This may not have been the first time Paul got some home truths but we’ll be damned if it wasn’t one of the most powerful. Our favourite scene, among many many candidates simply had to be Terese tearing into Paul and delivering a damning character indictment. One of the reasons we’ve always loved the idea of Paul and Terese is that she isn’t like many of the other woman in his past. Terese isn’t weak, or easily fooled, and refuses to let Paul walk all over her or be easily plied. Even though we know he’s innocent, we loved Terese angrily tearing Paul apart, and pointedly calling him out on the many shortcomings she’s witnessed in their few short years as colleagues. What made the scene even better is knowing Terese has begun to fall in love with Paul and feels betrayed at the thought of him being involved in Josh’s death thus making her condemnation all the more damning. Who knows when the pair will manage to come back from this but we love every second of Rebekah Elmaloglou and Stefan Dennis’ onscreen chemistry.
The events surrounding Wednesday’s LGBTI event episode honestly had to be one of our favourite episodes in a while. Toadie formed a new house of trouser and took Nate out on the pull while Sheila struggled with her new found Cranky Granny fame as she became a gay icon. Susan trying to explain to her what LGBTI is was a fantastic scene and it was great to see Neighbours dealing with very 2015 topics in a classic comedy Neighbours way. We already made Kyle and Toadie’s wingmen role our Scene of the Week but we really just couldn’t stop grinning at how funny it was – as was Sheila’s absolute glee at running the LGBTI event. Kyle boring to death the poor guy, who was more interested in Toadie, was really entertaining as was Sheila taking her crankiness too far. Great stuff.
Under Jason Herbison’s tenure, it’s fair to say one thing the show has excelled at is creating new characters and interesting arrivals for the show and this week, the returning Amy Williams was no exception. Last seen in the early 90s, Amy has often seemed like the forgotten child of Paul Robinson, rarely getting referenced, if at all, in the ten years since his return to the show. True to Neighbours form, the recent reminder that she exists pre-empted her arrival and she hasn’t disappointed. Zoe Cramond hit the ground running and delivered some fantastic scenes with Stefan Dennis. Just as good is the fact that she’s quickly shared scenes with many other established – our favourite being poor Sonya who has been in desperate need of a friend. We appreciated that the show has managed to offer a fresh take on the good old ‘Paul’s estranged child turns up’ plot and we have high hopes for the future.
There’s very little we love more than a funny little Kennedy plot and this week saw us yet another one as Karl bought a stake in Off Air. It’s a bit of a strange fit but we can’t help but think it’s just what the bar needs – an injection of fun! Karl took the new role in his stride as he tried so desperately to be cool in his hipster clothes but he luckily had Suse on hand to keep his feet on the ground and remind him of how fickle his interests suddenly become – from fish, to erotic fiction. We look forward to seeing what happens now that Susan and Karl are around to brighten things up. Bring on the teasing, bickering and flirty jokes.
Now it’s fair to say we’ve been quite critical of Paige’s recent plot and in particular, the neverending Dimato plot. However, this week, we’re not going to talk about that. This week we’re going to talk about the neon signs pointing to a tried and tested (and boring) Neighbours staple: pill addiction. Paige stealing Karl’s pad seemed rushed and contrived. We know Tyler got a bad beating but surely he could take a couple of over the counter painkillers and suck it up? Paige committing a massive crime (in addition to their many others) felt like a step too far. What’s worse is that we all know where it’s heading. Within a few episodes Tyler will no doubt be reliant on painkillers and resort to every trick under the sun in order to get his fix. Can’t we just skip to three weeks from now when he will be miraculously over it?
Another week, another chance for Brad to become worryingly attached to his former flame, Lauren. We love this story and the trials and tribulations as Terese struggles to keep her marriage together – but as much as we love it, we can’t condone the behaviour of Brad and Lauren. Whilst Lauren is finally realising that she’s too dependent on Brad and thankfully started calling him out on his OTT behaviour, the pair really seem to mean what they say. Like many times before, we think it won’t be long before they’re having private chats in the Harold’s kitchen. However, this week it’s Brad who deserves our ire. Mere days after Terese issuing an ultimatum about his behaviour, he is once again over involving himself in Lauren’s life and warning off Robin – when it’s none of his business. Frankly his ‘looking out’ for Lauren is borderline stalker behaviour, not unlike his son’s over Amber. Hmm…
One of the highlights of Dr Nick’s reign of terror (and there are many) has been the focus on Paul’s friendship with new assistant, Naomi. Stefan and Morgana are terrific actors and share a great chemistry onscreen. Whether they be bickering or having a heart to heart, we love their scenes. Even better is the fact that after so much time spent verbally sparring over the Erinsborough festival, few of us could’ve predicted the emotional turn their relationship would take and we’re loving it. Whilst it seems that Naomi may have begun to fall for Paul in a way he didn’t expect (and to be honest, we’re unsure about the idea of a Paul and Naomi relationship) we can’t deny that their sweet friendship has been a highlight episode after episode. From the powerful moment where Naomi shaved Paul’s head to the playful one where she gave him a hat to keep warm, they effortlessly manage drama and comedy, and we’re looking forward to more of it.
It’s about bloody time Imogen got some attention from a cute guy considering lately she spends most of her time pining over drippy Daniel and this week Tyler stepped forward to give her some much needed fun. We’re all for uptight career girl Imogen and we love that she takes her ambitions seriously but it was nice to see her let her hair down this week with a spot of strip poker with Tyler. We loved their playful chemistry and after all her love life dramas it was great to see Imogen enjoying Tyler’s carefree company and his hot bod. She might be still hung up on Daniel but there’s no harm in the sparky fun Tyler has brought into her life.
While Mark Brennan has become a bigger pain in the neck – and narrowly missed our bottom slot this week by the skin of his teeth – is is therefore refreshing to see his little brother Tyler continue to impress us. We’ve mentioned in previous weeks how we’ve quickly warmed to his character and this week was no exception! We love a bit of the good old ‘Neighbours does comic nudity!’ plot and frankly it’s been too long. So when Imogen managed to best Tyler at cards this week and get him stripped down, the scene was made even better when Kyle interrupted and was horrified at the sight before him. Thinking on his feet, Tyler quickly had Kyle believing he was a nudist and led to some great interaction later in the episode as Kyle tried to subtly question Mark on his little brother’s naked leanings. It’s the simple comedy Neighbours does so well and we think that Tyler and Kyle could have the potential to be a great comic double act.
Oh Georgia. What else can we say? She sure knows how to put her foot in it. We all know she’s the victim of the piece and it’s her we should be cheering on but frankly she’s made so many daft decisions in trying to out smart Nick it’s a wonder he hasn’t ruined her life even more! While we can wait to see Nick’s lies unravel Georgia has even faced the rare disapproval from Dr Karl this week as her plan to expose Nick fell apart. Her crafty lie to sneak into Nick’s hotel room backfired as soon as she had no excuse handy when Nick walked in the door – d’oh. While we’ve grown fond of Georgia in recent times, her ‘wronged woman on a mission’ just comes across as whiney and entitled even though we know she’s in the right and we can’t help but feel she should just let this one lie. In her mission to stop him she’s actually made matters worse by not reporting his bet to bed her and by not handing in the USB stick, and besides – Nick is not someone you should mess with!
When Amber revealed she might be pregnant our hearts sank. When she revealed Josh might be the father we could feel our worst nightmares coming true. If there’s something worse than an Amber plot, it’s a Jamber plot. The end of that relationship was one of the best decisions Neighbours has made and we saw Josh become a much better character because of it so to revisit it is a HUGE mistake. In a series of strangely creepy flashbacks we saw Amber and Josh seeking comfort in each other after she was left at the altar and neither character came out of those flashbacks looking great. Now we have nine months of this hellish story involving the love triangle we despise and neither outcome is one we like the thought of, not to mention the story has somehow made Paige come across as a sanctimonious hypocrite. Boy are we hoping these next nine months fly by…
Erinsborough 