2025 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, despite Leah's fears that John losing money would kill it, the poker night seems to have gone well, and turns out it's Alf, not David, that raked it in. Unfortunately, John was brought down to earth with a bump afterwards.Short of indulging him with daily activities, I'm not sure what the solution is here, he's always going to be back on his own after whatever they stage.

Someone commented that the problem with everyone being in stable relationships is they keep being given one week/two episode mini-crises to use up their episodes for the week.That was definitely true of Mali and Abigail here, with the question of whether or not Abby should make her year of sobriety taking up several scenes. I think Abby is being a bit hard on herself and she was nowhere near the stage of doing what Bart did but okay, move on.

I can sympathise with Lacey's point of view here.She made a decision to cut herself off from her family for her mental health, she was building a life for herself in Summer Bay, and now they're everywhere she turns, David isn't going to take a hint and back off, and apparently neither is Theo, so there's definite logic in upping sticks and going somewhere else.We finally get a name for the girls' mother after previous unlikely references like "my late wife" and maybe David is finally ready to pull his head out of the sand and do something proactive.

[H&Alover]

First of all hands up It wasn't Cool Hand  Luke I was thinking of it was The Cincinnati  Kid.  It was a surprise  that it was Alf who was holding all the cards.  X-Ray aka John didn't work this time. John did look very crestfallen when Justin turned down his offer of them getting together more often - can't really see Justin being into  crown green bowling though I would have said that about Irene but she was into it as we saw in her flashbacks. I think Mall may take  him under his wing.

David had to dash off after Leah had alerted him Jo was trying to reach him.  Leah and now of course Justin know it was Bree  who had been stabbed.  Dana it seems from what Theo and Lacey were saying also knows. David is so right she isn't to blame for what happened to Bree, it could have easily been her.  It probably brought up memories of what happened to her mum - she's called Kristina then.  It's suddenly appeared on the H&A and the BTTB character list.  Btw should David have been the one taking her statement?  He was surprised to find out Lacey had hired a PI  so it wasn't him who 'influenced' her to drop it.  He's called for the case notes on the accident.  

Mali can't see why Abi feels as she does, which is understandable, only someone who has been an addict, like Justin, could, she could have gone the same way as Bart, maybe he didn't have the back up she did or was willing to get help?   Good, if that is the right word, to hear she is still having therapy.  

Lacey did move to Mango River to get away from her family and bad memories - still hasn't been explained how she got caught up with the RB's - David certainly wouldn't have thought of looking for her there, though she had changed her surname.  Then she came to the bay, was just settling in then David turned up and she was ready to leave  but Leah changed her mind.  Avoiding her dad was one thing but then Jo arriving mad it double difficult.   She did show she cared about Jo as she said she hoped she was OK at the hospital.  Theo was, in her eyes, reading too much into it.  David is a dad and as  a parent  don't cut your child off, unless they have done something really, really bad and even then some don't.  Theo, from what we saw in the trailer and Leah's reaction has decided to go.  He is an adult so she can't stop him.  Of course she wouldn't like it but giving him her and I guess Justin's backing would be a lot better idea. 

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, H&Alover said:

It probably brought up memories of what happened to her mum - she's called Kristina then.  It's suddenly appeared on the H&A and the BTTB character list.

We've actually had Kristina's name on the site since July 

[Red Ranger 1]

Leah goes off the deep end then, seemingly convinced Theo has to stay with them as if she still hasn't quite cut those apron strings, Justin handled it well and made some good points about what Theo was giving up.So in the end it's Lacey that has to back down.I was surprised Lacey seemed to think she'd forgive Jo if she stuck around.Jo didn't seem to think that was an option as things stand last episode.

I'm pretty sure Bree herself has said in the past that Sonny doesn't pay rent: Has he started since then? Dana could have been a bit more diplomatic but the big question is...what with? There's no evidence of Sonny having a job so I hope there's an explanation coming. Is he doing casual work for cash in hand, as I suggested last time we were wondering how he can pay for anything?

I was impressed with Roo here. She's obviously devastated at the thought of Cohen leaving but she didn't say anything in front of him or Adrian, saving it for when she and Alf were alone. I guess she's learned. It does seem a bit abrupt though, even without it only being last week that Adrian wasn't intending to see Cohen again. Can he really just grab Cohen and leave if the boy agrees to it? I'd have thought his social worker (ie Harper) would need to be notified and possibly okay it.

[James Martin]

Thought the Lacey "I wanna leave Summer Bay" storyline felt like filler.  Even if it's part of the setup for 

Spoiler

the Season Finale storyline

it was resolved way too quickly.  Theo said his piece, Lacey had a bit of a cry, then she's like "write the last 24 hours of I'm staying."

 

[H&Alover]

21 hours ago, Dan F said:

We've actually had Kristina's name on the site since July 

Oops, must have missed that.

[H&Alover]

Leah went back to her annoying self, trying to control what Theo does.  Even if she was his mum she can't order him to stay, he is, as Justin said, an adult. It would have been  a lot  more sensible to say that if that is your choice, we'd miss you and give him and Lacey  her/their blessings.  Like Leah and Theo Lacey was running away from her family.   Leah came to the bay to escape an arranged marriage and Theo was escaping his dad.  With Justin it was different as he, Tori, Brody and Mason were moved there by the police as they were in WP. 

Justin was a lot more reasonable about it and gave good advice to Theo, asking was it really what he wanted, did he really want to give up what he has in the bay.  As we saw Theo took what Justin said on board and told Lacey he was staying and managed to persuade her to stay.  Sad the reason why she felt so couldn't forgive Jo would mean she'd forget her mum which is totally illogical.  I know it's a cliche and not knowing the person concerned but I think her mum would want her to forgive Jo.

I think Sonny was really hurt by what Dana said about him not paying anything towards his keep, be it rent or buying groceries.  It's not something that has been mentioned but for all we know he has been  paying rent since Bree last mentioned it. Could he be getting money from his t but has kept quite about it?  I know it's been said by Remi Sonny's dad was made bankrupt but perhaps they are more solvent  than we've led been to believe. He meant helping  Bree out in practical ways. Would have been interesting to look more closely at those bank statements. 

Before all that blew up he was really concerned about what medics like her, Jo and Bree face  the abuse, vocal and physical every day and stroppy family/friends if a patient is in their care  and not they are getting the answers they want. We've seen that many times from regular characters who shout at the doctors/nurses.  As Dana said they are scared about their family member/friend and it part of the job.  A patient can wake up not knowing what is going on, where they are.

Roo was certainly biting her tongue quite  a bit there.  Adrian has broken the news he has a son to his mum, who was naturally enough   surprised/shocked, but happy to meet him.  I'm guessing he's not mentioned him before as Cohen was only in his life for three months and he thought he'd never see him again and we don't know what his circumstances  were  back then.  He seems to be rushing it a bit, I'm supposing Cohen's SW aka Harper has been informed behind the scenes.  For all we know Adrian could 'kidnap' Cohen and keep him at his mum's place.  Has Roo still got 'guardianship'  of  Cohen so she does get a say of where he goes and how long for?  Adrian did say it was Roo who gave him the kick up the bum to be  a parent to Cohen. 

 

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Wouldn't it need the Childcare agency in Summer Bay to agree with Adrian taking Cohen permanently?  After all, they're responsible ultimately for his welfare, not Roo.  Pretty sure they'd need to vet him to make sure he'll be a proper parent to the kid.

And there goes Cash dropping work to go help Gary out.  Would be nice if there had at least been a line to say he'd cleared taking some time off work for that with his boss in the show.  But no, just assumed as so often happens in the storylines.

[Red Ranger 1]

19 hours ago, James Martin said:

it was resolved way too quickly.  Theo said his piece, Lacey had a bit of a cry, then she's like "write the last 24 hours of I'm staying."

As I said earlier in the week with Mali and Abby, and as was true with Dana and Sonny in these two episodes, when couples are happy and together, they often get stuck with these two episode mini-crises in order to have them do something that week!

Alf's episode count this week:Five, for the third week running. Mackenzie didn't appear at all, but at least we know where she is.

That was an incredibly abrupt departure for Cohen and it really feels like there should have been some sort of official involvement given he was in care. I mean, to play devil's advocate a bit, it's not like Adrian just appeared out of nowhere and claimed him. He went through a whole process with the police and social services to confirm he was Cohen's dad, and he's been in contact with them since then. But it seemed like he told Roo he wanted Cohen to live with, asked Cohen the next morning, and by lunchtime Cohen was on his way to live with him! (He didn't even say a proper goodbye to Marilyn, who's in for a shock when she gets home.) Still, after a bad start when Adrian first turned up, Roo has ended up acquitting herself well and recognising that being united with his family is the best thing for Cohen and it's not about her, which is a plus.

Meanwhile, after taking their time getting there, Dana and Sonny manage to sit down and talk things over. Much as I thought with Sonny then. We did see him doing a cleaning job with Theo some months back, although there's been no real indication that he's kept up that sort of thing. It makes sense though.

Cash and Eden acting as rather reluctant advisers for Harper's dating profile was kind of fun, so it's a shape that we immediately lose Cash as a buffer, while Eden looks like she'll be back nursemaiding Remi next week judging by the promo. No surprise Cash asked Tane to be best man, they are like family. Harper says Archie's five months, which is fairly accurate by the Oz broadcast dates. (It's closer to four in the UK.) Tane doesn't look entirely comfortable with Harper's dating, maybe he's realising how flimsy this set-up is, despite Harper's vague assurances.

3 hours ago, Medea Fleecestealer said:

Would be nice if there had at least been a line to say he'd cleared taking some time off work for that with his boss in the show.

Um, that's exactly what we got? Two in fact: He said he was going to do it and then he said he'd done it.

[James Martin]

8 hours ago, Medea Fleecestealer said:

And there goes Cash dropping work to go help Gary out.  Would be nice if there had at least been a line to say he'd cleared taking some time off work for that with his boss in the show.  But no, just assumed as so often happens in the storylines.

There was a reference to "clearing it with Sarge" (David I assume?) or words to that effect.

Cohen's exit, my God how rushed?