Mackenzie and Courtney Act at the Lassiters Pride event. Photo: © Channel 5. Source: Digital Spy.
It was a fun week on Neighbours last week, with the UK just about squeaking in to see the Lassiters Pride event before Pride month was over. The Pride episodes were really fun, but it wasn’t all rainbows and sequins in Erinsborough.
Heartbreak For Toadie
Hasn’t Toadie been through enough? If anyone deserves to trot into the sunset with his miraculously still alive first wife and live happily ever after, it’s Toadie. Alas, it’s not to be, with Toadie and Dee calling time on their relationship, which had barely got off the ground. There are plenty of obstacles that couples can come up against, but it seems like wanting to have a relationship with your criminal mother who attempted to murder your current partner’s late wife might just be one of those things that no amount of couples therapy can overcome. So poor Toadie is heartbroken once again. I do not like Toadie being sad, as good as Ryan Moloney is at portraying it, so I hope things will turn around for him again soon.
The World’s Least Enthusiastic Threesome
I can’t even get my head around why Pierce, Chloe and Naomi even considered having a threesome, but after an extremely brief conversation where Naomi suggested it and the others reacted with what can only be described as lukewarm enthusiasm at best, they decided to give it a shot. That evening. Having discussed it for about thirty seconds. Oh, and they all work together. Am I mistaken, or is that in the top ten of worst ideas that anyone’s ever had?
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against people wanting threesomes, but I just figure that you all need to be equally enthusiastic about it, there needs to be plenty of open communication, and it’s probably better if you don’t have to sit through a management meeting the morning after all bumping rude bits with each other.
The whole thing made Pierce deeply uncomfortable and insecure, and he displayed some pretty problematic views on bisexuality afterwards, but thanks to a delightful celebrity matchmaker, they seem to be back on track.
Bye Aunty Nomes
She was like a beautiful butterfly fluttering in, brightening our days, and then flitting off back to LA after she tried to get intimate with her two bosses at the same time. OK, so my analogy fell down a bit at the end there, but you know what I mean. I really love Naomi and I was so sad she was only back in Erinsborough for such a short time. It’s pretty fair to leave after such an mortifying situation though, because really the only options available to you after such awkwardness are to disappear halfway around the world or scream yourself to death, so I’m glad Naomi chose the first option.
Paul is Deeply Unpleasant. Again.
How long has it been since we had a week where Paul didn’t do anything hateful? Last week he stopped meddling in everyone’s business for just long enough to be spectacularly rude to guest star Shane Jenek, AKA Courtney Act. I understand that this storyline was for comic effect and it ended up with a lot of egg on Paul’s face, but honestly, can he just take a week off? Have a rest, Paul.
I’m Proud of Neighbours
I’ve said before that I’m proud of the way Neighbours is attempting to embrace a bit more diversity and inclusivity, and the fact that they had Pride as a backdrop to the whole week’s episodes just makes me feel that even more. Courtney Act was incredibly fun and I loved seeing all the residents of Ramsay Street getting into the spirit of Pride, especially Ned in drag. I didn’t know I needed to see that until I saw it. With characters like Aaron, David, Chloe and Mackenzie, I feel like Neighbours is leaps and bounds ahead of other TV shows in terms of LGBTQIA inclusivity. They still have some way to go in other areas of representation, but let’s take a minute to celebrate this. Ramsay Street is a lot more welcoming than some TV universes, and we should be proud.
