Latest UK Episode Discussion (2006-2017 Seasons)

[Red Ranger 1]

Okay, I think I'm officially a convert with regards Willow.She's been redeemed in my eyes.I don't know if that's the last we'll see of Boyd: If it is, then it's kind of ironic that the whole thing was wrapped up by Justin doing exactly what he should have done when he first met him, but I guess Willow needed to come round to his way of thinking in her own time and on her own terms.Shame that continuity's shot to pieces:Murray seemed to already know Boyd trashed the garage when Justin came to the station (Wasn't Justin meant to have given no names?Why haven't they arrested him already if they know it was him?) and then Justin introduces Willow to Ash and Tori, both of whom have already met and spoken to her while he was with them.But with her moving into the caravan park, it definitely looks like she's sticking around for now and actually, after those unpromising first few episodes, I'm fine with that.

Well, Mason might have suggested signing Olivia with a new label but even he saw red flags when Hunter started pushing ahead with it.Actually, it seems it wasn't that bad an idea, but someone really should have checked the terms of Olivia's contract, which apparently even she wasn't aware of.She really should have read it thoroughly before signing.The fact that a larger company is offering better terms is possibly the first real hint that Axel's outfit is a bit shonky, although it's hard to tell to what degree we can blame him personally when he seems to be middle management at most.

[H&Alover]

Maybe Ryder has sort of autism and I'm not using that as a get out for his behaviour, but it may explain his lack of empathy to others.  He acknowledged what he did to Roo was wrong, even though it was an accident.  He seems to atone one moment, like when he was apologising to Roo,  then the next he's back to his previous  demeanour seeming to not care about what he has done. Similarly with him and Raffy finding  Novak's body, he could end up in juvvie for nicking/borrowing the launch but he did bring it back in one piece.  I can see it from both Quinn and Ryder's side, she has coped with him alone for 17 years with seemingly no outside help so naturally she has been worn down and it's made her snappy with him even if it's something  he can't control.  He, also naturally, wants his mum on his side and showing she cares, from what we've seen of them together there isn't any affection and not much caring on her side. Not surprising he gravitated towards Roo and Alf, when he wasn't being grumpy with him.

I felt sorry for Raffy when she came home after all that trauma of finding the body and having promised Ryder she wouldn't say anything. She, unlike us who know better, is worried they may have a family somewhere who may be missing them.  Seems she tells Justin & Mason something because in the trailer she and them are back at the site. Then we saw Kat shouting at Robbo and demanding he tell her he had nothing  to do with Novak's death.

Mason's idea was a good one and Hunter was doing what he was doing with good intentions, him not liking Axel aside. Knowing what we know now about Olivia's contract it definitely sounds hinky, a lot of small small print which I dare say Axel would have told her there was nothing for her to worry about. Wasn't until she mentioned it that I thought what fashion firm gets you, their designer, to pay them upfront, rather like models being conned into paying for their portfolio with a photographers. What has happened to the money all these people have paid for Olivia's clothes, has that gone into Axel's pocket? He certainly made it plain to Mason he is fully behind Olivia and wants her to get the best deal she can.  Btw how did Axel find out so fast she'd signed for Trend, the ink would still have been wet on the contract!  I felt for Hunter he set up that evening for them, then that gift from Axel turns up and she has to dash off right there and then to check the figures about her latest design and thank Axel!

I can completely understand Tori blowing up at Ash, it's eight months until the baby is born and in her eyes it's taken over Ash's and her life already, but he was big enough to realise he was in the wrong and apologised. By golly they did try and have them day, but kept getting interrupted, first by Mason and Hunter, then Willow and Justin, then sniggering away in the infamous front bedroom at the beach house, hiding from Mason & Hunter again. Both need to cool it a tad him to stop obsessing already not as if Kat is alone, well not yet maybe, and her to stop being jealous over an unborn baby.

Where is Justin hiding his white charger?  He's only just discarded his crutch and yet here he is tackling Boyd and his boys on his own, he's definitely got a masochistic streak in him. Boyd is an out and out coward, pushing a frail man down the stairs that's apart from the fact he's suffering from Alzheimer's. Btw crap security at that home where Willow's dad is staying, if they let someone like Boyd just walk in. If she is paying for it I'd want a discount. Justin was very good with playing along that he was his brother, he, Willow's dad, can't be that old, Willow being in her 20's?  Took a bit of persuading on Justin's part but she did finally agree to back up Justin's statement.  True Justin didn't get a name from Boyd about assaulting Willow's dad but then Boyd is brought in and says in front of Murray about visiting him, her dad, again.  Could Boyd and his boys be suspects behind other garages being trashed but there hadn't been any proof or maybe Justin gave his name when he gave his original statement but kept Willow's out of it.    Why is she suddenly going to be staying at the caravan park, I thought she had her own place? She may have her wild moments and a hard as nails attitude but Buddy likes her so can't be all bad.  We don't know how much that home costs and maybe Willow was left with little or no choice if she couldn't raise the money to keep him there any other way than to take Boyd up on his offer whatever it may have been initially.

A bad penny shows up, from what we've seen, which in context would make Brody seem a much better option of  boyfriend material for Ziggy in Ben's eyes.

[Slade]

1 hour ago, H&Alover said:

Maybe Ryder has sort of autism and I'm not using that as a get out for his behaviour, but it may explain his lack of empathy to others.

The way he was with Raffy and Coco when he was hitting on both of them seemed confident and highly sociable.  What we've seen of him so far is that he tends to have mood swings here and there and he doesn't seem to care about other people.  I was thinking possibly bi-polar although when he's seemed depressed it hasn't lasted particularly long.

What happened in that episode was precisely why Olivia should have had the contract checked by a solicitor.  Although I accept Hunter shouldn't have gone behind her back.  Not sure whether it would have made any difference as regardless she would have been unaware of the clause that prohibited her from communicating with the competitor.  Irrespective of how Axel came across in that scene from a business point a view the company has a right to protect their investment I guess.

I think Ash was right to call Willow out about her being the reason Justin got his face smashed in by Boyd and his gang.  Let's not forget it was because of her their garage got smashed up too.  I was hoping that Tori would have said something to her but she was too loved up with Ash to even contemplate it.  I'm not happy that Willow's going to be sticking around and I found it infuriating the scene where she didn't have the money upfront to pay for her rent and wanted Alf to break to rules.  Also that she announced Justin was her guarantor with asking him first because she just assumed that she would flutter her eyelashes and he would just fall in line.

[Red Ranger 1]

Okay...despite what seems to be received opinion going by what I've read elsewhere, including semi-official spoilers, I don't think Olivia slept with Axel so he'd help her get her contract back.I think she did it because she was drunk, fancies him and was angry with Hunter.I think Axel manipulated the situation somewhat:I suspect his story about his boss cancelling Olivia's line was made up to generate a bit of camaraderie with her, make her vulnerable and maybe make her think she wouldn't see him again so why not.(I also notice that his hotel room with a rooftop swimming pool has been replaced with that one motel room that everyone uses...) Can't bring myself to feel any sympathy for Hunter, I've been wanting Olivia to realise she can do better than him for years, although going by her tears and guilty faces I don't think she's there yet.

I think I might need my temperature checking because I actually sympathised with Ben here.Maggie misread the situation and shoved him and Brody together in a way that wasn't really fair on either of them.I thought at first that her story about Justin visiting Ava was just an excuse, but then she said it to Brody as well so I guess it's true, which I'm glad about.And yes, the rest of the family are being a bit slack in helping Ben out.Of course, now that Ziggy's ex-boyfriend has turned up (and I'm glad she mentioned his name because I'd completely forgotten what he looked like in that one episode he was in) I guess Ben will start to see Brody in even more of a good light.At least he only steals cars when he's on drugs.

[630si]

@H&Alover I agree that there could be something behind Ryder and his responses and behaviours. As you say Autism for exampleS and I actually think this could be a great storyline and we could learn how difficult it has been for Quinn to cope also. I guess we will have to watch and see. 

Ben looks to be FINALLY opening upto the idea of Brody and Ziggy, although the arrival of Jarrod seems a bit random, or is that just me??

I don’t think I can even talk about Liv and Axle I’m so angry. It’s been on the cards a few weeks and I was foolishly praying it wouldn’t happen. What I don’t get is that her character is completely ruined. I guess it’s highlighting her desperation to succeed however I do mirror what @Red Ranger 1 says about them sleeping together. I don’t think she did it to get her contract back deliberately, but I do think if she wasn’t so so desperate to make a go of things, she’d be more clear in her mind and in control of her actions more. Wine or no wine. P.s that wine does look a bit ropey doesn’t it haha.

[H&Alover]

Bi-polar is another condition to think of Slade, I suppose like autism there may be varying degrees of that too, though can you be born with it?

I'm with you Red & 630si I don't think Olivia slept with Axel to get her job back, combination of wine, anger at Hunter and maybe fancying Axel. Axel accused her of doing it to get her job back, but maybe that's because of the way his minds works. Axel saying she breached the conditions of her contract talking to Trend may have been debatable but his saying the designs she made for The Find couldn't be used by Trend is right.  They are now on their label so can't be switched.  It's like when someone in a company leaves for another or to set up their own business it's usually in their contract they can't take any clients with them. I got the feeling he may have been laying on it a bit thick about his boss cancelling her line, but trying to be fair to him here, he couldn't have known she'd turned up at his motel  room, was that the one Mick was staying in(?).  Crossed my mind why he was there, if he is in such a highly paid job. Talking of the wine, did I really see Axel give Liv the glass he'd just been drinking out of rather than pour her a fresh one? Very classy - not! Olivia regrets what she has done but I have the feeling maybe Axel is going to use it against her.

Hunter fully realises he has made a galah of himself, but despite what others say on here, I think he has been and is very supportive of Liv, he offered a couple of times to explain to Axel's bosses it was all down to him even though Axel isn't on the top of his list of favourite people. He does know how much this all means to her because of her mum. Now that it turns out she's spent all of Irene's money what's she going to do now? As a kind of aside I had to smile at Ash & Tori creeping out of the bedroom while Hunter & Olivia were rowing and they didn't even notice them! 

Jarrod's appearance was a bit out of the blue, not going to bother to ask how he knew where she was living, putting it down to soapland reasoning. That had to come, of course, after Ben has decided that maybe soon Brody and Ziggy could be together with his blessing.  Actually he made the same comment Irene did a few weeks back about Brody not using Ziggy as a crutch on his recovery path. Brody may be a great chef but is rubbish at D.I.Y, smiled at Ben's remark to Brody about there being a recipe on the back of the bag of cement so should be easy for him to make up. So was that  all Brody had to do, stand up to Ben to get his respect? There he'd been being respectful so not to antagonise him.

Tonight, at last Novak's body is found, again, when Raffy takes Justin - back from visiting Ava - and Mason to it after suffering nightmares for the past few days/week.  Did Justin get checked out at the hospital btw, it's been a while since he, Brody or Mason have made a visit.

 

[Slade]

3 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Bi-polar is another condition to think of Slade, I suppose like autism there may be varying degrees of that too, though can you be born with it?

They don't know the exact cause but with both of those they believe it could be due to genetic and environmental factors.

Obviously it was not really a surprise Olivia slept with Axel as they pretty much gave it away with her leaving the hotel room looking guilty last week.  But even without the preview, I wouldn't have been particularly shocked anyway.  I suspected that she liked him when they were in the restaurant last week, he slowly edged forward to kiss her and not only did she make no attempt to stop it but she closed her eyes and embraced it.  You could even see that she liked him the way she was staring at him just leading up to that.  She seemed nervous because presumably she thought it was wrong that she felt that way.  And as I said before given that she's a victim of sexual abuse if she really didn't like it Axel would have probably known about it.  The the next day with Hunter she was far too casual about it and when she confronted Axel she simply dismissed it as not being cool.  I actually didn't think Axel was taking advantage initially.  I thought he genuinely liked her but I wasn't convinced when he said he was trying to get her job back.  Then I wondered if he was telling her what he wanted to here.

Even though it worked out OK i didn't like the way Maggie effectively tried to force two people to spend time together who didn't want to be around each other.  The cynic in me thinks that Ziggy's ex is a plot device to act as a catalyst for a reunion with her and Brody.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Four.Tori was also in four.(Her and Ash's appearance right near the start of Thursday only to not be seen again makes me suspect it was moved from the previous episode, although if so they updated the credits this time.)

So...it was about three episodes too late but Raffy came clean about finding the body in the end.I really hope we get to see Alf and/or Quinn reading Ryder the riot act after what he's put her through.(Roo will probably give him a cuddle and say "There, there.")I liked them saying Mason's her favourite (because of course he is).Wasn't entirely impressed by the fact that he and Justin seemed willing to just forget about her claim and tell her she was mistaken rather than properly investigating, although they made up for it by being sweet with her afterwards.Kat apparently forgets Raffy's surname, it sounded like she called her Morgan rather than Morrison.So, one of Robbo's chickens seems to have come home to roost.Kat is looking at other options but McCarthy definitely seems suspicious of him and Shepherd and Vincent are likely to be even more suspicious.

Good job Axel's vacated that motel room because Jarrod needed it.Brody obviously remembered what he looked like more than I do.Ziggy doesn't seem particularly interested in him and is possibly just trying to prevent another explosion.And again, something I initially assumed to be a lie turned out to be true as she actually did go to the gym! Ironically the result of the secrecy is a bonding moment between Ben and Brody at last!

[atrus]

Well, I must admit I'm getting more worried now about the direction Ryder is being taken - and I continue to hope that the writers don't "do another Hunter" and turn all the fans against him before he's had a chance to settle in. So far, though, I don't think he's quite a Hunter. Clearly, he was out of line in not reporting the dead body - although I don't think the fact that he seemed desensitised to it is particularly surprising in this day and age, sad to say. Yes, it was wrong and selfish - but ultimately, as he rather philosophically put it, the bloke was already dead, and Ryder was scared of being locked up for stealing the boat. Perhaps my reaction (and maybe the writing) was coloured by knowing that the dead man was a cold-blooded psychopath; but nonetheless I suspect it would be a more common reaction for someone of Ryder's age in those shoes than we might like to think - though of course, most wouldn't have stolen the boat in the first place in order to find themselves in said shoes, so perhaps that's a moot point. Also, Raffy has to take some of the responsibility for going along with it, even if she later cracked and fessed up.

I was probably more surprised at the strength of Raffy's reaction, as she's normally an incredibly matter-of-fact character, and tends to be quite unflappable. Interesting that we saw Raffy have bad dreams about it, and I wondered if the writers were intending to draw a parallel with Ryder's own night terrors - perhaps suggesting that he's become dissociated from reactions to such traumas by something in his past. He's a brat for sure right now, but I don't think he's a sociopath like Hunter seemed to be at first - unless he faked that whole remorse scene with Roo at the hospital, which I really don't believe. I think if anything, what his behaviour has demonstrated so far is that he finds emotions too intense and confronting - and so his default way of dealing with them is to pretend they're not there, and/or do a runner. I feel Quinn is showing similar traits too, in the way she deals with both him and Alf. Again, Alf is the one who seems to be striking the better balance out of him and Roo right now. Forgiveness is important but likewise, Ryder needs to be shown that his current behaviour isn't acceptable.

The Olivia and Axel story has become more complicated than I originally gave it credit for, which I appreciated. I'd had him down as an out-and-out sleaze, and I still think he's probably manipulating Olivia - whether or not that's the way he sees it himself. But there's obviously more depth to this, and the attraction certainly isn't one-sided. When he started pouring her wine, I was worried we were going to get some kind of assault storyline - but instead I think it was quite clear that she knew exactly what she was doing in sleeping with him. I don't pretend to know her motivations at this stage - it seems perfectly plausible that she simply finds Axel attractive and was annoyed enough with Hunter not to let thoughts of him stop her from going there. Possibly - either before, during or after - she also considered that doing so might not do her any harm with the fashion firm. In any case, I certainly feel like she's at least halfway regretful about it. I'll be more interested to see where it goes than I have been so far.

Yawn at Ben and Brodie burying the hatchet for Ziggy's sake only for Past Love Interest A to show up. I couldn't really care less about this bloke since it's so obvious he's a moron and won't be sticking around. Nor can I find anything remotely interesting to say about the Kat/Robbo saga - I'm totally impervious to the detail of what's going on because it just feels like River Boys stuff on steroids. Continuing to enjoy Willow, though, and hope that she sticks around, at least for the time being.

[H&Alover]

Um Kat seriously, what exactly did you expect Robbo to say when you asked him if he had anything to do with Novak's death? 'Well actually, he was still there when I got back to the wreckers yard, we fought, the gun went off and he died, then I buried his body at sea'.  DUH. Stubborn as usual, like most of the cops that have been at Yabby Creek, she wanted to stay on the case, even though she is personally involved. McCarthy may have been OK with it, sort of,  but I bet Shepherd and Vincent won't be.

Justin & Mason were very dismissive of Raffy's reason of why she was having nightmares, but luckily came round in the end.  Took some persuading for her to go back, but she was the only one, apart from Ryder, who could lead them to the right spot.  Neat revelation that it was Scarlett's boat he'd borrowed and it actually belonged to Alf. He probably won't press charges, but he'll make Ryder pay some way or another.  Hopefully now Raffy has confessed, it will put an end to her nightmares. Wouldn't like to think of the state Novak's body was in.

OK, Jarrod had only turned up the night before so explains why she hadn't told Brody, but her argument why she hadn't told him, because  they weren't an item, was valid. In true soap coincidence he just happened to be at the Diner when Brody was on duty and of course they both recognised each other despite it being a brief moment last time they 'met'. I did like that Brody went and warned Maggie and Ben that Jarrod was back on the scene, winning Brownie points with Ben, but not I suspect with Ziggy when she finds out. Was that room at the motel the same one both Axel and Mick used, if so, don't they have any other rooms?  Jarrod keeping track on Ziggy via Coco's Facebook page seemed kind of stalkerish to me.  He did answer my question of how he found her, via the good old internet. She didn't owe him anything  by going to see him, but better than just ignoring him and hoping he'll give up I guess. Brody may not yet have Ben's full approval, but he does have a job, though not the one he really wants  and is trying to make changes in his life, whereas Jarrod doesn't/didn't appear to have work, is a bad lot, led Ziggy into all sorts of trouble and hurt her to boot.

From the trailers we saw Olivia was having a crisis of conscience when we saw her talking to Hunter.