2019 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[D.B]

Well, there's a lot to talk about. 

To start, I feel a lot of sorry for Robbo, having been betrayed by the two people he trusted the most, I completely understand his rage, and to be honest, I applaud his decision to not have anything to do with Tori or the baby: she went behind his back, why would he want anything to do with it? And I felt really sorry for Jasmine as well, she didn't mean to hurt anyone, having been forced between two people she really cared about, and now she's paying the price, but, even though I hate that he did it, I understand why Robbo called off the engagement. She made a wrong decision, and she feels horrible for it and even there only felt for what Robbo felt, but now there's something to pay for it. Tori, however, continues to be delusional and unlikable. How the hell can she believe that even if they all took some time, Robbo would want just forgive and work with her? Or Jasmine? You're right Red, it's like that she doesn't have a clue about what she caused. Jasmine was in her rights to slap her hard. Willow was a good friend to her and I loved how she put down Tori. But now Robbo has left town, hopefully not for good. I just feel so sorry for him and Jasmine. Also, does anyone else get reminded of when Ash left for a short time last year (ironically because of Robbo)? And even though I've gone off him recently on a massive scale, but I did sort of like Colby's scenes with Jasmine and Robbo, trying to be a comforting friend, but still a bit discomforting. 

Dean's breakdown continues to be rather interesting, and also shows how much of a character he has developed from when he first came to the Bay, given since he arrived to help kill a man, but now he's suffering remorse for it. Though unfortunately, Willow has been dragged into it yet again. Though I think he's wrong to do so, I do still have to admire Dean's loyalty and honesty to both Colby and Willow.

I have nothing to say for Brody and Simone, other than I hope their disgusting activity gets caught out soon other than Justin, who unfortunately again, has been forced to hide another secret. While I loved his disapproval towards the two of them, especially since Ziggy is left to believe that she's responsible and Brody continues to be reduced into a scumbag not even considering how his wife might feel, I wish that he gave Brody a more severe rant than what he gave Simone, because I feel that Brody deserves a thrashing more. 

Probably the best highlight this week, was Mason's scenes with Raffy. I surprisingly loved their scenes together (maybe because Mason appears to be the only Morgan able to be in contact with their sister, and also because Mason's acting like a really good brother here). I'd admit I was a bit nervous during his talk with Leah, I thought that he was going to get his secret chemistry set out!  But his cannabis idea seems to have mixed receptions (I have no idea about that kind of thing, so I won't say much on it other than if it is legal, and it would be in the proper medical amount, then surely it's worth a try), but however I found two things grating here: firstly, anything Tori had to say on it. She may have some proper concerns, but it's hard to take her seriously with taking to Mason about responsibility after these recent weeks, and secondly, Marilyn and John asking Raffy at the Morgan house, you know her actual home, if she wanted to 'go home', meaning their house. Yes, I am still banging on about it, I know! 

Ryder was a very sweet boyfriend, and I'm glad that he was able to reassure Raffy about their relationship, I did feel sorry for her feeling like he wouldn't want anything to do with her. I also enjoyed their scenes with Bella, who appears to become the third member of their friendship, only hopefully continuing to be more likeable than Coco.

The Alf and Martha scenes I enjoyed as well, despite little relevance to the past, they seem to work off well with each other. 

And, now it appears that Colby's secret is at jeopardy with McCarthy's little text at the end. And still no sympathy from me.  

 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

It's a shame that Tori wimped out of giving Robbo the engagement ring back, I would have loved to have seen his reaction.A shame too that Colby gave it back to Jasmine along with some false hope, in what seemed to be something of an act of transference.Leah really didn't say the right thing to Robbo: It was obvious that leaving town was the only way to avoid being involved with Tori and the baby.(Is there anyone left in Summer Bay?! That's Irene, Roo, Coco and now Robbo all away at the moment!) Still no sympathy for Tori: This is everything that Justin warned her about but she insisted she knew best.

Mason shouldn't have told Raffy his cannabis idea before consulting everyone else, it's just got her hopes up when there's nothing concrete.Whilst I'm still irritated about where she's living, I should give the show credit for dividing Raffy's screen time between the Palmers and the Morgans a bit more equally than they have in the past.Ironically, this is one occasion when I'd rather John and Marilyn speak up rather than leave all the decisions to Tori and Justin.Tori might be a doctor but she isn't an expert: She's not a neurologist (this week) so again I'm wondering why Mason can't take his idea to Raffy's specialist rather than needing Big Bro and Sis' approval.

If Bella doesn't want everyone staring at her, deliberately flaunting uniform regulations really wasn't the way to blend in.I'm more than a little uncomfortable with Colby threatening Ryder with "This brother's a cop", especially when we know he's something far worse than that.

[CaptainHulk]

15 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

It's a shame that Tori wimped out of giving Robbo the engagement ring back, I would have loved to have seen his reaction.A shame too that Colby gave it back to Jasmine along with some false hope, in what seemed to be something of an act of transference.Leah really didn't say the right thing to Robbo: It was obvious that leaving town was the only way to avoid being involved with Tori and the baby.(Is there anyone left in Summer Bay?! That's Irene, Roo, Coco and now Robbo all away at the moment!) Still no sympathy for Tori: This is everything that Justin warned her about but she insisted she knew best.

Mason shouldn't have told Raffy his cannabis idea before consulting everyone else, it's just got her hopes up when there's nothing concrete.Whilst I'm still irritated about where she's living, I should give the show credit for dividing Raffy's screen time between the Palmers and the Morgans a bit more equally than they have in the past.Ironically, this is one occasion when I'd rather John and Marilyn speak up rather than leave all the decisions to Tori and Justin.Tori might be a doctor but she isn't an expert: She's not a neurologist (this week) so again I'm wondering why Mason can't take his idea to Raffy's specialist rather than needing Big Bro and Sis' approval.

If Bella doesn't want everyone staring at her, deliberately flaunting uniform regulations really wasn't the way to blend in.I'm more than a little uncomfortable with Colby threatening Ryder with "This brother's a cop", especially when we know he's something far worse than that.

This tooown is comin' like a ghost town...

Do you remember good old days before the ghost town?!

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, McCarthy read a lot more into the torched car than Colby and Dean were probably hoping, but otherwise he was frustratingly blind to the fact that the surviving villain of the piece was sat in front of him.Is that the first time we've got a first name for Colby's father?Despite that moment, Colby continues to have a huge emotional disconnect from what's happened, dismissing cold-blooded murder as "He's where he belongs." He doesn't seem to have any awareness or understanding of the emotional trauma he's caused Dean and Bella, just focusing on making sure things go how he wants.He and Tori should form a club.It says a lot that Willow thinks Karen would be a better support for Dean than Colby: Hopefully she's on medication now and won't gas him.A counsellor wouldn't really be any good: There's a limit to doctor/patient confidentiality and a murder confession is it.

Oh great, another mean girl to pick up where Abbi left off.Bella didn't really do herself that many favours though, insisting on pushing boundaries instead of following the rules.So, as I understand it, she's in Year 11, a year below Raffy and Ryder? Ryder's turn to help out a panicking Raffy and actually be pretty good at it.

[H&Alover]

Not so sure about that, I had the feeling, which may be wrong, that although McCarthy apologised for having all that evidence up on the wall saying it should have been taken down, it was deliberately left there. It threw Colby and he did look very twitchy throughout  the interview/questioning.  There would have been tyre tracks, footprints where Colby shot Ross.  First time we've seen what Colby's dad looked like and his first name and I thought Michelle had married Ross which would have made her a Nixon, but the name on her photo was Thorne.   He's still determined to keep Dean's name out of it, but of course that isn't helping Dean's conscience any, Colby's reasoning being he would need Dean & Willow to look after Bella should he go down. He wasn't happy Dean had told Willow, understandable, more people that know the more likely one of them could let it slip, Karen as we saw being let in on the secret.  Dean told Colby why he didn't confide in him he's got Bella to worry about.  Karen must be doing OK if the hospital let her out for the day, hope Dean's news doesn't set her back and no Dean no way you'd end up like Karen her mental health problems had been going on for years. I agree D.B. about Dean, although I always knew there was more to him than met the eye and we saw glimpses of that from time to time.

Colby giving advice to Robbo about taking some time out to think about his decision to end it with Jasmine, Robbo obviously having told him about why he did,  congratulating Tori, didn't seem to be meant sarcastically,  rare occurrence  and giving Jasmine the ring back  and telling her not to give up on Robbo very sociopathic behaviour. I think Robbo took Colby's advice to take time out really seriously and 's why he's left town, wherever he's gone he won't be bumping into Tori or Jasmine which would be hard to avoid in a small town.  I thought differently about Tori 'wimping' out of giving Robbo the ring back, he would likely have thrown it at her and imho giving it to Colby, seeing as he lives with him, was the better decision. I thought differently to you Red, again, about Colby teasing Ryder about looking out for Bella. There was ever only going to be one person Colby would have killed and that was Ross and that was only put himself in the firing line. Colby  could have killed  Ebony after all she put him through, but he didn't.

It did appear that Robbo is still unaware that Leah knew about what Tori did gong by the way he talked to her. As an aside who's going to be in charge of the gym, I know Mason isn't otherwise occupied at the moment but Willow has just come out of hospital and still isn't fully qualified. Sorry to bang on about TT - terrible Tori - but if most people we've seen have been horrified about what she has done wait until Irene finds out!

As for Bella not giving herself an easy ride, let's not forget her social skills aren't the best, she's not had any friends she could have learnt them from due to her 'loving' daddy of course. To be put into a whole new environment   like a high school where most of the kids know each other would be daunting for any newcomer but for Bella ten times more so.  All the other kids have had years of how to behave in a class and what you should and shouldn't do but for her  it's a bloody big learning curve. Do they not have a floor plan of where classes are for new kids to SBH? If there hadn't been all that too-ing and fro-ing she would have been a little less daunted. I did like how she defended Raffy when Imogen, new bully on the block(?), had a dig at her.  Nice scene later with Bella and Dean and although he hadn't been a big fan of school himself  got her to agree to go back, he did have to duck her question about Ross though.  Tiny thing, was his hair longer on top?

Oh Ryder, when you aren't being  a dolt you are a wonderful guy, the way he calmed Raffy down so she didn't have a full blown seizure, laid her down, made her comfortable then went to get Maggie. Then later when Marilyn & John came to take Raffy home he gently teased her saying she wouldn't want to catch what he had making her laugh.

Maybe Mason shouldn't have told Raffy about the possibility of her getting cannabis oil spray treatment, did think he was jumping the gun, but at least he has included her,  Tori needs to tell her why she and Raffy's neurologist thinks she wouldn't be suitable, not tell Mason he has to untell her,  or least let Raffy talk to him/her about it, she's old enough to understand the pros and cons and have John/Marilyn or Justin with her. There is a procedure to go through and TPTB have to be convinced Raffy is a suitable candidate.   It did come to me after why Justin would be wary about Raffy taking cannabis, it is a drug after all, even if given medicinally, because not that long ago Brody was a drug addict.

[Red Ranger 1]

9 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Colby  could have killed  Ebony after all she put him through, but he didn't.

Er...how? He went after her on his own, which is extremely worrying in retrospect, only to mess it up, get locked in a room on his own and need Robbo to come to his rescue, then by the time he got out the police were there. Whether he wanted to or not (and his vengeful streak came out with the way he took pleasure in watching her get sent down while Robbo had moved on), he never had any opportunity to kill her after he worked out she was the baddy.

Anyway, Karen has been inducted into the ever growing "I know Colby's a murderer" club.So it seems she's not ready to be let out unsupervised yet, but apparently Willow qualifies as a responsible adult.She gave Dean some decent advice but unfortunately he took it very much the wrong way and decided to get himself some (apparently home-made) sleeping tablets by illicit means.

How exactly is Simone supporting herself?She turned down a paying job at Salt, turned down one in the city, and has now taken on more unpaid work! (Doing exactly what she came to Summer Bay to get away from, to boot.) Is she really really rich?When we saw her on the phone to someone, I thought we might be about to meet someone from her past but nope, it was Brody on the other end.Trying to work out Simone's finances is a lot more fun than the ostensible subject matter of Brody and Simone being surprised at the fact that having an affair involves a lot of sneaking around and having anyone that knows about you disapprove.Who'd have thought it, eh? At least the show came up with a stunning night-out outfit for Ziggy this time round!

[Razabaza]

Brody is ice cold. He shows zero remorse or guilt for his affair. What do these two women even see in him? He's moody and boring. Simone doesn't seem to have any shame either, especially the way she's trying to make a good impression on Maggie at the school.

I don't see Jasmine's big attraction to Robbo. He's so sour and snappy. She's a bit irritating at times, but she deserves better than a permanent sulk.

I didn't like Bella when she first came to the show. She seemed feral and loud, which is understandable considering the way she was raised, but now I actually do like her. She seems a bit shy and sweet.

I don't think telling Karen about the murder was a good idea. Yes, her mental state seems to have improved a lot, but still, there's a long road to go and she might accidentally blurt it out.

[D.B]

Well, Colby is definitely continuing on the road towards being a sociopath. He continues to show no remorse, which is bad enough, but continues to be completely ignorant, as Red said, about what his actions are putting his best mate through. The fact that during his conversation with Willow, he shows more concern about what Dean will tell McCarthy rather than his emotional state, really tells us a lot about him. Meanwhile, we got some small, but still more, information about his father and mother and it was a bit satisfying what McCarthy said about Ross's tactics made Colby uncomfortable, but otherwise, it looks like ultimately it leads to nothing. Willow continues to be the only sole voice of reason in this situation, telling Colby off and wanting Dean to receive help. Dean's scenes however with Bella were fun to see, and I did feel some sympathy for Bella in school for probably the first time, even though she did seem intent on pushing the teacher's nerves. Great to see Karen again, and in a much better state than before she got some help. I actually enjoyed their scenes together,it had a really nice touch too it and the actors did an amazing job, but unfortunately look's like Dean is making the wrong decision here. 

Simone's got some nerve, hasn't she? Seriously, who the hell would be so open to taking a job from the mother of the woman she's stealing her husband from. And Brody still needs a good hard punch in the face before I can look at him again. It's unbelievable that they argue about having to sneak around, and yet still want to keep it secret. Meanwhile, poor Ziggy's left feeling jealous again, though I feel more sympathy this time for her. 

[H&Alover]

And of course Colby is the only cop in the bay to go off and do their own thing isn't he? Why wouldn't he be glad she went down, she was a psychopath,  pretending to show emotion and faking helping Colby look for Bella, elbowing Jasmine out of the way in the process, pretending to be Bella then drugging Colby and putting him in the frame for killing Hazel.  Of course a big reason why she was like she was was down to Hazel.  He does know what he is putting Dean through, it's Dean who's decided not to burden him with his problems.  Before you remind me yes he did kill Boyd but he had little choice there Boyd, who had kidnapped Ava, was about  to run Dean over.

I thought those scenes with Dean and Karen were wonderful, very moving in places and great to see how much better she is, yes Dean didn't want to drag her into it, but she is his mum so would want to know and I doubt she would have given up nagging him until he told her. Smiled when Dean asked how long her she and Willow had been besties, I'd forgotten Willow wasn't on Karen's Christmas card list. As an aside hard to believe this is Patrick O'Connor's first acting role, he really is so good as Dean  no one dimensional character, came in as  a hard nosed River Boy helping Ash hunt down Robbo but as time went on we saw different sides to him, he tracked down Ash went he went walk about after Kat's funeral and persuaded him to get help.  Anyways back to yesterday don't forget Karen knew Ross way back so knew exactly what kind of slime ball he was. Is Karen some sort of mind reader she said just what I said when Dean said he was worried about turning out like her, her mental health problems had been going on for years, but she is concerned for him.  She still has  a way to go of course but she has accepted her condition, if that is possible, and can now deal with it with help. Shame he  then had to be an idiot by buying those obviously dodgy pills.  Btw does he still have any of that money his dad gave him left, I remember he said he'd pay for Colby and Chelsea's wedding.

You do remember why Robbo is or rather was  sour and snappy don't you Razabaza, he has been much happier in the last few months than he was when we first saw him but even then he had something about him - or is that just me?

That's my question too Red - has Simone got a private income we don't know about.  Initially, I think, she was only supposed to be in the bay for a few weeks while on leave from her job as  special needs teacher which wouldn't pay that much would it?  Anyway ulterior motives aside as she said to Brody beats sitting around doing nothing all day waiting for him to contact her so she might as well put her skills to good use.  Oh another instance about a semi private conversation being held in a public place. Maggie had forgotten about Ziggy not being happy about Simone being around and she put on a good face when Ben told her though the look on her face after he had gone showed her real feelings. I don't think  Maggie should have to make a choice imho, she should put two vulnerable pupils first before the situation gets worse, she has a duty of care to them.  Could Simone and Brody stood any closer at the bar in SALT?  Sorry love that is what it is like being a mistress, your lover has to be with his wife occasionally.  I don't think I'd want to be Justin when Ziggy finds out the truth, which will happen, and she works out he knew. 

I'm not going to be popular here, but I really don't like the phrase he/she was stolen, a person can't be stolen, as in picked up and carried away under someone's arm.  The person 'stolen'  is as much to blame as the person 'stealing' them it takes two.   Take it from someone who knows.

[Red Ranger 1]

8 hours ago, H&Alover said:

And of course Colby is the only cop in the bay to go off and do their own thing isn't he?

He's the only cop to murder someone in cold blood and still be treated as somehow deserving of sympathy.Anyway, I was answering your point that Colby somehow deserves a medal for restricting himself to only murdering one person, by pointing out he never had the opportunity to murder Ebony, but did go after her (when he wasn't even a police officer, he'd been fired) with ambiguous intention.

Alf's episode count this week:Two.

Brody continues to keep his options open, giving both Ziggy and Simone just enough to keep them sweet while refusing to commit to either of them.It looks like even Justin's washed his hands of the situation and decided that Brody's obviously not going to listen.It's hard to take Simone's moral stance seriously and I suspect it'll last as long as the next phone call from Brody.She has after all said similar things before.

Alf did overreact to Martha's comment and Martha proceeded to overreact to his overreaction.Still, that and a few words from Leah and Marilyn gave him the nudge he needed to be honest with her.It's still not clear what form their relationship will take but it's there.

I knew Jett was coming back but didn't realise it was this episode, so it was a bit of a shock when he wandered into the back of the shot.I'm not sure if he's grown since we last saw him or if I've just forgotten how tall he was when he last appeared, but he's nearly as big as John! I was slightly worried to see him credited as Jett James rather than Jett Palmer: Is that a plot point or a sign that the people doing the credits don't do their research properly?(They probably looked him up on Wikipedia, who insist on calling him Jett James because of some arbitary "common name" ruling.)