2025 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[H&Alover]

Before we get to the story I have to say I really liked Ziggy's denim dress.

Both Levi and Dean were more anxious about finding Roscoe knowing what he was planning to do to Ziggy and Mac than the ethics of bunging Todd in the boot.  Handy how both Dean and Levi happened to be so sharp eyed.  Roscoe for all his toughness didn't know he'd be taking on  a RB.  Did they truss him up before they went hunting for Mac and Ziggy, I'm supposing he would have disposed of them after setting Dean's car on fire which would have also set fire to the corn.  Did like Dean's comeback to Levi "Can I ring the cops now". "Go for it". 

Considering, even allowing for how unethical Dean and Levi may have acted, they did catch two escaped prisoners and one was  a killer, those cops were treating them like they were the bad guys. I reckon they were miffed seeing as it was two civvies catching them.  Hope Mac and Ziggy got checked out at   a hospital.  They had to bring up Dean's past didn't they which I think is why Levi 'owned up' and said he'd hot wired the car, didn't mention the smashed window.  I loved Karen's reaction - so her.    It did finally click for Dean when he saw how attentive he was with Mac and Karen dropped her two pennth in too. Karen had also mentioned Brett earlier, wondering how he was getting on being on his own.  At least they would have parting on good terms, maybe Levi should have taken up Dean's offer to show him how to hot wire a car, you never know when it could come in handy. 

Now I feel Kirby was right to nudge Mali into saying goodbye to Rose, they were a good couple once so they needed a  proper goodbye, even talking about old times and being able to laugh about it.   Rose had  a right crush on Cash when she first arrived, before she found out he was her friend/stepsister's - Jasmine - boyfriend but once she'd got over that they become good colleagues and friends, though they did clash occasionally, mostly over Cash's paranoia over Tim.    Another noticeable absence from Rose's goodbye was Leah.

Remi, not surprisingly, is ignoring Sonny's calls/text's. He's more focused on Justin being able to get Forrest to agree to this deal re Kirby's songs.  Not been said but I'm hoping he has filled Leah in on his latest venture. 

Just as Rose leaves, tipping off  Cash about the RB's latest scam is, it resurfaces with a brawl outside the Surf Club so all systems go.  It looked from what we saw on the trailer that Theo is getting in deeper. 

 

 

[pembie]

How do Dean and Ziggy afford that huge luxury house and afford to hire the helicopter for Mac and Levi 

Dean doesn’t look like he has a job really just sits around drinking beers and Ziggy isn’t really working being pregnant I wouldn’t think fantasy Island kinda of stuff 

Esle where on the net they joke about the bay having a magical money tree where characters go to fund the impossible 

[Red Ranger 1]

I guess it was hard for the police to work out who did what, aside from the one who was daft enough to punch Cash. (Then again, given that he had Gage out for his blood, maybe he thought he'd be safer in jail.) Lacey showed a less attractive side in squaring up to Eden, and I'm bewildered that Theo thought it would be a good idea to take Lacey up to Salt straight after, and that Eden actually served her. I did feel a bit sorry for Lacey with the way Gage was pushing her around afterwards though, so maybe it's no wonder she seems to have found an alternative in Theo. It's hard to see why Theo is going down this route which is making Sonny seem like the level-headed one.Did he want to play white knight with Lacey, or is it the money that attracts him?Or both? It does underline the fact that Dean feels like a throwback to a different era where they used to romantacise that sort of knucklehead bad boy.Now we're seeing what dating someone like would really be like.

Marilyn came across as deeply unpleasant here, and it's frustrating that we're probably meant to be on her side.Impersonating Roo to dig up dirt on Eliza just because she acts a bit weird sometimes was a pretty jerk move, and it's hard not to see her "We might not be safe!" as her catastrophising even if Eliza did start a fire. (Which has already been hinted at with her having that lighter.) At least Leah and Justin didn't immediately embrace it.

I liked the chat between Cash and Eden about her feeling aimless.

[Foellfan]

On 12/05/2025 at 18:12, pembie said:

Who do you want eaten I nominate Mali and Abby they are boring me too tears

Abby, Harper and Eliza most definitely!

"If he's making a racket he's alive' Another classic from Dean.

Weirdly enough, I'd have felt safer and more confident with Dean doing the saving in a weird way as he knows how the criminal mind works, twisted yes but helpful here most definitely.

Ziggy sort of faking feeling sick reminded me of when Tane was stabbed and she and Dean went to 'borrow' supplies at NDH and she went into major stomach cramps .. Dr: What's the pain like? Ziggy: Painful!

Oh Theo, you silly boy, thinking with your trouser brain again!

Edited May 14 by Foellfan

[H&Alover]

The cops did arrive in the middle of the brawl so wouldn't know who started it, just needed to break it up.   The fact Cash prevented Mouse threatening Eden may not have gone unnoticed  by Gage.  Did I miss something or was it only Eden trying to calm things  down?  Both Eden and Lacey are strong ladies so no surprise they clashed and I know I've said this before but Lacey does remind me of Flick.  Lacey is a RL so knows the rules, but not afraid of taking the chance of playing away.  Gage I'm thinking has taken over from Rory who was the last RB who was in charge.    Sign of the times I guess they've got CCTV and well protected property.  

Of course neither Theo or Sonny would have been aware of the trouble as where they were taken was well away from the bay.  Theo's talents as a mechanic was needed to sort out Gage's motor for the race.  Sonny was, oddly, the voice of reason trying unsuccessfully to get Theo out of there.  The RB's do have their own kind of ethics Gage not racing as he was running the bets.  Theo would have some experience of racing, he had that very fancy car when he first roared into the bay.  He seemed to really enjoy it and he did beat that other guy and earned high praise from Gage.  I wonder if Matt Evans did the driving himself or was a body double used?  He was really into the idea of him going up against Gage using his own car but again it was Sonny who reckoned that would be a very bad idea.  Sonny did give his share of the money, or some of it, to Remi, but as Remi said it wasn't about the actual money it was the betrayal. Hope he is giving Leah, who suddenly appeared, though briefly something for him staying there and eating them out of house and home. 

Marilyn is doing, though very sneakily,  is what Roo should have  done, once she realised Eliza is more troubled than it first appeared.  Not just her acting  a bit weird, the whole punching Scott then threatening him with a bottle thing should alert her.   It  did seem, though still not confirmed, she had set her last place on fire.  Roo can as we know can be very stubborn when she thinks she's right.  I still blame  SS/Eliza's SW for putting someone like Eliza with  a newbie emergency foster carer with a very limited  back story on her. 

That was a loving chat between Cash and Eden, as he said he didn't  fall for a musician all those years ago, he fell in love with who she was/is. 

 

[Foellfan]

Dana's drunk scene with Tane was hilarious...she was right about him though and, perhaps because of his own brief issue he sees the warning signs with Eliza.

[Red Ranger 1]

Again, there's a feeling that while Marilyn will probably be right, she's still the most unpleasant person in the storyline.Her "You can't let her think she's got away with it" summed up everything wrong with her attitude.She's the established foster kid who doesn't like this new girl getting in the way and upsetting things.I had to smile at her ridiculous overreaction to finding Eliza on the stairs, as if she was expecting Eliza to pull out a flamethrower.(And yep, Roo and Marilyn really should know better than to have private conversations without checking anyone's in the hallway!) I'm not sure how harshly to judge Roo's insistence on giving Eliza the benefit of the doubt, she does seem to embrace her explanations a bit too readily.But as ever, it's not clear how genuine Eliza is being: Is there a part of her hoping this fresh start will go differently?

Theo continues to be so careless he's got Sonny, who's pretty much a manchild, thinking it's all too much.If Theo gets his car fixed, which seems to be the idea, I'm not sure why he'd still need the money.Are the loans repayments that bad?

There was some amusement watching Dana get blind drunk and a bit defensive at another reminder of Xander.Tane seemed a bit uncomfortable with her reassurance: Is the fact Harper likes him more than he likes her starting to weigh him down? I can't say I blame him for turning Eliza down, he has the safety of the others to consider.

Edited May 15 by Red Ranger 1

[H&Alover]

Marilyn did go about it the wrong way, but to give her some credit she did admit to Roo what she had done and Roo went to see the previous foster parents to check it out herself.  They confirmed what they had said to Maz, it wasn't proven that Eliza had set the fire  but did have doubts, but she was jealous of the other children they had taken in.  Eliza isn't a child so would have clocked she was being sent to her room - usual soap ploy so adults could talk privately - that  Roo and Marilyn  would be talking about her.  Roo did a complete turn around from being half convinced Marilyn was right not to trust Eliza but after her talk with her she believed her.  Marilyn does have good instincts about people.  Not too sure that Roo should be left alone with Eliza as it will mean she can bend Roo to her will.  Tane was  a different matter though, although he accepted Eliza's rather reluctant apology he still refused to take her back on.  He wants to help kids who have problems but he can't take the chance of Eliza causing more problems and he warned Roo about her because of her asking about Harper and the baby.   Anyways as we saw from the trailer Roo was looking in Eliza's music box and was shocked about what she found.  Hope she put the things back in the right place as pretty sure Eliza would know exactly where they should be. 

Some lighter moments with Dana and Tane and her trying to pin him down with the Wedding plans.  It's not a blokey thing to get into what food ought to ordered but as Mac is away and no Xander there is no-one to sort it. Dana knows what menu Harper would like but he needs to have  a say too, maybe some Maori themed dishes.   At least Dana has got the drinks sorted with Abbey's help, she did sample quite a  few bottles to make sure.  I may be getting ahead of myself but  there did  seem to be  a spark between her and Sonny before Tane offered to take Dana home. Putting it down to the drink that Dana was more verbal than she would normally be, though she's never been one for not saying what she thinks, but did give Tane pause for thought.  Wonder if she'll remember what she said in the morning. 

It is odd that Sonny is coming across as the more level headed one with Theo wanting to race Gabe, maybe he's been there done that and how it could end or knew someone and it didn't end well for them. That was a good wedge he got so no surprise he's tempted. Sonny wanted out and of course  Leah and Justin know nothing about what he's doing and would have  put a stop to it though he is an adult so can't be told what to do.  Theo and Lacey were taking a big risk having their bunk up in the garage when anyone, such as Sonny did, could have walked in. 

Edited May 16 by H&Alover

[pembie]

I got quite bored of the Dean Levi kidnapping story to be honest I think it was used mainly so Dean could speed around New Zealand really in a shiny red sports car He only came around to Levi really because he took the blame 

I don’t what Mac and Levi will say when asked if they had a good holiday 

Gage I’m not really feeling anything with him Brax was hot headed but at least he tried to look out for his gang he didn’t just attack gang members with spanner’s Where did they are pop up from again anyway after they were all arrested with Rory before?

Theo I think he has always been quite a rubbish character  He is telling Sonny how dangerous the river boys are and then gets involved with racing to be fair the race looked pretty decent even though abit too short for my liking really Lacey she’s coming across as a desperate tinder date it’s quite funny she said Theo reminds her of a puppy where I have seen people call Theo poodle because of his hairstyle 

Rose left that happened I didn’t find I really cared lol

Eliza I’m getting bored of now unless she does something psycho soon it’s obvious to me she is one and you can’t really fix them

Edited May 16 by pembie

[Red Ranger 1]

I think Eliza is officially my new hero: I definitely appreciate the temptation to wind up Marilyn the way she was.Irene showed her nasty judgemental side again, dubbing Eliza "a nasty piece of work" based purely on Marilyn's side of the story without even bothering to meet her first.Despite her attempts to support Eliza, Roo is obviously thinking about what Marilyn's saying, given her checking Eliza's room.

Mackenzie was being very annoying for most of the episode. Her dictating what Levi can and can't tell people was very controlling and it was a shame in a way that he stuck so slavishly to her wishes and didn't fill Mali in.I'm disappointed that her bullying seems to have worked out and Mali and Abby have agreed to him moving back in.And after all that, it turns out it's just because she suddenly wants a baby? Well, you can tell Tane wasn't expecting that one!

Dana was pretty much just in the episode to make up her quota, but her and Abby as friends is an interesting idea.