2026 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

If Brax does have a code, then it doesn’t go much further than “I can do whatever I like to whoever I like so long as I can justify it.” The reality is that he did a lot worse than Sterlo in Episode 8695, but because his victim was a burly sleaze rather than, er, a wannabe Mafia princess, people act as though he’s a hero rather than a thug. I still he and Ricky are continuing to lie to Casey rather than admit what they really are.

Brax does at least finally hand the evidence over to Cash, with the fact it hasn’t come up before being shrugged off with a “Whoever missed this has a lot to answer for.” (No word on why Tane didn’t mention it. Did he assume they must have looked at it?) Cash sucks at keeping a secret: He can’t be blamed for Jo finding out, but he then goes running off to tell Mackenzie (quite possibly the worst people he could have told) and then Tane.

Meanwhile, Tane’s involved in some prison drama. If the troublesome prisoner looks familiar, he was previously Simmo, the dodgy car racket guy who helped Andy go on the run and blackmailed Ash and Kat back in 2016.

[c120701]

Mali & Abigail are still looking very cosy in the opening titles.

[Dan F]

1 hour ago, c120701 said:

Mali & Abigail are still looking very cosy in the opening titles.

Not for long 

[Red Ranger 1]

14 hours ago, c120701 said:

Mali & Abigail are still looking very cosy in the opening titles.

I thought that when those new titles first appeared, that if they were meant to be breaking up then the show had invested a lot in new titles showing them being rather coupley!

[H&Alover]

Where is this hatred you have for Brax coming from Red?  I know the RB's of Brax's day weren't angels and he would have to throw his weight about to let them know who was boss but he did keep some control over them.  Unlike this current lot.  Look what Gage's lot did to Theo.   Brax went into cage fighting to pay Leah back for the debt he owed that she paid for him.   I do agree about neither he or Ricky are able to explain in simple words what their history was.  He did see for himself in yesterday's second episode.  

It is confusing seeing Mali and Abby still as a couple in the opening credits, like the quick flash we see of Brax and Ricky.   But then we get shots of Sonny walking about which he isn't yet. 

Who would have thought at one time a RB would be helping the cops but I'm guessing Brax did it as it was helping an innocent guy. He did think good of Cash and was, I think, repaying the favour of him making good his promise that he'd try and find out if any charges are still held against him.   

It has been mentioned on another site why Tane didn't tell  the cops about the baby monitor, it was said that  he may not have thought about it right away due to shock but why not later when he'd got his brain in order? Cash we know was outside, but David was inside talking to Jo and there were other cops milling around.  Why didn't Jo mention it?  Cash as per went off and did his own thing by going to tell Tane when David expressly told him not to.  Even when the DPP got the evidence it couldn't be known for sure they would drop the charges. 

It doesn't seem a year since Archie was born and so dramatically too, in the forest with Tane, Levi and Eliza filming it. 

Edited Wednesday at 13:37 by H&Alover

[Dan F]

6 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

I thought that when those new titles first appeared, that if they were meant to be breaking up then the show had invested a lot in new titles showing them being rather coupley!

I believe it's the promo department that put together the titles now - so most of the footage is recycled from, or will be recycled for, those anyway.

[Red Ranger 1]

I was glad that Leah at least noted she wasn't always happy with what the Braxtons did, because otherwise it's seemed like everyone has rose-tinted glasses on and is ignoring what Brax was and, as we see at the end, still is. Leah gave an awfully slanted version of Theo's encounter with the River Boys, glossing over the fact that he was sleeping with the girlfriend of one of them, which doesn't justify what they did in response but doesn't make him the innocent or heroic figure Leah implied either. (He came to care for Lacey later but initially he seemed to be motivated mainly by what was in his pants.) Leah fills him in on VJ having a daughter but no mention of Ash who was, you know, Brax's best mate. (Is his role in helping look after Luc meant to be over? He hasn't been mentioned in ages.) And of course, Brax has to win the fight and prove he's the bigger thug, because god forbid he be portrayed as a deluded self-righteous has-been that no-one respects anymore. That's what "respect" means to Brax and the River Boys, the person with the biggest fists calling the shots.

Meanwhile, Dana came across as rude and unpleasant, not for the first time recently. I don't know if she's being clingy again towards Sonny or if she's just sex-obsessed or if she still has some lingering resentment towards Harper, but she was very unlikable here and I hope Sonny pulls her into line, since she's not listening to anyone.

Mackenzie and Levi fulfill episode counts by arguing over whether their baby kicked or not. It left me wondering if Mackenzie's meant to be further along than she thought but either way, given her recent behaviour, I could do without her looking smug. She's offering free food again too, how is she not bankrupt?

Edited Tuesday at 19:00 by Red Ranger 1

[pembie]

13 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

I thought that when those new titles first appeared, that if they were meant to be breaking up then the show had invested a lot in new titles showing them being rather coupley!

Funny thing is I don’t think they have ever been actually happy in the show 

[H&Alover]

Leah did admit the 'old' RB's weren't saints, but compared to  the lot we've  had/got now, Rory, Gage and now Serlo they were. I think Leah did say  why Gage took it upon himself to torture Theo because he was caught out getting jiggy with Lacey, maybe didn't want to go into details. Luc wasn't VJ's was she but again that wouldn't be any of Brax's business because as far as VJ is concerned she is. He remembered  helping VJ to fix up his bike.  Another thing not mentioned Leah having  a crush on him, Brax, that is. 

We didn't see the end of the fight as Ricky and Casey turned up so who knows how it would have ended. May seem an odd thing to say, but it was one on one so a kind of RB code not to pile in and help your leader. 

Weren't the original RB's set up as a kind of second family for lads and sometimes lasses who had a rotten background so they become their new family.  And families have rules.  Any gang does. 

Anyway he and Ricky seem to be in dispute whether to stay in the bay or not.  If they do could he stay away from the RB's or they him? 

I think Dana is over obsessing on Sonny again  by not wanting to be apart from him, sex aside, he was getting frustrated by it and we saw that in episode two.  May have been some kind of "I told you so" with her and Harper and finding out Kerrie had planted the drugs. 

Mac did consult Dr. Google about the fact some babies do kick early, doctors don't know it all.  Mums would know these things, it's their body.  Didn't she just have her 12 week scan last week? The sonographer would have said something wouldn't she? 

My thoughts exactly, you don't see many people pay for  drinks/food in Salt, David is one exception, especially if they are friends with Mac. Going to be expensive now Brax, Ricky and Casey are going to get free nosh and drinks for life.  

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Leah's explanation for Theo's beef with the River Boys amounted to "There was a girl they treated badly and their leader didn't like it when she and Theo got close", which seems to gloss over a lot of things, notably that she was actually his girlfriend.

I suppose I should give Brax points for being at least partly honest with Casey, but we've seen him make promises to change time and time again and they never stick. I think all Ricky and Casey's arrival did was stop Brax doing even more damage to Sterlo, since he had him on the ground and was repeatedly punching him. Has Brax always called John "Palmer" or is that something he's picked up from Alf by long distance osmosis?

It feels as though the fact Mali isn't living right next to his "studio" anymore is a good enough excuse for this being the first time he's forgotten a board, although it then turns out he actually was avoiding Abigail. Even then, I don't think sending Lacey to pick up something work-related is unreasonable. It's a shame she couldn't step away when Mali and Abby were arguing and there was no need for Mali to take it out on her.

I guess we've landed on "clingy" with Dana then, although it feels like that neither explains nor excuses her being rude to Harper. Anyway, Eden managed to give her a decent talk, although she maybe should just have let Remi have a beer. She was probably well-intentioned looking at his notebook but it was an invasion of privacy.