2019 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

Seriously if that been me I'd have stopped the car and turfed Roo out - she was beyond annoying!  Would have been hard enough for a experienced driver but Ryder was on  a driving lesson and was supposed to be concentrating but she went blathering on and on and on!     I thought when Ryder stopped the car he was going  to do that, but thy had run out of petrol. I think as a learner you are meant to check petrol , tyres etc.  but Alf could have  given him the nod, little dig from Roo about Alf being cheap in filling up.  I guess Roo has sort of won, but this way with Ryder going to TAFF he can still work at Salt, gaining practical knowledge as well as the paper work side.

As happens in soap land everywhere it seems Raffy is be leaving pretty quickly from Justin being dead against it to being all aboard.  Alex seems to be able to pull strings getting her into another trial.  I can see why Justin doesn't want her to go at the moment and fir the see-able  it's only him and Mason.  I think it was him seeing Raffy putting on a brave face about she has the option of going into research while  great isn't what she really wants to do.   Apparently she hasn't a problem living with Brody and Simone then.  Obviously Marilyn - neat name drop that Marilyn was visiting Jett - and John don't know yet - they'll take it hard but want the best for her and Ryder may blame himself  that their breakup had something to influence her.   Hopefully she'll get a good send off.

Robbo and Scott are supposed to be professionals but it took Jasmine to point out it would look suspicious if she took a huge suitcase to work.  In any case - sorry no pun intended - her just taking her usual bag didn't work as they grabbed her anyway, They must have been tailing them as we don't where it happened.  Scott may have been wounded but he shot one of the bad guys badly by the looks of things.   I don't buy the idea that Carter has left the country.  Correct decision by Robbo not wanting to know Jasmine's new name or destination, he can't tell what he doesn't know. 

I missed seeing Aiden's name on the card, was that who Maggie talked to on the phone?  Ben seemed a bit more hopeful saying one of the Feds believed him, but still aways to go I guess.  The fact Maggie felt she needed to talk to someone gave him food for thought.

[Red Ranger 1]

On 27/10/2019 at 15:15, H&Alover said:

I missed seeing Aiden's name on the card, was that who Maggie talked to on the phone? 

The guy she spoke to referred to himself as Charlie. I'm not sure where she's meant to have got Aiden's card from, thinking about it.Maybe they hand them out at the hospital?

Disappointing that this was Robbo's episode without Jasmine this week (watch for it, they always have one), because I'd rather actually see how she is than see him worrying about her.Oh well, I guess they call it building up tension or something.One of the things I liked about the episode was the focus on Robbo and Scott's friendship.It was a nice touch to have Robbo concerned about him as well as Jasmine, when the lazy cliché would have been to have him angry with him for losing her.And of course Scott felt especially bad about messing up because it's Robbo that's been hurt.

Really not a good week for Roo.Fresh from thinking she knows what's best for Ryder, she now decides she knows what's best for Ben and Maggie.For a while, it looked like it might not be so bad, but then Roo had to encourage Maggie to take it too far and the result was her getting hurt and Ben withdrawing.And frustratingly, because Roo wasn't there to see the result of her handiwork, she probably thinks she did a good job.Also, that was the second time recently that someone's asked after Coco and not been given a proper answer.It's like the show acknowledges that she exists but doesn't want to give any details.

[H&Alover]

Roo has reverted to being really, really annoying in the last couple of days.  If Maggie hadn't been with her I don't think she would have thought 'I know, I'll drag Maggie along so her and Ben can talk.' I loved it when Alf had a go at Roo. but it went right over her head.  Unless it was mentioned off screen Ben didn't tell Maggie what he'd told Alf about it being likely   he hadn't been the only one who'd been duped.   Quite a few awkward silences at the table Roo bringing up Irene still waiting for her verdict being one of them.  Ben was being a tad paranoid thinking Maggie had tagged along to Alf's knowing he was there and got drunk deliberately so he'd have to drive her home and be talked into staying the night.  She is going to feel so bad in the morning.  Re Coco, even when Maggie or Ziggy has been talking to her on the phone her name's not been said out loud.

Colby of course just happened to be walking down the stairs from Salt when he got the shout about a cop being down and Robbo just happened to be in the Juice Bar when he was ringing Lance to find out what had happened to Jasmine  so overheard what are the odds eh?  Colby was very professional all the way though it - shows he can be - Robbo was the one in danger of completely losing it.  It transpired They had been tailing them, staying close to the motel, but not close enough that they would be detected.   Colby kept Robbo calm and told him to use his head to think about what They would do next.  Luckily the guy who got shot didn't have the same blood type as Jasmine which would have completed things, assuming  - eek - they get his DNA from his blood it doesn't follow he is on any criminal date base.  Now I may be dumb but isn't it a bit pointless Colby and the other cops ringing round hospitals  to ask if someone with  a gunshot wound has been admitted, anyone with a gunshot wound has to be reported to the cops don't they .  No-one found a hospital where Dylan had been admitted so it stands to reason this guy will  be treated outside of a hospital.  After trying to crash the room where Alex was working on Scott and being threatened with security Robbo, which I did have to smile at as Colby was there, restrained himself and waited until Scott could tell him as much as he could.  Scott may well be a Fed but these guys are ruthless.  Even if Robbo wanted Scott to be able to tell him more he didn't take it out on him, even telling him he'd tell Scott's missus he was doing OK.     Handy that Alex knew Scott from before so no explanations needed as to how he might have got shot.

 It looks like Mason and Willow are running the gym by themselves again. 

[baywatcher]

Channel Five have announced that H&A will be finishing on Fri 22nd November and returning on Mon 6th Jan 2020 .  No word yet on how long the show will be off-air in Oz.

[Red Ranger 1]

4 hours ago, baywatcher said:

Channel Five have announced that H&A will be finishing on Fri 22nd November and returning on Mon 6th Jan 2020 . 

Thanks for the info: That means we'll end with Episode 7225 which aired in Oz on 2nd October. (Without giving too much away, I believe that's a big one to go out on, which may have played a part in the decision.) Assuming the season's the same length as last year, that means we'll have 9 weeks of it left again and get the season finale on Friday 6th March.

Anyway, before all that: It was nice to see Jasmine being spirited and level-headed again.She's not going to let a man die if she can help it, even if he's a low-level criminal who kidnapped her.And she kept her head and gave Robbo as much information as she could.Robbo meanwhile is all over the shop and not really helping, although he did eventually provide some useful information.It was a nice touch to have Justin be the one to give Robbo a pep-talk, which went better than his usual "Why aren't you doing anything?" efforts.

Irene's still waiting on a verdict: I wonder if something was cut, since we seemed to suddenly go from possibly having a retrial to them definitely getting a verdict tomorrow.Nice to have her on the phone to Fin and explaining why she isn't at the court. (Now what about Damian and Nathan?) It felt like Roo got a bit too easy a ride after her disastrous interference: The only person that really blamed her was herself.Still, it led to Alf stepping up and giving Ben some pertinent ruminations about how things could have gone between him and Martha.

[H&Alover]

  Only three weeks to go then!!!

Maggie was very forgiving towards Roo, don't know if I could have been, too right she should blame herself, didn't get any comfort from Alf.  She did do it with good intentions, but we know what they pave the way to. Alf, while not telling Ben what he should or shouldn't do just gave a brief account of what happened to him and Martha because he couldn't understand what she was going through and let him think about it.  It lead to another talk between Ben & Maggie.

Way to go Jasmine, Robbo rightly called her a genius, good thinking Batman, knowing at some point Robbo would find out that specific  medical supplies had been stolen - hardly likely bad guy two would be able to walk into a chemist/pharmacy and just buy that lot -  and he'd put two and two together, beginning to think she's in the wrong job.   Despite being terrified she kept her head, practically telling one of the bad guys, do they have names, he'd have to go and get medical supplies, not knocking her at all but she is only a nurse so wouldn't have the knowledge to get the bullet out, all she can do is keep him alive long enough for either they got found by the Feds or they were taken somewhere where the guy could get proper help. She was bold in saying they wouldn't hurt her as they need her to exchange for Carter, and getting them to hang on for another half and hour, one guy said she shouldn't be so sure about that, but would his boss agree?   I thought there were three of them but didn't Scott say there were only two?  Good update on him that he's in a hospital in the city.  Colby and Robbo made a good team, Colby having the local knowledge thanks to his River Boy days so was able to narrow the search for the hide out a lot quicker than it may have taken, they can't have missed them by much and it must have been so frustrating!!!!  Nothing now to stop Robbo finding the elusive Carter. 

Well at least that's one cliff hanger resolved - Irene gets her verdict today.  Despite trying to put on  a brave face the strain was definitely  showing and Leah, lovey, you may think you're being positive  but all this 'you won't be found guilty' isn't very helpful, Irene is prepared that things could go against her.  Didn't realise it was going to be a ladies only meal, nice that Irene included Mack  Having given up on trying to persuade Leah to accept half her share of the Diner she's looking into selling the Beach house should Tommy bring a civil suit against her.  She's given Willow good warning that she'll need to find somewhere to live which has completely thrown her, didn't know she didn't have an actual lease just living there and paying Irene rent.  I think Willow has always just bunked in with someone in an informal basis, be a whole learning curve finding somewhere to rent, if she can afford to or house/flat share for real.  Mack seems to be taking being a coppers girlfriend OK, naturally wanting to be with Colby but understanding his work comes first, especially as it's someone he knows, does she know Jasmine and Colby used to be an item?  Bit confused, it looked like Bella was off to school when Willow and Mack showed up, yet she spent the day at the DIner.

[Red Ranger 1]

I was hoping the stuff with Jasmine being kidnapped would be done and dusted quickly, but looks like it’s going to drag on into next week, given that Robbo has used up his three episodes and she’s still missing. Her gambit with the list didn’t go the way she wanted it to, although she did save a life, even if it wasn’t a particularly spectacular one, so she’s got some karma points. I can’t take Colby seriously as the voice of doing things by the book: If it was Bella or Mackenzie missing, he’d be banging heads together to find them, possibly even more forcefully than Robbo. H&Alover: The lead guy’s called Des according to the credits and the guy that got shot Lenny. The other guy’s called Fitz, and was actually named in dialogue last week. We only saw the two guys when Jasmine was kidnapped so presumably Scott did too. Des seemingly joined them not long after, giving he was in the car on the security footage.

Irene’s “last supper” seemed oddly Women Only: Why didn’t anyone invite Alf to stay? I assumed that Bella had just come home from school when they picked her up, it seemed to be late in the day. While I get that the real reason Mackenzie was invited was that she was in the episode, it is nice to see her getting more integrated with the community, and looking out for Bella and Robbo. It also felt like she realised for the first time how dangerous Colby’s job could be. Willow’s reaction to potentially having to move out seemed a bit over the top – if it did happen, no doubt she’d just move back into the van next to Dean – but I guess it was the catalyst to her realising how little she has to show for her life. Then again, she’s only, what, 24? No need to press the panic button yet.

And Irene’s verdict is in, but there was no tension because they told us what it was in the promo and even showed her at Salt afterwards. Then for extra anti-climax, they don’t bother showing us the sentencing and just had her turn up: This is bad enough when they don’t show any of the court, but when there’s a court scene in the episode and they still play “tell don’t show” on Tommy having the smile wiped off his face, I have to wonder what they’re playing at. But then the focus has been all wrong throughout the trial, with Bella’s testimony being treated as pivotal when it was more appropriate to Tommy’s trial than Irene’s and verging on irrelevant: The prosecutor even said that he wasn’t questioning that Irene was right to defend Bella initially. (Tommy did muddy the waters by playing the victim, which makes me wonder what on earth the prosecutor was playing at and why he was shaking Tommy’s hand like they were working together instead of being annoyed at him for destroying his argument.) The main issue should have been Irene’s reasons for attacking Tommy again: She even placed her past abuse on record so it could be used as evidence, yet there was no mention of it here. Anyway, the outcome’s the right one because sorry, but Irene was guilty. It increases my feeling that she should have pleaded guilty in the first place and gone for mitigation: She is very very lucky that the judge doesn’t seem to have held the not guilty plea against her. A shame that it leaves her open to the civil suit, underlying how moronic Leah was in not protecting the Diner when Irene wanted to.

Mackenzie was well-intentioned where Karen was concerned and I don’t want to fault her, although stepping in instead of letting her correct her own mistake might not have been the best thing. John was actually a bit hard-done by here for all Alf’s talk of karma, since he didn’t really seem to say anything objectionable. I guess Karen was at the end of her tether and she doesn’t like John so he made an easy target. I don’t really blame Dean for being angry, even if he’s probably wrong about Karen faking the faint. (Alex could probably tell the difference.)

And it seems Raffy is going. I’ll miss her but possibly not as much as I would have done once. I’ve got no sympathy for John and Marilyn. They kept Raffy with them longer than they should have done, for reasons that had very little to do with what was best for her and a lot more to do with what they wanted. Credit for not saying anything in front of her, but Marilyn in particular acted as though it’s all about her when really she’s reaping what she sowed: How did she think this was going to end?

[H&Alover]

On ‎29‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 19:30, baywatcher said:

Channel Five have announced that H&A will be finishing on Fri 22nd November and returning on Mon 6th Jan 2020 .  No word yet on how long the show will be off-air in Oz.

That's a very emotive date been a while since 22nd November was on a Friday.

[H&Alover]

I did think I'd heard one of the others call Fitz by his name, usually a lot of the time when things like this happen we never find out the names.  I thought her idea had gone the way she wanted it to? It got Robbo and Colby on their trail even if they missed them.  Always different when it's not someone who is close to you that is in danger.  People would moan if she and the others were found quick saying it's not feasible and others moan when it  takes longer - TPTB can't win sometimes.

Maybe it's because she's now in her mid twenties Willow is feeling a bit lost, though Dean is the same age and he stays in a van, maybe though like Dean she is finally settling down in part of her life but hasn't a place she can properly call home.   Maybe her and Alex could flat/house share, they do get on well.

After all that build up and worry for Irene all we got was guilty on all three charges - then she's back in the bay! Even Alf remarked "What are you doing here?" when he was telling her before she'd be back. No doubt at all she was guilty of all three charges so what made the judge decide on the good behaviour bond and Irene continuing to attend her support group, that we should have heard.  The last we saw was the look of horror on Irene's face then it cut away. Tommy must be happy and disappointed in equal measures, Irene escapes  jail for what she did to him but he does get to file  a civil suit - so yah boo shucks Leah you should have listened to Irene.

Hard to tell if Mack would have treated another new member of staff the same way she treated Karen, I'd have been flummoxed by the tablet thingy, but then I'm an oldie, not saying Karen is but she's new to technology, completely new, so maybe a few lessons with Mack beforehand and 'til then let Karen write down the orders that she reckoned she could have handled.   Had to  when Karen said she didn't do uniforms and Mack replied 'no of course you don't.'   John had been pushing for it with those cracks he'd been making about Karen, what happened in Salt though was a total accident he was right behind her when she turned round and split the lunch on him, pouring a glass of water over his head wasn't though.   We saw Alex, is she now the go to doc?,  tell Dean Karen's fainting is a side affect of the drugs she's on, making him look shame faced for doubting Karen, though she has been known previously for ducking out of things by throwing a sickie.  Those two, Willow and Mack need to talk about what else could happen from her taking them.

I was surprised Ryder thought learning to surf would be that easy, paddle out into the sea, jump on the board and ride the wave in.  Yeh right, even I know you start on the sand, has he not watched H&A?  After a lot of false starts he finally stood up for ten seconds. Dean was enjoying it and had more patience than I though he would.

Brought down to earth with  a bump when Raffy told him her news and how quick she'd be leaving, usual promises of we'll visit and Skype and text etc.  glad they have parted as friends.  Actually I thought John and Maz took it a lot better than I thought they would, especially Maz, she was teary of course but held it together pretty good.  John & Maz had been out of the loop regards these new trials, she'd been at the Morgan's.  Also Raffy is putting her HSE on hold for a year, no rush is there uni will still be there.  Hope Ryder doesn't feel he went to all that effort, pleading to go back to school, swotting up on all he'd missed to be there to back up Raffy for nothing.  

 

[Red Ranger 1]

8 hours ago, H&Alover said:

I thought her idea had gone the way she wanted it to? It got Robbo and Colby on their trail even if they missed them.

Well, what she really wanted was for them to find her, not turn up where she'd been after she'd gone.There didn't seem to be any real clues either.

Alf's episode count this week:Five, for the second week running.

Dean has to do a climbdown after assuming Karen was faking but it resulted in a lot of introspection on her part as she was forced to admit she'd given Dean good reason to doubt her.It did seem like John was a bit hard done by again, he actually was owed an apology, not another insult.But he does seem to be the show's fall guy a lot of the time.Karen's initially abrupt attitude towards Ben turned out to be more about her than him, as she took a long look at herself and decided she didn't entirely like what she saw.It wasn't entirely her fault, but she wasn't the mother Dean needed, and she doesn't feel she can take any credit for how he's turned out.A cautionary tale for Ben maybe but he's perhaps got a better foundation.It was somewhat odd that Karen sent Dean to Ziggy and he never turned up (that we saw, anyway) but that's probably for the best given that Maggie and Ziggy needed a girls' night in.

That was an incredibly low key departure for Raffy.She wasn't the main focus of the episode at all, and I was left feeling that either the show didn't do a big farewell because they think she might be coming back, or Olivia Deeble annoyed someone by quitting.She got farewells with Ryder and Mason, which were okay but a bit perfunctory.I was very disappointed that she didn't get a proper last scene with Bella: She never even found out what happened between her and Tommy (which may have been deliberate so she wouldn't knowingly leave in the middle of it).I think we're past Ryder only being in school for Raffy, and she was put up a year of course so she'll only be leaving school when she should have done.I wish we'd left on Marilyn's crestfallen "She didn't say goodbye" rather than having to sit through that mawkish farewell note which underlined what I disliked about that set-up: "You didn't take me in because you had to but because you chose to" isn't a good thing in my book.There was no reason for her to live with them instead of her family except that it was what they wanted.I will give them credit for keeping quiet while Raffy was around and letting her leave happy, and the show has done a better job this year than last of giving equal importance to all the adults in Raffy's life, but I've never accepted her as their "daughter" and there were other people's reactions I'd rather have seen.