Red Ranger 1

Blowed if I know. One overheard conversation of him giving Mali some hypocritical advice, and suddenly John's convinced he's some font of wisdom who'll lead troubled youngsters down the right path with just a few softly-spoken words. He could be in for a rude awakening. The Bronte storyline is one of those things that can only work because every single person involved is an idiot.When Irene talks about how Bronte can see all the nice things she's got, the penny is nowhere near dropping that Bronte's seen all those things and decided she wants a piece of it.Dana, despite being the one person smart enough to realise that there's just the tiniest possibility that someone who says "I'll die unless you give me $100,000" might not be being entirely honest, continues to handle things as stupidly as possible: She's smart enough to stay hidden instead of barging in on hearing Leah has gone from the person trying to talk Irene off a cliff to wanting to jump off it with her, but then immediately blows it by failing to follow Bronte's lead and continuing to lay in to her in front of Xander in a way that's guaranteed to make her look bad, then decides her best option is to bang her head against a brick wall with Irene and Leah a few more times. Even Bronte, who's playing a blinder in every other way, isn't smart enough to take the money she's conned and come up with a story about a scheme that will get her the rest of the money so she can make a calm exit (after all, everyone believes anything she tells them), and is sticking around in the hope of a bigger pay day, even though that's a long way off and Dana's actively trying to expose her. I'm not quite sure why Cash and Eden were so keen for Felicity to ring Rory. I get that they wanted her to be happy, and they did indicate it was just about her being open to things in the future, but Cash has never even met the guy. They really do come across as the annoying loved-up couple who want everyone to be the same as them. I did like the friendship scenes between Cash and Rose and her giving him some calm advice. Felicity's "Still right here" to Cash and Eden reminded me why I like her.

It was mentioned on Monday that the Allens have been charged over holding Mackenzie and Levi prisoner and stabbing Levi, since they're the only people willing to actually talk to the police. So, (Saint) Tane once again depends on blind loyalty to get what he wants.However much she might grumble, it's pretty obvious at this point that Harper's so besotted with him that she'll do pretty much anything to help him. Honestly, Irene is displaying a level of single-minded delusion not seen since she wanted custody of Luc, and is now willing to put herself into debt just because she blindly believes everything Bronte tells her without a single piece of evidence, and Dana is the one that Harper thinks is crazy? (Mind you, as we've just established, Harper's an idiot.) Why was Kirby carrying a large pile of boxes from Salt down to the board shop? Is that the wine for her lunch break? Rory tries to work his roguish charm with limited success, the main result being Eden pulling a "My friend likes you" on Felicity's behalf.I did the like the interplay between the young folk: Felicity was in full-on hurricane mode picking up Eden, and I liked Remi teasing her, and him and Theo managing to get a mild compliment from Kirby.

I'm not a huge fan of Harper, but at the end of the day, she was helping him out as a friend, not in an official capacity. If Tane needed another social worker, he should have said something.

I feel like Mali got off a bit lightly here. He’s avoided any legal repercusions, Mackenzie’s quickly forgiven him and the only consequence is Rose ending things, and we’ll have to see whether that’s permanent. I am glad that Iluka got to talk to Kirby and they got to part on good terms: Again, I found myself empathising more with him for basically being an irresponsible loser than with Mali stomping around acting like the victim. I think it’s a bit soon to be turning Saint Tane into a wise old sage as well: Blind loyalty is the only reason he’s not the town outcast at best and in jail at worst, and he’s dragged Mali into just as much trouble as Iluka has. It was suggested a while back that John was scared to go against Alf but it turns out that’s not the case, at least to start with. Alf is firmly in “Be understanding and supportive to everyone except John” mode, although, as it turns out, his blind loyalty to Tane is based on the assumption that Harper’s keeping an eye on things, and Tane’s inability to keep it in his pants may have scuppered that one.

Thank you for the comments, Zig and j.laur5! Sorry, I meant to post this yesterday but things ran away from me.Here's the last chapter! CHAPTER TWELVE Ryder stood at the side of the boat, staring out to sea.At least, that’s what he’d like to be staring at.But instead of the wide expanse of ocean with nothing else in sight, he was looking at a port.A port that they would be arriving at in a few hours. It had been preying on his mind these last few weeks.What had been happening between him and Bella was great but he was well aware that she was only on board for this voyage.What then, he wondered.Like as not, she’d head back to her great life in New York.Which meant he was basically having a holiday romance with his best friend. Bella came up behind him and gave him a hug.“Land ahoy, huh?” “Yeah.Guess you’ll be getting off there, huh?” “Why, what are you doing?Do you have to stay on the boat?” The question surprised Ryder.“No, I’ve got a two week break before we set off again.I’ve got a short-term rental set up.” “Sounds like we’re getting off together then.” Bella had moved in front of Ryder during the conversation and was stood facing him.The expression on her face looked like she was trying to tell him something but he wasn’t sure what.“And you’ll be catching a flight back to New York then, I guess?” Bella gave a smile that he would have to describe as enigmatic.“Something like that.” *** Ryder had gone back to his cabin to pack and then met up with Bella on deck.Naturally, the passengers had been allowed off first so there was something of a wait to get off.Denzel came up to them.“I just wanted to say thanks again.If it wasn’t for you two, there’d be a police car waiting for me when I get off. Or at least someone giving me the sack.” “No problem,”Ryder noted. “Any time,”Bella agreed.She waited until Denzel was out of earshot before turning to Ryder.“I guess we did something to be proud of there.” “Guess so,”Ryder confirmed. He noticed the crowd in front of them was starting to move.One of the other casino staff waved at him. “See you in a couple of weeks, Ryder!” “See you, Frank!”Ryder called back. Bella slipped her hand into his as they headed towards the ramp.He was still getting used to her doing that but it felt good.He was really going to miss it. Captain Smith was waiting on the ramp, having a few words for everyone that came off.“Bye, Ryder, thanks for all your help.Bye, Bella, glad you’ll be joining us full-time next trip.” Ryder felt his stomach lurch at those words and wasn’t quite sure how he managed to keep moving. “Wait, what?” “Oh, didn’t I tell you that?”Bella asked innocently. “I’m pretty sure you know you didn’t.” “Well, when I submitted my photos to the tour company, I suggested it might pay to have a regular photographer on the cruises.You know, document everything, take pictures to sell to passengers…So, it turns out I am now a proper member of staff!” Ryder came screeching to a halt on the quay and looked at her.“But…what about that great life in New York?” “It was great, yeah.But you know what else is great?Getting to sail the high seas in luxury, with my best friend-slash-boyfriend, indulging in photography and getting paid for it!” Ryder smiled.“You’re right, that does sound great.” Bella took his hand again and dragged him down the quay.“And solving mysteries together.” Ryder looked bewildered.“That was just a one-off, right?” “Guess we’ll have to wait and see!” Comments

I agree with the comment a short while back that Iluka's coming across better than Mali.While Iluka seems to acknowledge he's done wrong and be trying to make up for it, Mali continues to stomp around in an entitled manner acting like he thinks he's the true victim here, and his main gripe seems to be that he didn't get to beat someone up enough.He says they're not kids anymore but he won't start acting his age. To be fair, his idea to give Iluka a job wasn't too bad.Elandra has a point that Mali hasn't done a good job keeping Iluka on the straight and narrow, but if she really has been telling them to never go to the police, then she's arguably part of the problem.Iluka has a point about Rose letting Mali go instead of demanding answers from him there and then, and she kind of realised that: I don't blame her for breaking up with him if he's going to carry on covering stuff up, one of the refreshing things about her character is that she has a very low tolerance for dodgy boyfriends.

Emmerdale's got a bit more fixed since the purpose-built set was built, so at least we know where everything in the village is in relation to each other. Home and Away is possibly the one soap where you could never come up with an accurate map of everything (although, as with early Emmerdale, people have tried!). Mind you, I think the fact that we know what Ramsay Street looks like disguises the fact that Neighbours has a similar problem: No-one really has a clue where Lassiters or Erinsborough High are in relation to it. (Not to mention that people often act as though those six "hero" houses are the whole of Ramsay Street, even though there's evidence to the contrary!)

The show really does seem to have lost their handle on Mali's character.The idea was supposed to be that he was a muscly tattooed guy who was honest and hardworking.He's held onto his anti-police attitude a bit too firmly at times and his whining about Tane being treated like a criminal when he was one didn't make him particularly sympathetic, but he really crossed the line here, becoming just another thug picking fights and using Dean's dodgy contacts as back-up, and coming across as very unlikable.What exactly was his plan to "make it right"? Put at least one of the Allens in hospital as payback? How old is he? No wonder Elandra was disgusted at him. He's only not in a cell right now because of yet another act of favouritism from Rose. I guess Dana's given up on trying to play it clever then and gone back to openly accusing Bronte, including right in front of Xander who's made it clear he's firmly Team Bronte, while Marilyn prefers to just stick her head in the sand and hope the whole thing goes away.Still, it seems to have got Bronte rattled...

I can understand Shelley wanting to acknowledge Kirsty's her daughter too. Not sure why Gypsy seems to be everyone's punchbag!

Don't think he stretched to pizza.

Well, whatever sense Irene saw yesterday seems to have escaped her attention again.She did the hard bit and told Bronte they couldn't afford the lawsuit, then just decided to go ahead and promise her the money anyway.She does at least seem to be trying to leave Leah out of it, but she's putting her at risk if she can't find the money herself.(And not quite sure why Bronte even needs to go ahead with the lawsuit, if Irene's just going to give her the money? Oh well, I suppose thinking straight isn't Irene's strong point at the moment.)After managing to keep her suspicions on the downlow, Dana is back to voicing them to a spectacularly unreceptive Xander, which isn't really the smartest move. Despite Mali's catastrophising, Iluka turns up alive and reasonably well.That's about where the good news ends though, as Mali continues to threaten to cross some real lines.He's already in a dark place here, which Elandra didn't seem to be entirely successful at dragging him out of. I guess it makes sense for Remi to decide to do session work but I was kind of looking forward to him getting out of his comfort zone.I'm not sure how much money he'd make and how regular it'd be, but maybe with him, Kirby and Eden all bringing in money it'll be enough.

I don't think Valerie was really trying to con anyone: Sure, she wasn't entirely honest, but ultimately she just wanted a home and a surrogate family, nothing like the cold way Bronte's trying to extort everyone. I think Tane was just clinging onto the nearest warm body for comfort and Harper was deluding herself if she thought the sex was that good that he was going to declare his undying love for her.I notice he was being civil to Felicity, although it's perhaps fortunate she was out of earshot when Cash clocked Tane being awkward around Harper. Irene does seem to have found her missing sanity and realised the consequences of her actions.So, yes, a big outlay for no gain with the health inspector and it seems Leah's straight-talking has hit the mark with regards the need for a change of plans with Bronte. Kirby's pointing out they need money seemed to be falling on deaf ears until that well-timed power cut.It's at least got Eden to get off the sofa and go back to work at Salt, which she did do when Lyrik first came to town, albeit without the added problem of tension with Mackenzie.Remi though is still convinced he can pay the bills by busking.See how long that lasts.

Well...Colby did threaten to kill Ryder that one time! But on the whole, yes, it would probably have caused him less stress.

I can understand everyone supporting Jade.Jesse living with Sally could be interesting.

I think Dana's actually done a very good job of taking a step back and mollifying her arguments with Irene.She's realised that insisting Bronte's lying without concrete evidence isn't going to get her anywhere, so she's focused on trying to achieve the small victory of rationally pointing out the damage Irene's doing by pressing ahead with her lawsuit plan.(Ironically, I do wish Leah had made this effort to help Valerie rather than giving up as soon as they hit a problem.) Anyway, today.Harper spends the episode hanging around Tane and trying not to let her tongue hang out.They might have given some thought to whether focusing on certain aspects of the proposal was a sensible idea but to be honest I'm a bit disappointed in John.I know he's rather conservative but he seemed to be fully behind Tane's idea: Did he really not know what it was about? I was very surprised that Mackenzie and Levi told Rose the whole story about the Allens and Iluka, I was expecting the wall of silence to continue for a while as yet.Not sure what to make of Eden softening towards Mackenzie, although I guess it'll make dining out at Salt easier.Cash going back to the police feels like a bit of a reset button, have to see what they do with it.

I'm always in two minds about this. I really like that they had a close friendship that meant a lot to them both and I wouldn't have liked for it to be ruined, but if they had been endgame, I'd have been fine with that.And given that I get to write it...

Well, I guess everyone's reactions are understandable in the circumstances, we'll see how it works going forward.

And here it is! CHAPTER ELEVEN Some morning sunlight was shining through the cabin porthole as Ryder and Bella lay in bed, holding each other close and kissing.“Is this us ruining our friendship then?”Ryder asked between kisses. “Oh yeah, totally.” “Because we feel really out of the friend zone at the moment.” “Mmm, somehow I don’t mind.” “Me neither.” “I feel like I could do this all day.” The kiss deepened and they disappeared further into the bed…then Ryder pulled back.“I’m due on shift in twenty minutes.” Bella sighed.“Right, yeah.” “You, um, fancy coming along?Keeping me company?” “Unfortunately, I guess I’d better do some work.Take photos around the rest of the ship and all that.” “Okay.”Ryder clambered out of the bed and started getting dressed.“Maybe we could meet up later though?” “Yeah, maybe meet up after your shift?Have dinner or something?” “Great, it’s a date.”Ryder paused, slightly confused. “It actually is, isn’t it?We’re…dating?” “Well, yeah, I guess we are.When you put it like that it sounds weird but…also kind of nice?” “It’s a date then.” *** A waiter came over to Ryder and Bella’s table and served them their dishes.Bella’s eyes lit up.“Steak!I’ve been looking forward to this.” Ryder looked slightly crestfallen.“That’s the big attraction for the evening then?” Bella gave him an indulgent look.“That and the company, of course.” “I don’t know, I guess I thought we’d have something a bit more romantic for our first date.” “As I recall, our definitions of romance aren’t the same.” Ryder thought for a moment.“Oh, that date I arranged for you and Nik, with the boat and the picnic?” “That’s the one.” Ryder looked around.“We are on a boat.” “Yes, but one we can actually get up and walk around on.”Bella smiled slightly.“Don’t worry, it didn’t make me want to stop friends with you.” “Friends, yeah.”Ryder hesitated.“Feels like we’re more than friends now, right?” “Right, yeah.”Bella searched for the words.“Feels like we’re attempting a relationship?” “But whatever happens, we’ll always be friends, right?” Bella took his hand.“I will always be friends with you.”

I'm not sure how I feel about Mali. While I think he has a point that Mackenzie would be acting similar if it was Dean, I think his view is somewhat slanted: He still doesn't trust or particularly like the police, Rose included, and I'm not convinced the Allens would do anything to Iluka that they aren't going to do anyway if the police are involved.I can well understand Rose's frustration at being met with a wall of silence from people she thought were her friends.After appearing to be out of the woods, Levi is suddenly back in danger. Talking of frustration, Irene is completely blinkered now. She's so fixated on her supposedly genius idea to help out her supposedly sick project, and she can't accept that it hasn't worked, and she's just made things worse and stabbed Leah in the back for nothing (in more ways than one). Is she really convinced the money will magically appear if she wishes hard enough?

Thank you! Hopefully get another chapter up later.

I wasn't a huge fan of Hayley and Noah together, but I'm surprised Irene is so pleased at them breaking up! I do seem to recall Hayley and Jesse being close when he first came back, so I'm okay with that, I guess. I did like Mitch and Brodie together, even though it didn't last long, so that's nice. I was always a bit ambivalent towards Flynn and Sally but that's a personal thing. I think Nick and Kirsty cheating on their partners with each other is conceptually interesting but I'm not sure I'm too keen on where it's going. Still, nice to get a Don appearance.

I didn't think so but I couldn't find it in either of my dictionaries, and the first usage of it that Wiktionary's got recorded is in 2020.

Thanks, Zig. CHAPTER TEN Ryder and Bella had found themselves in the captain’s office.It was a place Ryder had never been before and he’d hoped that when it did finally happen he’d be feeling less nervous than he did now. Captain Smith looked them over.“So, let me see if I understand correctly.You have broken into staff members’ cabins in order to search them for money, which you followed by setting off a fire alarm without proper cause and putting staff in danger.” Ryder winced.“Well, when you put it like that…” “That was all my idea!”Bella attempted,“Ryder didn’t know anything about it!” “No, that’s not right,”Ryder replied,“I went along with all of it and the fire alarm thing was my idea.” “Well, your loyalty is commendable,”Captain Smith noted,“I suppose we might not have got as far as we did if not for the two of you being good friends.” Ryder and Bella exchanged looks, not quite sure if they’d been complimented or not.“Thanks, I think?” Ryder offered. “In the circumstances, I’ve told Mr.Beck that your existing punishment should suffice,”the captain concluded.It took Ryder a moment to remember that was Archibald.“I suppose in the circumstances we should be thanking you…whilst warning you not to do it again.” “Oh, we won’t,”Ryder assured him. “You know, unless there’s a thousands of dollars theft again,”Bella felt the need to add. “I think we’ll leave it at that for now,”the captain decided. Ryder paused.“Um, what’s going to happen to Chase?” “The police boat will be arriving tomorrow, they’ll take him back to face charges.Until then, he’s confined to his cabin.Which you two aren’t, so get going.” *** Ryder and Bella headed to the bar with a distinct feeling of relief.“I felt sure he was going to make us walk the plank,”Ryder noted. “Do they do that?”Bella wondered. “Not sure.I’d have to check the disciplinary procedures.But whatever they do, I thought they were going to do it to us.” Bella linked arms with him.“Don’t worry.You heard what the captain said:We’re heroes!” “I’m not sure that’s exactly what he said…” “Ryder!Bella!My heroes!”Denzel came bounding over and threw his arms round both of them.“Don’t worry, I’m a happy drunk this time.And you know why I’m happy?Because thanks to you I have my job and my liberty!I don’t know where I’d be without you!Come on, have a drink on me.” He led them to the bar where Wendy was serving.She nodded towards Denzel.“He’s been like this for the last hour.I should remind him he’s back at work tomorrow but I don’t have the heart.” “I didn’t know you worked in here,”Bella noted. “Usually I don’t but they’re suddenly a staffmember short.” Ryder winced slightly.“Oh yeah.Chase.Guess our good deed wasn’t good for everyone.” “Well, more shifts isn’t exactly a bad thing.It’s not like I can go for a walk in the country.And not all of us are lucky enough to have a best friend to hang out with.” Bella gripped Ryder’s arm tightly.“She’s right.We are lucky.” *** It was getting late.Ryder had made his way out onto deck and was staring out at the darkness, listening to the sound of waves.Bella came up to join him.“You sick of the attention?” “Something like that,”Ryder admitted,“Guess I just wanted a moment to myself.”He realised how that sounded.“Not you!I still want you here.” “Thanks for the clarification.”Bella smiled.“Just for the record, I would be totally lost out here without you.And you are not to repeat that to anyone!” “Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know what a softie you really are.”He hugged her, letting her bury her head in his shoulder for a moment…and then suddenly they were kissing again, softly but intensely.Ryder hadn’t been expecting it but somehow he didn’t want to stop.“Isn’t this the thing we weren’t meant to be doing again?”he offered at last. “Mm-hmm, this is the one,”Bella agreed,“I think the phrase is your place or mine?”

Glad you liked it, I was worried I'd gone too far in introducing him and then making people forget him!

Levi getting stabbed continued to have a "It would be worse if it was someone other than Levi" feel to it: I guess the show came up with this to make us sympathise with him and Mac, but I don't think it quite hit the mark.The Allens came across as dangerous idiots, willing to risk a murder charge just to play mind games.So it appears Iluka was romantically involved with Nat, although given his lack of reaction to her here, I wonder if he always had his eye on the money.While I can understand Mackenzie's fury at him, to be fair to Mali, all he's really done is try and get his brother out of a tight spot in a way that seemed like a good idea at the time. It looked for a moment like we could have got a return visit from Ava, which could have been fun especially if she remembers to bring her sanity, but I guess the show isn't exactly set up to cater for school-age characters these days! With the news that her HSC is imminent, maybe with that done she'll be available for more regular visits? Irene continues to be so smug and self-righteous that there's a part of me that hopes Bronte rinses her for everything she's got, given her dogmatic insistence that everyone should hand over thousands of dollars to some woman who says she's ill but falls apart anytime she's asked for the most basic of details. At least we got to see her self-satisfied air punctured when Leah tells her that her stupid plan was stupid.