There will be a brief pause in my round-ups after this one, as I am about to sod off to Spain to lie on a sun lounger with a book for two weeks, like a giant slug. When I get back, I’ll have four days to catch up before I write my next round-up, so you might have to bear with me slightly!
With the admin out of the way, let’s crack on with dissecting this week’s episodes.
Abigail Drama Actually Not That Dramatic
We were left on a bit of a cliffhanger last week, as Abigail had swallowed at least one of some unspecified opioid tablets that she found on the grass by the lake. Leo realises what’s happened and rushes her to hospital. Krista joins him, and remains quiet about what sort of pill Abigail has swallowed for a lot longer than I thought reasonable, but her reluctance to cough up the info wasn’t really acknowledged.
Once the type of pill is identified, Remi gives Abigail an antidote and she, thankfully, is absolutely fine. As I predicted last time, this little plot line was entirely to force Leo and Krista into a drama so they could get back together. I’m glad they’re back on track, I like them together and I don’t like Leo being sad. Maybe he’ll actually start going to work now instead of just wafting round the complex.
Susan and Terese Continue to Get on Swimmingly
Eirini Rising is about to open, and Terese is having a final sales push to try to shift a few more units. She pulls Susan in to help her with the sales pitch, then is surprised that an ex-teacher with famously strong principles doesn’t have it in her to slip into the smooth and “economical with the truth” persona of a sales person. Even more problematic for me, Terese only asks her to come because the potential clients want to speak to Karl, and Susan is the next best thing. I winced when she introduced her as “Mrs Doctor Kennedy”. It is 2024, Terese, are we not past the point where a married woman is entirely absorbed into their husband’s identity? I’d love to see Terese’s face if someone introduced her as Mrs Jarod Rebecchi, I bet her expression would turn people to stone.
And as if we weren’t shooting back to the 1950s fast enough, Toadie decides to show up unannounced at his wife’s place of work to give her some moral support while she tries to close the deal. I’m sorry, what? Next time I’m up against a crucial deadline at work I’ll have to remember to invite a man to come and watch me, apparently it makes us women more efficient.
Anyway, Toadie turns on the charm and wins all the old ladies over, something which Terese, a very competent businesswoman, suddenly seemed unable to do. Thank god a man was there to save the day, eh? I know this was all to demonstrate the cracks in Terese and Susan’s business relationship, but I’m giving this whole scenario so much side-eye.
Haz Wakes Up
Haz wakes up as if from a short and refreshing nap, rather than a coma. He is immediately lucid, alert and carrying on conversations with more gusto than I can manage after I’ve been up from a normal sleep for a few hours.
He wakes to find his sister, Amira, and Mackenzie arguing. Mackenzie seems most put-out that Amira is a bit hostile towards her, but I don’t really know what she was expecting. Mackenzie is her sibling’s ex-girlfriend, who ran him over and put him in a coma – I think most people would be a touch peeved about that.
Amira is dead set on getting Haz to come home to his family, but after seeing the support network he has in Erinsborough, she relents and decides to stick around herself to aid in his recovery, which is going to be long apparently, despite him seeming absolutely raring to go.
Vic’s Big Secret is Revealed
I totally feel like I’ve missed something with this storyline. Sadie has been keeping a secret for Vic and, as far as I was concerned, the secret was that she’d seen his whopping bank balance on his computer screen. Nothing else was said, and yet when he finally comes clean to Jane, Nicolette and Byron, the secret that Sadie has been keeping for him is suddenly that he has terminal cancer. I am so confused as to when Sadie found this out and I’m wondering if I had a little micro nap at some point last week.
Everyone reacts differently to Vic’s news. Jane seems exasperated that he hasn’t been honest sooner, Nicolette is heartbroken, and Byron shuts down completely and does a runner, then comes home and absolutely blasts Vic. There’s clearly a lot of pent up emotion that Byron has been unable to express to his dad, and it comes out in huge tirade where he tells him he hates him.
I really feel for Byron. It’s obviously going to devastate Vic to hear his son say that, but I’m not really sure what reaction he thought he was going to get – he’s been a very absent father, and then he suddenly turns up and drops this absolutely massive news on everyone. It’s a lot to deal with. I have become increasingly invested in Byron recently because he’s such a sweetheart, and I will quite willingly fight Vic in a car park if Byron requires me to.
Karl Turns Detective
It’s Karl’s last day at the hospital and he spends all day readying himself for a leaving party that never comes. Thinking that everyone’s forgotten, he bullies Aaron into going on a sad bike ride with him instead, and Susan has to come and persuade him to attend the surprise party she’s organised for him. I seem to be having a lot of “what were they expecting?” moments this week, and this is another one. Getting all of his colleagues to pretend not to give a single hoot that Karl is leaving would obviously upset him, and he’s quite likely not to feel like meeting Remi for a consolation drink at the Waterhole, which is the ruse they try to use to get him to the party.
Anyway, now he’s not at the hospital any more, Karl has time to turn detective instead. First of all, he gets the impression that all is not well with the extremely shifty other doctor after he makes a pervy comment about Remi and Cara at the party, and he reports him to HR. This plot is clearly going to continue, and I like the idea of Karl’s parting shot from the hospital being trying to bring its newest villain down, so I hope he continues to be involved in it.
There’s also the return of my two favourite comedy storylines – that of the mystery defecator and the young and cool bike gang that makes Karl feel very insecure. And it turns out they’re the same story! While out on a ride, Karl spots one of the YAHMILs, in his distinctive team jersey, coming out of the undergrowth pulling his shorts up. Convinced he’s found the actual serial pooer, he tries to recruit Aaron as a spy to infiltrate the YAHMILs to get more information.
This whole bit cracked me up, from Susan trying not to laugh, to Karl earnestly warning Aaron that he could find poo in his own garden and that, “Little Isla could topple into it”. I’m never usually a fan of storylines lingering for ages, but I’m kind of happy for this one to linger a while!
