2019 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, today both the Palmers and the Morgans were too busy to look after Raffy! She did at least get a sibling moment with Justin, who was on fine form as Mr.Fix-It. I felt a bit sorry for him having to do the job on the house to keep John around for Marilyn, although given John's later relapse, it was probably a good thing. (Raffy's probably remembering how her "just concussion" turned into brain damage, emergency neurosurgery and epilepsy.) I suspect Justin went along with it to stop Raffy getting involved in John and Marilyn's stress, as he kind of hinted last episode.Was there a reason for Raffy and Ryder taking it in turns to fail to answer calls, other than explaining him not being in the episode?

Meanwhile, Raffy's having to play the grown-up and give Bella a stranger danger lecture, although she didn't get very far.I didn't notice that Bella's name was appearing in the floating words...although not on the actual screen, so who knows? She's probably not given Tommy her full name, although Raffy did have to stop her naming her.Coincidentally or otherwise, Bella and Colby do seem to be getting on better than when they were living together.

[H&Alover]

I guess Raffy has to amuse herself if both her families are working and it's the holidays. No sign of her knowing the truth about Tori, Justin just mentioned taking Tori for her next scan, I feel she'd be more concerned if she did and she was very upbeat. Seeing as Raffy is due for her trial the next day be nice to know if she and Ryder have some face to face contact. 

Rather presumptuous of Willow to assume it was Raffy who 'talked' Bella out of going back home to Colby, though of course she doesn't know about Tommy, if that is his real name, the only other friend Willow knows Bella has is Ryder.  This is Bella we're talking about so no surprise she reacted the way she did to Raffy's scolding about giving too much info about herself away, it's just going to make her dig her heels in more.  We didn't see the first messages between 'Tommy' and Bella so maybe she told him about the upheaval they'd had which is something you don't to a stranger.  Bella was really touched by Colby's gift and their lunch was really nice and they were getting on well so perhaps this being apart is good for them.

Handy Justin just happened to be in the Diner when Maz got the call from Jett  - another one of those soap coincidences - another being he wasn't busy so was able to go looking for John.  All in all John was very lucky it wasn't worse, he couldn't have been going that fast as the air bag didn't deploy and he was able to walk/stagger  from the crash.  Typical John - well most men really - pretending everything is OK and insisting on getting back to town so he can get the car fixed. Then of course he collapsed so didn't get much of a say in it. Bless you Justin for going along with Marilyn and cracking on the car would take longer than he originally thought. 

Though rare people are allowed out of hospital the same day as long as they  obey the instructions given them, any nausea, headache, dizziness go straight back, which he would be going by his passing out again.   I noticed Raffy's comment about 'just concussion' not meaning it couldn't turn out more serious, it was a very recent occurrence  for her. Ever organised Marilyn had everything sorted, she'd called Padre Wilson and he'd arranged to rebook Jett's appointment and get other help in for him.  Jett wouldn't want John risking his health by going backwards and forwards to the city.  BTW continuity error spotted.  When john got out of the car he was rubbing his right shoulder which he would as the seat belt would have cut into it, but when he got home from the hospital he was rubbing his left shoulder.

[Red Ranger 1]

The shared custody of Raffy does seem to be working well so far, with both Marilyn and Justin accompanying her to her appointment. I am starting to agree that she doesn't seem to know the full story about Tori, as the "check-up" Justin mentioned yesterday seems to have been a lot more than that, although I wouldn't say she's more upbeat than Justin or Mason. Talking of, nice to see Mason taking steps forward in his life again. And Leah back to a...rather warm welcome from Justin.Her desire to meet Ava did come out of the blue a bit, not least because it feels like ages since we last saw Ava (about a year, I think?), which might be why it feels as though Justin's relationship with her is still pretty fragile.Maybe bring Leah along next time he sees her but don't make a big deal about it.

Okay, things definitely seem to have gone over the line between Bella and Tommy now. Bella sending a photo was a bad move and I'm not sure if Tommy even sent one back, despite admitting to being older.It seems his behaviour here went from presumptuous to outright manipulative, knowing just when to pull back so Bella would go running after him so to speak and ignore her earlier concerns.And Raffy thinks she's cut off contact so we're back to no-one monitoring things.

There was some nice humour on display here. I liked Mason giving Raffy all the hard jobs so she'd admit she was there for advice (shame she never quite managed to confide in him) and the way he joked about putting his chemistry skills on his CV. And Jasmine giving jokey versions of Tori's reassurances. Of course, the jokes seemed to die up when Mr and Mrs Shaw arrived on the scene.Not for the first time, it feels like Jasmine's getting the blame for stuff Tori did. I get that Robbo must have turned up at the farm full of anger at them both but he seemed to have forgiven them by the time he came back to Summer Bay so were his parents not paying attention?

Meanwhile...Ryder's still doing his assignment? He must have lost 30% of the mark by now!

[H&Alover]

Did we miss knowing about Leah being away?  She mentioned her mum and dad and being cross examined about Justin, did she mention VJ? Has Leah ever meet Ava in the past, if so wouldn't be that strange for them to meet now apart from the fact Leah is now Justin's lady and not just a friend.  I do remember when VJ was small he was OK if a guy was a friend of Leah's but the moment the situation changed he got very ansti - Roman in particular springs to mind. I think Tori hit it on the head he's more worried about Nina's reaction after the Willow incident but Leah is  a completely different kettle of fish from Willow & Phoebe, she is older - no offence - and a  mum so would understand Nina's worry.  What may be seen by Nina as a negative is Leah's three marriages, true two of them ended in widowhood, but how would Nina see it?  As long as we have 'known' him Justin hasn't had many serious relationships Phoebe, Scarlett and Willow.  Leah on the other hand has quite a colourful history when it comes to guys.   Run away bride from Ted, Vinnie, Jessie,  Peter then Dan Baker, Roman, Hazim though that was a short one, Elijah, crush on Brax, Robert Robertson, Miles.  Last but not least Zac.   Good that Tori was able to get the real reason out of Justin and get him to admit he is ready for the next step. Only thing that concerns me is Leah's tendency to go over the top  mothering wise, Ava isn't her daughter!  Was Tori embarrassed by that welcome back - not that you'd know. 

Whilst John is resting in hospital I'm guessing Jett's care has been taken care off, who knows this may have a good outcome and John will realise he can now let go and let Jett live his life.

Shame that Bella has fallen out with Raffy she probably feels she can't confide in her now that what Raffy warned her about has come to pass. He's a clever one that Tommy, definitely gives you the impression  he's done this before, pulling away from Bella making out he's offended by Raffy's suggestion. Seemed Bella had mentioned her tutoring by Simone as he's suggested he do the same thing - ugh!  Another clever move by him is once he has Bella's photo he owns up to his real age and occupation.  What sort of teacher logs into a student chat room, is he spying on his own students, he'd be able to work out who they are even if they out up different screen names I'd think. Or is that how he finds out vulnerable kids like Bella, she did look wary and kind of scared when he mentioned tuition.  Courtney Miller has got lovely eyes, very expressive. As it appears hardly anyone is around at the beach house not surprising Bella has been able to 'chat' so freely to Tommy and she shuts her laptop down pretty quick when anyone is around. 

Sweet that Raffy is still worried about her and that tentative "I've got a friend" talk she nearly had with Mason may have helped, as long as Mas didn't think Raffy was the 'friend' which is the conclusion most people do jump to. Can't be the same assignment Ryder  is doing can it?

That's quite a spread ma & pa Shaw have!.  It didn't  go the way Jasmine was expecting, Wendy being very protective of Ryan, proving however old your kids are they are still your little boy/girl. Dad seemed more worried about the practical side of it and how it was going to work once the baby was born. I'm reluctant to say it's his age as other younger people have had trouble getting their heads round it.  Mum on the other hand is more worried about Jasmine hurting him again.  Both of them must have got Ryan/Robbo through the initial period after Lauren, Luke and Sofia were killed and saw what it had done to him.  Not said but he must have mentioned her before the debacle.  Then he turns up after the Tori and her going behind his back episode and Jas' part in it.  Now he's all prepared to marry her.  When it comes down to it as he told them he loves her and if they can't accept he's forgiven her then they can forget it.  I did  like that Jasmine didn't mention what Wendy had said to her and made herself useful, I think it impressed Ian. Made me wonder what their reaction would have been if they had got the invite through the post, would they just have ignored it? Thought crossed my mind when Wendy asked Jasmine how she and Ryan first met and she answered they were friends, well not strictly true was it as your car that smashed into the car carrying Robbo and Kat when they were planning to go on the run.

Ben is getting himself into a right lather over the order for the boards, I imagine Dean didn't think it would be as hard as it is turning out to be.

Talking of Dean and Mackenzie she does have an agenda other than getting to know her long lost brother, she wants to bring dad down in his attempt to become  a member of parliament  by revealing what a rat he really is and wants Dean to help her.  Dean who may just be an ex RB and not always appearing that bright is a lot more astute than folk take him for, he knew exactly what she wanted and wants nothing to do with it, he doesn't want his dad back in his life. he may have not have had the best life but who knows  how he would have turned out if he had been acknowledged by Rick? Btw didn't Mac say she bought Salt with her own money, if so what was that secret call she took from him when she said 'thank you for the investment money'?

 

[baywatcher]

Very interesting juxtaposition between Roo & Ryder.  I can see why Roo is disappointed that Ryder has lost his focus after doing so well (although I'll say again that this seems very out of character for him from what I've seen in the past few months) but not being particularly brilliant at school myself, I get that Ryder is not currently interested in going to uni and feels that working in a bar will give him opportunities on his future travels.  Not everyone is suited to education but that doesn't mean they are stupid and incapable of doing anything else, so it's good that the show is tackling this. (Btw, I thought that Roo said Ryder couldn't work in the juice bar until after his HSC, not just that particular assignment?).

Ziggy was looking particularly glam.  

[c120701]

7 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Did we miss knowing about Leah being away? 

Irene asked Marilyn about covering extra shifts as Leah was in the city visiting her parents (who it seems have moved back from Melbourne to Sydney).

Leah’s comments about opening the Diner were a little jarring (as she’s never opened a version of the Diner as owner), especially as Maggie’s explanation to Ben was “when Leah took over the Diner” - although even then, she didn’t do the baking - other than her Baklava - as they had a baker before they moved to Alex’s girlfriend.

 

[Red Ranger 1]

So, a fair bit of opposition to Robbo and Jasmine. His mum more than his dad perhaps, or at least she made less of an attempt to hide it. I don’t think Jasmine deserved any of the hostility she got and I can’t help suspecting that Tori will get a free pass if the Shaws run into her at the wedding. But at least Robbo stood up for her and they managed to be polite for a bit.

Leah running out when a conversation doesn’t go her way is starting to be a bit of a habit. At least she and Justin talked things over with other people and then each other. I think they’re being optimistic in expecting Nina to be happy about Leah being on the scene just because she’s more respectable than Willow. Still, Justin and Leah continue to have a good balance between talking and, er, making up for lost time. Yes, we heard Leah was visiting her parents in the city. (VJ is, of course, a bit further away.)

Ben really should have worked out the logistics before signing that contract. I was confused by Leah’s talk of when she first ran the Diner as well. Are we talking 2001 when Alf sold her half of it and she was still with Vinnie? I don’t recall there being any suggestion of her working 18 hours a day at the time! It doesn’t really translate well to Ben’s business either: If he pays someone else to make the boards, then he’s basically just a middle man.

Was there a point to Mackenzie introducing herself to Mason, other than to show she still doesn’t know the locals yet? I wondered if they’re setting up another “Mason falls for a woman who prefers Colby” storyline! I’m still not certain about this back story. Dean’s, what, 25 or so? Kayla didn’t look significantly younger than him to me, and was old enough to drive so at least seventeen, yet suddenly we’re told Rick walked out on Mackenzie and her mother eighteen years ago. It really feels as though Mackenzie’s been brought in without anyone bothering to check the details, this might make more sense if she was a full sibling of Rick’s other children but still estranged, or the result of another affair. Still, if he’s running for parliament, that would explain him not wanting an illegitimate son to come out. Mackenzie finally answers her phone and it seems she’s been less than truthful: It sounds like the money for Salt did come from Rick after all. I guess it’s good she has an interest in Dean beyond being a partner in crime.

I can see where Ryder’s coming from: He hasn’t given up on his HSC, and passing it will give him options in future, but if he isn’t interested in going to uni then there’s no need to get top marks.

[H&Alover]

Thanks guys, I  must have missed that.

Dean I think has been established is 25/26 same age as Colby who we know is 26, ten years older than Bella.  When we first saw Kayla she said in passing she was Rick's daughter but then Rick did say his wife was pregnant the same time Karen was.  Looking back now of course Kayla looked nothing like being in her 20's, whereas Mackenzie as we know, as she told Dean, she is his age. From what I could gather Rick then left Mackenzie's mum for a younger model (?).  Seemed he was fine with chucking money at them but once he got his new family, lost interest.  I don't know where she got the story Rick sold Karen's  home from under her, if he'd bought it for her and it was in her name  he couldn't do that. Mackenzie, apart from not having her dad around, had a comfortable life compared to Dean.  She keeps trying to wear him down but he's not having any of it and he shut down completely when she was pumping him about Karen.  Not sure if I do or don't agree about Colby filling her in about what really happened to Karen and why, on one hand it dispelled that lie about Rick but on the other it wasn't his story to tell. Rick wouldn't have had a clue about Karen's mental problems, she was in denial herself about it, he was only with her for a couple of days. We did get the usual blowing up, this time at Colby by Dean but again as usual after a talk, this time from Ziggy, Dean cooled down and forgave Colby. Ziggy spoke sense about Dean trying to persuade Mackenzie to take a different route other than the bringing him down way which he tried but she's determined.

Colby was protesting too much when he said he wasn't interested in Mackenzie it was him who moved in for that kiss!  Mackenzie I thought you were intelligent so how is Colby removing his wedding ring going to make any less married?  Until he's divorced he's still married!  Mason introducing himself as Brody's younger brother was almost a replay of when Simone first came to town she was introduced to the Morgan's one by one.  Has she met Tori yet?

Leah has had a few businesses so I'm equally confused.  At least all this  with Ben is letting us in on  how a surf board is made, much more complex then any of us, unless we already knew, would have thought.   Just glancing at the various websites about it is mind boggling.  The shaping, curing etc and having room for them to 'rest', I'm guessing, wildly, the boards are fibre glass? Dean may know how to ride and keep good care of it but not how to build one.  If Ben pays an outsource isn't he their boss rather than just a middle man? They don't do a good job they don't get paid.   Beside better that than running himself into the ground and risk making serious errors.  He's worried about Dean losing money on his investment but as Maggie said Dean's not worried about money.

I picked up on Roo's seemingly loss of memory - she did say Ryder could return to the juice bar after the HSC's but she told Ryder as he had done his assignment he could resume his shifts - confused.com.  He's done another turn about, when we first met him he wasn't bothered about school, then initially for Raffy, he got into it, now he's back into not really bothered mode.   As long as he gets good pass marks that's OK with him, uni isn't for everyone so stop pushing him Roo unless you want him to lose interest completely. I'm sure Alf'll tell her the same thing.

He certainly impressed Mac with his juice, though I don't remember her tasting it, enough for her to offer him a job at Salt, he's got the chat needed to be a good barman/maid. He just needs this licence Mac mentioned.

With all that chat about John coming home pretty odds on we'd be seeing him tonight.

[baywatcher]

So, we finally get to see Ben working on a board.  I think the fumes are getting to him though (not that I'm particularly invested in this storyline anyway).

I love Willow.  Her scenes with Colby were funny.

John should have had a longer stay in hospital, as he was still chewing everyone's ears off but now he's come to realise what everyone else knew - Jett doesn't need him as much as he thought.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:None.

It seems John's toing and froing has come to an end.As he eventually acknowledges, this is a good thing for more than one reason.Still, it seems to have pushed Ryder and Roo even further into conflict.I can understand Roo's frustration but she might be pushing a bit too hard here, especially when she ends up choosing the juice bar as the lesser evil and then resorting to the "You'll thank me for it one day" cliche.(Does anyone ever actually thank anyone that says that one day?)Despite what I said last week, Roo can't force Ryder to stay in school, and she pretty much had to emotionally blackmail him into going back first time round. At the moment, he isn't planning to quit.If she doesn't compromise, that may change.(As an aside, Mackenzie was being a bit forgetful yesterday when she asked who Roo was, since Roo introduced herself to her when she first arrived.)

Ah, the factory's going to be making the boards to Ben's design.That at least gives him a bit of involvement: If he was just paying them to make the boards that the customer was paying him to make, then the customer might as well cut him out and just hire the factory himself.Ziggy was on good form here, culminating in her telling Ben and Maggie that it was listening to her that got them through it.I could understand Ben's stress, I guess we'll have to wait and see if he gets over it but at least there's a bit of pressure off now.

Okay, I've watched some of the stuff with Kayla from last year again.She could just about pass for a 17-year-old but she could also pass for being in her 20s without much difficulty.Colby seemed to confirm that Rick sold Karen's house, just not for the reason Mackenzie thought, and I got the impression Rick cutting off Mackenzie and her mother was a recent thing.Anyway, the main focus today was...Colby throwing his wedding ring in the sea.Which is one of those things that probably never actually happens in real life but happens all the time in Home and Away.He seems to see it as a green light (and maybe if he keeps the topic off that shallow grave he dug then he might have better luck this time), although Willow seems keen to invoke the bro code.