I’m only rounding up Monday to Thursday’s UK episodes from last week – it’s been one of those weeks again. It’s weird to say that a week involving a near-fatal gassing was a quiet one, but it didn’t feel like all that much happened!
Karl Kicks Out Kyle
Kyle’s woes increase in the wake of Mushroomgate, as the loss of earnings mean that he’s behind on his rent payments. Paul is hassling Karl for the land rent, so Karl is hassling Kyle for the rent on the tram. Karl’s first idea is for Kyle to modify the menu in order to make more profit, and there was a lot of talk about Golden Syrup. Kyle initially says no, because the tram was Gary’s vision and Kyle feels like he needs to uphold his dad’s legacy, but eventually he comes around to the idea, but by that time it’s too late. Because Paul is a deeply unpleasant man, he gets a bee in his bonnet about getting rid of Kyle and installing a new tenant, and so he gets in Karl’s ear about it. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to win Karl over in any argument about money, and before he even speaks to Kyle again he’s showing Amy around the tram. When Kyle rocks up with his food shopping, he’s unceremoniously told he’s out of business.
Now, I know Neighbours isn’t the height of realism, but I’ve got a few issues with this whole turn of events. Firstly, even in the wake of someone getting accidentally poisoned, can you actually kick a tenant out in the space of one day and sign a new one up before you’ve even spoken to them about it? Secondly, say what you like about Paul, but he’s managed to make a lot of money in business, so you’d think that he’d actually be pretty good at what he does. Why then, does he want to kick a tried and tested business out and replace it with a ditsy blow-in, who recently tried to get him to pay for work she’d plagiarised from her last employer? Also, a coffee shop and clothes boutique is a bizarre idea. I’ve never once popped in H&M and thought, “I wish I could have a latte and a slice of carrot cake while I’m trying to get this dress back over my head now that the zip is stuck.” Also, I’ve 100% never desired to do any of that in a tram. There’s no space and it’s lined with windows – it doesn’t exactly seem the best option for a clothes boutique. Anyway, Kyle is out and Amy is in, so presumably the Canning household now has a lifetime supply of Golden Syrup to get through.
Is Nicolette Starting to be Nice?
Most characters who start out being a bit nasty end up going through the normalisation process and end up being nice, and I think this might be happening to Nicolette. Not only has she been really nice to Brent, but she sticks her neck out to help Fay when she knows it’s not going to go well for her. Fay wants to return to spend some time with Chloe as part of her bucket list, and Chloe is reluctant to agree, mostly because she doesn’t want to confront her mum’s mortality. Nicolette feels strongly that Chloe should allow Fay to come and stay, and even though she knows Chloe is still angry with her, she goes to talk to her about it anyway. She lets Chloe yell at her and get all her anger off her chest before finally sitting down for a heart-to-heart about end of life care. I’m not Nicolette’s biggest fan, but this was a really unselfish act, and she hasn’t exactly done many of those, so credit where credit is due.
Olivia is Back
This is a weird one. The novelist who wrote the tell-all about the whole Finn mess, after getting all the information out of Karl under the guise of lending an ear to a friend, returns to Erinsborough because she wants to write another book that contradicts everything she wrote in the first one. Apparently it’s some sort of legal issue because she’s going to be sued for defamation if she publishes the book overseas. Karl and Susan have got no time for her at all, but David seems keen because he hasn’t got enough stress already, even with his complicated baby situation and wayward foster child. The whole storyline is made all the more bizarre by the fact that I remember this actress playing Philip Martin’s girlfriend back in the Jurassic Period, and I keep wondering why Jen is so keen to write an exposé about Finn Kelly.
It’s a Gas
Amy starts looking at refurbishing the tram into clothes shop, however the heck she intends to manage that, and Dipi comes round to see if she wants the old drinks fridge for the coffee shop. Personally, if the options were to buy a drinks fridge from someone I didn’t know, or go to my ex-husband’s girlfriend’s new business for her cast-offs, I’d be on eBay faster than you could say “awkward”, but this is Neighbours, and we needed some sort of scenario that got Dipi and Amy in the tram together. Someone has somehow left the tap on a bottle of propane open, and it isn’t long before the two of them pass out. Fortunately, Shane comes to the rescue, and he saves Dipi first. Uh-oh.
Amy’s Off
Amy knows that Shane saved Dipi first, and seemed more concerned about her afterwards. She goes to have a business meeting with Terese, and what a coincidence! The same thing happened to Terese when she was in a fire and Brad rescued Lauren before he rescued her. Neighbours isn’t even being shy about recycling plotlines at this point. It leads Amy to confront some home truths about her relationship with Shane and to realise that he isn’t yet over Dipi, so she ends things with Shane and decides to head back home to Queensland. Isn’t it odd how it took a gas leak for her to realise that it wasn’t a good idea to open a clothes boutique/coffee shop hybrid in a disused tram, miles away from where her children live and with a man she’s only known for a few weeks? Was it propane or was it common sense gas? I’m glad she finally came to this conclusion though, because although I was pleased to see her when she first returned, her needy pursuit of Shane has wound me up, so I’m not sorry to see Sewing Machine Barbie head back north. Bye!
