Triumphs and Tears

[Nathan]

TRIUMPHS AND TEARS*

As the show reaches its end of year finale, it’s a battle to the finish for some of Summer Bay’s favourite characters

There’s a wedding, an engagement and a kidnapping. Add to that a baby christening, a marriage break up, a teary farewell and a positive pregnancy test, and it’s the most action-packed week on the program this year, as the popular show reaches the finale to its 17th year.

There are tears of joy, of sadness and of desperation as almost all of Summer Bay’s favourite characters attempt to deal with a series of life-changing crises.

Seven years after Hayley first walked into Summer Bay, it’s time to say goodbye to the Bay’s favourite daughter, as she and her fiance Scott are offered a job opportunity too good to refuse in Cannes, France!

While the pair are surrounded by the friends they hold dear in the Bay, the events of the previous year have made them decide its time to start again in a new place, together with baby Noah by their side.

But before they do, they gather all their friends together for one last time at the Beach House as baby Noah is christened.

While it is a joyous day, Kim can barely hide his distress as he feels he is losing the child he thought was his.

When it is time to leave, there are hugs and tears as the new family wave goodbye to Summer Bay for the last time.

Someone else doing his best to hide his distress at the party is Flynn. Since his cancer diagnosis only a matter of weeks ago, his health has deteriorated dramatically.

Knowing he is losing his battle for life and that he will never live to see his child Pippa grow up or his wife Sally grow old, Flynn decides to make a record of all the heartfelt things he wants to say to them.

With a video camera in front of him, he films a painful goodbye to his family. As he expresses his feelings, the reality of what he is doing overwhelms him and becomes too much to bear.

Later, after he collapses at the party, he confesses to Sally that he knows he is wasting away in front of her and doesn’t want her to remember him like this.

Flynn then informs her, he has made a serious decision about his welfare. “This is my life and I want to decide what happens to me,†he tells his wife. “Sally, I need your support on this.†But what he says horrifies her and she is too stunned to respond.

There is distress, too, in the marriage of Leah and Dan. Only a matter of months after they said “I doâ€, their union falls apart when the full details of Dan’s gambling debts are revealed.

Leah is horrified by what her husband has done, but more horrified when the Mob kidnap his son Ryan.

As Dan races to find the money to pay his debts and save the life of his son, Leah is stunned by how dangerously her husband has been living. “Dan, I wonder if I even know who you are – and that scares me,†she says.

“I don’t know if I can ever trust you again.â€

While the chase to save Ryan escalates, Leah knows her marriage is over. But there’s a problem – she’s pregnant!

Another desperate woman is Summer Bay’s red-hot vixen Amanda. With the details about her shady investment deal about to explode, she knows she needs money to buy her way out of trouble – and she needs it fast!

Realising that Graham has all the money she needs, and it could finally buy her the security she craves, Amanda sets her sights on matrimony with the man old enough to be her grandfather!

Amanda soon has him wrapped around her little finger. In no time, he’s begging her to be his bride and, with a devious smile, she accepts.

When Graham insists they be married straight away, the pair set off to the registry office to exchange vows.

But when Graham’s daughter Beth discovers what Amanda really has in mind for her dad, she races to stop the wedding. But as she arrives at the registry office, Beth watches in horror as Graham slips the ring on Amanda’s finger.

*Article taken from January 2006 issue of NZ TV Update.