2025 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

I also find Marilyn infuriating and unlikeable.  I'm like a broken record and I keep referring back to Heather because it's relevant here, but her attitude towards Eliza suggesting another foster family takes care of her just shows how she feels about people like that.  You'd think given how Heather ended up, she wouldn't want someone to give up on a neglected child, but her methodology is just to palm them off onto someone else.  And even then she was moaning to anybody who will listen to her, Alf, Irene, Leah, although at least Leah seems more objective about it.  I was actually initially over the moon when I heard Marilyn was moving back in as I wanted to see Eliza wind her up some more, but then I was disappointed Alf talked her out of it.  She didn't want to move back in because she's concerned for Alf and Roo.  She moved back in purely because of Alf.  If she was really concerned about Roo, she wouldn't have moved out in the first place.

Whilst I didn't like his locking her up comment.  I feel slightly differently about Alf.  Personally I think Alf was just looking out for Roo and his response is understandable for the most part.  Literally every person that's spent any amount of time around Eliza has raised concerns. Roo's softly, softly approach isn't working, because it just allows Eliza to keep manipulating her so I can see why he's adopting a hardline approach.  Whilst he's mentioned Eliza is just supposed to be there temporarily, at least he doesn't want to just ship her off the the next family immediately like Marilyn does.  It's difficult because I guess if Roo's being too soft and Alf's being too hard, there's possibly an in between, but it's hard to know what the in between is.  I'm leaning towards no characters in the Bay will be able to do anything on their own and professional help will be required.  Eliza does have a basic understanding of what's right and wrong as she knows when people have wronged her, but objectively, there's no empathy and she lacks boundaries.

Thoroughly enjoyed the stuff with Eliza on Friday.  The scene with Alf when he knew she was listening to his conversation and then confronted her and put his foot down was sublime.  I don't normally like grumpy Alf but I did enjoy that.  I quite like the fact there's straight talking through their interaction and Eliza knows she can't manipulate him.  I love how Eliza continues to make Marilyn feel uncomfortable and particularly enjoyed her reaction when she realised Harper and Eliza had left.  It's a shame Harper was around as she could have wound her up properly rather than simply be dismissive.  I'm also enjoying how Eliza spending time with Harper is bothering Tane.

I think Theo's been monumentally stupid.  I don't think he would have been in this deep with the River Boys if it wasn't for Lacey.  Not sure what Gage is going to do, but it's hard to be that sympathetic towards Theo.

[H&Alover]

Marilyn is also living at Irene's now.  Even Harper came across as worried with Eliza asking those questions about the fact Harper was having a C-section, I was right  that it was because  of the op she had and a normal birth could be dangerous for them both, but Harper wouldn't see what was happening further down as they put a screen up.  That remark from Eliza to Harper that she'd be there for her should have rung some .

I may be misremembering but hadn't Marilyn been fostered at some  time when she was young?    

I suppose there wouldn't  be any reason for Harper to know John had been married, all she knows is they are friends, close friends.  Maz did have  some good advice, to give it time, funnily enough the same advice John was giving Tane. I know it's a cliche but Harper's hormones will be all over the place and Archie is due in a  couple of days. 

I suppose it does say something that Roo has gone on this Fostering seminar that she has come round  to realising she is getting something wrong.  That is what Alf was trying to instil in Eliza - boundaries - which I don't think anyone else has set her, every kid, even young ones need them. It's because their parents/guardians etc care.  I did smile though when Alf told Eliza about how he knew she was listening as he'd had years of hearing those creaky stairs.  Clever old sod, not getting  them fixed.  I bet you Roo doesn't know that as she would have been creeping up and down them a lot when she was young.  Maybe NOT a good idea to plant in her mind about his remark "It'll be over my dead body".   

It isn't just Maz that is wary of Eliza,  Tane is too, he's seen the vicious side of her, hitting  Scott then threatening them with  a broken bottle, not forgetting she stole the photo of the scan of Archie.   John, wisely, backed off, when he approached Eliza and Harper about her working - or not. 

It wouldn't be so dramatic now would it if Theo and Lacey hadn't been caught out by Gage. He may be a bully/thug but I think he's more clever than he comes across and  will let Theo think everything is OK. Just as well they'd driven off to  a more private place to get even closer - nudge, nudge, a nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse.   Is Lacey serious about Theo or is she just wanting to play a game, be it a dangerous one?  Theo is having his head, heart and other body parts turned by Lacey. To give him some credit, Sonny did try and ty to distract Gage from being fixated on Theo and his car. 

Edited June 1 by H&Alover

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, it feels like Eliza definitely crossed a line by lying about phoning an ambulance. And she seems to be doing it simply to satisfy her morbid curiosity.It was interesting that the only time she showed any hint of emotion, it looked like concern, as if she's trying to be dispassionate but can't quite manage it.I'm wondering if there's a story behind her obsession with scars, but it feels like we've been given a lot of bread crumbs about Eliza and I'm not sure how many if any of them will be followed up on.Marilyn continued her quest to be the most awful person in the storyline, once more demonstrating the callous attitude towards children that's led her to treat her own daughter like an inconvenience to be hidden away and ignored her whole life. The irony is that she's making out Eliza's worse than she is.Despite her claims to the contrary, no-one forced Harper to go out into the bush.And Eliza hasn't done anything to harm Harper, she's just passively preventing her from getting help, which isn't much better, I admit, but she's not the knife-wielding serial killer Marilyn seems to think she is.Even Alf was rolling his eyes at her inability to keep her trap shut.Ironically, in one way, she's done Tane a favour, since he wouldn't be at the birth otherwise!

Elsewhere, Leah and Justin discover there's a new woman in Theo's life who isn't exactly unattached, but are blissfully unaware that her boyfriend's a River Boy and not one of the ones we're meant to like either. Justin was like a dog with a bone with Kirby, and given the situation, they should probably let Mali know all this is going on in working hours.

CURS: Why did we see Gage spotting Theo and Lacey together when there was no follow-up on it at all?

[Red Ranger 1]

Seemingly a happy ending then, despite all the drama. Well, kind of. Marilyn was being ridiculous again, insisting on blaming Eliza for everything that went wrong, and I wished Leah had pulled her up a bit more on her acting as though Eliza had somehow trapped Harper out there. Roo actually managed to put up a decent case with Alf, although she was obviously concerned by Eliza flashing a video of the birth around, to the point that she didn't object to Alf putting Eliza to work.Eliza did seem pleased when she started the filming.Again, the only (and I realise it's a big "only") thing she did wrong was not calling an ambulance. (Given that Tane's next after Marilyn in being suspicious of Eliza, I'm surprised he didn't pick up on that, but I guess he had other things on his mind.) I've come to the conclusion that Eliza didn't particularly want Harper to come to harm, but wouldn't have minded if she did. She just wanted to be at the centre of the action, and if the grown-ups had arrived earlier and whisked Harper off to safety, she wouldn't have.

So Tane got to be at Archie's birth and have a few hours with him at the hospital, although Harper soon shut down after a dose of general anaesthetic. I do think Harper is being rather selfish here, keeping Tane and Archie apart simply because it was easy for her.I couldn't get behind Dana treating Harper like an innocent victim: Tane pushed ahead with a wedding he shouldn't have done because he wanted a family, but Harper pushed ahead with it because she wanted Tane by any means necessary. So I was disappointed that Mackenzie apologised to her. I did quite like Levi backing way away from being dubbed an "uncle".

[CaptainHulk]

Anyone else root for Alf the last few eps?

[H&Alover]

Last thing first there will be a follow up to Gage seeing Theo and Lacey, he's just biding his time.

I know Maz has been really OTT with her fixation about Eliza but her being so down on Eliza is just making Roo dig her heels in more and insisting she's doing the right so neither of them are helping the situation.   It was Harper's  decision to go for  a drive though why in the middle of nowhere and the fact she's only a   few days away from giving birth  - oh of course there wouldn't be any drama if it was just down the road and it was weeks away.  The fact Eliza wasn't answering Roo's calls must have bothered her.   

Anyways all the drama did kick off, and I know she's no medical person, most people aren't but surely Harper shouldn't have been that surprised when she went into labour, babies decide when they want to make their entry into the world.  What was Eliza expecting to happen out there when  it was just the two of them and the fact she didn't ring for an ambulance, OK she wasn't totally sure where she was but they  would have found them.  Eliza does some odd obsessions, which could be due to her maybe being autistic.  Thankfully Tane did manage to contact them and Harper shouted out where they were and handy Levi just happened to be where he was so Batman and Robin could run to the rescue. 

I would so want Levi to be my doctor, he was sooooooooo calm when delivering Archie despite having Harper  screaming in his face she needed to get to hospital and have a c-section, just let it all wash over him and did what he needed to do. May have been a while since he'd delivered a baby but the baby does most of the work.  Tane was great too, just backing up Harper, holding her, encouraging her, no nagging, just a dad to be.   The only silent one was Eliza but then it would be quite a jaw dropping event, but then she started secretly filming it  which is a big no-no which Roo told her and for her to delete it, scales falling from her eyes perhaps?  A few breath holding seconds until Archie let out that cry.    I'm the same in any drama, soap when a new born doesn't immediately doesn't cry and only start breathing myself when he/she does.  I think Tane did pick up on the fact the ambo service  said they hadn't any calls but then was certainly not the right time to go into it. 

Maybe a frivolous remark but it was noticeable Harper was wearing a nice floaty dress which made it a very discreet birth. I hope she remembered to take her knickers off.    Any 'old' Neighbours fans would get what I mean.

I get the feeling there will be a lot on H&A's FB page wittering on about how big Archie is but babies do come in different sizes, from teeny weeny and all wrinkly to big and wrinkle free and TPTB wouldn't be allowed to use a new born.  Though I did notice how alert he was which is a bit of a stretch.   Maybe  frivolous remark but it was Initially they all arrived at ND's safely and Harper actually  seemed glad Tane was there with that big  soppy grin on his face, what was in that  anaestheic that changed her mind which made her tell him to effectively sod off.  Wisely he did as asked.   Levi seemed pretty chuffed when Tane  asked him to hold Archie, well he has saved his life twice. he could be a honourary uncle. 

Dana was over the moon to be an Aunty.  It was Dana that pushed Harper to big up the wedding when she was 'willing' to go along with Tane's low key plans which made her more excited about it.

I did spot that when Theo was talking about his new girlfriend to Justin and Leah he omitted to say her current guy was a RB, knowing full well  if he did they would put a stop to it even if he is a  fully grown adult.  

Kirby was very keen  about  her promo film and at least I'm supposing they won't to filter her colour out of it or make her look thinner. 

[Red Ranger 1]

Harper was being ridiculous here.When she said people know why she's doing it, my response was "Because you'd rather hide under the sheets like a heartbroken schoolgirl than be a grown-up about it?" I was surprised Cash was so keen to take her side. Still, at least she came round by the end of the episode and realised this is about Archie, not about her and her fantasies.So it seems she and Tane are set to co-parent, which they really should have stuck to in the first place instead of trying to make it more than it was.

You could probably make a documentary about Cash, Eden and engagement rings at this point.

Talking of, Kirby just took herself off into her own little world and didn't realise the effect she was having on others again.She's already on thin ice with Mali over not doing her job when she's at work so doubling down on it was not a good idea.Being lumbered with an obnoxious photographer didn't help but Mali was obviously going to snap sooner or later.

Edited June 4 by Red Ranger 1

[CaptainHulk]

I don't trust Mr Mullett for some reason... I dunno why, to be honest?

And Mali was right to blow his top.

9 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

You could probably a documentary about Cash, Eden and engagement rings at this point.

Yeah but who'd watch?!

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Incidentally, nice that Nikau was remembered and I liked how really uncomfortable Eden was babysitting Tane!

Also, I liked the way Tane's culture was remembered, Home and Away is one of the best soaps for this sort of thing.

[H&Alover]

That Maori coat for Archie was beautiful and I'm guessing Tane wanted it to be opened that day as it was meant to be worn on his Birth day but circumstances took over so wasn't able to so the next day had to be the day. that was a lovely letter he wrote too. Tradition and family mean a lot to Tane, Harper can't get that as her family life wasn't good.

Not really excusing her but Harper's emotions have been all over the place, she's just broken up with the guy she wanted to love her, a traumatic birth, then collapsing, had to have another op, but she did dress Archie in it and invited Tane to come and see him in it and seemed OK with them co-parenting.  Cash is an old friend of hers so would take her side, he knew the 'old' Harper. It was a nice mention of Nikau.

Someone else I'm not  really excusing but Kirby was so into this new promo film she  had forgotten everything and everyone else. She has been a good worker, covered for Mali when he had his hearing problem and when he got involved with the RB's, but it's all gone out of the window now.   Had she designed some of those boards?  Then that comment about working at the surf board shop and teaching surfing being just a stopgap was a real insult, so not surprising Mali reacted the way he did.  Wonder if that That   guy filming it wasn't into surfing at all was he? Will that bust up be included? He was an odd bloke and who in TPTB decided he should look like an old hippie type. 

Loved the interaction between Abby and Eden with Eden with Abby admitting she and Mali  had said the L word and  Eden  trying to get all the gossip.  

Eden was busted alter finding her engagement ring and putting it back on and having Cash walk in on her, that will be an interesting talk.