2026 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Red Ranger 1]

Yes, Carmen stated outright that she'd been working at the Reefton Lakes Leagues club that night and was driving home. Abigail was on her way home herself after dropping off Lacey after their night out, which suggests places like that were still open/only just closed.

Well, Leah still hasn't learnt that her loose lips can cause problems, and one day after telling Justin not to spread news prematurely as well! Mind you, it looks like things were going to get tense however Roo found out, with neither her winding Alf up nor her being honest with him doing much to improve his mood.

Sonny listening to advice about the gym didn't last long then.I'm not sure whether he was following Tane's programme or not but lying to Remi and Dana isn't exactly a good sign.

Mackenzie drags the even more unqualified Eden into giving her an opinion on the baby shower but she seems to have embraced it in the end.

I'm not sure why Harper doesn't want Tane looking after Archie:Does she think he's not up to it or is she worried he'll take off with Archie again?

[H&Alover]

Thanks for that Red, but why was she speeding? 

Justin had told Leah  not to say anything, but  I don't think she meant to  reveal to Roo Alf had been officially cleared but Roo saw by the look on her face she knew something.   it was quite the confrontation between Roo and Alf but it finally got resolved.  He explained why he had been so grumpy about it all. It must have been very awkward for Marilyn living with Alf and Roo during all this, she would have been walking on eggshells all the time, not wanting to say the wrong thing. 

Sonny's plan of sneakily working out by lying to both Remi and Dana soon come unstuck.  Now they are both onto him he'll either have to behave or be more sneaky.  

That did get very complicated with Mac, Eden and Abby arranging the baby shower but they finally came to a solution.  But as  we should know by now all that joy and excitement meant there were flying all over the place. 

We did find out why Harper was so reluctant to let Tane have Archie on his own but after advice from Dana, not for the first time in regards to Tane, she spoke to him about it.  It made sense to me. 

[Red Ranger 1]

I'm not sure there needs to be a deep dark reason for speeding (assuming she was and Abigail wasn't mistaken...it's not like hitting her did much damage, after all). You're driving along a long road at night when you think no-one else is around, it's easy to fall into the trap of forgetting the speed limit and just putting your foot down.

Alf's episode count this week:Five, for the second week running.Jo didn't appear at all, for the second week running, and Levi only appeared in one.Is he borrowing episodes off other people or something?

I've been hoping the show would resist the temptation to give Mackenzie and Levi a second miscarriage and we got far enough into the pregnancy that I began to get my hopes up but nope, here we are. It seems unnecessarily cruel and I really hope we don't have a repeat of last time with Mackenzie being horrible to everyone.Everything up until then is basically misdirection combined with "Nothing can possibly go wrong" dialogue about how the baby's going to change their lives and everyone's so excited and looking forward to it. I did feel some sympathy for Abby in being cut out when it was her idea in the first place, which was increased by the fact she was trying really hard not to make a big deal out of it.

Alf and Roo finally talked and a lot of what he said seemed to hit home, so hopefully Roo will stop smothering him now and let him judge his own limitations. "When you are old, they will take you where you do not want to go":My dad was quoting that one when he was 50, so I hope he doesn't feel worse now!

Incredibly awkward visit by Tane to Harper and Dana, where it was obvious Harper was making excuses. Her reasoning is fair enough so, as Dana said, she needed to be honest with Tane about it and thankfully he understood.

I must admit it didn't occur to me until the episode was over but...no reaction from Abigail to the person that hit her being charged. Has she even been told? It does add to the feeling that the show's forgotten she was the victim and is focusing more on the effect it had on Alf.

[H&Alover]

I did think that maybe it was something  to do with the case Richie has been put onto, the thefts from cars, some being Ute's but is seems I was misleading myself. It hasn't been said onscreen if Abby has been told that it wasn't Alf who hit her.  I don't think David would tell her who  it really was.

Richie was joining the dots with the car thefts so there is a good cop in there. 

That was so sad Mac finding out she'd miscarried again, she/she had been kicking a few days earlier, it wasn't anything she'd done wrong, though I guess any mum would think that, babies do 'rest'.   I think Levi knew when the sonographer said she'd get  a doctor, but hoping he was wrong.   What a choice for her to make, let them induce labour or have a C section.   It had to be Mac's choice, but maybe he was thinking if he chose for her, she'd  blame him later.  I did want to give Levi a big hug when he was in his office and he started to cry, just because he's a doctor doesn't mean he's immune to having feelings. I  too hope Mac doesn't do another runner. 

Tane, being where he was, got the short straw having to tell the others.   Quite the debate about what to do with all the stuff they had laid  out, they must have been able to redistribute the food somewhere?  

Tane did take the reason why Harper didn't want Archie being alone with him very well, he got why she was worried,  Archie is bigger and heavier now and he struggled picking him up, he's still recovering from his internal injuries and having Archie maybe kicking him in his abdomen could make him drop him.  We did see him taking his boot camp class but was just standing there and not doing anything strenuous.  The dreaded "We need to talk" words came up, but nothing bad. 

Maybe just me but I think that  when Archie took  his first steps it was unscripted, the look on 'Archie's face was such  a delight and his real mum and or dad would have been there to see it. Jessica and Ethan would have just have to go with it. It brought some light relief to the bad news they were taking in.  Nice little mention that if it hadn't been for Levi they wouldn't have  Archie.  Most people are going to want to be there for Mac, but Levi is also going to need someone to lean on. 

Tender moments when Tane and Harper were taking all the baby related stuff from the Farm House, Tane even remembered to look in the fridge, but did leave the scan behind.  Of course, as yet, Mali doesn't know. 

Edited June 21 by H&Alover

[Red Ranger 1]

Yep, both Abigail and Richie in the episode and neither of them make any mention of the person who hit her being charged, which does leave the storyline feeling incomplete and as if the show forgot who it was about. At this point, I think the best we can hope for is a throwaway comment at some point.

Aside from the minor police drama, the focus was squarely on Levi and Mackenzie's reaction to the miscarriage and that of those about them. Levi was in a bit of a no-win situation in that Mackenzie was looking to him for guidance but he couldn't really tell her what to do with her body. It did feel like, the way she was feeling, the surgery was the least worst option and thankfully she got there on her own. I was worried we'd see Levi smashing things up at the end but his quiet grief was more affecting.

In some ways, it's lucky Tane was there, since it meant someone could spread the news and we won't get the horror of Mackenzie coming back to find no-one knows again. There's still a few people possibly out of the loop, like Mali and Mackenzie's family, but hopefully the news will soon spread. Eden was slightly harsh towards Abigail, who wasn't being particularly unreasonable, so I'm glad she apologised. I'm glad she backed down with Cash: I can understand her wanting to be there for Levi and Mackenzie but they need their privacy right now. Archie starting to walk perhaps underlines why Tane needs to be fit to look after him. I think he made the right call leaving the scan photo: As painful as it will be, it's not his place to remove it. It's good that not only was Cash there for Eden but Richie was there for Abby as well.

[H&Alover]

As already said would Richie/David be allowed to pass that info on even if it was Abby who had been the victim of the hit and run? 

I hope I'm not being insensitive but would they tell Mac/Levi the sex of the baby?  Neither of them have asked and it would be known as that was why she was having that scan.  It wasn't Tane's  place to remove the baby scan, Levi did that, hope he didn't dispose of it but kept it safe somewhere.  Both Tane and Abby have moved out, Abby temporarily, to give Mac and Levi space.  I don't think Mac meant to be unkind to Tane by telling him to leave  at the hospital, his reasoning was because he was there when she and Levi found out.   She didn't shout at him.

No words needed with Levi and Mac just lying in bed. 

Richie may not be the most popular guy with some folks, but liked how he was with Abby and David letting him have some time with her.  Levi did ask Cash to let his parents know, Eden tried to tell her mum, but Cash stepped in and broke the news. As yet mac hasn't been able to tell her mum. 

Two more people found out  in the  'new' episode, it did explain why that someone was so offhand with them earlier but once they knew they understood. 

Just as we thought Alf was OK with the cops, he was back  to his usual self.

[Red Ranger 1]

I can't think of any possible reason why Abigail shouldn't or wouldn't be told. What's the alternative: A victim reports a crime to the police and then never hears whether they caught the culprit or not? We did get a brief moment of truce between Alf and Richie here, although I'm not sure Alf actually knew how gung ho Richie was about him being guilty?

After that first scene, I thought it was setting up Lacey being made to look bad and having to accept Tane's wonderful after all, but surprisingly we didn't go that way. Eden and Abigail were pretty good at breaking the news and then we get evidence that, yeah, Tane's still rude, as he continues to be childish towards Jo after she's spent about three weeks hiding out at the hospital. I don't know if the show's listened to the anti-Jo segment of fandom and thinks everyone will be applauding, but it's really not doing Tane any favours.

I can't help worrying that Mackenzie dealt with her first miscarriage well at first and it wasn't until the next week that she started lashing out, so I'm still anticipating a volcano at some point.She blew up at Tane here but did seem to feel bad afterwards.I don't blame her for being unimpressed with Sinclair, whose bedside manner was appalling: Why the hell would you be that cheery with someone who's grieving? Read the room!

I did smile at Eden realising she and Cash have become the people that everyone stays with when they're going through a crisis. Meanwhile, David seems to be going to a lot of effort to take Richie under his wing.

The cliffhanger was completely undercut by a promo that tells us who's in the gym and what happens with them.That aside, if the surf club break-in is connected to the other thefts, stealing a generator seems a bit of an escalation from grabbing small items from vehicles.

[H&Alover]

Maybe Abby has been told off screen and not making a big deal about it.

Mac is still in shock at the moment so we will have to wait  and see if she goes off on one again. This time around would be even more devastating.  The last 'important' person, well I think so, was told in the 'new' episode and didn't take it too well. But Justin had wise words  for them. 

Sinclair for all her being an obstetrics doctor could have been a little less upbeat.  Maybe it's just the way she is. 

Richie was doing a  good job,  thinking that maybe the items stolen from those cars would be sold on somewhere and  checking out places where they would be sold.   Though, of course, they could have been stolen by order.  David inviting Richie to dinner with him, Jo and Lacey was a nice idea.  I guess as Richie is a newbie he felt he should get to know him off duty.

Shame we saw who it was in the gym, but give her her due Lacey reported it to David and didn't go bursting in. No way could Sonny have done it, he's only just gone onto walking on one crutch. Though if he had passed by the Surf Club's garage wouldn't he have seen it was open?  It must have taken two people to remove a generator, tad suspicious he didn't want his fingerprints taken.  Alf, John and co would have had to  have theirs  taken just to eliminate them.   

 

 

[Red Ranger 1]

Sonny didn't do himself many favours here and was lucky David was in a good mood.Did anyone ring Tane and ask if he wanted Sonny charged with breaking and entering? It doesn't matter who talks to him, he seems fixated on this idea that the more he works out, the sooner he'll be back to his old self. Ironically, he seems to be getting further and further away from his old self.

It was right that we saw Mali being told (albeit over the phone) but a bit odd that it came after a scene of the likes of Leah, Marilyn and Roo being in the know, as if they were ahead of him in being told. (Actually, thinking about it, someone would have had to have told Marilyn to put a halt on the cupcakes, so I guess that makes sense.) I could understood Lacey's frustration but she understood why Tane would be affected by the news, does she not know Mali's close to Mackenzie too? Remi starts to check on him but gets distracted helping Sonny, so it's left to Justin to be the wise old owl once again.

It would be nice if Alf could get through an episode without snapping at John once in a while.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Been mainly sad episodes the last couple of times, but understandable with Mac and Levi's loss.  I wonder which way their relationship is going to go down the line.  

Sonny must be doing something right.  He started the week with 2 crutches and now he's down to 1.  

Edited June 25 by Medea Fleecestealer