2020 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

Not sure I like this storyline with Amber and Dean.  Assuming she's even right about Jai being Dean's son, even though I'm not keen on Ziggy, I wouldn't like to see another relationship of hers ruined by a partner of hers deciding to go with another woman.

It will be interesting to see why they killed Evan off if they were going to bring the actor back anyway.  Have to admit, I did find Roo and Marilyn's reactions to Ryder and Alf bringing his doppelganger home very amusing.

Don't really see much point of Mackenzie even aiding the search for Nikau and Bella.  Seems as though the writers were trying to portray her as a calming influence during all the arguing which ensued but they probably would have calmed down by themselves anyway.

[H&Alover]

Nik thinking  his mum had slept with Roo would have upset him but it was Ben and she didn't.

Nik is, maybe, three years older than Bella, hardly a generation. Each of our characters have had different upbringings which can affect how you behave.  Bella in some senses is way older than Nik or Ziggy even. Nik can act like a real dork but I wouldn't say he's  not nice, he loves his mum for one thing.  I'm not saying he's an angel or perfect - no-one is - but once again upbringing can influence you.  Gemma was the most, from what we learnt about her, was the most law abiding,  didn't explain why she refused to have her dabs taken.  He had a loving but law breaking dad,  one uncle ended up inside for eight years and the other was prone to disappearing.  Bella, well we all  know the upbringing she had, took her ages to act like any normal 16 year would, two years on and she's much better, well before all this blew up anyway.  Her conditioning has kicked back in so gone to ground as that is how to 'keep safe' 

Of course it had to happen - one of soaps coincidences - Nik reaches the road, flags down an approaching car and what do you now it's Ari, Tane and Mac!  Natch the first thing Nik is run which was pretty pointless as Ari and Tane soon caught up with him.   Mac was needed, as she keeps pointing out she does know Bella, and yes the three musketeers may have calmed down eventually, but she is still the more level headed.  I only hope they don't go shouting out her name expecting her to appear, cos she won't, if anything that would push her into keep hiding - more Ross training. 

I must say Jai is a darling, those blond curls.  A sensible decision - imo - for not introducing Dean as his dad right away.  Let them get to know each other first and see if they like each other, though I do agree she shouldn't wait too long, but it  has to be done the right way.  Seems playing footie is in the genes,  and appears Jai does know his dad played footie so Amber has told Jai something about his dad.  Jai did get some free ice cream by going to Salt.  Ziggy was bound to have a twinge seeing Dean so relaxed around Jai, but I don't believe she has any worry about him wanting to get back with Amber. 

I thought that at the very same time Marilyn and Roo were holding the séance and Evan wasn't appearing 'Evan'  turning up at the surf club and shocking Alf  and Ryder was brilliant!  After they got over their initial shock they bounded up the stairs after him to explain they weren't a pair of nutters. He was completely nonplussed when he saw Evan's photo on Ryder's phone.  That last scene was so well done, the look of stunned surprise, shock even on both Marilyn and Roo's faces were a picture!  It may now explain what I thought was an error in some TV mags.  

[Nephlim14]

7 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

I'm not saying he's irredeemable. I'm saying that I don't like him, that I think he's selfish and childish and not a particularly nice person, and that if the show wants us to like him then they need to stop showing him doing bad things and hurting people without any consequence and without anyone really calling him out on it. Frankly, you could choose a number of "arcs": This isn't just one-off behaviour by Nikau, it seems like every other week he finds something to cause him to throw his toys out of the pram and storm off and cause harm, and he needs to grow up: His behaviour would be appalling even if he was a "teen character", rather than someone who even if he's the age H&Alover says is still closer in age to Ziggy than Bella yet wants to go on acting like "one of the kids".It's no use giving us a scene where he promises not to do anything stupid and irresponsible and put Bella in danger, then about a week later he does exactly that.

  Reveal hidden contents

I believe that Bella does go back to town and talk to the police and

doesn't run away again afterwards, so why couldn't she have done that in the first place? Are we meant to believe that a few days hiding in the bush and having sex with Nikau in a tent made all the difference?

 

1. I should have mentioned this before, but its been a while since Ive watched this series. When it comes to soap operas, I only subscribe for certain characters. As soon a Matt Paige left, I tuned out of it. But oof the top of my head, I recall an arc where he haad robbed an ATM an didnt go to jail for it. I recall reading something about Hunter burning down a diner one time and tried to kill a dude and only getting community service for the latter. Then theres Brax and Heath, who are in a gang and did heavens knows how many crimes. Yet theyre both living their best in other places. And I read about how Angelo commited a murder, covered it up, and managed to work his way BACK into the police force. Also the fact that Colby himself was part of a gang and managed to become a cop to start with. 

After a few years of watching Neighbours, Shortland street and snippets of this show, I think its safe to say that the only characters who face actual consequences for bad things are the antagonists or the ones who are set to depart. Nikau's case isnt really special in that regard.

2. I think youre exaggerationg a bit. He has done it before but it hasnt been as frequently as youre implying and its not like its over every petty issue that comes up. If youre referring to when he called out Tane, im pretty sure that's what every character has done whenever theyre mad at someone.

3. When has he done anything that endangered Bella. From what I recall, every time Bella has had some kind of turmoil, he's tried to help her the best way he knew how to deal with a bad situation. Thats sort of something they both have in common, how theyve had to live in the past. And speaking of Bella. For all youre claims of Nikau being the bad guy, because he seemingly ddidnt try hard enough to convince Bella to stay, what about Bella. You dont think she's in the wrong for letting him come along, instead of telling him no? 

[Nephlim14]

14 hours ago, H&Alover said:

Nik thinking  his mum had slept with Roo would have upset him but it was Ben and she didn't.

Nik is, maybe, three years older than Bella, hardly a generation. Each of our characters have had different upbringings which can affect how you behave.  Bella in some senses is way older than Nik or Ziggy even. Nik can act like a real dork but I wouldn't say he's  not nice, he loves his mum for one thing.  I'm not saying he's an angel or perfect - no-one is - but once again upbringing can influence you.  Gemma was the most, from what we learnt about her, was the most law abiding,  didn't explain why she refused to have her dabs taken.  He had a loving but law breaking dad,  one uncle ended up inside for eight years and the other was prone to disappearing.  Bella, well we all  know the upbringing she had, took her ages to act like any normal 16 year would, two years on and she's much better, well before all this blew up anyway.  Her conditioning has kicked back in so gone to ground as that is how to 'keep safe' 

Of course it had to happen - one of soaps coincidences - Nik reaches the road, flags down an approaching car and what do you now it's Ari, Tane and Mac!  Natch the first thing Nik is run which was pretty pointless as Ari and Tane soon caught up with him.   Mac was needed, as she keeps pointing out she does know Bella, and yes the three musketeers may have calmed down eventually, but she is still the more level headed.  I only hope they don't go shouting out her name expecting her to appear, cos she won't, if anything that would push her into keep hiding - more Ross training. 

I must say Jai is a darling, those blond curls.  A sensible decision - imo - for not introducing Dean as his dad right away.  Let them get to know each other first and see if they like each other, though I do agree she shouldn't wait too long, but it  has to be done the right way.  Seems playing footie is in the genes,  and appears Jai does know his dad played footie so Amber has told Jai something about his dad.  Jai did get some free ice cream by going to Salt.  Ziggy was bound to have a twinge seeing Dean so relaxed around Jai, but I don't believe she has any worry about him wanting to get back with Amber. 

I thought that at the very same time Marilyn and Roo were holding the séance and Evan wasn't appearing 'Evan'  turning up at the surf club and shocking Alf  and Ryder was brilliant!  After they got over their initial shock they bounded up the stairs after him to explain they weren't a pair of nutters. He was completely nonplussed when he saw Evan's photo on Ryder's phone.  That last scene was so well done, the look of stunned surprise, shock even on both Marilyn and Roo's faces were a picture!  It may now explain what I thought was an error in some TV mags.  

I think they are similar in how they were raised. They both have pasts that involve conflicts with the law. Both have them have had to live on the run, explaining their penchant for running away in bad situations, and both of them have pasts with their fathers that make them slightly resentful to the people currently trying to fill their role.

Does anyone else think there's gonna be twist where Dean isn't the father. I just think its possible because of the blond hair, the fact that Amber now has a chance to get back with Dean (which she sort of low key wanted since day one), and the fact that she only decided to tell Dean right when he was about to do something for Colby, which likely made her panic after what happened to her brother.

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, Home and Away's recent past is full of grubby little characters who can do whatever they like without any consequences. And I'm so so sick of it and don't think it's okay for them to just bring in another one and drag the show down even further. I detested Hunter and the way we were supposed to ignore all the harm he'd done and see him as a sweet little boy and goo over him and Olivia together, and whilst Nikau isn't as bad as him, he's in that ballpark. And no, Angelo didn't murder anyone, that's a gross misrepresentation. I think it would have been easier for Nikau to stop Bella going, than for Bella to stop Nikau coming with her. Having said that, that's exactly what she's done now!

After about two weeks straight of Colby and Bella, it was a bit jarring to get an episode without them, especially when the Paratas are presumably still combing a mountain for Bella.But what we got was pretty interesting.I suspect the arrival of Owen is down to someone liking the actor but realising they'd gone too far down the route of Evan dying to have a miracle cure: Evan's reference to being adopted did seem rather shoehorned into that conversation.To be fair, Cameron Daddo is already making Owen a distinct character from Evan, with even the body language being different.Did Alf and Ryder really get him all the way to the house without mentioning that Evan had died? Talk about burying the lead!

Justin's problems seem to be getting worse and worse and now he's got a cliffhanging accident.Except the episode was obviously under-running, so instead of ending it there, we have Tori, Jasmine and Grace pop up uncredited in scenes probably moved from the next episode and a final scene that's kind of like "Yeah, Justin's still in trouble."

I was a bit worried about John, who seemed to be hanging around the Diner in the hope of having a few words with Marilyn.But he did seem happy to be back in the surf club.

I'm not seeing any reason to believe that Jai isn't Dean's son and think it would be a huge cheat if they suddenly pulled that one.The dates seem to match and Amber seemed pretty sure.Yes, Amber probably wouldn't have told Dean then if she didn't panic about him helping out Colby again, but that's a pretty big lie to make up on the spot.

[CaptainHulk]

Okay, not murder but Angelo did end a man's life and made a lot of Jack Holden fangirlies cry though...

I somehow think you would have dumped on it more if Evan had found a healer or Tori told him he was in remission and went on his merry way to see a million faces and rock them all! 

I'm over paternity hoo-hahs in soap, tbh. Mangrove River must have a high population that seems to spill over into the Bay

 

 

[H&Alover]

Agreed - Angelo didn't murder Jack, he fired at someone in the dark who had shot at him and he hit Jack who as usual was doing his off piste investigating.  I did read somewhere it may not have been him who killed Jack hence his re-instatement.   I know a lot of people have done  bad things, but some have redeemed themselves, so I guess it comes down to whether you like the character or not enough to be able to forgive them. 

It's already been gone into about Colby having been an ex River Boy, emphasis on the word ex. His career was on the line there for a while but he convinced McCarthy he wouldn't lie for any of them. 

Bella could have let Nikau think he'd talked her round then gone off anyway, she is used to doing a runner at short notice, but we could have this debate for ever and still get nowhere.   But as you said Red, she's gone off on her own now anyway.  One big difference between her and Nik Nephlim is Nik had his mum around during all his conflict all Bella had was Ross who just filled her mind with his own twisted view of the world.  Nik's dad may have been a bad guy, but he did love his son and from what Nik has told Bella they had good times together.  

OK Jai has blond curls, but so did I at his age but went dark around his age, so no reason to suspect Dean wasn't a  blond baby/toddler.  Three  of my great nephews were very blond when little but all have dark hair now though you can't see much of it as it's cut so short. 

How long was John in the Diner, seemed like all day.  He would have been a bit stiff with all that sitting.  Bit hurtful for him,  Marilyn bursting it with news about Own and suddenly noticing him and saying "Oh I didn't see you there". John He's obviously doing a lot better if he's reduced Amber's hours and now he's back in his domain ready to lord it over everyone. 

Did seem odd that Red now I think about it, would have helped Owen understand why Roo, Marilyn, Alf and Ryder  were looking at him like he'd landed from Mars.  Cameron Daddo must have made an impression on TPTB if they decided to create a new character just for him, was that before  they decided Evan was to die or after?   If Ryder is right and Owen is  Evan's unknown twin, he will have some traits in common.  I was so relieved they've gone this way as actually I had the awful feeling they were going down a route we'd only just gone down.  Again, if they were both adopted, see assuming nothing yet,  very unusual twins to be separated, seems quite cruel in fact.    They certainly had different lifestyles. Methinks Roo fell in love with Evan and he may have felt the same which would totally explain her feeling so uncomfortable around Owen.  Rest of the bay are going to get a shock too, we've all heard people say so and so is the dead spit of so and so  but when we meet them they're not really, but this time!

Odd scene at the hospital, unless that is building us up for the aftermath for what happens to Justin.  Tori and Jasmine seemed comfortable enough with each other, Tori even got away with mentioning Leah was baby sitting Grace. Dragging up the AVO did the terms of it exclude them doing the same shift at the hospital, though they could avoid each other even if they were? 

Well you can't say there weren't enough clues that that canister of hydraulic acid wasn't going to 'play' a part in future scenes!     Along with more signs of Justin's memory lapses, his back playing him again the writing was on the wall.   His 'forgetting' to put his mask on at first before pouring out the fluid may have just been him not concentrating but worrying.  Then his back spasming causing him to black out, knocking over the canister with it's contents dribbling out.  Thankfully Alf comes to the rescue. 

[Red Ranger 1]

2 hours ago, CaptainHulk said:

Okay, not murder but Angelo did end a man's life and made a lot of Jack Holden fangirlies cry though...

I think it's mainly because of the Jack Holden fangirlies that every now and then someone tries to claim an accidental shooting was murder!

Discussion of today's episode follows.

I delighted in seeing Colby get thrown even further onto the back foot.McCarthy warned him way back about parading around town with gang tattoos on display, but he didn't listen, and now he finds that Angelo really isn't fine with it. (There is, after all, a good chance Colby was on the inside back during Angelo's run-ins with them.In which case, you'd expect him to know the name?) I wonder if it's ever crossed Colby's mind that the person who told him not to hide the tattoos turned out to be a psychopath who tried to kill him, twice? Colby didn't stay down long however and was soon trying to ingratiate himself with Angelo's wife. Is it all right to say he's done well for himself?

The way Alf dragged Justin by his acid-soaked sleeve, he really should have burned his bare hand. Maybe he gave himself the antacid treatment too but he was incredibly stoic about it.With Irene and Marilyn in the mix, Jasmine is starting to seem like the least creepy person looking after Grace. So, immediate crisis was solved quickly with Justin: An extremely painful thing for him to go through but not really any more than that.But yes, there's obviously some underlying problem.I'm not quite sure if he passed out or if he fell because he lost the feeling in his feet, but it's not particularly good either way.

[CaptainHulk]

Holy Moly, Rosetta's got taste! Taylor is a prime babe!

[H&Alover]

Seeing as most people in the bay know Colby was a River Boy not much point in his hiding his tatts.  Hell it took long enough for Angelo it discover Colby was an ex RB!  Before he gets on his high horse though he ought not to forget his own history with them.  Could be either Colby was way down the RB food chain when Brax was in charge or he'd already left so wouldn't know who Angelo was.  We first saw the Braxton's in 2011.  Now he does know he's blocked Colby doing any digging.  What was Colby doing by the way, from what I could read, paused screen having recorded episode, it looked like a statement form, undated, with Colby's name on it and mentioning a bar room brawl.  Was that Ross's mug shot? 

Seriously how much does dirt, sorry, info does Colby expect to get from Taylor, Angelo may not have told her much about his time  in the bay, he'd be better off subtly quizzing the older members, Alf, Roo, Irene or Marilyn. He, Angelo, certainly doesn't seem the type to talk about his work when he gets home.  Or he could do what Angelo did, look up old newspaper reports on his time in the bay last time round.  Perfectly OK Red, as long as it is OK for me to say a woman has done well for herself by snagging a good looking guy.

Never mind Alf dragging Justin away from the acid with his bare hands how about the fumes, Justin only got  a whiff of it earlier and started coughing but it didn't appear to affect Alf.  He did the right thing by dousing Justin's arm with water and hopefully those overalls were thick enough to have protected him even more, the burns didn't look as bad as they might have. It did look like his back went into spasm maybe causing him to loose feeling in his feet and he collapsed.  Of course, once again breaking hospital protocols Tori ends up treating him as she is the only doctor there.   Is the loss of feeling in his feet connected with his headaches and back ache?

How is Irene creepy?  Surely not the 'have a rusk , yum, yum' and pretending to eat it thing with Grace?  Note you didn't include Leah in the creepy person group. 

One heck of a  coincidence - back in Angelo's first appearance in the bay he of course knew Jack Holden who was married to Martha Mackenzie who is Alf and Martha's granddaughter.  Now we have the Martha who she was named after and we also have a MacKenzie.  Spooky eh? 

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by H&Alover