2019 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

Initially I thought Alex was out of Mason's league but given this is a soap concluded anything can happen.  Then when he tried his luck with her and she told him she was gay, I wondered whether she was trying to let him down gently.  Then it struck me, she likes Willow.  I did find it funny when Mason lied about Alex not being his type in order to save face with Justin the next day and Justin wasn't buying it.

Not sure what to make of what happened in court.  Undecided whether the judge should have allowed Bella to say what she thought Tommy would have done to her had Irene not interrupted them.  But what happened afterwards could have influenced the jury.  I have to admit, I haven't been paying as much attention to the storyline as other people here.  I do think Channel 5 shouldn't have cut the scene with Irene and Tommy when she continued to bash him.  If you factor this into the equation with moving him it's hard to justify the mitigating circumstances especially considering that Tommy said he was going to leave beforehand.  Although this appears to have backfired on Irene anyway.

[Red Ranger 1]

To be honest, the show still hasn't really convinced me that Irene isn't guilty and they seem to be skirting over quite a few important details.It's pretty much being treated as a popularity contest rather than sticking to the facts.Bella's testimony would have been more suited to Tommy's trial than Irene's.That said, it did rebuff Tommy's evidence and reinforce my feeling that the truth would have been more damning than the lies. Instead, they've made him an unreliable witness.But the focus shouldn't be on what Tommy would have done if Irene hadn't hit him the first time (even the prosecutor admitted that wasn't the issue), it should be on whether or not Irene was justified in hitting him the second (and third and fourth) times.Colby continues to be ridiculous, saying he'll take Bella out of court if Tommy's there: Doesn't he realise that would mean Tommy won? Willow replaces Mackenzie as the voice of sense here.Leah continues to be sold on it being all about who people cheer loudest for: Introducing a second set of intimidating characters into the mix really wasn't the smartest idea.

Personally, my feeling was that Alex seemed too old for Mason (and indeed Willow, although I guess Justin was a lot older than her), but maybe she's just got one of those faces and is younger than she looks. Anyway, despite his claims to the contrary, Mason wasn't above chancing his arms, but took rejection well.I guess he's had a lot of practise: The show has a tendency to set him up to fail in romantic situations.

I meant to say yesterday: Halfway through the trial I looked at the judge and realised "Hang on, that's Melody's mum." It's times like this I wonder if there's any actors left in Australia who haven't already been in Home and Away.(Is it worth mentioning that Teresa is Ric's older woman/one-night stand from 2007-8 who was pregnant with Alf's great-grandchild, and the prosecutor was a dodgy associate of Gus Phillips who helped frame Kane back in 2005?)

[baywatcher]

It was nice to see Ben with some fire in his belly but then the writers spoilt it by having him go missing for the next episode.

How long ago did the Robbo / Dylan Carter stuff happen?  Wouldn't any CCTV footage from that time have long since been wiped?

John was funny with Karen.  He is much better suited to comedy.  (What was the reference to the car about - please could someone fill me in?).

I'm glad that Irene stood up to Teresa.  I'm uneasy with the somewhat militant way things are going.  I think the support group idea could have been handled so much better.  We never actually saw Irene and Bella attend a meeting, only ever hearing about it.

[Red Ranger 1]

I think I might understand Irene's point of view better if the show actually explained what Teresa's "cause" is.Her group seem rather intense but having Roo on the sidelines making barbed comments about pitch-forks doesn't really make up for the fact that we haven't seen them say or do anything obviously wrong.Teresa talks about advocating change: Is she talking about some quasi police state where you can do whatever you like to rapists without prosecution or abuse victims are considered above the law, as some remarks have suggested, or is she just talking about making sure there's help there for people who need it? There are times when it mostly seems to be about Irene not wanting to be at the forefront too much, which is her choice and Teresa shouldn't pressure her about it, but given that Leah seems willing to help out, they surely can't be saying something too out there.Still, I agree that Teresa does seem potentially unstable.

I was a bit disappointed that John went back to "funny" griping although I can see why he wouldn't be keen on Karen being around given that she tried to run him over last time she was in town! Dean went from almost having a sensible way of handling Karen to not really handling it at all: Trying to get her out of town before she worked out who Mackenzie was wasn't even approaching a smart plan.And Mackenzie kind of gets it in the neck by having Dean eventually blurt it out while she's right there.

There didn't seem to be any reason for Robbo to be in this episode except he seems to be contracted to be in three a week these days.

[H&Alover]

Alex was taken aback about Mason having been arrested for his CBD oil trial but still told him she'd try and get him into the NDH interment scheme.  I didn't blame him for offering to show her around, could be classed as a date, but she soon shut him down rather getting ahead of the game I thought, by telling him she was gay.  Was that because she didn't want to lead him on and why her relationship with her family is not the best as she kind of hinted at to Willow.  I got a different vibe from Mason saying to Justin that Alex wasn't his type as in not revealing her secret, it's up to her who she tells and when.   Does it matter if Alex is older than Mason or Willow?

Bella changed her mind about not having Colby in court with her and she gave a very good account of what had happened and what would have happened if Irene hadn't turned up no doubt he would have raped her, no good prosecution saying it would be speculation, Bella was there she knew he would have raped her.   We didn't see her asked about the later attack either and no scenes of the cross examination which was disappointing, Bella obviously came through it OK  judging by the scenes of them hugging outside.    The support group were certainly vocal which isn't too bad a thing but it has taken a darker turn going by the remarks on the forum even threats towards the judge which could have been detrimental to Irene's case.  Why 'attack' the judge, a woman btw, it's the jury that decides if Irene is guilty or not. Leah & Irene understood why Teresa felt he way she did but as Irene told her it's not her way, she doesn't want to be the poster girl for Teresa's cause.  Contrary to her recent actions Irene isn't the aggressive type. The way Teresa was going at Irene was bullying something I thought Teresa was against.  The other folk with Teresa, two blokes included, just seemed to be there to make up the numbers.  Leah took  responsibility for her actions speaking to Teresa and saying she'd be there for her and to leave Irene alone.  I think this group sprung from the blog/vlog Leah set up and are separate from the other lot.

Shouldn't have assumed there Dean about Karen!   Baywatcher when Karen was last in the bay Dean left Community Service to see her and John threatened to report him so Karen drove her car at him and Dean pushed him out of the way. She does seem to have a colourful career so far, but no disrespect, I wouldn't dare, but is working  in a bar the wisest  place for her?  Did like Ziggy and Maggie's moan about men and how they don't listen.  The best laid plans of mice and men etc - Dean was forced to tell Karen about Mackenzie but not quite the way he may have planned to eventually.  The pair weren't getting on as Mack was trying to put Karen off working there, but Karen, being Karen, was taking it all the wrong way.  They do have one thing in common though both hate Rick!

[baywatcher]

Karen was quite hard on Dean.  He was only looking out for her and her initial reaction to Mac's identity proved he was right to say nothing.

I liked Karen's chat with Mac and glad they came to a quick understanding.

I like Roo but I'm disappointed that she is disrespecting Ryder's choice not to go to uni after the HSC by bringing it up again.

You'd think Jasmine would be glad to get away from that excruciating storyline.  Seriously, is there anybody out there who still cares?

[Red Ranger 1]

I can kind of see where Karen was coming from: She was rather over the top but the main source of hurt was that Dean didn't trust her enough to tell her.Everyone seemed to skirt over the fact that Dean had actually decided not to tell her at all.Anyway, Mackenzie's turning into quite the diplomat with her chat to Karen, although it seemed like it was letting her play with her car that won her over! Some nice wry remarks from Ziggy throughout ("Heads intact").

I agree with baywatcher that Roo is in the wrong trying to press Ryder about uni.And Ben's back but he hasn't done much.At least Maggie knows he wasn't ignoring her now.

Robbo has to play a rather extreme card to get Jasmine to go along with things but I guess he needed to let her know what he was thinking.Has anyone let the hospital know they're going to be a staffmember down again?

[baywatcher]

Good that Ben had a meeting with the AFP and was left feeling more hopeful about his situation.  I thought he might go off on one having seen the business card for the psychologist but it seemed to bring home to him the effect all this has had on Maggie too.

I enjoyed Ryder's driving lesson and his later scene with Roo.  What a good idea to do a TAFE in his chosen field.

First mention of Jett for a while.

So, Raffy will soon be off to Victoria, assuming she gets into the trial that is.

I hope Scott is ok.

[H&Alover]

I'm with you both Red and baywatcher about Roo badgering Ryder about going to uni - she really annoyed me. She should know him enough by now that the more she pushes the harder he'll dig his heels in.  He's been very restrained so far and just politely said to shove off, but not for much longer.  Alf would tell her to back off and be blunt about it.

Dean initially didn't want to tell Karen as she'd only just got out of hospital and he didn't want the news to set her back, trouble is the longer he left it the harder it was going to be.  Both he and Ziggy, loved her dress btw, tried to explain but Karen was in no mood to listen.  In the end it had to be Mack to talk sense into her and make her see it from her and Dean's side.  The flash car was bound to sway Karen but Mack's 'he did to my mum what he did to you' stopped her in her tracks.  Mack was very honest about the reason she first came to the bay  but  now just wants to know Dean.  Karen did enjoy playing with the car, heated seats!!!  A  truce has been reached much to Ziggy and Dean's relief - hence the 'you're both alive' comment by Dean.  It's still going to be rocky but hopefully now Dean can now get his surf school off the ground. 

Robbo had absolutely no choice but to get Jasmine as far away as he can so he can concentrate on finding Carter, brutal, for both, him having to show her the photos of his family, it did convince her.  Sounds like the same in Holby hospital, people just leave at a moments notice!   

Ben's comment to Maggie did sound ominous, but hopefully not what Maggie was thinking.  

The jury seems to be taking it's time deliberating on Irene's verdict.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Five!

I was somewhat annoyed that Roo kind of got her own way.I mean, Ryder still isn't going to uni, but her pestering him did inspire him to do something.Alf really should have looked at that petrol gauge himself! But at least he told Roo to put a sock in it. Meanwhile, Raffy seems to have an exit planned for Victoria: Pretty handy that that's where Brody ended up, huh? I'll miss her if she does go but it's probably the best thing for her.Both she and Justin came across as pretty reasonable as they came round to each other's point of view and I was glad that no-one seemed to blame Alex for bringing it up.Meanwhile, Ben and Maggie's chat didn't advance things much in plot terms but it was nice character stuff with a light at the end of the tunnel.Ben finding the card (nice name-drop of Aiden there!) could have gone badly but ended up giving him an insight into how tough this has all been for Maggie.

It's easy to say in hindsight but Robbo really should have seen that one coming, as indeed should Scott and Lance.It's clear that They have been watching Jasmine, having just sent Robbo a message they would obviously been on the lookout for any attempt to smuggle her out of the area, not just had one person watching the motel, another one at the hospital and no trace on her in between.It's not looking good for Scott, left lying in a pool of blood.(Reminiscent of Murray being dumped by the beach when Kat was kidnapped near the beginning of Robbo's time on the show!) I hope this is over soon.It's been dawning on me that the initial appeal of Robbo and Jasmine was that she seemed to bring out a lighter side to him, but recently it's like he's been infecting her with his misery.

In other news, yes, the jury are apparently still deliberating on Irene. So much for "This time tomorrow it'll all be over."