2023 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

I think Felicity made a lot of progress over the past year or so but whilst it's understandable, she is reverting back to the person who first rocked up.  She's being very harsh with Tane but I do think her breaking up with him might be the best thing for her right now.  Again I'm torn because I think Gabe is right but I'm not keen on the guy so I didn't mind Felicity have a go at him in Salt.

I kept smiling through the Ava scenes when Kirby immediately clocked the fact she fancies Theo.  I just thought she had a crush but .......she's Theo's stalker.  This is brilliant!  I can't wait to see the reactions from people when they find out, particularly Justin and Leah.  And I'm looking forward to seeing how they handle it.

Surprise, surprise, Bree goes to see Remi and convinces him not to leave - Never saw that coming.  Objectively I think Remi was emotionally blackmailing her.  But Bree was kind if doing the same thing asking him to wait until she is ready to properly commit once she sorts herself out.

[Red Ranger 1]

So...Ava is Theo's stalker? To be honest, at this point my main feeling is "So what?" For a start, it defuses one of the biggest red flags, the question of how she knew his home address, by giving the innocent answer "Because he lives with her dad." And whilst I could be wrong, it's hard to imagine her kidnapping Theo and dousing him with petrol at this point. So...basically it's just a rather intense crush? I mean, it's definitely a source of drama, and it'll be interesting to see how Justin reacts when/if he finds out, but the danger level seems to have been reduced somewhat.

I do think it's a shame that Felicity has reverted to type and thrown away all the character growth she's had since she got together with Tane. And I did feel desperately sorry for him getting rejected like that: I'd have hoped for a more measured reaction than throwing the wedding invite away, but it feels like he really is ready to give up. Gabe was no help at all once again. When he said that they need to talk about Felicity, my response was "No you don't.It's nothing to do with you, whatever consultancy role you might have given yourself.Shut up and let Mackenzie handle it." The fact that he was the one pulling the strings just gave Felicity an excuse to ignore Mackenzie's valid concerns and treat him like the problem.

Remi staying wasn't exactly a surprise, and it feels like he and Bree have just reset to a week or so ago.What exactly happened to Eden? One minute she's not strong enough to go out on her own and spending all her time in bed, the next she's conveniently nowhere to be seen when Remi's planning to move out.

[H&Alover]

Ava being Theo's stalker did clear up the mystery as to how 'they' knew where to deliver the donouts.  Not surprisingly Ava taped over Kirby when she put the phot in her book though she could have just cut her off it.  Not as simple as Ava just fancying Theo though is it.  Depends how well Ava can handle seeing Theo and Kirby all loved up.  Once Leah comes back I think she'll cotton pretty quick but Justin wont be easily convinced his 'little' girl is a stalker though as so far she hasn't done anything dodgy. Theo's being friendly to her as to him she is his aunt's blokes daughter and living in the same house.   I'm guessing she did know about Theo before but until he became famous because of Lyrik she suddenly got interested she kind of ignored him. Odd, or maybe not, she only turned up just after Theo blocked her.   She can't stay there for ever, she must have school, it's said she is a teenager but old is she do we know, trying to work it out she was two when had to  leave and it was seven years later he got back in touch with Nina making her  13/14? Ava does have a history of running away from home to be with Justin.    Oh oh we heard Buddy!!!!  YEH!

Agree with yous both Red & Slade I do feel so sorry for Flick as she has come a long way since we first met her despite of the way she is treating people, pushing everyone away which is what you do when she is going through what she is.   She properly turned a corner when Cash showed her the photos of their dads body making her accept he did kill himself. She probably thinks she can handle it all by herself so doesn't feel she's having to rely on others.  Mac has been there so tried, unsuccessfully, to help.  Felicity apologising  to Alf one moment for causing a disturbance the night before one moment then accusing him of telling Tane where she was was NOT a good call.   Too much trouble from her and he'll kick her out no matter who she is and what she has been through.  I'm guessing she is paying for that van. 

Gabe, this time, was just advising Mac on how to treat Flick and how she was abusing Mac's trust in her.  She can listen but doesn't have to take his advice/counsel.   I did enjoy Flick throwing him out of SALT, he may be Mac's consultant but he isn't hers!  Brutal break up for Tane though -  just wanted to give him a big hug.   Does she really mean it or does she  think he deserves better than the way she's treating him which if she didn't care she wouldn't be so bothered about it would she - does that make sense? 

Brave choice for Bree to give Remi the note she write to him when she was being held captive by Jacob then admitting  she wasn't sure if she still felt that way because of how it all ended.  Remi, to me, was willing to leave the bay so they weren't in each others faces all of the time.  But is Bree preparing to leave the bay to give them some respite - don't like that term 'have  a break' makes it sound like they are going on  a holiday. 

You must have blinked Red, Eden was out on the beach last week and bumped into Cash and she had a flashback,  seems she's retired back to her bed again. 

[Red Ranger 1]

As in her early episodes, Felicity has a vulnerability about her that stops her becoming unlikable.It's unfair of her to treat Tane like this, but it does seem like she doesn't really want to do it, she just feels she has to.All along there's been this feeling of her putting up walls to stop herself being hurt again, and when she did take a chance and decide to get married, it ended in disaster, and she's too scared to try again. It was probably right that Cash steps in as she continues to sink into depression, he's been here before.Nikau had good intentions but didn't do Tane any favours by pressuring him into going to see Felicity again, it just led to more heartbreak.

I thought we'd been told Ava was 16, but I can't remember when so I might have imagined it.Justin tries his best to handle things: I was wondering if it would turn out her "online boyfriend" wasn't as straightforward as that, and now she's admitted to having made him up.Theo's behaviour could come back to bite him:He probably sees himself as a cool older brother figure to Ava but that's probably not how she sees it!

[atrus]

Thursday - Another mope-fest on both the Felicity and Eden fronts, neither of which I'm interested in, though some light relief at least with John, Alf, Irene and the trout muffins. I'm still not really convinced of Remi and Bree's rightful couple status; Remi does have an unendearing jealous side and it's no wonder she's wary of it. I initially wondered if Felicity maybe still had the caravan key from when she lived there - perhaps had a copy made or a spare that she never returned for some reason.

Friday - OK, so Felicity did book in for the van, but Alf wasn't asking questions. I don't blame him, frankly; for my money she is being rude, obnoxious and wallowing in self-pity. I get her struggling with the crash to an extent, but ultimately she's fine, Eden's fine (save the tedious selective amnesia), everybody's fine - and yet Flick is acting like she's the only person in the world with problems and taking it out on everyone in her support network. If this was a new look for her I'd be more willing to give her a break, but it's not so I'm fresh out of sympathy - especially as we appear from the promo to have another episode of this coming up. It's still not really any of Gabe's business, but.

Ava! And with another head-swap! Wouldn't Theo have known who she was from the name, or does Justin literally never mention his daughter around the house? But moreover, how did she get in? The anti-teen electric fence that was built around the Bay perimeter a couple of years back must be temporarily out of action! Anyway, always happy for Justin and Theo to have more to do, so glad of a new arrival at the Poulos-Morgan house.

Remi leaving the Bay is a development I'd take at this stage - another serial moper - but something tells me his decision will last all of five minutes.

Monday - OK, my first reaction to the Ava reveal was: 'Can't any of our longstanding characters have a relative come to stay who isn't comprehensively unhinged?' But on the other hand, she is only young and youngsters are wont to get a bit daft over such things; it's not such a stretch that she's developed an e-crush on the hot singer who lives with her dad. It doesn't seem to be being played for max creepery, which is the right call as far as I'm concerned: if we must have a stalker a week then I'm glad it's a lower-key affair for a change that doesn't end with someone digging a grave in the bush: give me an engaging, medium-stakes family drama with a human element any day.

In other news, another Felicity engagement U-turn shocker. I won't pretend I care desperately about Tane's hurt feelings, as it's not a relationship (nor he a character) I was invested in in the first place - but if this is how their whole life together is going to be, with her shutting him out every time there's a minor crisis, sad to say but he's probably best off out of it. Alf was surprisingly calm with Flick - normally if someone's making a nuisance of themselves after hours he rips them a second one. And to be honest it would've probably done her good to get a thorough flamin', as a bit of a wake-up call. Though, still nothing to do with Gabe.

Tuesday - Like @H&Alover I've been wondering how old Ava is meant to be now - and whether it had been retconned with the recast - mainly because I'm wondering if Theo is possibly closer in age to her than he is to Kirby? (I've no idea how old Kirby is meant to be either, but I feel like she's a bit older than Theo?) And if so, is there a possibility - particularly if Ava is meant to be sixteen-plus - of something happening between them before he finds the creepy scrapbook? It's just, they seem to be sharing a lot of fond glances, which could be nothing more than Theo being nice - but just putting the possibility out there.

Elsewhere - at least Felicity seems to have reached somewhat of an emotional plateau, and it was good to see her approaching things with something like a clear head towards the end, even if I'm not sure her particular kind of clarity - assuming she's cursed - is especially helpful.

Noooooo at the promo. Sigh. 

[Dan F]

Anyone notice the potential in-joke with the name given in the credits for the surf club's IT expert...?

Spoiler

@H&Alover@Red Ranger 1@atrus Ava's definitely 16 in this stint by the way. I don't recall if her age was explicitly stated much in previous appearances, but there was a DOB given for her in 2018 which suggests there has been a little bit added onto her age (probably donated from Luc). Would only be six months at the very least though.

[atrus]

Well, I was going to say that the Surf Club IT debacle was really the only game in town today worth commenting on - but come to think of it, I can't think of anything to say about that either. Presumably it's going somewhere significant because so far what we've seen doesn't really justify the screen-time expended.

I thought for a moment towards the end that the Cash/Eden situation was resolved with that kiss, which I would've taken as a win at this stage - but no, seems we're not done with the angsting yet.

[Red Ranger 1]

I did notice she was listed as Moss but I didn't realise that was...him. Mind you, whoever John was on the phone to the other week didn't seem to have much advice beyond "Have you turned it off and then on again?" And Alf discovers that computers won't let you use a simple password anymore.

Cash kissing Eden was a huge misstep, although having seen it in context, I can kind of understand why he thought she was softening towards him.He kind of went from 0 to 60 though! Nice to see Eden and Remi's friendship, with them both irritating each other over their respective problems.

And yes, I noticed that, despite Leah stocking up the fridge, Justin managed to twice wind up in the Diner collecting a takeaway.Oh well, I guess they need to have him in episodes somehow: If he didn't go to the Diner, how could Irene bombard him with unsolicited advice?

[H&Alover]

That is a big jump from the age Ava is meant to be if you follow the Morgan's family history.  We know it could backfire on Theo but in another way of course Ava is going to listen to her 'hero's' advice.   His revealing how bad it was around his own dad and how much Justin helped him may make her crush/obsession with him more intense. Theo is nearer to age to Ava so can see where she is coming from even if he is a lad and NOT a lass. 

Just a quick ment again of Buddy, he is one patient dog, spends months/years in the back garden just being ignored.  I would have packed up my spotted hankie on a stick ages ago and legged it long ago.

Now we get to the real root of Flick's problem,  she thinks her and Cash are cursed and that is why she's kicked Tane out of her life as she doesn't want him to get jinxed. We never heard of her previous love life - or lack of - before she got involved with Tane.  We know Cash got hurt, maybe unintentionally, by Eden, then he fell for Jasmine who ditched him via text/phone and may could  hurt again by Eden, so to her she has a point, going back to when they lost their mum and dad.  She had to be harsh to Tane as he would have tried to talk her out of it.  Nik was well meaning confiding in Tane that Flick had learnt what she wanted to say in heir Wedding vows in Maori, but just gave him false hope.  Now Tane has gone walk about - no offence meant - he must have got some fill in staff bloody quick. 

Alf can have his grumpy moments but I've gone right off him at the moment.  Just because he's a technophobe doesn't give him the right to speak to John - and his name is John btw - John doesn't call him Roberts - the way he was!   John did muck Roberts about by not explaining what you need to type in for your password to be accepted, some do seem to require such a lot of different characters, numbers, caps, hieroglyphics - joking - otherwise you risk being zapped. Hope Roberts has remembered it otherwise he'll have to put an new one in.  

Remi seems to have brightened up after his long talk with Bree and got his interest back in the band even if it is behind the scenes for now.  That did look painful for him watching his psyhio though he had to be 'nagged' into doing it.  He did give Eden good advice about explaining to Cash what she was experiencing and how she was feeling confused about what she was remembering and if they were true memories.  Shame she chickened out and just let Cash kiss her and then backing off, leaving him confused - again.  

Justin can't have run out of food already even if they have got another mouth to feed.    I don't know if Irene and Leah are in contact - seeing as Luc is her granddaughter - but will she mention Justin has been picking up takeaways.  

[atrus]

13 minutes ago, H&Alover said:

Alf can have his grumpy moments but I've gone right off him at the moment.  Just because he's a technophobe doesn't give him the right to speak to John - and his name is John btw - John doesn't call him Roberts

There's a really good reason that John doesn't call Alf 'Roberts'.  But, yeah, I know what you meant!