2025 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Aaand we're back, for those of us who waited until Monday instead of treating a largely unheralded Friday drop as a big return.

I've always liked Lacey but I think in many ways this could be the making of her. I don't think we've ever seen her so downtrodden, wandering about desperate for company while still having a tiny bit of her usual attitude about her. I'm glad she said that she and Theo hadn't been together as long as her parents, but also glad David said she still loved him. Going back to work wasn't the worst idea but a chipper "Everything's fine" attitude was never going to last long. Perhaps it's for the best that she hit crisis so early. I'm obviously in one of those moments where I'm pleased to see everyone, because I found Abigail bringing Mali a drink really sweet.

I think Eden deserved a going over for the phone stunt but I'm glad it didn't go on for too long, with Levi realising he need her support at the moment. It's ironic that he and Lacey are both missing the people they most want with them at this time, and in his case, it's entirely Mackenzie's choice.

With Harper and Dana, I think they're both right. Harper's got a perfect right to want to see if their mother's changed and Dana's got a perfect right to not want anything to do with her. The problem is whether there's a way for them both to get what they want. I was slightly annoyed that Harper immediately dropped Cash in it, she really should have thought up some sort of cover story before telling Dana everything. I was glad Eden stood up for Cash when Dana was having a go anyway and that he rightly told her it's Harper she should be debating it with.

Weird time scales again: Characters have been wandering back and forth to Yabbie Creek yet it's apparently still morning when Lacey goes back to work!

Edited Monday at 21:25 by Red Ranger 1

[James Martin]

This is going to get very confusing, very quickly, isn't it?

Half the posters are talking about 8601, which TXed on Friday, yet the other half are talking about 8602, which TXed today.

If people are that wedded to the linear 6pm repeat, could we create 6pm and 6:30pm threads?  Maybe something to do when we hit the 2026 season?

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, you know, we already had them and then for some reason people were desperate to talk about the First Look/Streaming in this thread instead of the one they already had. I mean, if you're going to be picky the 6pm's been a repeat for about 20 years!

[James Martin]

31 minutes ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Well, you know, we already had them and then for some reason people were desperate to talk about the First Look/Streaming in this thread instead of the one they already had. I mean, if you're going to be picky the 6pm's been a repeat for about 20 years!

Thank God we didn't have this forum in the regional ITV era.  We'd have folk in Yorkshire (5:10pm) spoiling it for Central (6pm).

And it's a good job you didn't live in the Border region, they actually did show it at 6:30pm, as a lead in to Emmerdale etc!

Under the old system I was under the impression the rule was one could talk about the episode once it had aired on Channel 5 (main).  Now there is no main channel showing, only 5 Star.

FWIW, Channel 5 finally replied to me today after three weeks, after I aired my concerns at the lack of an HD airing - they chose not to address those but instead Copy and Pasted the Press Release they sent BTTB and others word for word about how Home & Away viewing on the app has rocketed since the breakfast drops came in.

I was like you, but now I've embraced being able to watch it when I want to.  Haven't had time to watch today's, so I'll do a double bill tomorrow.

 

 

[pembie]

7 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

Aaand we're back, for those of us who waited until Monday instead of treating a largely unheralded Friday drop as a big return.

It did seemed strange why they didn’t just wait for Monday 

[CaptainHulk]

12 hours ago, James Martin said:

Thank God we didn't have this forum in the regional ITV era.  We'd have folk in Yorkshire (5:10pm) spoiling it for Central (6pm).

And it's a good job you didn't live in the Border region, they actually did show it at 6:30pm, as a lead in to Emmerdale etc!

Under the old system I was under the impression the rule was one could talk about the episode once it had aired on Channel 5 (main).  Now there is no main channel showing, only 5 Star.

FWIW, Channel 5 finally replied to me today after three weeks, after I aired my concerns at the lack of an HD airing - they chose not to address those but instead Copy and Pasted the Press Release they sent BTTB and others word for word about how Home & Away viewing on the app has rocketed since the breakfast drops came in.

"Eee lad, you'll never guess what happens in H&A tonight!"

3wks. That's record time!

I'm here all week.

 

 

[James Martin]

So we've got the classic "journalist" snooping around story.  Sounds to me like he's trying to nail David for a conflict of interest.

Dana doubling down on not wanting anything to do with her mother.  Why do I feel like this one is going to backfire?

[H&Alover]

As said YES we're back!

We did always get the posters who had watched the afternoon  screening telling us what happened when those of us who hadn't seen now it's going to be even worse.

Lacey used that very usual phrase used in all soaps "I'm fine"   Which she was until she saw the note on the flowers given to Mali from Theo's student. Then that journalist made it worse.  Good that Mali was there for her both times.  I can't see anyone in the bay talking to  him about Wendall and only Cash and David know what happened when he was nicked.  I know we mentioned the fact David shouldn't have been the one to interview Wendell but he dealt with it very professionally and there was another cop there - could he been the one to blab to that  journo?

I want Sonny as a friend, he was wonderful with both Leah and Dana, he's like a young Alf, he listened, didn't judge and he got Dana to have a rethink about seeing it  from Harper's point of view which prompted her to go and see Harper, telling her if she wanted to see their mum that badly it was her choice  but she didn't want to know. 

If I was Harper, I'd go and see her but not say anything about having a child until she was sure her mum had changed for the good. Let's not forget when Irene's kids were growing up she was  a drinker so not the best mum in the world.  It took a long time for  Nathan, Finlay and Damien to forgive and to be able to  trust her.   Going off on  a tandem Archie was lovely, just being a baby. 

Leah again is being a right pain, shutting down and refusing to get help which is her right, it's not for everyone  and you can't force people to get it. She was taking her mind off it by doing a mad clean of the fridge. Though having said that she did see a therapist when she had her breakdown.  Justin at least is seeing someone to talk about how he's feeling about losing Theo. As said before she opened up to Sonny, he didn't  push, just let her talk. 

Poor Maz, although she claimed to Leah, she was doing fine, she looked frazzled.  Isn't there someone at   the Dimer who could  step up and be a stand in replacement? 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

6 hours ago, H&Alover said:

We did always get the posters who had watched the afternoon  screening telling us what happened when those of us who hadn't seen now it's going to be even worse.

Says you before talking in detail about yesterday's 6.30pm episode before those of us who watch at 6pm have seen it! At this point I think I need to skip any post that's more than a sentence or two long, or at least be prepared to stop reading if it's clear they're ahead of me...

Anyway, today's 6pm episode, or 8602 for those who prefer numbers. I actually didn't think Leah did anything particularly bad here, certainly not compared to other times recently. She certainly did nothing wrong with Marilyn, she offered to come back to work and Marilyn insisted she was fine. While I wish she could see Lacey as another person who's lost Theo, I think keeping her distance was the best way to handle it. I think David was out of line trying to get Justin to talk to her, it was just pushing Justin into the firing line rather than talking to her himself, so I'm glad Justin said no. I do think Leah was a bit cold and dismissive about Justin's counselling, although I did like that she checked he's okay with not being involved with the record label. I did say before the break that I thought Justin should see the counsellor himself, so I'm glad he did that. Leah's in a similar situation to Dana, accepting Justin needs to do it but not wanting any part in it. To a point I think Justin should accept that, but Leah's later conversation with Alf suggested she's taking what he said on board even though she seemed to dismiss it at the time, which is a bit of a mixed message. We did get a reference to how Cassandra was meant to pick up Theo's things but I'm not too keen on Leah just taking it upon herself to take it all: Does anyone else in the family know she's done it?

The inevitable slimy journalist, although aside from being intrusive, I don't think he's done anything wrong so far. Even David admitted that a local councillor confessing to murder isn't going to fly under the radar, so we'll wait and see what his angle is. It's hardly a state secret that David and Lacey are father and daughter (she's even living with him now!) so I'm not sure why there was such concern about the journalist knowing something that's common knowledge, he could have asked anyone in town or any vague acquaintance, or even just looked back at the clippings of Kristina's death. While it was partly down to bad timing, I'm not keen on David getting accusatory with Justin when he's spoken to the journalist no more than David himself did.

Some nice scenes with Dana and Sonny, with her laying it bare and having to admit her own failings. So she's given Harper her very limited blessing on condition she's kept out of it, we'll see how that goes!

EDIT: Ah, I thought the actor seemed familiar: Turns out Peter the journalist was the guy in 2024 who wrote some inflammatory articles about Tane's involvement with Baby Maia/Poppy. Judging by the promo, maybe David should be tapping him for information...

Edited yesterday at 19:39 by Red Ranger 1

[j.laur5]

I think that was a good reality check Eden gave Dana telling her you were fine with Cash breaking rules when it  suited you .