February 26, 2020 – The Soap Dish

(Monday 17^th – Friday 21^st February 2020)

Cindy gets carried away with the opening of the Bazaar. On opening day, Cindy and Luke are dressed in weird matching outfits and Tom is dressed as an anxious magician. For the most part, the day goes well. They have some brilliant names for different parts of the market, bringing back Mobs Juice Bar as a tribute to Max and OB and a vintage clothes stall called Sweater Thunberg! The only thing that goes wrong is Luke messing up the burger stand due to his illness but Darren rescues him and takes him to an appointment (which of course he gets within moments, not like in real life when you’d have to wait months to see a Consultant). Luke is told that his condition is potentially hereditary and could be passed down to his children.

Ollie is over the moon when Luke agrees to help him raise his baby. However, as the stress of the situation begins to get to him, Luke’s symptoms increase and while his son is busy making plans, Luke has to come to terms with letting him down. Nancy, Kyle and Ollie are on hand to support Brooke when she goes into labour. In one pretty excellent scene, Brooke gives one of the nurses a dressing down when she doesn’t speak directly to her due to her autism. Well done, Brooke! Brooke spends a brief moment with the baby before handing him over, explaining that she desperately wants him to have a better life than she can offer.

Ollie is heartbroken to overhear Darren and Luke discussing Luke’s condition and that he is dying. Darren has to break the news that Luke won’t be able to raise the baby with him and it’s time to say goodbye. Later, they share the news that the condition is potentially hereditary and Ollie, DJ and the new baby could end up with it. This makes Ollie even keener to look after his boy but he is forced to accept it’s not possible without the right support. He and Brooke pass the baby onto his new parents along with a memory book Ollie has made. He is devastated when they leave the book behind.

Feeling utterly broken by the loss of his son and the news of his father’s illness, not to mention, rejected by Brooke, Ollie dismisses Imran’s friendship in favour of a night out with Sid. He gets drunk, leaving him vulnerable to Jordan who offers him ketamine at The Loft, which he accepts. And so Ollie’s ‘flashforward’ storyline begins…

Kyle is keen to try for another baby but Nancy shuts the idea down. He buys more weed from Jordan and is caught out by Nancy when he falls asleep on the couch as he stinks. He lies that it’s the first time in years and was just to manage his MS pain. She accepts it but warns him not to smoke in the house. She also sees it as proof that they should not be thinking about kids.

Maxine is excited about becoming the manager of the salon and reluctantly gives Lisa a job. But her new income isn’t enough to keep her menacing landlady away and she arrives to take away all her belongings and demand payment of rent arrears. She is then caught out in another illness lie in front of Damon, severing the friendship they have only just started to rebuild. With nowhere left to turn, Maxine agrees to let Liam pimp her out to Clayton but again, Damon catches her out, thinking that he has been left to look after Minnie so she can go on a date. Broken, she tells him the truth but between the lies to her landlady and disbelieving that she didn’t see the demand letters, he doesn’t believe the awful mess her life is in.

Liberty and Brody continue to grow closer as they prepare to become parents to their baby, unaware that Sienna has been watching them on a camera from the doll’s house. They pledge to forget about her and become a family and remain oblivious when she sends them flowers.

Mercedes and Warren are the new couple of the moment, although Joel and Goldie give them a run for their money when Marnie catches them at it at the café. Yas is delighted to get her hearing aids fitted, allowing her to hear for the first time since the explosion. Romeo and Juliet agree to take Nightingale as their surname.

Channel 4 at 6:30pm or a sneak peek 7pm on E4

These reviews are based on the E4 episodes

Neighbours: Memories…

(Monday 17^th – Friday 21^st February 2020)

When Ned suspects that Yashvi is working for Zenin, he foolishly interferes and takes her place, once more messing up the whole thing. Of course Yashvi isn’t working for Zenin; it’s a sting operation and she’s working undercover for the police. Yashvi manages to put in some damage limitation and Zenin is at least caught out but unfortunately, Ned is caught too. It’s funny really. When these two first got together, she was the young, immature one who was absolutely besotted with him. Recently, Yashvi has really grown up and he just seems to make mistake after mistake. I think she’s outgrown him.

Ned interferes with bringing Zenin down…

Things get worse for Ned as, in the dog house with Yashvi, he also finds himself in trouble with the law. The case is much bigger than with just the local police and who is the Detective covering their area? Detective Mark Brennan! Newly promoted, just in time for Neighbours 35^th birthday! Toadie is furious to learn that Ned sent Zenin a forged letter from him on letter headed paper, which prompted his offices to be broken in to. Therefore he can’t represent him. And while Terese and Paul tell Ned off for blaming Yashvi for keeping secrets, Mark advises Yashvi to rethink her choice of relationship while she has a promising career ahead of her.

Mark’s friends and family are thrilled to see him back in Erinsborough. Ned apologises to Toadie but Shane is determined to see him out of Yashvi’s life. Roxy is oddly familiar with Mark considering how badly he treated her before his departure. Mark agrees to give a talk to the Buddy Club.

Another returnee to Erinsborough is Lucy Robinson. Chloe is surprised although apparently she was copied in on emails. Evidently she has been flooded with emails with Paul in a bid to overwhelm her and make her miss Lucy’s arrival. She is immediately under pressure from Lucy, although Pierce stands up for her. Terese does her best to encourage Lucy to support Chloe who is having an absolute nightmare back at the hotel but nothing Chloe does is good enough.

It’s the last straw when Chloe is let down over the royal wedding dress but while Lucy is at least willing to listen to her other ideas, Paul tears a strip off of her. Encouraged by Pierce to stand up for herself, Chloe goes too far and loses it with him, getting extremely personal as she attempts to put him in his place. Having witnessed the argument, Lucy decides to let Chloe go. She also asks Terese to resume her role at the hotel in her place. Despite her guilt over Chloe and her love of the Buddy Club, Terese takes the job. Well, what has Lassiters been without Terese at the helm? Terese immediately has ideas about the wedding expo, looking at infamous weddings from Erinsborough past. She asks Toadie about displaying Sonya’s wedding dress as part of the expo. She accidentally offends Chloe by asking to resume her previous role as her Executive Assistant. She was only trying to be nice…

Meanwhile, Elly’s family and friends gather for Aster’s Naming Day Ceremony, conducted by Susan. Finn and Bea are named as Godparents and Shaun is mentioned a lot. There is no way this guy isn’t coming back from the dead at some point. His ‘death’ was way too odd. No grandparents on either side bother to show up and Elly’s so called best friend, who was at one time going to be the kid’s step-mother is too busy with her own life to attend either. Mark and Elly come face to face for the first time since the baby has been born. It’s awkward. She kind of thrusts the baby at him. It’s more awkward. Aaron also backs out of the ceremony and goes for drinks with Mark. Chloe and Pierce join them, with Chloe having just been fired.

Having enjoyed such a lovely family day together, Susan and Karl invite Elly and Aster to stay the night. However, things go bump in the night when everyone else is asleep and it’s just Elly and Finn awake. Finn is under pressure from Trent constantly trying to contact him and Elly is emotional from the day just gone. Of course an emotional conversation leads to a kiss. And during the kiss, Finn has a flashback to kissing Elly during the life he has forgotten. They both panic, Elly because she has cheated on her sister and Finn because a) he has cheated on his girlfriend and b) because of what a flashback could mean. She goes home and neither of them gets any sleep. He considers telling David the truth but backs out when he imagines his Doctor’s response. He retreats further when Susan reiterates that he is very much part of their family now.

Jane just about manages to talk her way out of trouble with Susan for rooting through her files. She goes through various suspects including Mr Muggleton who has just jetted off on an expensive holiday during term time and out of the blue and then Ritchie who we know from Erinsborough High, has completely reformed and is now dating Mackenzie. So, with those two ruled out, it’s back to the drawing board but one thing I am finding annoying is that Jane is supposed to be exceptionally intelligent. I’m not saying clever people wouldn’t fall for a catfish, especially someone lonely and vulnerable like Jane but would she really be charging around the way she is, trying to find out who tricked her?

Harlow and Hendrix argue over Clementine again. But then, what don’t they argue over? When Mark finds the cat at home, he throws her out, not knowing that they have shared custody. Outside, Harlow accidentally reverses over her with the car! No! That’s horrible! Poor little cat. At least she had caviar for her last meal, I suppose. But seriously, this is unnecessary trauma, killing off the cat…

Hendrix is devastated and blames Harlow, believing that she did it on purpose because she hated her and hates him. Harlow, Hendrix, Ned, Terese and Roxy gather for Clementine’s funeral (Piper sends her thoughts and a book, being that she was originally her cat). Terese says a few words, including the fact that Clementine was the first person she told about her cancer. Hendrix is genuinely emotional, explaining that Clementine was the only person who really gave him a chance on the Street, no questions asked. He finally realises that her death was an accident when Harlow expresses her regret and appreciates how much love and joy she brought to people’s lives. When Harlow gives Hendrix one of the cat’s toys, she also offers her friendship. They are about to kiss when Harlow sneezes, allergic to the toy. It ruins the moment and I still don’t think it’s acceptable to kill the cat just to bring these two together. There were other ways! But I guess I’m pleased that they’re heading in the right direction.

Hendrix is devastated over Clementine’s death…

Hendrix is furious when he learns that Mark put the cat out, prior to her death, prompting him to apologise to Terese and the family for his role in her death. I am reminded why I am probably the only viewer who never really liked Mark.

Two other things to note: a very random story about Naked Roxy hosting a naked brunch, attended by Naked Kyle, Naked Aaron, Naked Toadie and Naked Karl. Also, so much love to Neighbours for their tribute to Eastenders’ 35^th birthday. They had a fab shot of Eastenders themed cocktails outside The Waterhole. One birthday soap to another. I’d just love it if Eastenders, who are famous for slipping in an extra scene here and there, would return the gesture in a few weeks when it’s Neighbours’ birthday.