get a sudden influx of new customers in the middle of the ocean.”He nodded behind Ryder.“Look out.” Ryder looked round and saw Archibald coming towards them. Archibald, who had firmly resisted Ryder’s attempts to call him Archie, was the staff manager, as well as the floor manager of the casino. “Ryder, we’re one short in the casino tonight,”he explained,“Clive’s down with food poisoning.” “Did he have the risotto?”Chase asked cautiously. “Tuna sandwich.”Archibald turned back to Ryder.“How do you feel about filling in on the blackjack table?” “How do I..?”Ryder did his best to contain his enthusiasm.“I would be prepared to do that, sir.” “I put my name down for a shift in the casino too,”Chase pointed out. “Sorry, Ryder’s name came up first,”Archibald replied before turning back to Ryder,“There’s something else as well.We’ve got a speedboat bringing someone aboard and for some reason there’s been a special request for you to be there to meet them.” “A speedboat?”Ryder’s mind raced through the possibility.“It could be a VIP.A famous rock star.”A sobering thought occurred to him.“It’s not my mum, is it?” “You know as much as I do.Just be up on deck in twenty minutes.” *** Ryder bounced from foot to foot as the speedboat approached, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of who was on board.“Can you see them?”he asked Archibald. “No,”Archibald replied simply. The ship’s captain, a man with the unassuming name Smith, joined them up on deck.He glanced over at Ryder.“Ryder Jackson?Yes, our new staffmember requested you here.” “New staffmember?”Ryder checked, having more visions of Quinn turning up. “Well, of a kind.A contractor.The head office decided some photos of a voyage would be useful for promotional material so they’ve hired a professional photographer to join the trip and take pictures of us all.” Ryder did a quick mental check of what professional photographers he knew.It couldn’t be… Before he could complete the thought, the speedboat had come up alongside them and a crewmember was helping Bella up the ladder onto the deck.Captain Smith approached her in a formal manner. “Welcome aboard, Miss Nixon.” “Wow, I don’t think anyone’s ever called me that before.Keep it up.”Bella looked over those present until her gaze fell on Ryder.Smiling, she approached him. “Miss Nixon,”he greeted her wih a twinkle. Bella pouted slightly.“Aww, is that what you say to an old friend?” Ryder pulled her into a tighter hug than he would have given his mother, before releasing her and giving her a smile to match her own.“It is really good to see you.”

Alf's episode count this week:Three. Every time Leah and Justin bring up the subject of Valerie, I think maybe they're going to restore my faith in them and behave like actual human beings towards her, and every time they just disgust me further. That whole "No regrets" scene was utterly sickening. It's like they think that if they say self-serving things like "It was the right thing to do" and "We did everything we could" often enough, then they and we will believe it. They did absolutely nothing for her. They've refused to give her any help or support, they've still refused even after she's tried to do the right thing by going to the police, and they've even stopped Theo from helping her. I would love to know exactly what Leah's justification for writing Valerie off as someone who can't be helped because she doesn't want to be is: That two minute conversation they had on the subject? There was no offer for her to stay with them as long as she got proper help, so I don't know how they can say that she wouldn't have done it. Just a cold "Go back to the clinic or don't, but you're not staying here." And in the blue corner we have Tane and his cheer squad of enablers and excusers. Roo was absolutely right to have a go and Harper's "You're making a complex situation simple" was utterly pathetic. It's not complicated at all, Tane felt he had some divine right to be the one that looked after Poppy and didn't care who he had to hurt to make it happen. And yeah, he belatedly did the right thing after getting a big dose of reality, but he doesn't deserve any praise for reuniting Poppy and Sonia when it would have happened earlier if he hadn't been so selfish. I'm glad Roo had a go at Mali as well, given he's been even more insufferable than Tane over the last two weeks, but sadly it didn't last long and we soon had Alf, who we were obviously supposed to agree with, giving a lecture about how it's pointless saying who's to blame. Right, so is he going to give Leah and Justin the same speech? Is he going to tell them that Theo and Valerie are equally deserving of their help, rather than them blaming everything on Valerie and dogmatically keeping Theo away from her? No, I don't think so. For all the claims on here that women get given an easier ride than men, it seems like the men are the ones getting a lot more leeway here. And while it's probably more to do with how long the actors are under contract for than gender, it still leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth. Mind you, they're always willing to redress the balance by putting the boot into John. The episode can't just end it with him getting a compliment from Alf and a testimonial from Leah and Justin, we have to get the ludicrous final note of Irene stealing his phone to stop him sending Justin a thank you text. How much of Justin's time would reading it have taken, two seconds? If he's really that desperate for quiet, he could just ignore it like all the others. It just came across as petty bullying. Dana was campaigning hard to be the most aggravating person in the episode to the point of actually making me feel sorry for Mali, who was at least trying to be the grown-up for once, so she definitely deserved everything Xander said to her.Somehow though, her qualified apology has led to her getting what she wants and Xander realising he doesn't really see her as a little sister...or at least I hope he doesn't! I quite liked Irene giving Rose a sympathetic ear, although as with Xander's "You're practically family (but not enough for me to go to your wedding)", I had to think hard to remember they do have a distant connection (which the show is determined not to mention). I'm glad Rose ultimately did the professional thing, assessed the facts and came to a sensible conclusion...and if Callan doesn't like it, then he should have done the job himself. I wish Mali had stopped treating Rose like the bad guy without her having to do something he approved of, but I guess he got there in the end.

Some terrible Home and Away logic at work here: Theo says the drugs are his and the response is that they can't just take his word for it so they're charging everyone, but now that Valerie's said they're hers, everyone's off the hook apart from the poor guest character that we're apparently not meant to care about (including Theo apparently, even though he was the one that paid for the drugs with stolen money and took some of them).I'm afraid I continue to be disgusted with Leah and Justin.Leah's speech about "sometimes you have to cut people off or they'll break you" might have had a whiff of credibility if she'd made any attempt at all to help Valerie, rather than just kicking her out in their first conversation after she found out about her troubles: No-one even suggested finding a support group or drug counsellor for her. We were apparently meant to disagree with Theo's tirade but he was 100% right: People gave Leah help and support with her issues, they gave it to Justin when he had drug problems, and Brody before him, they're giving it to Theo now, why is Valerie the only one deemed unworthy of help aside from some playground-level "She started it"? I even accept Theo being the priority: He did seem even more dependent than Valerie at one point, and despite saying he'd quit, he still found excuses to go back there. But what are they going to do when he gets better (as he almost certainly will)? Will it dawn on them then that "Oh, maybe we should at least try and do the same for that poor Valerie girl we just threw to the wolves"? Or will it be a case of "Valerie who?" Talking of terrible Home and Away logic, we now have the back-offscreen Sarge leaving it to Rose to decide whether or not to charge her friends.She's kind of in a no-win situation here: Either she pins trumped up charges on them or she looks weak for letting them off the hook. It doesn't help that, while objectively I think it'd be over the top to charge them, Mali and Dana have acted like such brats that a part of me wants Rose to lay charges just to see how they react. But no doubt she'd be portrayed as the bad guy if she did. I thought some of Bree's advice was pretty poor as well, and then Xander goes blabbing it to the biggest blabbermouth in town (yes, even bigger than John) after being told to keep it to himself. I'm not sure why Roo would need special permission to visit Poppy, H&Alover: She's back with her mother, who Roo bonded with and supported while she was in the Bay, so it's up to Sonia if she wants to keep contact. Yes, the same thing happened to my account last year. They kept sending me e-mails trying to get me to sign up for a paid account until they finally twigged I was ignoring them.Most of the important stuff is on my hard-drive these days anyway, and it was increasingly hard to get images back off the site after I'd stored them there.

And yet there seem to be far more people saying they want rid of Bethany because they don't like her voice.

Yes. In fact, I think, in general, soap audiences tend to be a lot harder on female characters who behave badly than male characters, who tend to get portrayed as "lovable bad boys".As this episode demonstrates... I was VERY disappointed with Leah. I genuinely thought she'd have more compassion than that.She insists Valerie's her friend, she told her repeatedly that she wouldn't kick her out, and then the minute she proves to be anything less than whiter than white, she does exactly that. In fact, in the end, both Justin and Kirby, who've given Valerie a lot of attitude, showed her more compassion, while Leah just stands there stoneyfaced declaring "It has to be done" without any real justification for it.Sure, they gave her the choice to go back to the clinic, but it was more of a threat than a choice.Summer Bay prides itself on provided shelter to young people in distress: Theo gets that, Kirby seems to get that. But every now and then, someone is apparently deemed not worthy of their help and support, only of being judged and driven out. Was it really the only solution? To an extent, Valerie was kidding herself, given how quickly she went back to being dependent on drugs after the initial rush of having a family to look out for her wore off. But they knew the score now and could have at least attempted to keep an eye on her. Instead, they didn't even try. Evidence that she was a lost cause is very thin on the ground. They're all running around mollycoddling Tane when he's doing nothing to help himself, and now we're apparently stuck with the selfish Levi as a permanent resident when I'd much rather he went and Valerie stayed. The whole thing left a very nasty taste in the mouth and left me feeling much less charitable about Leah and Justin that they'd just abandon a vulnerable young woman like that because it suddenly seemed like too much effort. Oh well, at least it's apparently a happy ending for Stevie, as it turns out her public appearance was exactly what was needed to flush the stalker out, although I doubt that was her intention! And it was nice to see Cash relax a bit and realise what this has been like for Stevie and why having to spend all her time locked away felt like a kind of living death for her. The thing was so confused I wondered if Channel 5 had cut something, as all Sidney seemed to do was take a step towards her, but then he did much the same thing as he was being led away so maybe he was a bit lacking in a plan. Nice to hear that Roo's got to visit Poppy and check in on her and Sonia, it shows the value of being the one who keeps a clear head!

No-one's saying Tane's the devil incarnate, but he did the wrong thing for what I'm far from convinced was the right reason, arguably causing Poppy more distress in the process, so I don't agree it should be shrugged off with "But it's Tane" like Mali thinks. A lot of people coming back to town and being bombarded with news here! I agree that Levi should be the one to tell Imogen, so if he is going to do that, fair enough.(No mention of the fact that he wanted to do that before and Mackenzie threw a fit: Now she's fawning over him like a schoolgirl about it.)Whilst I do hope Felicity and Mackenzie make up eventually, I think Mackenzie deserves a bit of stink-eye for now. She tries to claim it's not as simple as her going after a married man but really, it is, isn't it? She knew he was married but she let herself be led by lust and an attachment developed from him being her doctor. I was mostly on Kirby's side and Theo did come across as a bit of a deluded figure still chasing around after Valerie after everything that happened.But...I don't know.I guess I want her to feel something for Theo, even if I'm not entirely convinced she does.She came back, and she admits it was partly for the drugs, but maybe there is a part of her that appreciates having someone genuinely care for her and try and keep her safe.I was half-expecting her to go out and buy more drugs when Theo gave her his card, but she didn't.So whilst I think Kirby is right to ask questions of her, I also kind of respect Theo a bit for refusing to turn his back on her just because things have got difficult. Oh, and Cash has decided to go off and be a hero because of cause he has.Even Eden saw that one coming.

I wonder if there's a plan to make Tane the least objectionable person in the storyline so the audience will sympathise with him? Because unlike his cheer squad, he seems to accept that he did the wrong thing and is going to be punished for it and that's not Rose's fault. Whilst I'd be tempted to charge Mali just for being a stroppy teenager, I think bringing charges against him and Harper is pushing it: They didn't go by the book, but they went to talk Tane into giving himself up and succeeded, and sending the police instead might not have ended as peacefully. That said, I don't think either of them thought about what to do if Tane hadn't been won round by their arguments. Mali's sole response is "I trusted him". Well, yeah, I'm sure Mali trusted him not to kidnap the baby in the first place.Dana trusted him when she left them alone.Rose trusted him when she tried to deal with the situation with a friendly warning rather than making it official.That doesn't mean anything. Mackenzie and Levi getting some much-deserved flack for their behaviour, which is probably going to get worse as more people find out. I think Levi probably did want to reconnect with Eden, but using her as an unwitting pawn to cover up his affair was really not a good way to go about it and risks him losing everything. And do they seriously still think they can cover this up and carry on as before? I know Tane and Mali have been willing to keep quiet but Eden knows Imogen. Felicity had a point about Mackenzie's hypocrisy: Mackenzie gave her hell for lying to Tane, but she's happy for Levi to lie to Imogen when it benefits her. CURS: Why did we get all that stuff about the drugs being found? It wasn't mentioned at all! Worth pointing out at this point that Rose has been there two years now and remains the firm-but-mostly-fair police officer she started off as, compared to where Kat was after her first two years. So I'd say she's a definite improvement!

Well, I can see why Tori would consider Brody and Raffy the biggest draw.

Alf’s episode count this week: Four. Cash was only in one (although as mentioned, he was credited on Wednesday for no appearance). I think Roo was looking at Tane with a few too many rose-tinted spectacles saying he was just trying to protect Poppy, I think it was more that he just couldn’t face up to the fact that he’s nothing to her and let other people look after her now he wasn’t needed. I agree he wouldn’t have hurt her though and Callan dubbing him "dangerous" was a bit over the top. His grip on reality continued to be flimsy: Doesn’t he remember what happened the last time he tried to skip the country in the middle of a police investigation? And that was just Colby victimising the family, this time he’s actually guilty. Oh well, at least Mali and Harper got through to him eventually and I like that Harper insisted on calling Poppy by her real name instead of indulging him and using the pet name he’d come up with. Sadly, it seems we’re now being set up for weeks of Tane moping around feeling sorry for himself while people mollycoddle him and try and convince him to defend himself, likely culminating in it all feeling like a waste of time. I guess Rose was still in “I’m going to prove I can be a proper police officer with my friends” mode, because it seemed a bit extreme to insist on charging all three of them even though Theo had taken responsibility. How’s that going to hold up in court? I’d almost forgotten the ending with Eden’s uncanny ability to teleport in just as Mackenzie and Levi kissed. Explain your way out of that one.

I wouldn't have said Justin and Leah had a particular reputation for being on and off, although I guess they've had a bit of drama.And they may have a bit more in the offing because Justin's got to be having a laugh, hasn't he?Does he really think that a diktat that Valerie move out of the house before they're back is going to magically solve everything with Leah never needing know?For a start, he's obviously never met a young man in love if he thinks Theo's just going to do as he says and then flick a switch and forget about her.And Leah is going to have a lot of questions, and will possibly be more willing to give Valerie a chance than he is.Whether she'll take that chance is another matter.She insisted having a home and family was what she wanted most, but Theo should maybe consider the fact that she was willing to give up him for it but not the drugs. Luc got a mention although, as with Brody and Raffy, no-one says why she isn't there.It was a nice touch to have VJ want to go and check on Jett, remembering their friendship, and good that we hear that the still-unseen Lindsey is all right.I think, CaptainHulk, that John is just naturally merry: No artificial stimulants required! And his celebrant sideline is gathering pace... And talking of unseen characters....wow, the legendary Sarge does exist! Sergeant Callan according to the credits, who presumably replaced the seldom-seen Sergeant Cooper at some point. Part of me thinks he's jumping to conclusions about Rose, who seems to have been very professional in dealing with the situation, but then again, her doing favours for friends isn't unheard of.(Yes, I'm thinking of her inexplicably letting Leah off a dangerous driving charge again.)Still, it'd be nice if Callan applied his hard-nosed attitude to someone who actually deserves it like Tane or Mali (or Harper, judging by the promo), but it seems to have been mostly to set up Rose being a bit more diligent with her friends than she normally would be. (Oh, and we hear that the DNA test on Sonia came back positive, so Rose is more diligent than Cash on these things anyway!)

It feels like we've been waiting a lot more than a month for Justin and Leah to get married: How long have they been together now, 5 years?! So it definitely felt like time and I'm glad they did it. (But please, can this marriage stick? I really hope someone checked James Stewart isn't going to quit in a year or so...) Tori, VJ and Ava is a decent set of returnees for the wedding: Brody and Raffy get a mention but no explanation for why they're not there, no mention of Leah's parents or brothers (but then they didn't turn up for her last wedding either so I wasn't holding my breath, even if we have seen Dimitri since then) and no mention of Luc either (I'm guessing VJ left her with Ash in case Mick's still keeping an eye on arrivals). A nice ceremony, although I was bemused that, despite all the talk of walking down the aisle, neither Leah on her arrival nor Justin and Leah on her departure actually went down the aisle, they went down a path at the front of the service area! Justin and Leah's vows were nice, John was on fine form (and may be making a career out of it after all!), and Tori made the most of being back on the show. I hope we get a proper scene between VJ and Justin, given this is the first time VJ's been back to the Bay since Justin and Leah have been together. I was surprised to see Kirby greeting Ava so warmly, given she was basically Valerie Mark 1! A shame this is stuck in the middle of the baby kidnapping, but I guess we have to follow Roo's lead and just say we're not thinking about that today. Jett's wife being in surgery after a car accident is a pretty extreme way of explaining why Marilyn wasn't at the service! I notice Cash and Stevie were credited but didn't appear: I'm guessing Eden's (dubbed?) line about flying solo was meant to cover losing a scene of him explaining he couldn't come, but to be honest it just confused me and I wouldn't have noticed he wasn't there! I guess the event couldn't be completely drama-free, although Justin waits until right at the end to confront Theo. I have to say that Valerie's wedding outfit was very different to her usual style!