'Disasters Down Under' - Old H&A on Fiver

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, I watched them even though I agree they were far too recent.Thought the first episode was the better of the two by miles since it was about the characters rather than about the stunts and showing off the fact they went on location.I loved that first scene between Roman and Nicole, that was the start of them growing closer and Nicole showed what at the time was uncharacteristic maturity by accepting he couldn't tell her everything.It's interesting to watch in retrospect as well, knowing the real story of what happened, and even though it probably wasn't the intention at the time it ties in quite well. That wasn't the first time Nicole called Roman "Dad" but it was the start of it happening on a regular basis.I remember at the time a few people said Roman was stupid for drinking the flask but I don't see what else he could have done without putting Nicole in danger:Okay, she ended up in danger anyway but at least he was around to rescue her.Loved all those unspoken moments between Geoff and Nicole on the boat, with him knowing something's up and her knowing he knows.But where did Nicole get the change of clothes she's wearing on the boat from?Did Elliot really let her go upstairs and get changed?

Another JnM wedding, another disaster.Thank goodness they never went for the hat trick, the town would probably have been hit by a nuclear bomb.For anyone who didn't know Martha lost the baby, the opening of the second episode with them happy with the baby before you discover it's a dream was effective.But the scene where Bentos breaks the news to them was completely lacking in emotion.

The plotline went badly downhill in the second episode.The Geoff/Nicole stuff wasn't too bad despite Geoff's shirt and leg injury both disappearing although it did felt like we missed something with both Geoff and Nicole somehow getting washed up on the same island independently of each other. Whereas before Roman and Nicole's actions were clearly motivated by their desire to protect each other, here they're only allowed to show momentary concern for the other one.Elliot worked a lot better when he was sneaking around and plotting than when shooting at Roman with a bow and arrow or bellowing melodramatic threats.Ironically, the stuff back in the Bay was a lot better:I loved Annie's concern for Geoff and the others and throwing a strop at Irene for not doing anything and then Charlie doing the same at Ken Harper.(What the hell was up with his hair, by the way?Was that a wig?Thank goodness he didn't keep it.)I'd actually forgotten Charlie and Roman were an item at that point before she mentioned meeting him for coffee.

[Slade]

Playing catch up. Just seen Tuesday’s episodes. I agree with the earlier comment made about Matilda. I’d almost forgotten how pretty she was. Really nice eyes too. Really enjoyed the stuff with Kit and Kim although to me it just seemed a bit odd at the hospital with them, Rachel and Hugh. Rachel just seemed remarkably ok with it (with the baby unknowing spelling the end of he marriage). This was where I completely lost respect for Jack as a police officer. Harper knew he’d disposed of the drugs and it just made me think back to the way Jack was with Angelo towards the end of last year. He was lucky to have kept his job and in the worst case scenario he could have gone to jail. I didn’t spot that when Kit and Kim were on the way to the hospital when I originally watched it that it was actually Beth’s death which prevented them from getting their sooner. It was really good acting by Tony. Quite similar to when he broke down after finding Jack’s body.

Didn’t really like the second episode. Although I didn’t dislike Sally or Brad neither character particularly interested me at the time however I did like the part when Pippa was trying to reassure them and Sally said she did the same thing with Michael and she just wanted her to tell them what was on her mind. Surprising, I didn’t mind the stuff with Martha and Jack this time round. As I didn’t mind them towards Jack’s death I was sort of looking at that from a different perspective. Quite clearly both of them wanted to be together but each person thinking the other wanted the marriage to end and then due circumstance Jack ended up with Sam. Interesting way of presenting some scenes by showing Sally, Martha and Leah’s flashbacks with their loved one several hours before they went missing.

[halcyon06]

Todays episodes were another two terrible episodes. I wont bother commenting on them!

[Zetti]

Ditto ^^

[Red Ranger 1]

First episode was okay.Found it difficult watching the scene between Roman and Elliot post-retcon when we know Roman was lying through his teeth.The Geoff/Nicole stuff wasn't bad, even the unlikely sex scene:They were quite sweet back then although I'm still not convinced getting them back together now would work.The references to Melody were presumably because she was about to come back although it's odd they had Geoff remembering their relationship so fondly given that he was portrayed as being completely over her.Having Ruby rather than Annie being the one panicking at the surf club was an odd decision:Back then she was probably more worried about Geoff, now she's closer to Nicole. I do remember thinking at the time it took them a long time to resolve any of the cliffhangers though: Episodes went by without us finding out what happened to Aden or Rachel and we didn't get any follow up to the Jack/Martha plot in that one, even though they were credited...

Second episode was the pits.Kane being released from prison without any explanation.Bridget.Aden at his most obnoxious only these days we're apparently supposed to like him.Nicole having gone from "Poor Melody" to "What are you doing here?" in the space of three months:Everyone in that episode seemed completely insensitive towards her.Martha coming out with Voice of Doom lines like "We've got a lot more time to spend together."I'm still furious that everyone just blamed Melody for the accident when a lot of people did the wrong thing:Kane should have been looking where he was going(and, no, Melody didn't run out in front of him like everyone said, she was standing in clear view), Xavier and Matthew shouldn't have provided her with drugs, Miles and Aden should have made sure she was safe instead of expecting Jai and Annie to look after her, Martin shouldn't have held a school function in a building with only one door and left the padlock lying around.Yet the only one of them who ever thought "Maybe I should have handled that better" was...Matthew.(And it's incredibly galling that Melody and possibly Matthew were expelled for drug taking yet Xavier got away with dealing the stuff and bringing it onto school premises.)I did however love Kane's "Who exactly are you?" expression when Jai and Annie asked him for help.

If we assume that

they showed a bunch of Amanda episodes because she's coming back

, does that mean they showed Jack getting shot because we're going to get some answers to all the questions?I still don't see how Angelo could possibly have shot him given their relative positions...

[Nicole+GeoffForever]

I found the eps really useful, I only started watching Home and Away round about when Sam died and when Morag work it all, I worked out from one ep that Tasha and Robbie are a really good couple and should come back, I loved Matilda, I think Indiana Evans is a really good actress, I loved the wedding, I cried when Peter died but I cried more when Rachel's mum died, when she tired to do bring her back herself it was so sad, Could someone tell me what came off Matilda's eating disorder?

Oh a final note, Melody grrr I hate her so much and some classic Niff eps were there too

[Red Ranger 1]

Could someone tell me what came off Matilda's eating disorder?

As usual...not all that much.She was hospitalised pretty quickly after she started coughing up blood where Rachel quickly realised what was wrong.She admitted she felt worthless and ugly but Lucas managed to convince her that wasn't how he saw her.She was sent away to a retreat for teenagers with emotional issues for a few weeks and talked to a counsellor about how she used to get a hard time off her father then inevitably came out completely cured.

So...last two.The formal disaster was okay but could have been a lot better.What happened to Leah? She isn't seen or mentioned at all after Miles sent her and Nicole back into the hall.You'd expect her to be helping get everyone under control but presumably she just sat down in a corner and waited to be rescued.If they'd wanted Aden and Nicole to take the leadership role, they should have either come up with a good reason why she couldn't help out or just not had her there at all.Why is it only Charlie trying to get Kane out?The rescue boys who helped Annie and Jai out just vanish, the firemen get Miles and Kirsty away and leave him behind...Interesting that Miles was the only one who bothered to stop and see if Charlie was okay, they're quite friendly now but back then we hadn't really had any interaction between them.Almost makes us for him spending two episodes being more worried about Kane being back than making sure Melody was okay.If she was meant to be to blame for the accident, it's strange that no-one felt the need to catch up with her for about half a week.Alf's "Didn't hear a sound up there" was just as jarring this time round.

I do occasionally wonder what would have happened at the formal if Angelo had done the right thing and reported Jack's death.At the very least they'd have been one officer down and you could have ended up with half the police force stuck at the development site and unable to help out.Timescale's a bit confusing:Angelo had time to go home and get changed but the car had already gone into the hall when Jack was shot so assuming Nicole called for help pretty quickly the police must have mobilised soon afterwards.Would Martha have already known Jack was dead or would she still have gone into the hall looking for him?That second episode really didn't need to be there at all, it was all aftermath, both disasters(the formal and Jack getting shot)were done and dusted.It feels very odd that they felt the need to show that but not the aftermath of some of the older stuff.

So...Monday we get some new stuff then!

[alreetlike]

So...Monday we get some new stuff then!

About time!

On the whole, not impressed with the episodes they've shown during August.