UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Whatever Kate did, I don't think there's really any excuse for Summer cheating and I hope she's found out.She'd already messed up her revision by spending all her time flinging around accusations about council corruption and then holding ill-considered sit-ins to protest about radio stations being closed, so she's only got herself to blame if she wasn't prepared.I find I don't really blame Andrew either, although I was surprised he didn't trust Summer enough to tell her what was going on and try and get her onside.

I did actually warm towards Kate slightly early in the week when she stopped being so hard on Noah and apologised to him but then she started being inappropriately friendly towards him again and got herself into a situation where she could be misinterpreted and I was just left frustrated with her.I wasn't too keen on her half-truths to Sophie either and I can see Sophie being mad with her when she finds out about the kiss.

Rhys seems to get strong reactions from some people but, while I didn't exactly sympathise with him this last week and did think it was partly his own fault for not rescheduling, I don't actually dislike him.Aside from that one episode where he blackmailed Jade, the worst you can really say about him is he's a bit arrogant and insensitive.It was intriguing to see his mother and get a bit of insight into his history.

I was glad Karl confronted both Malcolm and Jade too.On the whole, I think they're as bad as each other, although Jade's attitude that it was up to Malcolm whether he stayed faithful to his wife or not was fairly unlikeable.I'm kind of hoping Susan finds out soon, partly because she'd give Malcolm hell and partly because I'd like to see her world rocked a bit.

[Slade]

I have mixed feelings about this stuff with Kate and Noah coming out. On one hand I'm glad Kate is finally shown to be less than perfect and considering how sanctimonious and self-righteous she can be it's good to see her on the receiving end for once. On the other hand putting my personal feelings aside it's a shame she flushed her career down the toilet like this for the sake of one kiss all because of Brennan. I've actually found Sophie quite annoying this week and felt she should have just kept her mouth shut about what Andrew said. The only reason she told Priya was because she was jealous Noah had feelings Kate and not her. Had that been someone else I think she would have still been annoyed about Kate but perhaps not said anything. I was actually quite surprised Andrew even told Sophie. But I guess that shows Andrew does know right from wrong. He did it because of the way Sophie was acting towards Noah. I quite liked the role Paul played supporting both Kate and Sophie.

I'm glad Susan knows about Mal and Jade (Looks like you got your wish RR). Just a shame Karl's made out to be the bad guy for simply trying to do what he thought was right but I shouldn't really be surprised Susan is like that towards him. Any excuse to have a go at him. I wasn't entirely happy that Karl wanted to even get back with her. I think both of them going their separate ways is the right thing and as I mentioned previously they've got on a lot better since they decided they no longer wish to be together.

I don't care that Summer cheated. Like I said before she wouldn't have been in this position if not for Kate. And I think she should take Andrew's advice. What good can possibly come from her fessing up about cheating now? Not when they have to resit the exam. Stuff her conscience. This is her career we're talking about. She's got nothing to lose by not coming clean. If Michael remembers, he remembers.

Comical moment regarding Toadie's couch, re Lucas and Emilia thinking they broke it when they made out, Lucas repaired it, then when he found out it was already broken they had to break it again.

[Miranda]

Well, looks like I've officially started watching Neighbours! Hello anyone I know.

I watched yesterday's episode where that homophobic man was ranting and raving about 'fairies mending his car'. I LOVED it when Chris said 'I'm gay and I find your remarks offensive' or whatever it was. And Lucas more or less told the man to shut up and get lost! But who was watching from the shadows later

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, watched the first two weeks and, to be honest, it's been variable at best.There are a few characters that I like and a few storylines that I'm interested in but it does feel like they're in the minority.So, Susan found out about Malcolm and Jade and instantly leapt on her high horse.It's hard to argue that Malcolm should lie to Catherine but on one level it might be more noble to live with the guilt and let her continue in ignorant bliss.Instead, he's going to hurt her and risk his marriage(which admittedly he already did by sleeping with someone else)in order to subscribe to Susan's simplistic morality.And yet again Karl's on the receiving end of her bile and has to apologise for things that happened years ago and which she should have forgiven him for by now.Why would he want her back?

The way Summer's storyline is going is annoying me.I don't care that Kate got Andrew to delete her footage, that was only a small part of the whole farago of her slinging wild accusations of council corruption around and organising childish protests instead of doing her exams.She chose to cheat and she should pay the price.The fact she got to resit the exam just made it worse as she gets an unfair advantage she didn't deserve, being given a practise run and extra revision time.I really hope she gets found out or at the very least fails to get into uni anyway.

Kate had already crossed the line by getting Andrew to delete the evidence even though it put Summer's future at risk and she went shooting across it by bullying and taunting Noah into keeping quiet.She clawed herself back a bit by choosing to confess rather than seeing Sophie branded a liar and accepting responsibility rather than making excuses(although Paul made them for her anyway and blatantly used Noah to do so).But her resignation seemed like a case of "Right decision, wrong reason":Instead of doing it out of guilt or responsibility, she just seemed to do it in a tantrum.

And then we have Jade, who's pretty much permanently in my bad books.First we have her being treated like a hero for ending the affair with Malcolm, even though it seemed to be more about her not wanting the hassle than any sense of morality.And now...I don't know, I've always found this "love" story between her and Kyle rather forced and frustratingly it means I'm starting to like Kyle's scenes less, although I don't think that's entirely down to her, as the once comedy larikin gets slowly turned into another lovesick puppy.The story about her abusive ex is obviously there to make us feel sorry for her and it does a bit but it feels a bit too late and she's still pretty misanthropic.

I knew I shouldn't have got my hopes up about the development storyline but I did and they're slowly being quashed.It does seem like the developers and/or the law firm are resorting to underhand tactics and we're going to end up with Toadie looking like a fool for supporting them and Paul coming out on top as if being a regular somehow makes him better than another group of self-serving, corrupt businessmen.

All of which is rather negative so I'll try and be positive.Tasha's still brilliant and it's a shame she hasn't appeared much, although I'm expecting Michael and Emilia's secret to come out soon and there's been some nice interaction between her and Andrew that reminds me what a good couple they used to make.I'm quite enjoying the subtle romance between Lucas and Emilia that's going on in the background.After a bit of a wobble last week, Toadie and Sonya seem to be shaping into a decent family unit and keeping Callum more or less in line.And after Warren's last appearance was handled so badly, his return is actually a pleasant surprise, producing genuine conflict rather than Lucas and Chris arguing about nothing and letting everyone involved show some decent character development, so I'm actually intrigued to see where it goes.

[Slade]

I knew something had gone on between Michael and Emelia. Every time they were around each other there was something there. I would even go as far as saying there was genuine chemistry between them even though I really like her and Lucas as a couple. It almost felt like Michael didn't want her around because he was afraid something would happen. That explains everything, the constant dreams/flashbacks which was obviously brought on by guilt. It explains why he was so against Tasha trying to find her mother's side of the family. It explains why Emelia doesn't see her parents any more. Thinking about it, it was selfish for Emelia to seek Tash out. She should have just left well alone. I can understand Michael keeping it from Tasha even though she has a right to know. If this comes out Tasha is going to be absolutely devastated. She's going to hate Michael and Emelia. Tasha's going to be extremely annoyed with Michael for blatantly lying to her. It will probably wreck Emelia's relationship with Lucas.

Now that Kyle's back hopefully Dane will be leaving shortly. I don't dislike the guy but he doesn't really do anything for me. I'm glad the stuff with Jade and Mal came out. I didn't have much sympathy and I was glad Sonia had a go at her. Jade made an interesting point about Kyle getting annoyed with her but letting Kate of the hook for kissing Noah. The differences for me was firstly that Kate didn't actually sleep with Noah and even if she had, he's single. Mal was a married man. Interestingly when Kyle came back Jade was a lot more likeable than when he's gone. And she was very upset when she heard about Brennan (perhaps she enjoyed sleeping with him a lot more than I originally thought). What concerns me about her character is without Kyle there is very little to like about her although I am glad she got on that bus as I would like to see if any character development occurs.

Although I don't like Mal, I didn't agree with Kyle punching him. There was no need to lower himself to that level. Now that he's gone it will be interesting to see if it's mentioned whether he tells Catherine and what the fallout is - if any.

Really glad Summer got the grades to get into Journalism at uni. Hopefully Michael won't remember she cheated.

As much as I dislike Susan at times, I think her moving out is the right thing. The sooner she and Karl go their separate ways the better.

This development storyline's taken an interesting turn now and showed the lengths the people behind it are prepared to go in order to get Lucas to sell. Bashing an innocent person. They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Red Ranger 1]

I did say on another forum months ago that I thought Michael was with Emilia when Helena drowned.Tick!I just hope that, given it took about two months for the obvious revelation that Helena drowned trying to save Tash and another two months for this more obvious revelation, we're not still sat here in April waiting for Tash to find out.I can't blame Emilia for coming after Tash, it was Tash who went looking for her and I don't see why Michael should deserve to be a part of Tash's life more than her, she's missed out on a lot already.Has it been said Emilia fell out with her parents?Don't remember but I doubt they'd have told them about the affair.I'm kind of conflicted in that Michael and Emilia have good chemistry but I kind of like her with Lucas so not sure where I want it to go.

I continue to be disgusted with Summer;I've yet to see anything that convinces me she was justified in cheating and deserves to get away with it.I'm still hoping she gets found out and slightly worried that nothing will happen if she does.Doesn't help that the counciller she was slandering live on air and calling corrupt because, um, he didn't like being called corrupt is now pretty obviously innocent, given he shut the development down.That said, I was cheering her when she refused to go with Susan and stayed with Karl.About time Susan didn't get everything her own way.

Disappointed with the way the development went and frankly it seems like a lesser concern.I'm far more worried about Toadie potentially facing jail for something he didn't do to care about the insular residents celebrating "sticking it to the man" by making sure Paul continues to run the town.I really hope he's all right and actually I'd like it if he keeps his job rather than being "punished" for daring to work for someone who doesn't live in Ramsay Street.

Kind of liked Dane near the end when he stopped being a substitute for what Kyle had become and turned into what Kyle used to be, I didn't really like him during the development storyline and turning him into Jade's doormat really hasn't helped the character, I keep hoping he'll stand up to her.I kind of wish Jade had got on that coach because I find her extremely irritating, although I admit to being slightly intrigued by her reaction at the end of the last episode.

I find both Kate and Sophie seem to get a lot of hatred but I'm rather liking them at the moment, giving them time apart has given them a chance to flourish.It's good to see a more fun side of Kate, even if it is largely confined to wearing a nice dress and going to the pub like she does every night.(Kind of reminds me of when they insisted Harold would be turned evil by a brain tumour and all he did was eat meat and be a bit rude to people.)And I really liked the quasi-sibling relationship between Sophie and Andrew in that last episode and hope they continue with it.

[Slade]

IMO Michael deserves to be part of Tasha's life more than Emelia because he's her father simple as that.

The introduction of Emelia's nude modelling seems like a plot device to break Lucas and her up so presumably she and Michael can get closer. I am expecting something to happen between them quite soon. Not sure what Tasha would make of anything happening between them.

Glad that they found the guy who bashed Chris and I'm glad Toadie found a way to keep his job. When they arrested him I suspected that he would point the finger at Toadie and I thought they pulled a masterstroke when he came in as the guy's lawyer. A six figure settlement salary is a lot and it must have been tempting for Toadie to take it but I appreciate if he had then it would have been hard for him to find work in corporate law. Not bad news at all because although I think Paul's won Toadie hasn't lost.

Was a bit worried that Summer's guilt was going to make her confess all. Personally I think it would be a very bad move as she has absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose but have a feeling it's all going to come out anyway.

I haven't looked at posts on other forums but I find it perfectly understandable that people hate Kate and Sophie. Kate is usually annoying anyway. Thank goodness she was only in one episode this week. I hated the way she just muscled in on Rhys's date. How would have she been able to work out what he was up to anyway? I also find it a bit rich her trying to act superior accusing him of using Erin when she blatantly used Rhys for sex. In saying that I really hate what Rhys is doing and I can't believe he could be so cold to try and use someone like that in some sort of plan to get into the surgeon's programme. He know's she just come out of a serious relationship and apparently doesn't care. The only thing he cares about is furthering his own career so I really hope his plan fails. Don't just understand why he can't wait a year and apply again. Judging by the stereotype I've seen of programs/dramas portrayed of the typical surgeon I have to say that Erin doesn't seem to fall into this. She genuinely seems like a nice person.

Although I don't dislike Sophie she has been extremely annoying this week the way she was moaning about not being allowed to Andrew's gig, the way she blackmailed him into getting her own way and the way she acting when Andrew sent her home knowing full well Paul was watching them. Although I think it was a bit harsh the way Andrew was with the guy she met and then copped off with.

[Miranda]

Oh I loved that scene with Lucas trying to find out if Aidan was gay! Asking him about interior design, music and the like. Poor Chris! Then Tasha just goes up and asks him straight out. But I thought they knew he was gay, cos wasn't he at that party the other week and someone said so?

Looking forward to seeing the scenes with

Kane O'Keeffe in. I think he's brilliant. I bet he and Bob will have serious chemistry

I see why Red hates Jade now, she is so mean to poor Kyle, who seems fairly harmless imo.

[Red Ranger 1]

I maintain that Emilia and Tasha have every right to have a relationship with each other, however uncomfortable it might have made Michael.That said, I'm not too happy with Emilia's current behaviour, she's obviously only with Lucas because Michael turned her down.Been finding Michael's attitude at work rather childish and somewhat hypocritical, given his own history of springing policies on his staff and expecting them to cope.Disappointed that Tasha seems to have been marginalised so far this season, especially since what little screen time she's had has been typically enjoyable.I assume she'll find out about Michael and Emilia cheating on her mother at some point but it's a long wait.

I actually haven't minded Kate recently and think she was spot on telling Erin what Rhys was up to, shame it didn't work.Again, with Sophie, I've been enjoying her recent storylines despite everyone else thinking she's a brat, although her telling Corey that she was just using him to help Andrew was just humiliating, even if she was apparently trying to let him down gently.Summer was typically annoying:She seemed fine with Sophie and Corey until she found out Andrew had his own agenda, at which point she started telling Sophie to dump him and giving Andrew sanctimonious lectures.

Agree with Slade's comments about Toadie:Annoying as it was that Paul got his own way, I'm glad that it doesn't seem to have affected Toadie and he's managed to keep his job.

[Slade]

I admit I wanted Summer to get away with cheating but now she's finally been caught out I can't really have too many complaints. I still think she had nothing to lose keeping quiet whilst Michael was still suffering from amnesia. I felt a bit sorry for her with the flack she's had to put up with at school but I personally thought she should have just stuck with repeating the year. It would be a lot easier for her to get into journalism if she goes to uni and gets a degree. That being said Tasha's gone back to being an annoying little cow. There was the way she was acting on her first day of uni and her repeated taunts and sly references to Summer made me want to wring her neck. I just wish she would shut up.

Sophie has been incredibly annoying as of late so I didn't really blame Kate for not wanting to come back. I don't like Kate but looking at it objectively it's perfectly understandable her feeling like this. Their mother died so she had to do everything for Harry and Sophie in addition to her studies at a relatively young age so I actually don't blame her. I think it's interesting the writers have taken her in the direction of wanting to steal Kyle from Jade. I find this ironic on multiple counts. Firstly after the flack she gave Rhys about using Erin (which although I didn't agree with her doing at the time still thought she had a point) then basically considering doing something similar regarding Kyle it just makes her seem hypocritical. Then there's the fact that she even asked Erin for advice in the first place - Not the best person I thought. Finally there's the fact that she was never interested in Kyle romantically and now that he's happy in I relationship with someone, she's changed her mind. Seems like a case of wanting what she can't have. I wonder if something were to happen with Kyle whether she would lose interest relatively quickly. I think it would be interesting to see what happens with this storyline especially how Kyle is going to react when he finds out Kate likes him (assuming that she tells him). Jade's reaction will be interesting too. As I mentioned before now that Jade and Kyle are together bar the argument they had when Kyle wanted to go after Kate (which was perfectly understandable from Jade's perspective) I've actually quite liked her as of late.

I don't like Priya. I find her quite arrogant to be honest but have to admit I found it really funny when she outsmarted Paul with regards to the donation and letting Sophie back into Erinsborough High. I do agree with her stance on Sophie though. She's not even the least bit sorry for smashing up the school toilets and I think she's lucky that Priya even gave her the opportunity to reverse the expulsion.

Lou's back again. Damn. Can't stand the guy. Find him the single most annoying person on the show. I was actually glad that Toadie inadvertently exposed his attempts at insurance fraud. And I agree with Toadie in that he was lucky that that woman didn't report him to the police. My main concern now is how difficult he's going to be for Kyle regarding his business.

Comical moment with Toadie at work when he did his back in trying to build the fireplace and he used that to his advantage and it very luckily worked to his favour. On a more serious note it must be difficult for him having problems conceiving but hopefully he and Sonia will be OK.