Neighbours – Ramsay Street Round-Up

I’ve only watched as far as Thursday again, so this is slightly truncated. Again. Sorry! But there’s still plenty to talk about, especially since there was a fancy dress party last week, and I do love it when the residents of Erinsborough get into costume.

Jane Loses Control

Jane is still struggling after Nicolette’s departure, and she seems to be the only person who really is. Chloe has said she misses Nicolette too, but everyone else is pretty much acting like she never existed. Jane is distraught, having only just reconnected with her daughter, and she snaps at Clive after he speaks to Susan about Jane taking some more time off work. But Clive was probably right because Jane’s first day back at school ends in a bit of a disaster. Hendrix has been allowed to film his zombie movie for the film festival at the school, and so is running around the corridors with a phone taped to his chest, screaming at students, which Jane takes exception to. She loses her temper with Hendrix, who is being his usual cheeky self, and raises her hand to hit him. She stops herself, but they’re both understandably shaken by the incident.

Chloe speaks to Hendrix to let him know how much Jane is struggling. I thought was a little bit out of order – mitigating Jane’s behaviour isn’t Hendrix’s responsibility. His safety in school is more important than Jane’s reputation. Hendrix is adorable and, after seeing Jane crying in the corridor on footage captured by one of his cameras, he decides to cover for her. Jane decides not to allow it though, which is the right decision for everyone. She needs some more time to deal with what’s happening in her life, and students shouldn’t have to lie to cover for their teachers. There’s a really sweet moment between Jane and Hendrix after they talk with Susan about what happened, Hendrix is a real gem.

Mum’s the Word for Levi

When Levi first arrived he was kind of dull and uptight, but living with the Cannings seems to have shaken some of that out of him. Now that we’ve met his mum, I’m understanding a little better why he is the way he is. I know she didn’t bring him up, but she’s clearly had a lot of influence on him. She is boring. She’s also pretty salty towards Sheila, due to being made to feel unwelcome because of her being the “other woman”. Judging from the way that Sheila is reacting to Levi’s relationship with Amy, that’s not all that difficult to believe, is it?

Levi is excited to see his mum, but he also goes into a slight panic mode because he doesn’t want her to find out about his relationship with Amy. It turns out that she’s a bit strait-laced (I think we probably could have guessed that) and he is adamant that she doesn’t find out that his girlfriend also has another boyfriend. Amy is upset about it and worried about the fact that he wants to press pause on everything while she’s in town. I can see it from both sides – sometimes it’s easier not to rock the boat with family, but on the other side, Levi is an adult and he’s free to make his own choices. And if he’s being open about his relationship, which he is with literally everyone else, then he should really be open with his mum. It might come back to bite him if and when she finds out she’s the only person who didn’t know. And this is Neighbours, so she’s clearly going to find out. On a related note, one of my favourite bits of the whole week was a curious Karl trying to grill Ned on the logistics of polyamory. Karl has no ability to read a room.

Harlow Officially Confirmed as a Villain

I knew it! Harlow has undergone her metamorphosis like an evil butterfly and is now a fully-fledged villain. I love this for her. She’s horrible and I’m already angry at her, but at least she’s interesting now. Paul can spot a baddie at ten paces, so as soon as he sees that Harlow is coming over to the dark side, he makes up a nonsense job for her, which seems to step very much all over Chloe’s toes. Chloe is rightfully alarmed and a bit miffed about being usurped by Boss Baby, so the two of them have a bit of a spat. Later on, Chloe decides to try to clear the air because she’s an adult and not evil, but Harlow doubles down and is even more obnoxious. I am here for it, and I am desperate for Jesse to become Harlow’s loyal henchman because if I’ve learned anything at all from Disney films is that every baddie needs a slightly stupid sidekick.

It’s Rose’s Turn to Get in the Bin

UGH. Where do I even start with this? I don’t like Rose or Melanie, but I find myself in the curious position of sticking up for Melanie in the face of some absolutely vile behaviour from Rose. Rose is in town to win Toadie back, and she is engaging in some really childish and downright mean behaviour to try to get one over on Melanie. She’s treating Melanie like she’s some sort of pariah because she had the audacity to have sex with a few people over the course of her life, and therefore is “bad publicity” and shouldn’t appear in any photos with Toadie at the film festival party. She also accuses Melanie of smashing her car windscreen, with absolutely no proof whatsoever, and then she eavesdrops on Melanie to find out what she was going to dress up as for the film festival launch so she can swoop in and rent every Legally Blonde-themed costume in the vicinity.

So, Rose comes to the party in an immaculate pink suit, while Melanie has to cobble together a pink bunny costume from Nell’s craft box. Rose is acting like a total brat and I can’t wait for her to leave and take her horrible fur coat with her. Rose and Toadie start their tedious prank wars back up at the party, and it all results in Melanie getting a drink right in the face and tumbling backward onto a buffet table, which I’m sure Rose was delighted by. What with her having a sickly sweet persona that disguises true evil, if Rose had wanted an alternative pink costume for the party, she should have come as Dolores Umbridge. By the way, talking of costumes, did anyone figure out who Karl was supposed to be?

Lassiters Are Doing an Event that I’m Actually Excited About

Lassiters’ events are usually lame, like that volleyball tournament that went on for about seven months, but I think the film festival is something I can get behind. First of all, we had a fancy dress party, which I am always a fan of on Neighbours, and now we’re having Karl constantly trying to bully his way into having something to do with Hendrix’s zombie movie, which is making me laugh a lot. There’s prize money involved, and for Karl, that’s the equivalent of sharks sensing blood in the water. The thing I am most looking forward to is hopefully seeing everyone’s short films. I really hope they’re terrible…