There’s a definite sense that the big storyline involving Chloe, Nicolette, and the baby seems to be reaching its climax, so of course, now is the perfect time for me to be taking a week’s break, not only from writing these round-ups but from watching Neighbours at all. You can blame my incredibly selfish non-Neighbours-watching brother for arranging his wedding for this coming weekend, which means that I’m headed to stay with him in order to help with the impending festivities. The plus side is that at least I get to binge all the Unmissable Drama™ in one go when I get home. But let’s have less talk about next week when I haven’t even got this week out of the way yet…
Terese Pieces it All Together
Harlow and Paul’s scheming is uncovered this week, as Terese starts to notice that things aren’t quite adding up with the Jesse situation. It’s mostly Harlow’s behavior that tips her off because, unlike her grandad, she’s not as practiced at lying as he is. Things begin to unravel as Mackenzie finds out about Jesse and Curtis’s relationship, and when she tells Harlow about it, Harlow reacts as if she couldn’t give two hoots. Mackenzie assumes that Harlow must be in shock and vows to keep checking up on her. Next, Jesse dumps Curtis because after finding out that he’s Hendrix’s teacher, he decides things are all getting a bit close for comfort. Curtis finds out that the reason Jesse dumps him is that he’s Harlow’s boyfriend, albeit a pretend one, and reacts violently, shoving Jesse over in front of the hotel. Terese sees the altercation and struts over to demand what on earth is going on, in true Terese style, prompting an extremely lackluster lie from Harlow to try to cover it up.
Terese’s suspicions are aroused even further when Mackenzie asks her how Harlow is doing. Terese obviously doesn’t know what Mackenzie is talking about, but it increases her suspicions that Harlow is hiding something about Jesse. Things get even more confusing when Susan tells Terese that Jesse was Curtis’s boyfriend, so in the end, she decides to follow Jesse after he finishes work to find out what’s going on. I found this hilarious for a couple of reasons. Firstly, how close is Lassiters to the Quill hotel? Because there was a real sense that it was a fair walk away, and yet here is Terese marching after Jesse in her power stilettos. Secondly, how did he not hear her stomping behind him in those shoes? I am also loving Detective Terese attempting to hide while she scopes out the Quill hotel. She’s about as subtle as a bucket of custard.
Somehow, Terese manages to go unnoticed and finally puts all the pieces together. She’s understandably furious with Paul and Harlow, especially Paul since honesty has been the one big issue in their marriage. Terese confronts Jesse and fires him immediately, putting an end to the espionage plot. The one thing I’m going to take from this storyline is that I really want this to be Harlow’s villain origin story. She’s always been such a goody-two-shoes, but I can actually see her going full Robinson and becoming a ruthless businesswoman and heir to Paul’s evil empire. It would finally make her an interesting character. I would love this for her.
Chasing Amy
Having thoroughly aged me with that movie reference, it’s time to attempt to unpick the love triangle going on between Amy, Ned, and Levi. Romance is rarely straightforward on Ramsay Street, but Amy seems intent on making it as complicated as possible by flip-flopping between dating Levi, Ned, or neither of them. It comes to something when the least complicated option is for her to date both of them, which is what she eventually decides to do. I mean, why not? It’s a win-win for Amy, she gets to date two hot guys, and the competition between the two of them means that they’re both going to be bringing their A-game when it comes to impressing her. Amy really isn’t as daft as she seems sometimes.
One Less Rebecchi
There’s one less Rebecchi in the street after Yashvi makes a move to Sydney in a time frame that is extremely rapid in real-life terms but positively glacial in the world of Neighbours. Toadie throws her a pretty half-hearted leaving party at the nursery, and then away she goes, probably never to be seen again. The residents of Ramsay Street don’t seem to be able to organize their relationships, big life events, or their careers without there being some disaster. Still, when it comes to arranging a job transfer and booking a flight, they are quicker than Toadie signing up for a wrestling convention. I’m kind of sad that the Rebecchi clan is dwindling though, there have been so many strange and wonderful members of the family blowing in over the years. I wonder if Toadie has any more long-lost relatives we don’t know about? Surely he’s got another couple of cousins kicking around?
The World’s Most Underwhelming Engagement Party
It must be the week for underwhelming parties because Jane manages to top Yashvi’s farewell with the most boring engagement party ever to occur in the history of civilization. It doesn’t help that almost everyone can see that Chloe is not exactly thrilled about being engaged because she’s had a face like a wet week since Nicolette proposed, including during the proposal. Nicolette is nauseatingly loved up and cannot see that Chloe hasn’t cracked a genuine smile since she got down on one knee. So they turn up to the Waterhole for dinner, only to be ambushed with what passes as a party in Jane’s mind, with Chloe wearing a weirdly wide jacket and Nicolette looking like a worm that swallowed a whole pea. I know there’s no hard and fast rule when it comes to how a woman carries a baby during pregnancy, but Nicolette’s pregnancy padding is really not convincing me at the moment. It’s so spherical. I’m so annoyed that I won’t be able to watch next week because this is clearly all about to hit the fan in dramatic fashion, especially with Leo lurking on the sidelines, ready to make a real hot mess of his brother’s domestic bliss.
Potential Film Festival Hilarity
The only part of the engagement party that seems to be enjoyable for anyone is the revelation that there will be a category for locals to submit their own films for a prize category at the upcoming film festival. Karl’s ears prick up as soon as he hears there’s prize money, so of course, he needs to get involved, and it looks like he’ll be going toe-to-toe with Jane and Clive. Who knows what film they’re going to come up with because, although I love both characters for their comedy value, they’re really only funny because they’re two of the most boring people on the planet. I am pretty pumped for the film festival storyline. It’s got comedy gold written all over it…
That’s all for now. I’ll see you all in two weeks – please pray that there are no Erinsborough-style disasters at my brother’s wedding!
