We’re hurtling towards February and yet the Lights Up storyline is somehow still happening. But lots of other things are too, so let’s get on with rounding everything up from the last week of Neighbours.
Paul and Terese Hit a Couple of Bumps in the Road
Paul and Terese have only been back together for five minutes and there’s already trouble in paradise. Paul has the bright idea of the two of them going into business together on the Power Road development, but Terese immediately finds that about as appealing as using a cheese grater to apply her moisturiser. Paul seems to have forgotten how much the two of them butted heads when they worked together before, but Terese obviously hasn’t.
This is a typical Neighbours storyline, in that it could all be cleared up with a simple conversation, but nobody in Erinsborough ever seems to do that. Paul could quite easily have checked to make sure Terese was as enthusiastic as he was, and she equally could have put her big girl stilettos on and told him that she wanted to keep business and pleasure separate this time around.
What she does instead is wait for Paul to go and buy some champagne to celebrate a successful business meeting with the Mayor and then makes some cryptic comments about how untrustworthy Paul is. Inevitably, the Mayor’s support for the project evaporates and Paul is left feeling hurt that Terese went behind his back instead of just talking to him.
They’ve just about sorted it all out when Nell rocks up and straight away has a bit of an issue with seeing Paul and Terese together. While I think they could probably give the exuberant PDAs a rest in front of Nell (and everyone else, for that matter), I think it’s a little bit over the top to pander to her in the way that Terese is doing, by asking Paul to stay away from the house. Nell is old enough to realise that Terese and Toadie are not getting back together and Terese has every right to start new (or revisit previous) relationships. Banishing him from the house seems ridiculous.
Random Cameo Alert
Neighbours loves a random cameo, and I rarely know who they are because I am spiritually 87 – my most watched actor last year was Peter Cushing, just to illustrate how not in 2025 I am. This week we saw an appearance from a celebrity of some sort called G Flip, and if I hadn’t already known that they were the real-life partner of the actor who plays Yaz, I would genuinely have thought they were a made-up pop star that the writers had created specifically for the show. I’m sure they’re lovely and very talented and very successful, but the name G Flip is giving me such strong Ray Gunn vibes, I can’t even tell you…
Seb Causes Issues Between Krista and Leo
Krista continues to completely mismanage her relationships with Seb and Leo. I’m aware that agreeing to help a friend who is battling addiction problems is going to be a time consuming and pretty intense experience, but if you’re also freshly engaged you should probably put some effort into that as well, like making sure you actually attend your own engagement party. That seems like the bare minimum to me
Paul isn’t helping matters, because when he proposes throwing an engagement party for Leo and Krista, he deliberately schedules it for when Seb is at work and can’t be there. Seb isn’t daft, and he picks up on this, so he manufactures an excuse to call Krista away from the party. He’s on his first shift at the coffee shop and has decided to make Krista some pastries as a present while he’s working, which is a very curious thing to do on your first shift, especially when you only have one good arm. But this is all part of his plan – everything goes wrong, he builds up a backlog of angry customers and he phones Krista in a flap. She drops everything to go and help him, serving coffee in her slinky party dress, and returns to the party an hour and a half later, just as everyone else is leaving. Leo is obviously not impressed, so their engagement hasn’t exactly got off to a flying start.
Seb is clearly doing his best to split the two of them up, as we find out when he goes to Narcotics Anonymous and immediately tells a perfect stranger there that he’s in love with his best friend, before he’s even managed to get himself a cup of tea from the refreshments table. I know these groups are all about sharing experiences, but I feel like this was definitely oversharing.
Rhett and Aaron Are On
Aaron invites Rhett to Leo and Krista’s engagement party, which is a little bit intimidating for a second date, meeting the whole family all at once. Rhett is being distinctly weird every time Aaron interacts with Isla, and he eventually confesses that he has his own daughter who he is estranged from. He gets very upset as he’s telling Aaron all about this, and Aaron decides this is precisely the right moment to kiss him. While I’m happy for Aaron to get back into dating, I’d usually advise against kissing people who are actively crying, especially on your second date. It’s just bad form.
Nicolette and Yaz Are Off
I’m actually amazed that Nicolette has put up with Yaz for as long as she has, as she’s constantly cancelling their plans or standing her up without any explanation. Nicolette has given her chance after chance, but when Yaz fails to turn up to a planned brunch with Nicolette and Isla, Nicolette has finally had enough. I thought for a minute she was going to buckle and give her yet another chance, but she finally put her foot down and decided to stop letting Yaz mess her around.
Vera Can’t Find a New House
Vera is having trouble finding a new place to live, going to interview after interview at various rentals and coming home disappointed. Sadie, Max and Byron think they’ve finally found somewhere that’s perfect for Vera – Eirini Rising. When they suggest it to her though, she is deeply offended that they’re trying to shuffle her off to an old people’s home, going off to do Zumba with “people with their own teeth and hips and who can still drive at night”. I love her so much.
I’m telling you now, if the rooms at Eirini Rising didn’t look so much like prison cells I’d be moving in there like a shot. I’d absolutely thrive in a retirement village – give me afternoon tea and biscuits, crosswords and craft clubs, please. I’m so ready.
Yaz Gearing Up For Something Spectacular
Holly seems to be putting some of her resurgent trauma behind her, and she has a therapeutic bad vibes barbecue in the garden where she burns a photo of Keith while unknowingly standing right next to his sister. Yaz, however, is becoming more and more unhinged as she spirals into her grief and anger. Holly suggests to Yaz that she also holds a ceremonial burning for her family troubles as well, encouraging her to set fire to whatever it is that’s bothering her. So when the sassy engineer from Lights Up gives Yaz a faulty transformer, telling her it’s a death trap, Yaz hands it to Holly. It seems she’s finally ready to put her revenge plot into action, and it looks like it’s going to involve Hellfire Holly getting a bit toasty.
It feels like it’s taken about seven months, but we might finally be at the conclusion of this storyline.
A Few Random Notes
As usual, here are a few random notes I took while watching Neighbours this week:
- Why is Yaz’s trench coat two sizes too big for her?
- Why are we seeing extreme close-ups of Aaron and Nic’s teeth while they talk?
- Krista: “Remember that summer in Amsterdam where we walked everywhere?” Wow, Krista. That sounds wild.
- I’m sorry, Krista, but you don’t walk out of your engagement party because your friend can’t make pastries.
- Why on Earth would Nicolette go on a supplier visit and leave someone with only one good arm on his first ever shift in the cafe?
- I don’t reckon that urn with Keith’s ashes in it can be very heavy considering how he died.
