2020 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[CaptainHulk]

Aches can spread

[H&Alover]

Angelo's being remarkably generous with the time he's given them to bring  Bella in, guess her young age and the fact she is 'seeing a therapist'  is part of it.   Angelo is a detective and also he isn't personally involved with anyone. Guess as Ryder had done his three days he couldn't be seen on screen being asked about Bella, Nik, of course, has already left town with Bella.  Neat way that all the info was gathered,  Tane being asked if Bella had been round, then the discovery Nik was missing, Ari also getting quizzed.  John wondering why Dean's car was at the Parata's, then filling Amber/Willow in that he'd seen Bella there earlier and noting she'd looked upset, then she'd come back, then later seeing Nik leaving with a rucksack.  Not that he was spying on them of course.    The discovery Nik had stolen Tane's money put a whole new perspective on it.  Good bit of deducing that they would have to pay with cash to get  a flight anywhere and Colby was able to use the fact he was a cop to get the information as where they be going.  Apart from all the accusations being flung around by Dean, Colby, Tane and Ari it was agreed it was better Nik was with Bella so she wasn't alone.  Dean isn't keeping Ziggy in the dark to 'protect' her, he's dong it so she isn't another innocent being dragged into the whole mess. This place Nik and Bella are heading for seems to be out of state so has Colby relaxed Tane and Ari's ban to leave?  

I was puzzled as to why Amber has waited until now to reveal Dean has a son!  The fact he is 'helping' Colby again and Bella is involved - again, could be the reason why.  Her look once she'd announced her news made it  very clear as to who the daddy was.  Would we be right to assume he is about 10 or so?   Hope it is family and not the odd babysitter looking after  him seeing the state she is some mornings. 

Justin had  a memory lapse again, he'd forgotten he'd ordered spag bog just an hour earlier.  So far, nothing to worry about, but suppose he has one while looking after Grace.

Was Roo's distraction when chatting to Alf "I'm fine", due to what/who see she saw later connected? 

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this week: Three. Someone obviously decided this was an important week, as Colby and Dean appear in every episode and Willow, Bella and Nikau all appear in four.

Halfway through the episode, as we were treated to the cringe-inducing sight of Bella and Nikau dancing on a clifftop in slow motion, I found myself going "Oh good grief, this isn't supposed to be a romantic moment, is it?" My opinion of the pairing has gone from mild discomfort to utterly detesting them together, yet on this evidence it seems the show seems to think they're some sort of long-term power couple. And Nikau is almost as high as Colby on my hate list at the moment. The first sight of him grinning like a loon was so utterly out of keeping with the situation that even Bella called him out for enjoying it, although sadly that didn't last. She had enough bad influences in her life as it was: She needed an adult, not an irresponsible sleazy man-child. If the show wants us to forget him stealing Tori's car to get away from the police and endangering Grace, then having him steal Tane's money to get away from the police and arguably endanger Bella a few weeks later doesn't really help. He's been throwing tantrums and threatening to run out on his family pretty much as long as we've known him, but from his response to that list of messages, he may be about to realise the reality of actually doing it, as he suddenly notices that he's agreed to run off into the bush and live on nuts and berries for the next seventy years just to keep hold of Bella.

Dammit, why did Willow and Ziggy have to stop Dean punching Colby in the face? (Are punches allowed at the moment? It seems every other sort of physical contact is!) No wonder he gets punched as much as he does, he's got one of those faces. Ziggy did annoy me a bit with the way she kept interrupting and storming off when Dean tried to tell her anything (although to be fair to her, him choosing to confide in Willow first probably stung).Amber and Dean's son would have been conceived after Dean got out of jail: I'm not sure if we've been told how long he was in there for? Not sure you need passports to cross state lines in Australia, but Currawong is in New South Wales anyway. (So Ari's "Could they have gone any further?" last episode was a bit odd, and may be a relic from an old script before it got moved nearer because of travel restrictions.) Mackenzie gets one moment of awesome with her "Do I look unsure?"

Nice to get some reaction from Marilyn and Roo to Angelo being back, and finally get an answer to the question of whether or not he's with Nicole: Presumably Angelo filled Irene in on one of his trips to the Diner. I'm not too disappointed: I was happy Nicole got a happy ending after a year of near-constant misery (a lot of it down to Marilyn!) but never really saw them as endgame. I am more concerned that apparently no-one in the Bay stayed in touch with her if they had to wait for Angelo to turn up to find out (I hope Miles still has her number at least), but thinking about it, Angelo was worried about retribution from the Braxtons when they left and didn't want anyone to know where they were.

I love that they credited a character as "Dale the Camp Manager". It's just begging for someone to read the cast list in TV Week and go "Is that the manager of a camp or a manager who is camp?"

Edited September 19, 2020 by Red Ranger 1

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Not sure you need passports to cross state lines in Australia, but Currawong is in New South Wales anyway. (So Ari's "Could they have gone any further?" last episode was a bit odd, and may be a relic from an old script before it got moved nearer because of travel restrictions.)

There's Currawong Beach, which is directly opposite Palm Beach on the other side of Pittwater - but the one in the show is a fictional place named Mount Currawong

All the Blue Mountain location scenes were actually filmed three months after the rest of the scenes in these episodes, the result being that the Mt Currawong we're seeing is still meant to be in the Northern Territory as per the original plan for the shoot... evidenced by the itinerary Colby printed off, which showed Nik & Bella's route north via Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.

I think with the circumstances we have to just let them have that one, the tropics were just have a cold snap

Behind the scenes info/pics for these episodes for anyone interested - https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2020/08/20/behind-the-scenes-as-home-and-away-heads-to-the-blue-mountains/

[j.laur5]

1 hour ago, Dan F said:

There's Currawong Beach, which is directly opposite Palm Beach on the other side of Pittwater - but the one in the show is a fictional place named Mount Currawong

All the Blue Mountain location scenes were actually filmed three months after the rest of the scenes in these episodes, the result being that the Mt Currawong we're seeing is still meant to be in the Northern Territory as per the original plan for the shoot... evidenced by the itinerary Colby printed off, which showed Nik & Bella's route north via Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.

I think with the circumstances we have to just let them have that one, the tropics were just have a cold snap

Behind the scenes info/pics for these episodes for anyone interested - https://www.backtothebay.net/news/2020/08/20/behind-the-scenes-as-home-and-away-heads-to-the-blue-mountains/

But on car that Ari was driving the number plate said NSW if memory serves correctly?. . 

[Dan F]

55 minutes ago, j.laur5 said:

But on car that Ari was driving the number plate said NSW if memory serves correctly?. . 

Well I had a hire car in NSW that had VIC plates on it...

As I said, sometimes we just have to turn a blind eye - like the (rare) occasions where we see a reference to North Palm Beach surf club on-screen... or a wheelie bin with the Pittwater council logo on it.

[CaptainHulk]

Talk about Scenery Porn!

[H&Alover]

Guess we are going to disagree on our feelings about Nik and Bella Red, I don't think he has really grasped how serious it is, but he soon will.  I like them together, he makes her laugh which she hadn't done a lot of before he came along.   She may be younger than him, but has a wiser head on her shoulders, he's had a good family around him, not including Tane running off she didn't.   No need for such a wild exaggeration,  Bella and Ross certainly didn't live on nuts and berries, they had a house even if it was run down.   Nik did stop when he realised he had an unexpected passenger and that money of  Tane's wouldn't have been legitimately earned, hence the need to hid it.   At least having the cash enabled them to get as far away as possible without the need to hitch - in the storyline if not for real due to Co-vid.  Wonder which one of them thought of the mountains.   It is a beautiful place, be it Blue Mountains or Currawong. What was wrong with  a light hearted moment or two?  Although still a lovely blue sky you could feel it was colder, or was that just me.   They both had had the sense to buy warmer clothes.  Pure luck(?) Ari, Tane and Mac stumbled across the same place Nik and Bella had stopped and brought that car.  Quite a bit of awkwardness for Tane being so close to Mac and having Ari in the same car, did they drive there or fly? Mac could be right a woman rather than the three men, two she hardly knows would intimidate Bella, she's had enough of men doing that in her life.  I'm supposing as he has other things on his mind Colby has let the Parata's leave the area without kicking up a fuss. 

Perhaps it's both Red.

I'm guessing Colby doesn't know yet Mac has taken Dean's place, be another reason for him to want to hit Dean.  No-one seems to be keeping a two metre distance, Ziggy had her hands on Dean and Willow had hers on Colby.   

Angelo is still being very patient and understanding and Colby has been thinking on his feet by the excuses he keeps coming up with, though he was right the counsellor couldn't divulge anything said between her/him and Bella. 

Finally a mention, if brief, of Nicole so I guess that is the end of her, but good to get some loose ends tied up.   Penn put Nic through a fair bit. 

Oh yes the big reveal - from what Amber said it does appear Jai was conceived after Dean came out of prison.  I do recall her saying they had a brief fling. I thought though that earlier Willow implied Amber disappeared after the accident.  Of course he's avoiding Ziggy we don't need anymore outsiders knowing about Ross. He would confide in Willow first and how best to break the news. He was still getting his own head around it.  In the end he had been backed into a corner and so bit the bullet.  Ziggy has no reason to get uptight because (a) it was long before they got even met and (b) Dean has just found out about him so hadn't abandoned  Jai.  Lucky John was just out of earshot when Amber was telling Willow about jai. 

Roo and her 'seeing' Evan - could Marilyn be right and Roo did get closer to Evan while they were away.  He is 'seen' again though.  

 

[Nephlim14]

On 18/09/2020 at 19:04, Red Ranger 1 said:

Alf's episode count this week: Three. Someone obviously decided this was an important week, as Colby and Dean appear in every episode and Willow, Bella and Nikau all appear in four.

Halfway through the episode, as we were treated to the cringe-inducing sight of Bella and Nikau dancing on a clifftop in slow motion, I found myself going "Oh good grief, this isn't supposed to be a romantic moment, is it?" My opinion of the pairing has gone from mild discomfort to utterly detesting them together, yet on this evidence it seems the show seems to think they're some sort of long-term power couple. And Nikau is almost as high as Colby on my hate list at the moment. The first sight of him grinning like a loon was so utterly out of keeping with the situation that even Bella called him out for enjoying it, although sadly that didn't last. She had enough bad influences in her life as it was: She needed an adult, not an irresponsible sleazy man-child. If the show wants us to forget him stealing Tori's car to get away from the police and endangering Grace, then having him steal Tane's money to get away from the police and arguably endanger Bella a few weeks later doesn't really help. He's been throwing tantrums and threatening to run out on his family pretty much as long as we've known him, but from his response to that list of messages, he may be about to realise the reality of actually doing it, as he suddenly notices that he's agreed to run off into the bush and live on nuts and berries for the next seventy years just to keep hold of Bella.

 

 

13 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Guess we are going to disagree on our feelings about Nik and Bella Red, I don't think he has really grasped how serious it is, but he soon will.  I like them together, he makes her laugh which she hadn't done a lot of before he came along.   She may be younger than him, but has a wiser head on her shoulders, he's had a good family around him, not including Tane running off she didn't.   No need for such a wild exaggeration,  Bella and Ross certainly didn't live on nuts and berries, they had a house even if it was run down.   Nik did stop when he realised he had an unexpected passenger and that money of  Tane's wouldn't have been legitimately earned, hence the need to hid it.   At least having the cash enabled them to get as far away as possible without the need to hitch - in the storyline if not for real due to Co-vid.  Wonder which one of them thought of the mountains.   It is a beautiful place, be it Blue Mountains or Currawong. What was wrong with  a light hearted moment or two?  Although still a lovely blue sky you could feel it was colder, or was that just me.   They both had had the sense to buy warmer clothes.  Pure luck(?) Ari, Tane and Mac stumbled across the same place Nik and Bella had stopped and brought that car. 

 

Okay:

1. Nikau isn't a man-child. He's in the same age group as Bella ergo a TEENAGER. He noticed she was sad and was trying to cheer her up.

2. You do recall that it was BELLA who decided to run away right? Nikau just went with her to back her up. Do you really think it would've been right for him to just sit back and watch her leave on her own. Plus, heaven knows that girl needs SOMEONE to help her mental state since Colby's more worried about their cover story. And that carjacking thing was reckless, but he didn't do anything to Grace that would have hurt her. As soon as he noticed her he stopped and made sure Tori got her back. And yes, his penchant for running away is a flaw of his but it didn't come out of nowhere. Which leads me to-

3. Ill admit I missed their intro episodes, but from what I understand the Paratas are trying to make up for a past that they USE to raise the kid in. From my understanding, he had to deal with his dad getting killed in a bank robbery, and had to move (numerously?) because they were getting harassed by police and locals, which they're sort of getting from Colby. So of course he'd have some habits, especially since Tane's barely trying to keep the illegal stuff away. Plus, it can't help that they are sort of treating him like a gang recruit more than a nephew.

[H&Alover]

8 hours ago, Nephlim14 said:

 

Okay:

1. Nikau isn't a man-child. He's in the same age group as Bella ergo a TEENAGER. He noticed she was sad and was trying to cheer her up.

2. You do recall that it was BELLA who decided to run away right? Nikau just went with her to back her up. Do you really think it would've been right for him to just sit back and watch her leave on her own. Plus, heaven knows that girl needs SOMEONE to help her mental state since Colby's more worried about their cover story. And that carjacking thing was reckless, but he didn't do anything to Grace that would have hurt her. As soon as he noticed her he stopped and made sure Tori got her back. And yes, his penchant for running away is a flaw of his but it didn't come out of nowhere. Which leads me to-

3. Ill admit I missed their intro episodes, but from what I understand the Paratas are trying to make up for a past that they USE to raise the kid in. From my understanding, he had to deal with his dad getting killed in a bank robbery, and had to move (numerously?) because they were getting harassed by police and locals, which they're sort of getting from Colby. So of course he'd have some habits, especially since Tane's barely trying to keep the illegal stuff away. Plus, it can't help that they are sort of treating him like a gang recruit more than a nephew.

I have read on one site that puts Nik's age as 21, so not a teenager,  which I tend to lean towards.