I’m feeling more in the swing of all things Neighbours after another week of it being back, although I will admit that I think my brain has done some filing during our hiatus and got rid of some of the old Erinsborough records. Mackenzie mentioned Freya in one episode and I genuinely had to Google her. Hopefully after another couple of weeks, my brain will have rebuilt a few more Ramsay Street pathways.
On to my round-up of week two!
Toadie’s Big Move
Toadie is moving all his stuff to Terese’s, and of course he has to do it in the dumbest way possible. As soon as I saw the double bed with a mountain of stuff roped on to it, I put down my knitting, because I knew we were in for some classic Neighbours slapstick. True to form, the entire bed starts rolling down the street, and chaos ensues as everyone chases it. Perfection.
I have a couple of questions about the moving procedure. Firstly, why is it necessary to utilise the bed when Andy Rodwell has a perfectly serviceable trolley which could be used for a lot of the boxes instead? Why did two yoga balls need to be tied to the bed to move them, could someone not carry those? Why isn’t Terese helping? And why is she at home “relaxing” in a pair of ankle-breaking stilettos?
Questions aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this bit, and I’m also enjoying the fact that Andy seems to be developing a personality since he randomly served as Toadie’s best man, so that’s nice.
Paul Fawlty
I saw someone online make a comparison between Lassiters and Fawlty Towers this week, and honestly it couldn’t have been more perfect. Basil, sorry – I mean Paul, hires back Holly because the staff for one of his corporate events has come down with food poisoning from some bad salmon. He tasks Leo with trying to keep Reece away from the preparations so she doesn’t see that Holly is working, and Leo decides it’s a great idea to attempt to get her absolutely smashed during work hours at the same time.
Meanwhile, Holly is working her butt off to try to win her job back, and Paul is congratulating himself on how it’s all going, until Reece comes to poke her nose in, and Holly has to hide under the bar. Reece drops a towel over Paul’s arm, thus transforming him into Manuel, and sends him out to serve their clients with drinks. It’s all going well until Holly tries to make a run for it, and makes a huge scene trying to leave the room. Reece isn’t impressed that Paul’s gone behind her back, and now he looks even more of a loose cannon than he did before. I suppose it’s just a good job that nobody asked for a Waldorf salad.
Jane’s Big Reveal
Mike and Jane are on their supposedly romantic break in the UK. Jane’s been quite mysterious about why she picked the particular hotel her and Mike are staying in, but she finally reveals why she picked this particular place, taking Mike for a walk and doing a big speech before revealing… a perfectly ordinary-looking lake. This moment had even been teased in the “coming up on Neighbours” bits, so I was expecting a little bit more than an overgrown pond. Undeterred by the watery let-down, Mike decides he’s going to propose, but he’s put off by Jane doing a big yawn. If he can be put off by that, I’m not sure his heart is really in it. I sense we may be seeing the beginning of Mike’s exit here.
On top of Mike’s false start, as they’re planning their upcoming motorbike trip, which Jane absolutely does not want to go on, Jane shoots down all of Mike’s suggested pitstops because her ex-husband slept with different women in all the places. Apparently he enjoyed alliteration as well, because he was with Sandra Sterner at Cardiff Castle, then left her to move on to Winnie Winsworth. Mike’s last-ditch attempt to get Jane on board is to suggest Hull, that world-famous destination for romantic getaways, which is surely a sign that this is all doomed. Who tries to get a relationship back on track by choosing to go to Hull? Well, Jane’s ex-husband apparently, because that’s where he took her to get their marriage back on track.
What am I missing here? I’ll be right back, I’m just going to search for last-minute city breaks to Hull…
Karl and Susan Bury the Diamond-Encrusted Hatchet
Susan’s jewellery-addiction and general saltiness towards Karl seemed like it was going to run and run, but after a couple of people say nice things about Susan, and the pair have to work together to tackle whatever is wrong with Harold, she seems to have been able to move past all of it and they’re now back on speaking terms. As much as I enjoy Team Kennedy putting on a united front, it’s bizarre that she would be so mad about Karl losing the money last week, and this week she’s acting as if all he did was accidentally buy 3 kilograms of cheese in the online shop instead of 300g. “Oh Karl, you lost £200k – what are you like?”
The Trevor Mystery
I love Trevor, he is a perfect boy and he deserves the world, but he has somehow been getting his fluffy hairs into all the coffees Haz serves in the coffee shop. Trevor is hanging out in the kitchen, and the coffee machine is out front, so can someone please explain the physics of how all these hairs are getting transported from the dog into the coffees? I’m no dog expert, but Trevor also looks like the sort of dog who wouldn’t shed a great deal, which makes it even more mysterious. Does Haz enjoy knitting himself aprons and tea towels made from Trevor’s fur? It’s the only explanation I can come up with.
JJ is Being Suspicious
Every time I see JJ, I get the “don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious” bit from Parks and Rec in my head. He couldn’t be acting any more suspicious if he tried, staring endlessly at Sadie, trying to make friends with her dad by asking him about his shellfish allergy (??), and just generally being shifty. What is that boy up to? Is he Andy’s surprise child? Has he been stalking Sadie online or something? Is he a shellfish? I am confused. This storyline is keeping me more entertained than the boring one about his mums buying or not buying a piece of land though. Excuse me while I do a Jane-sized yawn.
That’s all from me on week two of Neighbours. Has it really only been back for two weeks? It feels like longer than that, like I’ve found a comfy old pair of slippers and popped them back on again…
