2019 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

I kind of want to praise Ziggy for stepping in and running the board shop, but it did feel like she spent more time taking breaks than actually working.So I'm guessing the idea is for Dean (or his stand-in) to run the shop while Ben makes the boards at the farm? "He's getting to know Mackenzie" seemed like a poorly conceived excuse for Dean's absence: It would have worked better if the last time we'd seen them was that conversation at Salt but it was followed by Dean going to see Colby still ambivalent about the idea.I guess maybe that prompted him to go and see Mackenzie again?Good to see Ziggy and Justin getting on well too.

The Tori/Robbo/Jasmine stuff seemed to head towards a fairly so-so conclusion via Jasmine doing exactly what Robbo asked her not to.I guess I should praise Tori for putting them first although Robbo probably won't be happy.Jasmine must have been taking a really long time to walk to the post box: Robbo catches up with her despite leaving long after! Interesting to get a scene between Mason and Jasmine: I think the days when I was mildly shipping them are over but good that they're still friends.Mason seems to be getting a bit of itchy feet at the gym again.Maybe he shouldn't have blown off that internship interview...

[H&Alover]

Robbo scrubs up very well as we saw at Colby & Chelsea's wedding.

Jasmine was obviously in on the 'secret' Robbo had a brother and sister - Daniel & Sarah - and he's the baby but a surprise to us!!!  Can't be that estranged from them he went to see them when he did his disappearing act.  Has he told them his got a new woman in his life, though he didn't then, does he think they would think Jasmine wouldn't match up to Lauren?  Seems from what he said neither Daniel or Sarah were interested in taking on the farm so maybe they thought he would.  It did seem he had a good childhood, something Jasmine has missed out on despite the fact her adoptive parents may have been great, is she not inviting them?   Jasmine went the long way round to the post box so Robbo could catch up with her.

Tori seems to making up for her previous selfishness by not saying anything to Robbo about there being something wrong with her latest scan.  Of course Robbo will be angry but as Tori said he can't really do anything to solve it.  Fingers crossed everything works out.  

It is a lot for anyone to take in, suddenly discovering you have not one half sister but two and a half brother (Kayla's) as a bonus!  Going to sound pretty lame saying this now but Rick got both his (first) wife and Karen pregnant at the same time so his legit child would have been the same age as Dean which Mac is so looking back Kayla the young woman he saw at Rick's place couldn't have been as she certainly didn't look 26 but I guess we all overlooked that.   Actually I'm glad Willow told Ziggy who Mac was - it does stop Ziggy from freaking out about who this leggy brunette was that seemed to be having designs on her boyfriend.   Not such   a bad idea Dean taking some time out to get his head round the whole thing so he can concentrate on his job.   Doesn't seem to be taking long for the news to be getting around, Dean told Colby himself, but Ben now knows and Maggie(?).  Willow is only doing what Colby or Dean would do for her looking  out for a mate, no-one knows that much about her. She seemed genuine that it was her money that bought Salt and nothing to do with daddy, but of course nothing is that simple in soap land.

I'm glad Dean and Ziggy had their talk and she gave good advice Mac did deserve to be heard and he didn't grow up with Rick so how could he have turned out like him, he's  not interested in money or material things that's for sure.

Great news that Ziggy passed her TAFE exam, nice little bit of teasing by Justin.  Not just Cocoa now being the academic one and she did it despite having to cope with the break up with Brody. 

Mason wasn't  a happy bunny having to cancel his proposed trip to the city,  he has worked his socks off at the gym, all that covering he and Willow did for Robbo when he disappeared, now all he asked for was a couple of days off and he's had to put it on hold.  Willow's qualified now so why can't she cover? 

The boards, so far, just seem to be getting moved from place to place, garage  at Salt then garage at the farm. 

 

 

 

 

[baywatcher]

Poor Maz.  I really feel for her.  Loved her scenes with Alf and Raffy.

Ryder's reluctance to complete his assignment and lying to Roo seems out of character.  She had every right to be annoyed.

I totally get Mason's frustration with his situation.

[Razabaza]

Something I noticed, why does everybody refer to Bella as "a kid" or "kiddo"? I know the character is supposed to be 16, but I feel like the writers are overcompensating in trying to prove how young she is because the actress is 23 in real life. Not trying to be rude, she passes easily as a teenager. 

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm glad that Mason's promo fodder rant at Tori was made without knowing the full facts. It was still unfair but it might have been better for Tori to lead with "I might go into premature labour and lose the baby" rather than a first world problem about having to take maternity leave.Anyway, I'm glad that as soon as he found out Mason decided to apologise, and I'm glad that everyone didn't ignore his frustrations just because of the poor timing (ironic that Tori convincing Robbo and Jasmine to go has inconvenienced him!), and that he and Tori helped each other.With Brody gone and Justin not exactly an intellectual, Mason's suddenly the person for Tori to go to for complicated advice.

I tried not to get my hopes up, after the crushing disappointment last year of Raffy's "permanent" return home being nothing of the sort.But the longer her staying with her family went on, well past the originally stated plan of them looking after her while John and Marilyn were in Germany, I begin to think "Maybe..." No such luck.At least there's no pretense that it's better for Raffy this time, she's obviously just gone back because she feels sorry for Marilyn.While we got a nice scene of her supporting Tori earlier on, her deciding to ditch the family dinner intended to cheer Tori up for a girls' night with Marilyn brought back bad memories of her doing the same thing after Tori's miscarriage.Couldn't she have waited until the next day? Oh well, I was kind of expecting it.As long as Raffy continues to remember who her family is and speak to them.

I'm mostly on Roo's side: It's all right for Ryder to pull the "I'm 18" card but as Willow pointed out a while back, adults have to follow the rules while they're living in someone else's house too, and unlike Bella Ryder is there by choice.That said, I did agree with Ryder about Roo picking and choosing when to play parent.I've mentioned before that since promising Ryder stability she's hardly been there, often palming him off on Alf or Leah, so maybe that's finally coming home to roost.

[H&Alover]

Marilyn is finding really hard being on her own, she is so used to having someone to look after she is totally lost otherwise.  So glad she opened up to Alf, another example of a man and woman being able to be friends without any sexual connotations.  Her feeling down did prompt Alf to go and see Martha, though why it's got to be a secret is a mystery. I still don't get why Marilyn can't go and see Jett for a few days. Raffy picked up Marilyn was being too bright and as  she didn't know the truth about Tori and her bad news and as the others haven't enlightened her she felt Marilyn needed her more than Tori did. Don't let them 'hide' the truth too long because they don't want her to stress we all know that never works.

Once Mason knew courtesy of Justin he was vey apologetic, his frustration no doubt brought on by the fact Robbo was treating him like a lackey, which isn't Robbo's way to be fair, not deliberately anyway.  I'm no medical expert and Mason admitted he's a bit rusty on his obstetrics but to me it seemed Tori is better going for the stitch which could go either way or not having it and definitely losing the baby.  May have been good if Robbo had been there but the choice would still have been down to Tori. I've said before sometimes it's harder being a medical person than just a normal member of the public they know the risks involved better than any of us would. It's a pretty bold subject for an early evening show to screen but hopefully there are woman watching who are going through or have been through it and found it helpful.  We, the viewers, do tend to relate to characters in soaps because we feel we know them and there have been plenty of occasions where one maybe has had a cancer scare, been raped, had mental problems and if they get help on screen it encourages the viewer to get help.  Great to know he's rethinking his position of not wanting to be a doctor because he's not good at following rules and letting Tori track down any internships going.  He did say he liked he was able to help Jett and Maggie while working at the gym so wanted to do more.  Btw didn't he say he was going to be an advocate for CBD oil?

Ryder, where did your obsession with getting a car come from, even Raffy wondered why the urgency.  You've  been doing so great  since your dodgy start and nearly finished your assignments so do it already, then put in your hours at the juice bar, will give you your due though you are  earning your own money and not  expecting Roo or Alf to cough up any dosh.  He is supposed to be the tech savvy one so why didn't the thought occur to him that of course Roo would find out he hadn't handed in his assignment via text? He was pushing it expecting her to pull strings to get him an extension, that has already been done when he wanted to take his Year 11(?) exams at the eleventh hour to be there to support Raffy.  Ouch, truth hurts doesn't it Roo!  Does doing school work count as following house rules? As Grumps has gone off to visit Martha - Mrs. Grumps(?) - Roo will have to look after Ryder won't she?

It had to happen sooner or later and it looks like it's sooner -  John has an accident falling asleep at the wheel.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Two. Leah didn't appear, although we got a brief explanation for her absence last week.

It's hard to shake the feeling that if Raffy had waited a day, Marilyn wouldn't have needed company anymore, although to be fair John was hardly there and quickly off again.I'm actually assuming that Raffy does know the full story about Tori: I could be wrong because it's not been made 100% clear but she was left at the house with Tori after Mason stormed off and seemed very attentive towards her, so I just assumed she'd been told.They gave her the full story more or less straightaway after the last scan.Anyway, I'm glad we saw Justin checking in on her next day.We've kind of reached breaking point with regards John going back and forth, as his system breaks down and so does he.Time for a rethink.

I keep meaning to say: We haven't had much follow-up with regards Ryder and Coco deciding to learn to drive at the end of last year (mainly because Coco's barely been around) so good to know that's still going on, even if Ryder is suffering from a sudden loss of priorities.It feels like he hasn't really paid attention to what Roo's said: He seems to think he'll be back at work in a few days, when Roo told him to finish work until after the HSC, which is months away. (He also seems to think he's her favourite nephew. Has he checked with Ric and Bryce?) Anyway, he did finally seem to knuckle down in his own Ryder way after a bit of ribbing from just about everyone, including Bella.

Yes, Miss Nixon. I'm not convinced any lines have been crossed with regards personal information: She's telling Tommy things about her life but only in anonymous terms, she's not giving out her name and address.We did see her thanking three people after getting her result, so it's not just him she's talking to.I guess she is putting a bit too much store in his opinion though, deciding not to move back in with Colby on his advice.He might be well-intentioned, and sometimes objectivity is helpful, but he doesn't really know the people involved.

[baywatcher]

Colby looked so  at the thought of Bella coming home when he put the gift on her bed, then so  when she told him that she'd changed her mind.

So, Irene is off to do panto see Olivia's fashion show in London.  Have a safe trip.

[H&Alover]

I'm not that sure Raffy does know the whole truth about Tori or she would be at home, she didn't look that concerned and she was joking about with Ryder and Bella and teasing Ryder about his lack of interest in reading  Pride & Prejudice.  Clever move on his part by going down the audio book route.  Now who could he relate to, definitely not Wickham or Mr. Collins, Bingley maybe or as Raffy suggested Darcy. 

John is only spending two days in the bay so the rest of the time Marilyn is rattling about in the house alone.  It was so sad the other day with a single round of sandwiches and a lone cup of tea when she's used to cooking for John or Jett or Raffy. 

John was vey unfair to Ryder, it wasn't him being his 'old' self, he was just obeying Roo's orders, he didn't appear to listen to Ryder when he told him why he had to give up his shifts. It took Roo telling him that she had put her foot down to make him listen.  He's got himself in a real bind and from what we saw he was very lucky just have got away with  a  small prang than anything more serious.

Why doesn't Tommy want Bella to move back with Colby, he does have her name, if nothing more personal, it wouldn't stop her communicating with him, especially as Colby has bought her a laptop of her own. Still uneasy about him. Colby did look really crestfallen when she told him.  Bella was really over the moon when she got her assessment, she really didn't expect such a good mark, it's given her confidence a real boost.

Good luck to Raffy for her trial, wonder if 'they' have taken heed of Mason's dosage, he had it spot on, she doesn't need to go the trial and error route again.

[baywatcher]

Raffy was quite right to say her piece to Bella about being too open with someone she doesn't know online.

I don't really understand why Bella is taking advice from Tommy on not moving back in with Colby anyway.

Is it simply because he is taking an interest in her? 

If so, how is that any different to her other relatives and friends in the Bay? She can't honestly say that nobody else looks out for her or supports her.

Does Tommy think that an authority figure like Colby would be more likely to put a stop to their 'friendship'?

I loved how Maz and Justin conspired to keep John away from his car.