2020 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

Did I hear Mac say Colby is a professional?  Maybe most of the time but when personal feelings come into it he isn't.  

Nik is only young and Colby does know about owning up to things - or not in his case.  Ari was OTT wanting to sit in on Nik's interview because as Colby pointed out he is over 18 and not an vulnerable adult. Very Braxton behaviour with Tane/Brax ringing their according to Ari/Heath 'dodgy' lawyer.  Nik did listen to Tane and kept his mouth shut.   No valid reason for the cancellation of the identity parade, but are there another two or three guys in the bay that look enough like the Parata's to comply with the numbers needed?  So far the guys have done a good job keeping Gemma out of the loop, not sure of what her reaction will be when she does find out.  Would Nik, Ari and Tane be allowed to leave to go back to NZ, are they under suspicion for the Diner, car jacking? 

Has Bella gone back on what she said in her letter to Nik, whatever that was, she seems to be getting quite close to him and it is her choice Red.  On that subject how did she know which was Nik's bedroom, she went straight to it.  It would have completely thrown him when he'd seen she'd self harmed, would anyone so I'd cut him - no pun intended - some slack there. 

Yes Jasmine - although I can understand her reaction, Grace is very dear to her, she was going over the top, questioning Tori on how it happened not once but twice, the police didn't even do that, did they?  Justin was very restrained and calmly asked Jas to leave as Tori needed to get Grace settled.  Tori knows how Robbo would have felt so she didn't need Jasmine to keep hitting her over the head with it.  Tori is an adult Red not a helpless baby.  Similar thing happened in Emmerdale, Paddy was in such a hurry to get Marlon into the hospital he left Eve in the car alone with the doors open in the hospital car park. 

Grace seems to be  the only one not to be affected by the car jacking/kidnapping  and I've had a wicked thought, they could  do an identity parade and get Grace to pick the guy out by gurgling at him? 

Colby upset Jasmine by not  giving her the answer she was hoping for - Tori hadn't gone off shopping and was right next to the car so no way could it be called child abandonment.  If Nikau hadn't been on his mission to get away it wouldn't have happened.  She didn't get any further in that phone call she made, something about she as a step mother didn't have any say about what had happened leaving Mac looking perplexed and worried.   I'm confused.com - normally a step mother is a woman who has married a widowed or divorced dad who shares child care with ex wife but in this case but mum is sole carer so can Jasmine be classed as a step mum?  So now Jasmine 2711 is stirring up trouble and hatred on the forum  to make her feel justified. Don't forget the women on the forum are mums so would respond the way they have.  Not a spoiler as it was in the trailer but Jas obviously got a bit careless as Willow sees what she has posted. 

 

[CaptainHulk]

Grace: Gurgle gurgle... (Translation: "That's him officer!")

[Red Ranger 1]

9 hours ago, H&Alover said:

It would have completely thrown him when he'd seen she'd self harmed, would anyone so I'd cut him - no pun intended - some slack there. 

To be pedantic, Nikau didn't know Bella had self-harmed until after he'd run away from the flat and made his regular attempt to skip town.

9 hours ago, H&Alover said:

I'm confused.com - normally a step mother is a woman who has married a widowed or divorced dad who shares child care with ex wife but in this case but mum is sole carer so can Jasmine be classed as a step mum? 

That's a rather convoluted and in some ways contradiction description! (How can a widowed dad share child care with his ex-wife? She'd be dead, madam...) Essentially, a stepmother is a woman married to someone who has a child with someone else. Don't forget that Grace was living with Robbo and Jasmine, as her father and step-mother, for a while.

Anyway, where to start with today's episode? Well, we might as well pick up on Jasmine who is still occupying the deep end.Again, she's telling people what they want to hear while having a warped perspective on things and drumming up support on the internet. (Even if most of them don't seem interested in answering her questions but in going "OMG that's awful" a lot.)It's interesting that she didn't attempt to deny it when Willow referred to her posts as "lies": Is it that she knows they are and doesn't care or is it that she thinks they're the truth but knows Willow will never agree? (It's weird to think Justin and Willow were a couple once, BTW!)

I did wince when Mackenzie made those comments in front of Ryder, but she shouldn't beat her up too much: Not everyone gets on with their father and it was good for her to go and chat to Ryder about it afterwards.

I'm not quite sure what "We're taking things slow" means.Ben seems to think things are going well with Maggie but she seemed to want to stay in their bubble: Maybe all those months of having her hopes dashed has meant she can't bring herself to accept that this is the happy ending? She has a point that they're not going to be able to click their fingers and get back to how they were, but maybe they don't need to, they just need to resolve to move forward together.

Is Ziggy's tattoo meant to be in a rather intimate spot? If so, would she really show it to Willow?

[Psychic Wombat]

@H&Alover I don't think Jasmine has any legal claim to Grace whatsoever, she's clearly become unhinged, that icy look in her eye is a little un nerving!

Is it me or am I the only one who doesn't really like or care about the Paratas? I feel sorry for Gemma having to deal with three thick headed characterless males. I reckon she'd be better on her own with Nik, his uncles are just a constant link to their criminal past. I thought they would grow on me like the Braxtons but not so far. Not helped by the stilted script.

 

 

[H&Alover]

Forgotten it was Ryder that spotted what she had done.  

Of course I was only referring to a divorced dad as you well know and nowadays does the new mum/dad have to be married to the parent to be classed as a step mum/dad? 

Anyways, Jasmine is not giving up on her obsession in her belief that Tori is the worse mum in the world, one woman did advise Jas to keep a log of the 'bad' things Tori has done, but she was talking about her ex husband so no comparison.  Mac was worried enough to ring Willow but of course Jasmine managed to put them off, for a while at least.  By accident then that Willow found Jas' page when she thought it was the gym's forum.  No way was that believable Jasmine caving in that like and agreeing with Willow she'd talk to her and come off the forum and write down what she was thinking.  Methought Willow and Mac were kidding themselves about it being a god sign  when they saw Jasmine writing on her pad, because what Jasmine was PRINTING, which is a bad sign in itself,  it didn't look like it was anything that would be in any way calming.   I guess we should be grateful it wasn't in green ink.   Wasn't any need for Justin to 'shoot' Willow, she wasn't defending Jasmine, just telling him she was worried about her.  

News about the kidnapping is getting around and Nik nearly dropped himself in it when he mentioned to Tori it happened when she was helping John, lucky for him that news had got around.   Leah put Jasmine off going round to see or ringing Tori very kindly and tactfully, not that Jasmine would see it like that. 

Lovely talks between Gramps Alf  and Ryder.  It must be unnerving wanting and yet not wanting to hear from Roo.  Is there anything stopping Ryder ringing Evan even for a brief chat?  Handy Gemma is off to NZ so Ryder can pick up her shifts.   That was a big gaffe on Mac's part, especially when Ryde hadn't seen his dad before.  She took the bit between her teeth though and apologised to him, I loved their cuddle. 

Maggie, Maggie what did you expect, that the school board would fall on their knees and welcome you back with open arms?  The time off you when you had cancer aside, you haven't been the most consistent principal SBH have had so no surprise they've given the job to someone else.  Everyone is chuffed they are back with each other, they  are soulmates and should be together, hard cross to bear though being told you are the perfect couple.  All they can do is take it slowly but things won't go back exactly as they were, it's going to be a new them.  Maggie was definitely uneasy about all the fuss being made, perhaps feeling she/they didn't deserve it?  She did say the fact everyone is so happy for them makes her feel they can't have any more problems as they'd be under the microscope.   That was a big bombshell they are both going to Italy for good!

Not too an intimate spot for Ziggy's tat - bum/buttocks, I was more surprised she showed Willow it in Salt - twice!   On that wasn't that scene right after the aborted dinner, because Ziggy seemed perfectly relaxed?  I was impressed Ziggy dropped in that was the reason why she couldn't get wet the day before as the tat is so new. 

 

Edited August 7, 2020 by H&Alover

[Red Ranger 1]

That's a good point about common law step-mums, the law does seem to give them more rights these days than previous. Essentially, I'd say that Jasmine has some legal claim on Grace but no more than, say, a grandparent or an aunt or uncle: She doesn't have any authority to overrule Tori, much like Justin couldn't really do anything about the choices Robbo made.

Ben and Maggie's plan seemed to falter a bit when it turned out Ziggy and Coco weren't on board. Despite them acting otherwise, there are surely some options in the world other than Summer Bay and Italy? But yeah, it's a bit of a downer, although it was always a hard sell. I did like the way Willow seemed utterly uninterested when Dean tried to bend her ear about it.

Alf did well getting Roo and Evan to ring Ryder, it's given him a bit of peace of mind.John and Marilyn didn't even manage to paint on the smiles for Alf successfully.It might help if Marilyn actually asked what John wanted rather than just steaming in, but it goes beyond that somewhat, they just don't seem to enjoy each other's company at the moment.What was that John was playing with at the table?Was it just some sort of physio exercise or was he actually trying to do something?

[CaptainHulk]

Maybe London would be a middle ground but given what's going on here... I wouldn't recommend it!

 

[Dan F]

16 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

What was that John was playing with at the table?Was it just some sort of physio exercise or was he actually trying to do something?

It was a grip exerciser

[H&Alover]

I'm guessing that means that Jasmine could only step in if she felt Grace was in real danger, unexplained bruises, signs of neglect etc?  Does Justin, although a blood relative to Grace, does, have less claim than Jasmine? 

Were Ben and Maggie - well I think more Maggie - seriously expecting Ziggy and Coco to pack up their lives and move to Italy?  They are not young kids anymore - I remember Ziggy kicked up enough when she was told they were moving to the bay! Ziggy is 22 now and Coco 19.  Italy isn't the short hop away for Aussies  it is for us Brits so not so easy to visit.  Ben and Maggie have been talking about at least visiting Italy for ages but something always got in the way so why shouldn't they go  the whole hog.  I wonder if part of the reason they wanted the girls to go with them is because for the first time since they have been married they would be just the two of them  in a foreign country.  Dean dealt with it in just the right way, didn't get ahead of himself and get huffy that Ziggy may chose to go, just told her to do what she wanted to do and not feel obligated she had to go because she said she'd do anything she could to help.  Big jump from Dean saying he and Ziggy having a few days away did her good to Ben suggesting the move to Italy!  It'll be the end of the Ben's Boards if/when they go, Dean doesn't have the know how to make them only sell them. 

Ah Alf, that was a big softy thing to do, unlike Roo though not to have rung Ryder.  Ryder definitely felt a lot better after talking to Evan, it was all he needed, nice to see him smile, wanted to give him a big hug.

Alf's visiting  John and Marilyn didn't go so well though.  You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. They are both tetchy and that is putting it mildly, with each other.  Marilyn immediately leaping up to change John's breakfast, John taking the lid off his mug more to spite her I think than because he felt able to drink it with it off.  I had a short intake of breath when Marilyn, instead of asking John if she could help with his watch strap, just took it off while talking to him as if he was a child.  Checking up on what time he had made his appointment. No wonder he lost his temper, echoes though of Jett when he was treated the same by John.  They are both going to be honest with each about what they expect from the other.  

13 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

Maybe London would be a middle ground but given what's going on here... I wouldn't recommend it!

 

I would think Italy would be even more of a risk.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week:Three.

Isn't London further away from Australia than Italy anyway? I realise it doesn't compare, but Coco is already hours away from them.Maybe it was just one big change on top of a lot of other big changes for Maggie. John ends up having to step up and give Ben advice again, and advice that possibly felt like a kick in the guts to himself.I am glad we're getting a chance to see Ben and Maggie back to their best again after everything that's happened.

I guess I should have expected Alf to take Marilyn's side given his frequent belief that the sun shines out of her, but at least we didn't get a scene of him tearing a strip off John for upsetting her, which is what I thought was going to happen when he headed off there.

Again, it's hard to really side with anyone in the Colby vs Paratas feud.Colby's actions were probably the right ones in the circumstances, but going over there to rub their faces in it just showed him to be petty.I kind of wish Ari had dealt with it in a more measured way, given Colby's looking for anything to pin on him.It continues to be hard for me to feel sorry for Nikau, who seems to be glaring at everyone without realising that he's as much to blame as any of them, given that he actually did commit (at least) one of the crimes Colby's trying to pin on them and then made Tane, and to a lesser extent Ari, an accessory.Still, given that most of the people close to Colby like the Paratas (Bella, Mackenzie, Dean) he could find himself short of friends.Given the way she was jumping on John every time he said a bad word about them, it'd be nice if Marilyn would be consistent and stick up for them, but given that she was handing Colby a takeaway without a word not so long ago, I doubt it'll happen.

You can tell that was Gemma's last episode from the way she suddenly had a goodbye scene with Marilyn apropos of nothing.In the circumstances, it's a shame she didn't get a last moment with Ben as well, but maybe the show didn't want to remind us of that.