2020 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

I think it was a given that something was going to happen to spoil Ryder's day, his mentioning he hadn't spoken to Evan, the fun between him, Nik and Bella, great rapport between the three of them btw.  Him being teased by various people about giving Nik dating advice, when he seemed so much more savvy about Jade than Ryder was.   Funny then  him saying he hadn't much experience at dating girls.  Amusing to see Bella trying to find out what was going on  between Nik and Ryder and even she questioned Ryder giving dating advice, Ari would have been a good alternative, definitely not Tane though.  I can't see Nikau being anywhere near 25.  Bit mean of everyone teasing him about serving soup to Bella on their date, rather lovely thing to do have a guy cook for you and from scratch too, she liked it which is the main thing. I knew Bella was winding Ryder up when she told him she 'hated' the date, sneaky of him to try and switch the blame onto Nik but surprise, surprise or not Nik was hiding in the other boat.  That push into the water - which you knew was going to happen had to come!  Made us seeing Roo walk in, more on that later, with her suitcase and Evan's guitar case more poignant as you knew Evan had  died.  When he walked in later and saw the case, his face just wanted to make you hug him like she did.  Course she would want to tell him face to face rather than over the phone.  Would be a shame Red if Nik and Bella have done their three days. Back to Roo walking in, the house was empty and the place was unlocked!   Though why am I surprised?  How long was Alf supposed to be away?

Willow, Dean and Colby are  the same age give or take a year or two. 

Bella was pretty savvy herself sussing out the fact Mac fancies Tane.   I do believe Mac has real feelings for Ari though, just hope she doesn't hurt him.  It was her jealousy rather than him serving up  a mocktail - not an alcoholic drink - to the customer that made her overreact the way she did.  I did clock to see if Mac was looking at Tane when she was snogging Ari which she wasn't - not the first time anyway, but she knew Tane was looking the second time. 

I think Irene is more worried about what Jasmine may have told Wendy and Ian about what happened and why she run away.  Leah was doing a good job of being mediator with all of them, calming Irene down and stopping her ringing Wendy back to tell her side of what happened, we and they don't know if Jasmine has told them anything and it could stir up a whole hornet's nest.  Persuading Justin to ask Tori if to find out if Jasmine had handed her notice in, as you say Red not a big ask.  Justin was right though Jasmine obviously did it as she needs time alone, but one phone call wouldn't hurt her and would put people's minds at rest, stop Irene and Willow ringing/texting her every five minutes if nothing else. 

 

[Slade]

I said Mackenzie had better watch herself and now even Bella has sussed that she likes Tane.  If she isn't careful Ari will soon figure it out.  Simply ignoring it or trying to have lunchtime sex with Ari isn't going to resolve matters.  She has to deal with it.

Justin was right about crazy Jasmine.  Nobody forced her to go psycho and try and get obsessive re Grace and again Leah's reaction suggested he was being unreasonable for pointing this out.

[Red Ranger 1]

The self-appointed support group may have a point that Jasmine needs help but to be honest I was mostly thinking they should get a life and leave her alone: Irene was being particularly irritating here, coming across as rather needy and self-important.Tori's mental health care plan surely isn't the only option and the time away seems to be good for Jasmine in a way that dragging her back to Summer Bay probably wouldn't be.When Irene started saying that Jasmine could see Grace if she got help, Tori looked very uncomfortable.And I pretty much cheered when Justin finally got fed up of Tori's martyr complex and told her to do what she liked. And indeed when Jasmine pointed out she left town to get away from Irene and Colby and they were self-obsessed enough to follow her.It's kind of ironic that Justin and Jasmine are pretty much on the same side with everyone else thinking Jasmine needs to be in the Bay.

Wow, Ryder must have a good throw to get his phone in the sea from that distance! At least he was sensible enough to think better of it and fish it out.This was always going to hit him hard and I'm not sure how to take his apparent recovery later on.Getting on with things isn't the worst strategy but I get the feeling it'll all catch up with him.Ryder plays the guitar left-handed: That's difficult to do unless you have it restringed.

No interest in Marilyn's latest pity party: She gets what she wants and still expects everyone to feel sorry for her.Three failed marriages and the common link is her and her inability to cope with things going wrong.We were encouraged to think first husband Phil was a cad for cheating on her but I'm beginning to see where he was coming from.

Edited August 28, 2020 by Red Ranger 1

[H&Alover]

From what I have gathered with Jasmine being at Wendy and Ian's is she hasn't talked about anything that happened at home, certainly not mentioned Grace which to me means she is total denial about what led her to flee the bay which isn't good for her or her state of mind and It worried Wendy. She's even talking about relocating to the Shaw's but she can't keep what happened buried for ever,  it'll blow up and could spoil what she has with them as she's not being honest with them and they deserve that.  Wendy and Ian have been very patient so far and not questioned her why she is there, they must be thinking all sorts. If Jasmine had just once answered one of Irene's calls maybe her and Colby wouldn't have gone galloping out to the Shaw's. All Jas needed to say was she was OK, taking some time out and she'd be back when she was ready, Irene would have accepted that. 

Now Irene and Colby have turned up, it's put Jasmine on the spot, she got all defensive and Wendy and Ian are getting to get a garbled recap of everything that has happened. 

Tori playing the martyr was totally uncalled for,  I get she feels  guilty for serving the AVO, but it was Jasmine's actions that brought it about and she had been very patient, a lot more patient than a lot of people would have been, Justin does veer to the complete opposite but yes I punched the air when he told Tori she was on her own.  Glad they made it up later though.   Definitely not a good idea that she went to the farm to talk to Jasmine, would she have been breaking the law defying her own AVO and was Jasmine breaking some condition of it by leaving the bay?  I imagine it would have stated Jasmine not approach Tori and Grace but if she was out of the bay there would be no danger of that would there.  Btw Colby seems to have forgotten about his crusade against the Parata's. 

Ryder did have a bloody good aim and he was bloody lucky to find it so quick and that it was undamaged.  Just checked after what you 'said' Red, because I wasn't sure but Evan was left handed so no problem with the guitar, loved the plaque Evan had added to it.  Different people react in different ways, he had  a cry with Roo and will again, but he feels getting on with his course is what he needs to do  at the moment.  He knows she'll be there for him as well Gramps when he returns.  It did sound like Evan had a peaceful end and yes Ryder knew it was coming but still a shock when it actually happens. Of course Ryder should let Quinn know, she and Evan may not have spoken until recently, but they shared him, once he's told her it's down to her what she decides to do. 

As 'we' never knew Phil we'll never know what happened there.  She does seem a little afraid of Amber, but it's because she's so direct and takes no prisoners and being bossed about in your home isn't nice for anyone.  At least Marilyn is back on baby sitting duties regarding Grace which will give her some focus.  She does need to decide what to do now she'll have more time on her hands. 

[CaptainHulk]

Yeah, I marvelled at Ryder's phone hurl. He coulda have been quite the Athlete in his school days (well, he can run, albeit weird )

At least he didn't late the waves take it ala Romeo a decade ago.

All the same I feel for the guy. 

In the ongoing Tori/Justin/Jasmine/Grace case I think there comes a point with Family where it's like "If X or Y happens, don't come crying to me because I gave you fair warning".

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by CaptainHulk

[Dan F]

What I wondered when I first saw it was why there was suddenly a panic from Ryder about throwing his phone into the ocean... yet there was no panic in the previous ep after he'd been pushed off the pier (I don't believe for a minute that he wouldn't have had his phone on him at the time).

I actually thought that would be where the drama came in, he came home soaking wet only to find his dad had died. He goes to watch the video on his phone, only to realise it had been damaged - cue tension between him and Nik/Bella over the prank.

(I know some iPhones are waterproof to some degree, and Ryder's photos/vids are probably backed up, but that doesn't allow itself for drama )

2 hours ago, H&Alover said:

As 'we' never knew Phil we'll never know what happened there.

We did see Phil on-screen, and Maz explained what happened when she left him and returned to Summer Bay in 1995.

[Red Ranger 1]

I still have very mixed feelings about the way Jasmine was handled.Yes, there's a case that she was hiding away from her problems but it feels like Irene and Colby just overturned what peace she'd found in order to say "I told you so." Ian and Wendy's argument that they'd never see Grace if she was living with them seemed rather flimsy: I don't think Grace has ever even been to the farm, so what's to stop Ian and Wendy visiting her in Summer Bay and leaving Jasmine behind? (They did turn her "What would Robbo/Ryan say?" refrain back on her though.) A shame that we didn't get to see much of Justin and Tori's day together and he's now back to following her lead against his better judgement.Having Justin and Tori ambush Jasmine as soon as she arrives back in town feels like a terrible idea.Despite what was implied here, the AVO stated Jasmine had to stay away from both Tori and Grace.She did the right thing by going to leave when she saw Tori was there, and sending out yet more mixed messages by telling her to stay and talk isn't really going to help her get a grip on what's appropriate and what's not.(No further mention of that court appearance Colby mentioned when he served her either.)

Back in town one day and Roo is everyone's agony aunt.I'm glad not much was made of John's fall, even if he did need Marilyn's help: The promo made it look like it was the big end of week cliffhanger.Even though he probably didn't see it that way, I did enjoy John giving Marilyn her marching orders.How's he going to cope living on his own though? Is Amber expected to move in full-time, because she really didn't want to give up her day off?

[CaptainHulk]

19 hours ago, Dan F said:

We did see Phil on-screen, and Maz explained what happened when she left him and returned to Summer Bay in 1995.

Yep, they even had publicity wedding photo shots one of which ended up on The beach house mantle. And as explained Phil traded her in for a newer  model.

And Ryder dried out *fast* after his dip! (A few hours must have elapsed but STILL )

Okay, onto Fri's. Palmer's fall looked pretty devastating but at least he's of an age where it won't *kill* him.

 

[H&Alover]

Oops I must have missed that/those scenes.    

Good spot Dan F - would be a very strange thing for any teenager - well most, mustn't generalise - not to have their phone on them. 

Jasmine couldn't hide out at the Shaw's forever and it could be argued the longer she left it the harder it would be to face the truth and get some help. No explanation why Jasmine did wrong by leaving the bay thus breaking some term of her AVO. She couldn't have got much further away from Tori and Grace.  Isn't the mentioned court appearance if she breaks the terms? 

Wonder what this 'idea' of Tori's is?   

Amber isn't 'his' carer so a bit cheeky of John to expect her to give her day off up just like that, a bit of  a shock to his system falling like that but luckily he wasn't badly hurt, probably just bruised and he was able to joke about it, be a shock though.  Does raise the point though if Marilyn does move out like he has asked her to what about the times he's there alone when Amber isn't here, OK for a few hours and especially overnight what then? He could slip out of bed, knock himself out, get trapped and not be found till next day.  Would the front door be left unlocked in case?    Sad it's come to this, Marilyn does still care for John and in his way he cares for her. 

Good job Roo is there for Marilyn, though she has Ryder to think about, Irene is rather tied up with worrying about Jasmine. 

[UK_fan]

Marilyn is a total nightmare!   Ugh she is so fake, awful and irritating, now she'll have her latest pity party now she and John have split up, word will get around the Bay and John will get the blame from everyone as usual whilst Marilyn laps up the support, she's so transparent.

I know John has his flaws, but I so prefer him as a character and he'll be so better away from her.   I feel sorry for the next man who gets with her because they'll have to put up with being constantly hounded by her cronies.

I did feel for John when he had his fall, but I hope there's light at the end of the tunnel for him and that he moves on.

Team Jasmine.   She went away to clear her head (apparently that is wrong now too), she's emotionally/mentally all over the place and needs to seek help for her issues if she's to be allowed to see baby Grace again.   I want light at the end of the tunnel for her more than anything.   I didn't know Sam Frost was a RTV star before becoming an Actress, but she's been so fantastic since joining this show.

I can't stand Tori/Justin anyway, but I do get their POV RE baby Grace, although Tori does send mixed messages to Jasmine and it's wrong.

I really dislike Jasmine being called crazy... She's NOT crazy, just currently mentally ill and needs to deal with her grief about losing Robbo and their plans for the future being destroyed.   Baby Grace is the only part of Robbo she has left, she's not helped herself with her behaviour at times, it's been wrong, but she's just in a mixed up place right now.