2021 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

Rachel did very much seem as though she was hoping to bump into Christian in the ward and she was definitely waiting for him to turn up when she appeared to be reading the magazine.  Would she actually go as far as faking the panic attack?  Hard to tell.

Jasmine got on my nerves the way she was towards Christian and Rachel.  Unless Christian is actually doing something that is detrimental to the patient, it's none of her business.  And it's a bit rich her taking exception to them given her serial killer ex boyfriend is the whole reason Christian is in this situation.

The problem with Sienna giving into Nikau's demands is that is sets a precedence that blackmailing works.  Furthermore it goes against the premise that she owns him so she loses power in the relationship.

[Red Ranger 1]

I get the feeling we're meant to be on Tori's side but I really wasn't: She once again showed how immature she is when it comes to relationship. I mean, I think Christian's sailing close to the wind, and given he looked uncomfortable when Rachel held his hand, I thought he knew that. It seems Tori asked Jasmine to keep an eye on Christian, which excuses her a bit, but it's all a bit playground: Tori acts as though Christian's spending every waking hour with Rachel, even though the last episode suggested they hadn't seen each other in days. Christian told Tori to focus on Justin while he focused on Rachel, and instead she's sneaking around getting reports from Jasmine's spying missions while Justin is trying to get hold of unlicensed pills. And even when she knows that, she still seems more interested in throwing a tantrum at Christian and breaking up with him than whether Justin's all right or not. I mean, I sympathise with her to a point, stuck in limbo, but she'd only have herself to blame if Christian did now go there with Rachel.

As for Justin...well, we knew it was going that way, and it's lucky that Ziggy was on the ball when Leah and Tori weren't.Justin attacking Stephen...My instinct is to say it would be worse if it was someone else, which is a bit harsh perhaps given we don't know for sure that he's up to something, but still.

No follow-up on Nikau and Bella's storyline, so I guess we'll have to wait until next week for that.

[H&Alover]

I felt it was a good bit of negotiating by Nik, he did turn Sienna's jibes about the exhibition being small town so on-one of importance will see them - against her and got the OK for the release to be signed.  Sienna, despite her put downs of Bella, seems to have forgotten it was her photo of him that got her - or her agencies - attention in the first place, if it had been, to them, a mediocre shot no way would they have sat up and taken notice.   There is banter and there is banter but Sienna takes it too far and is just sniping at people - namely Emmett - mainly because he won't bend to her will.    Be a real testing period for Bella when Nik goes off to Japan.   Her photo getting recognised will give her independence  and maybe her own career taking off.  Oh and just for a change they went to Bella's to talk about the exhibition.

Martha came across Roo and Alf arguing - and deciding for her - just at the right time, they had no choice but to tell her what it was about.  Marilyn made no judgement or made any suggestions of her own what she thought Martha should do, just listened. Of course Martha would be concerned for Kieran, but she does have to look after her own health first  and while she appreciated Alf and Roo looking out for her she can make her own decisions, though it did seem she hadn't actually made one. Was Roo just going to leave it up in the air?  More early mornings for Roo then seeing as Alf is going with Martha.  He didn't take it for granted he'd be going and looked pleased when Martha said of course she'd like him to go with her. 

Seems we'll have to wait to see if there will be any news on Mac's disappearance. 

I know Marney Kennedy the actress who plays Rachel is only acting but for someone in that position for real can't be as calm as she has been all the time, so the panic attack could have been for real, unless she knew Christian was going to be exactly where he was when she had it.  Other patients who have been stuck inside have been allowed a day pass, though not normally arranged that quickly.   It concerned me when I saw Rachel take hold of Christian's hand like that, I wasn't sure of how he looked, embarrassed, liking it but not willing to admit it?   Thank goodness Tori didn't see that!  I get the rest of the time he had to be close and support her physically and the rest of the time that is exactly as it looked.   I think Jas could be right to be concerned on Rachel's behalf in that she sees that Rachel may be feeling more than a patient should for her doctor, she doesn't have anyone else.   I also think Tori overreacted, what if it had been the other way round?  Rachel wasn't just a patient brought in and who Christian treated, he was there at the accident. He did look very down when he saw Rachel after Tori dumped him as he wasn't expecting that!

Oh Justin, what are we to do with you?  He thought he was being clever by getting his illegal drugs delivered to the garage but didn't reckon on Ziggy being helpful and opening it. He may have restrained himself by not attacking Leah or Ziggy but of course then Stephen gets it in the neck, it didn't help he'd seen Stephen comforting Leah earlier and getting completely the wrong idea. It could have been anyone stepping in to protect Leah, Alf, Ryder or Dean but of course it had to be Stephen. His back wasn't playing him up when he was hitting him.  Two acts of violence from him now. 

 

[Slade]

It's difficult because I really like Rachel but I do think objectively she's taking the mick.  She knows Christian was going to get married but I personally felt when she was spending time on the beach with him to her it was a date.  And she knew what she was doing when she held his hand.  He did look uncomfortable but I couldn't tell whether that was guilt or because they were in a public place and not because he didn't like it.  There's no denying now that they have a connection though.

I did at first think Christian was stringing Tori along but from his bemused reaction when Tori ended things, he seemed genuinely oblivious.  It does say a lot that he went to Rachel afterwards rather than fighting for Tori immediately.  The problem with Tori is just how self-righteous she often is.  When she's like that it's difficult to sympathise with her although in this particular scenario the main thing she's done wrong is her sceptical attitude towards Christian's near death experience (The scepticism itself I didn't have an issue with but was her refusal to acknowledge Christian's state of mind and how he was seeing certain things from an unscientific viewpoint).

It's funny that when Justin was talking to Tori about Christian in the gym, despite the fact he's not himself, a lot of what he said about their relationship was essentially truthful.  I must admit, I did find Ziggy and Leah's guilty expressions when they hid Justin's latest delivery of drugs quite amusing.  His paranoia is making him dangerous.

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, Justin has definitely got himself into trouble now and he doesn't even really seem to realise it. I don't know if it's her attitude or what, but again I wasn't convinced by Tori's handling of things: Leaving Justin to stew in the cell overnight seems as likely to make him bitter as give him a wake-up call. (If he's taking his medication every four hours, wouldn't he need more doses as well?) I can't quite decide whether Stephen deliberately made it sound worse than it was by saying Justin attacked him without explanation: It was clear from what Justin said that he was jealous of Stephen's friendship with Leah, which isn't a good explanation but is an explanation. I notice the new police officer's a regular, by the way. Apart from a comment about him being a country boy, he didn't really move beyond generic cop character today but presumably there's more to come.

Mackenzie's absence continues to cause problems and worries.I was glad Chloe was called out on her attitude.Even though I don't want Salt to go down the pan, I'm not sure that Dean putting Ryder in charge will go down well with Mackenzie...or Chloe for that matter.That is, of course, assuming the body they've found isn't Mackenzie... That fisherman must have an almighty set of lungs on him for Leah to hear what he was saying from the beach!

[pembie]

It’s shame because Christian suits Rachel better than Tori I think well they get on better anyway and Rachel yeah she’s quite sexy so maybe that’s why I support her more than moany Tori

Ziggy was ok this week but maybe that is because we had a week off from Mac 

Yeah Cash looks like his going to be a good cop but I thought the same with Colby at the time

Justin story is dragging for me now abit 

Im intested to see where the Nik ends up shame we won’t see Japan though

 

The body on the beach it would be a twist if it is Mac

[H&Alover]

To be fair to Rachel she doesn't have anyone else, apart from Christian, Jasmine, her physical therapist and other nurses.  Naturally it's Christian who is the main person she's focused on and to her he is her 'saviour'.  But Christian does need to beware and part of him realises that but Tori reacting the way she did could push him towards Rachel and maybe without intending to, she'll take advantage of it.   OK Tori can't see things from Christian's viewpoint, as she explained she had her own near death experience, but she has been  very dismissive of it, but as we have all said before she should respect it, everyone's must be different and for Christian being a surgeon may add more meaning.  

I was on her side though when she told new cop Cash Newman to go slowly with the paperwork so Justin had to spend the night in the cells.  He can't  keep expecting people eg Leah and Tori  and to a certain extent Ziggy to make allowances for him - "oh he's on pain meds and it's making him act irrationally"  and in effect letting him off.   He keeps apologising but then goes and does the same thing again so a night  in the cells may, though I doubt it, give him a jolt. She was straight with Cash about the limiting of his dosage, did she leave some with him?  New Senior Constable Newman would have had to wait for Justin to 'sober up' anyway to be able to interview him.  Justin sounded like a little whiney little kid "I want to go home".  Just the one clue to Cash's background - a country cop - but of course there will be more to him, very rare for any newcomer to the bay to have had an ordinary background with absolutely no drama, family troubles etc.  Did the cops gather up Justin's clothes as they would have had Stephen's blood on them apart from Justin's grazed knuckles? That's a quick addition to being a regular. 

To Stephen Justin's attack was without explanation as far as he was aware all he'd done was to stand up for Leah when Justin was having a go at her for ganging up with Ziggy, he didn't know Justin had seen him giving Leah a comforting hug - it didn't mean anything - it was just a hug, Justin's paranoia again.  John and Dean acted well together, John doing the First Aid side and Dean ringing for the ambulance, John was taken aback when Stephen told him he knew who had attacked him and was lucky to get away with a crack on the head and bruised ribs.  I did have to smile when John said Justin was one the best blokes in town - he's obviously forgotten he'd joined the flaming torches and pitchfork brigade when it came out the Morgan's had been in WIP and they were tracked down by The Syndicate bringing trouble to the bay.

Tane may not be totally with Ziggy keeping the garage open seeing the way Justin has been treating her, but to her, it's a job, whether she's getting paid is another matter, and I guess she feels she owes him as he did take her back after the Tane trouble. 

Chloe was turned on by Mia, Ryder and Ari after her unkind remarks about Mac, OK she isn't her no.1 fan and since Mac has been gone, their business has been ticking over OK, but if Mia can be kind about her she could afford to.  She and Ryder aren't making as much they did at first but that's the same with any new business, the novelty wears off and it reaches a certain level.   

I was thinking all that gear Ryder and Chloe was trying on and playing with was their free gifts from the party but it was all Nik's. 

John has been saying for a while Mac's continuing absences wouldn't be good for Salt and it seems his words have come true, people are jumping ship - no surprise if they aren't sure when or if they will get paid - they've got to look at alternatives.  Can't be the only thing - paying suppliers, new orders to be signed off etc.  Also losing customers which are hard to get back. Dean did guilt trip Ryder into stepping in, but he was one of them - staff member - so maybe feels he owes them more than he owes Mac. 

Why the hell was Leah apologising to Stephen for Justin's behaviour -  he's an adult - supposedly - she's not responsible for his actions.  

Good set of lungs - like it. Leah's got hearing too. I was thinking didn't the fisherman have his own mobile or radio to contact the cops rather than yelling out to someone/anyone on the beach? 

A woman's body then and quite a way out, could it have drifted from further upstream, how long has it been there?   Dean's first reaction would be that it is Mac.  Cash is being thrown into the deep end - no watery pun intended. 

 

[Slade]

I felt really sorry for Stephen and ended up being pretty disgusted with Justin.  The scene when Stephen was looking for help when he stumbled into John and Tane after he was beaten was very reminiscent of when Axel got the crap beaten out of him by Aden all those years ago and Belle found him.  

I think the part at the gym when Tane, Ziggy and Mia were all discussing it and the realisation that it was Justin who bashed Stephen was very well done, particularly the look of shock from Ziggy.  I was actually expecting Tori initially to try and talk Stephen out of pressing charges but I was glad she insisted that he spend the night in the cell.  I think Justin's been let off way too easily and I'm not happy about it, especially given he's not even the least bit sorry and actually seems to think his actions were valid.  It was also frustrating how everybody was acting as if he is some gentle giant and Ziggy was constantly making excuses for him.  Dean and Tane both made very valid points to Ziggy re her safety working for Justin and he's lucky it's just an assault charge IMO.

I'm starting to strongly dislike Chloe.  Her reaction and attitude towards Mackenzie going missing and the way she's almost relishing it just seems spiteful.  She claims that Mackenzie treated Mia like dirt since she came to the bay and whilst I don't think Mackenzie's been particularly pleasant I don't think she's treated her like dirt (Sick and tired of everyone bar Mackenzie acting like Mia's Mother Teresa).  Most of what Mackenzie has done has been pretty understandable.  And if we use Chloe's logic then I guess her claim is pretty ironic given that she's treated Mackenzie like dirt since Mackenzie fired her.  It's also very telling how everyone else bar Chloe is actually sympathetic because they recognise Mackenzie is in a very dark place and obviously needs help.

[CaptainHulk]

I reckon Ryder's the only character NOT doing my head in right now.

[Red Ranger 1]

Alf's episode count this block:Two, and then he left town.Mackenzie was only in one.

So yes, Mackenzie's all right, which is good news.I appreciate Ari wanting to support Dean but he did deserve that serve and it's a shame Dean apologised: Mackenzie stood by Ari and his family through months of crises, only for him to casually dump her the moment he had another option and I've not been too impressed by him throughout this.(And now Mia's pregnant.Obviously.) He really should have had the decency to make himself scarce when Mac turned up, rather than hanging around like a red rag to a bull playing the supportive friend card. It's telling Mackenzie was a lot calmer once he was gone.Not sure how long that will last:Has it occurred to Ryder that, with Mackenzie back, he might not be welcome at Salt again? I did like him joining in with the hug though, and him both telling Chloe to wind her head in and her appreciating his basic goodness.

Justin...It's a tricky one. He has been charged, and no-one in town is happy with what he's done, so it's several steps up from Aden, where it felt like we were meant to approve of or at least sympathise with him. I'm not expecting him to get more than a slap on the wrist though, but he has bigger problems than the legal ones, what with his continued refusal to admit to his addiction. If he needs pills to feel "normal", then that's a problem right there.

So, farewell, Susie, I can't say you'll be missed. Perhaps it's a bit of a harsh punishment but would have been worse if it was someone else. Kind of odd that she had ID in the name Susan McAllister on her if that wasn't her real name: It makes me wonder just how long she lived after we last saw her, if she hadn't managed to switch identity. It is of course not unheard of for a regular to be the culprit in a storyline like this (Barry Hyde killing Josh West, Josh Barrett killing Charlotte), but it's hard to ignore the fact we've got Stephen hanging around as the suspicious non-regular who hates Susie. If, as many of us suspect, it was him and not Susie sending John the texts, that could have been an attempt to establish an alibi by making out she was still alive when she wasn't.