2020 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[630si]

Haha when she didn't make his coffee right I was thinking "shiiiiiiiit Leah's done for."

It will be interesting to find out what it is keeping her there. My bet is on a whopping great big padlock.

[Red Ranger 1]

I understand that people do sometimes ditch their old life and move somewhere else, but I would have thought that actually meeting Leah and checking that she's safe in her new life would be the minimum the police would be required to do: If they just spoke to her on the phone, how do they even know it was her? It feels like in order to justify their dismissive attitude, it's suddenly being written as if Justin's the only person wanting to know where she is, which isn't the case at all: Irene was the first one to notice her disappearance and was with Justin when he reported it, plenty of other people in the Bay have expressed concern (Roo, Maggie, Marilyn), she has family and friends all over the world who we've been told are worried sick about her. So how could anyone with a competence level higher than Chief Wiggum possibly think that there aren't any suspicious circumstances in Leah's disappearance and it's all down to a "crazy jealous stalker ex-boyfriend" making stuff up?

And as we quickly learn, Leah isn't in a safe place at all. Her captor is clearly a pretty sick-minded individual, and dangerous and threatening enough that Leah's behaviour is understandable, especially if she's had weeks of this: She's obviously still independently-minded but she's learned to hide it and tell him what he wants to hear in order to avoid further "punishment". We saw that he's keeping her locked in her room at least some of the time.I hope we get a proper explanation for how she ended up in his clutches: If that was him on the phone, what exactly did he say to her to get her to go where he wanted her to? And how did he get her number anyway? Like the police, he doesn't seem to have realised that people care for her and they can see something's up even if he thinks this is normal. Given that Justin knew it was Leah calling before she said anything, does that mean she still has her phone?

(Incidentally, the guy playing her captor was in the show way back in 2008 as a psychiatric patient who got a bit intense about Rachel and was suspected of kidnapping her at one point. I guess he looks the type. I thought he'd been in it since then in a more innocuous role but there's nothing on IMDb so I'm probably getting mixed up with seeing him in Crownies.)

Meanwhile, Willow and Alex continue to head towards the end, and at least managed not to end with a lot of screaming.Except possibly from Jasmine, judging by the promo.

Up to three episodes next week! I'd say we're getting there, except I'm not entirely sure where "there" is...

Oh, and in Leah's first appearance of the season, she continues to be credited as Leah Patterson. Props and graphics departments take note.

Edited April 18, 2020 by Red Ranger 1

[H&Alover]

That would be my number one question Red, what did he say, assuming it was him,  when Leah got that call, that got her to dash off without saying a word to anyone?  My feeling is it may have been family related, she if I remember correctly,  did ask who it was and must have been convinced enough to believe what they were saying.  Or another thought was she convinced it was something to do with Tori, does seem a bit of a stretch this all happened when Justin was caught up in Tori's coming round from her coma. Am I allowed to reveal his name, even if it hasn't been spoken, she just called him sweetheart,  but has been on credits?  Leah is a strong woman, but he has soon got her cowered after three weeks, he's obviously very good at psychological abuse with the physical kind thrown in too. When I saw that table laid out I thought I bet everything has to be a certain distance apart and positioned just so, coffee has to be the right temperature etc. Do you reckon she is faking it Red, he seems very astute and I think he'd pick up on it if he suspected she was. He must have some strong hold over her to keep her there.  Does he go out to work and lock Leah in her room, dare I suggest he lives in an isolated spot?   The police told everyone not to respond to the posts so he doesn't know people care for and miss her.  Would make sense he let her keep her phone, but he dictates when she uses it as in the call to Justin.  

Funny how even though it was Irene who first raised the alarm we haven't seen her for the last couple of episodes, it's just been Roo, Maggie and Justin. Yes the cops handling this, not our Yabby Creek lot, but experts in this type of thing don't seem to have got it right.  But saying that they don't know Leah like Justin (or anyone else would) they wouldn't know from the tone or sound of her voice she wasn't herself, he did as soon as she spoke to him, reading from that 'statement' in front of her.  Even Colby would have sensed something wrong, but of course he knows her.  Looks like,  and not giving anything away, it was in the trailer, Colby 'helps' Justin. 

Like Tommy, this guy, looks quite normal as most, not all, psychos do.  He, the actor, must have made an impression last time for TPTB to consider him this role. 

Willow and Alex seem to be going round and round in circles, where have we have seen that before (?) Robbo sort of finished with Jas, she sort of finished with him.  I do have  a suggestion, why doesn't Alex, I can't think who she reminds me of,  go to Queensland and Willow can work out just how much she misses her and if she is more than happy to follow her. Jasmine did make the most valid argument about it not being unfixable unless Alex was dead!

[baywatcher]

Glad the Leah stuff wasn't dragged on for too long once we knew what had happened to her.  I'm still not buying how she got into such a situation in the first place.  I hope we get to find out why she went off after receiving the phone call.  Looks like it will be a long road back to normality for her.

Great stuff from Justin.

It was nice of Colby to go and see Willow, even though he was in the middle of something.  I love their friendship.  Great that he 'accidentally on purpose' let Justin see where they thought Leah was being held.

Jas was absolutely right to say what she did to Willow but then Willow admitted that the decision to end things was hers.  (I love how baby Grace's face lights up when she sees Jas). 

So Tori 'had a moment' at being in Robbo's apartment for the first time since his death but no reaction to being in the hospital where her brother died. 

OUCH at Colby getting stabbed.

Good that we only have to wait two days instead of four for the next episode 

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, I'm also glad that Leah's back with her friends quickly, I was dreading it dragging on into another block, which at only two or three episodes a week could be an eternity.So we learn that Douglas was married: Not clear if his wife's dead or if she's left him. Leah looks enough like her for him to fixate on her, especially if he found her blog offensive which seems to be the case. His reference to a group of like-minded men suggests he's part of some sort of anti-feminist organisation. Still not clear how Leah ended up in his clutches but, despite him being captured quickly, it looks like the storyline is far from over so hopefully we'll get the gaps filled in.Leah was clearly only going along with him because it seemed like her best option and repulsed at having to kiss him on Friday, but she's not going to spend weeks with, in all probability, only Douglas for company and then be skipping about glad to be home.She still seemed to be hiding her distress at the end, as if she's used to being punished if she shows signs of not being happy.It was good to see Irene there for her return as well, hopefully we'll see the rest of her friends stopping by shortly! Missing Persons continue to be staffed by the people who don't make the competency level of the local police.There seems to be a concerted effort to show Colby using his powers for good lately: He's more tolerable bending/breaking the rules to help Justin and Leah than misusing his position for a personal agenda.Shout-out to Constable Murray, making his first appearance of the season!

Jasmine was completely out of line with the way she spoke to Willow: I sympathise, because she's gone through a lot lately, but she can't project her own feelings onto someone else's relationship.Sometimes things don't work out even when you're both alive, and harassing Willow just increased her upset.At least she seemed to realise that after a few wise words from Irene.And yes, I love the way Grace reacts to seeing Jasmine too.

[H&Alover]

TPTB couldn't resist throwing in a soap  amazing coincidence moment when Justin just happened to be driving down that part of the road when Leah burst out of the undergrowth in front of his car.  She could have easily just missed him or it could have been one of Douglas' friends. I was right about the place being in the middle of nowhere.

She did well not to trip over in that dress and she was wearing the right shoes for running in. 

Footnote Leah had a separate room from him which she mentioned "this is your room"  and said once they were married it'd be 'their' room.  He seemed to imply that it was because of her (meaning wife no1)? and he'd been very patient.  

Her initial collapsing into Justin's arms in relief was short lived as she became very withdrawn later and not just from him, everyone.  

I think we're all hoping - not just us, but her friends and the police - to find out how she got deceived by Douglas, he must have been, as I said before, very convincing. He's an intelligent bloke but totally unhinged. 

I was wondering about wife no.1 - is she dead or did she leave him accusing him of physical and emotional  abuse which of course he is absolutely innocent of.  

Douglas Maynard hadn't, according to the file Colby didn't show Justin, hadn't done anything bad like wife beating, just info on his background.  It obviously didn't occur to Justin to record Leah's message, if that can be done, he was too shocked by what she was saying.  Colby knows Justin well enough to have realised he wasn't overreacting to the call and acknowledged Justin would know the difference sound of Leah's voice.  

I'm not convinced Leah was playing along with Douglas, she had a couple of rebellious moments, tearing the dress and then whacking him over the head with that torch, but the rest of the time she was genuinely terrified of him.  He'd done one hell of a job on her, only been three/four weeks  and he's got her scared of her own shadow. 

Roo and Maggie disappear and Irene reappears and like Justin said curtesy of Tori refused to believe Leah would just up sticks and leave without  a word to anyone.  Leah didn't just seem to be in shock she was nearly catatonic, the brain's way of dealing with such a  traumatic ordeal.  Surprised they let her out of hospital seeing the state she was in.  Superficial cuts and bruises, some from when she fell in the road, but it'd the mental wounds that will take a while to heal.   

It is so sad to see the normally bright, strong and upbeat Leah so hollow.  She flinched from everyone not just Justin, who don't grasp, understandably, the full extent of what she is going through.  May only have been Irene, Tori and Jasmine, but too many people too soon.  The way she asked tentatively if it was OK if she could have a bath and her collapse into tears in the bathroom.    From we saw in the trailer the conditioning to lay the table in a certain way has still got a hold and will do. 

Despite Colby, Murray and the rest all going in armed to the teeth Douglas still sprung a surprise, touch Psycho in fact, on Colby and it's looking pretty serious, they know his medical history.  Despite him being busy great to see Colby was still able to take time to listen to Willow. She'll understand when she finds out why he was distracted. 

Makes Willow and Alex's storyline seem trivial in comparison.  

Jas mentioned what I did her and Robbo were on and off a few  times before they reached a decision which suited them both and she didn't want Willow and Alex to go through the same thing  and waste what may be valuable time together.  Irene was right though she couldn't project her feelings on someone else. 

I third that about Grace's smile when she sees Jasmine, is there a reason why she's always wearing that little woolly hat even indoors? Grace I mean not Tori or Jasmine. 

Tori hasn't been back to NDH yet  so may not hit her until she does. 

Tis a relief we won't have to wait until Friday. 

[baywatcher]

Well, that was heavy going.

I felt Colby's pain!  I suspect his unnecessary stabbing was to facilitate Bella's next obnoxious turn and more Mac moping about over their failed relationship (I still don't remember them actually splitting up).

Nice to see Dean being caring towards Willow.

[Little bean]

Well that was all kinds of bonkers!! No surgeon or OR available at a major hospital?? Nothing more than local anaesthetic?? Just get the patient’s best mate to hold him down while the doc performs minor surgery? I thought I was watching Dr Quinn, medical woman for a minute there.....

(As an aside - Tim Franklin does play the pained puppy exceptionally well!)

[Red Ranger 1]

I didn't mean that Leah wasn't frightened, just that her admiration of Douglas wasn't as real as he thought it was.That said, it does seem like the patterns of behaviour he demanded have become ingrained in her, almost to the point of brainwashing.I think she knows on some level that Justin and Irene wouldn't hurt her but she's so used to having to be on edge all the time, never knowing when the next "punishment" was coming, that she's having a hard time relaxing.That said, her rushing down the beach in a panic was almost a good sign in a way, because she also knows subconsciously that she's free to do that one.Nice to get the reference to VJ, and to the fact that being away for the season finale means Leah's missed a heck of a lot. (I'd have paid money to have Irene say "Well, when I was kidnapped, I came back to find Hannah and Oscar were dead, Maddy had lost an arm, Ricky had had a hysterectomy and gone off with Brax (who wasn't dead after all), VJ had got Billie pregnant, and Josh and Andy had been charged with murder!") Irene annoyed me again with her tendency to try and take over when people are managing perfectly fine and don't need her telling them they're not: Did she really think dragging Leah back to hers and into the middle of Willow and Jasmine's dramas was better for her than staying with the Morgans? Colby said that Douglas had a history of violence but didn't go into details. Leah had better hurry up and make that statement, although stabbing a police officer's probably enough to hold him for a bit.

I guess that ending was meant to make us go "Tsk, Bella's being a brat again", but I was pretty much 100% on her side, although the way she expresses things doesn't help her cause and gives people an excuse to not listen to her (as the promo seems to demonstrate). Colby's not my favourite person and I wouldn't be at all bothered if he lost a leg or worse, but I accept that Bella loves him, and he's pretty much all she's got, and she's scared of losing him and wants to be with him. She did the responsible thing, going home and getting some rest rather than wearing herself out with a bedside vigil that wouldn't achieve anything, and she was promised she could go back in the morning. Whilst Dean didn't handle it that badly, and there's sense in having breakfast first, I think he was a bit insensitive and should have realised how important it was to her. And the situation definitely didn't need Irene and Roo in full patronising adult mode sticking their oars in and telling her what she should be doing and thinking. All this time and they still don't know when they're making things worse and need to back off.

Meant to say on Monday: Colby referred to Leah as Leah Patterson on the phone, props department take note please. Willow might have responded to Bella's messages if she'd said something informative like "Colby's in hospital" rather than just "Call me ASAP." I'm not looking forward to yet more of Mackenzie mooning over Colby (they've broken up loads!) but I am loving the close relationship she's developed with Bella.

[H&Alover]

Six weeks she'd been with Douglas, longer than I thought, but more than enough time for him to as you say brainwash her into doing what he wanted or else.  The place was isolated so no-one near she could go to for help unlike Yasmeen in Corrie,  even if they had believed her and I'm guessing Leah did try and get away at least once before that last time but undoubtedly paid for it. Double lock on that door to her cell - sorry room. Leah is in absolutely no state at the moment to give any kind of coherent statement.  Irene did have the presence of mind not to say anything to Justin as what Bella's urgent phone call was about, just gave him  a look, would not have been the right time to say Colby's been stabbed by that guy and is in hospital about to be operated on. Leah setting the table just so must have been the way Douglas liked it set out and it appeared she was waiting for permission to eat her meal and she was scoffing it down rather quickly, another punishment, she didn't get fed it she didn't obey 'orders'? I think Irene meant well with her offer, but right then Leah needed to stay in one place and try and get some sleep.  Creepy the way she called Justin sweetheart in the same way she did Douglas. I think Leah would have jumped if Justin had come up behind her in the dark before this I would have.  That would have been another of her 'jobs' according to Douglas, she broke the glass she cleaned it up.  Ada is portraying Leah's torment so well, she doesn't have to say anything it's all in her face and eyes.  Only good news they could let her in on is Tori coming out of her coma and Alf and Martha's wedding. She doesn't need to be told about Robbo or Mason or the siege but if she should ask though maybe a different matter.   Warning should go round letting people know she's not to be told.  Oh Roo's back. 

I do hope TPTB at H&A don't decide that all it will take is a couple of weeks and Leah will be back to her usual self as if nothing had happened that would be an insult to all the women and men that to this has happened in real life. 

Now Colby's no wimp so that injury must have really done some damage if all that morphine couldn't ease it at all.  Did I get it right the knife had hit something  which had damaged a nerve/blood vessel which is why he couldn't move his leg?   Alex had no option but to do all she could with all she had to hand, unforeseen moments like that happen even in the best run hospitals, you can't afford to wait, luckily Alex does know what she is dong and he'd already been given enough morphine to knock out a horse or two.  Obvious they would have it on record  but good that Dean mentioned  Colby's allergy to a certain anaesthetic.  Would have been scary for even Dean let alone Bella  and Mac seeing Colby in so much pain.  

I don't think Bella was in the right state of mind to text that many words, she could hardly talk coherently in real words to Irene so texting would have been out of the question. It was good, despite the circumstances, to see them all there for each other, though Dean did fall into the "Everything's going to be OK" cliché, Bella, Willow and Mac were being  more realistic.  Tough as it might have been to hear Alex told them the truth, he may still not make it.  I thought the last time Colby and Mac broke up was the last time when she decided to move on which admittedly didn't work out well. Her head needs to tell her heart though. Colby would have known on some level he hadn't been alone during the night.  Little side note, nice that Dean sympathised with Willow when she told him she and Alex had broken up. 

On one hand Belle was acting responsibly by letting Patricia know she couldn't keep their appointment but then the next having  a strop because she couldn't be with Colby right at that moment,  Dean was trying to tell her he'd be having tests even if he was awake so she would be unable to be with him, but it wasn't going in.   Now, from what we saw, Maggie was on at her to get back to her studies, as if they will be the first thing on her list of priorities.