(Tuesday 2^nd – Tuesday 9^th June 2020)

Shane attempted to contact Grant for Mackenzie, only to discover that he has been injured at work and is in a lot of trouble both with his health and financially.  He confided in Dipi but kept things secret from Mackenzie and against Dipi’s wishes, sent money to Grant to help him out.  In one sweet moment, Dipi had a photo from Mackenzie’s party framed and put in pride of place, confirming her as a member of their family.  I adore Mackenzie and I am so happy she is a fully fledged member of the cast with such great relationships with so many characters, including the Rebecchi family, Harlow and Roxy.  Now she has turned eighteen, I think we’re about to go on a hugely educational journey as she embarks on having her operation and all the different challenges that will involve.  I love Neighbours for doing this story and I love Georgie Stone (who plays her) for prompting them to create this character.

Harlow became despondent after the party, feeling like she and Hendrix are too different in their interests and are therefore doomed.  She then decided to rebel and behave badly but Hendrix didn’t like the idea at all, pointing out that he didn’t want to date himself, he wanted to be with her.  Could these two get any cuter?  However, we’ll soon see if he is up to the task of creating a memorable (in a good way) eighteenth birthday for her like Ritchie did for Mackenzie…  No pressure!

Toadie and Dee finally decided it was time to be intimate.  After a lot of faffing about, not to mention some tears at the enormity of being together after so many years apart, they finally did it.  I mean, I am starting to accept this.  Dee is nice and I want Toadie to be happy.  He deserves it.  But I just…  I miss Sonya, okay?

Chloe and Aaron overheard Claudia talking in the hotel lobby with a guy who turned out to be a dodgy policeman (thanks to a call to Mark) about getting rid of evidence, which they immediately concluded must mean that Claudia was behind the fire during Finn’s trial.  Now, I’m sorry.  I love Neighbours.  It is one of my most favourite soaps.  But I take so much issue with this.  Why on earth would Claudia be chatting away to a dodgy contact in a busy hotel lobby?  And more than this, why on earth would she be chatting about the fire now?  That whole thing was done and dusted a million moons ago.  So many things have happened since then, not least that Finn has regained his memory, gone bonkers and murdered two people and accidentally drowned in a grave intended for Susan.  Why be chatting about the fire now?  Why would it happen?  Apart from a lazy way to move the story on.  And an unnecessary way.  There were so many ways for the truth to be unearthed.

Anyway, Aaron opted to confront Claudia who rather outlandishly attempted to buy his silence by offering to ‘get’ him and David a baby!  Despite their utter shock, they kept Claudia talking while Chloe, Bea and Susan took the opportunity to search her hotel room for any possible evidence that she is rancid with guilt.  When she did return, she bumped into the women stepping out of the lift, all of whom were terrible at giving a reason as to why they were there.  I mean, you’d come up with a reason ahead of time, just in case, wouldn’t you?  She became even more suspicious when she saw a couple of things out of place, phoning Sam in panic as she had just had a phone call from the police – Mark had reported the dodgy cop Chloe and Aaron saw her with earlier.

Meanwhile, Toadie was heartbroken to have to tell Elly that her appeal had failed.  However, he refused to let things lie and investigated the judge who sentenced Elly.  He has overruled the prosecution recommendations a handful of times and each time, Sam was the lawyer involved.  After a bit more digging, he discovered that the judge was indeed being blackmailed due to gambling debts.  Sam and Claudia are now under investigation.  Hooray!

However, this didn’t immediately help Elly, who was still trapped behind bars with Andrea who was making her life hell.  Frightened for her life, Elly hid a weapon under her mattress, which she ended up pulling out when Andrea forced her into a ‘paid’ fight with Patrice.

Susan, Bea and Chloe charged over to the hotel to confront Claudia but she had vanished – with Aster!  Immediately contacting the police, Susan and Bea attempted to track down Claudia to her private plane, fearful that she intended to illegally leave the country with the baby, which of course was exactly what she planned.  At the airport, Claudia was all set to depart when, in the least shocking plot twist to ever happen in the history of soap, who should turn up but… Shaun!  Who would ever have imagined that he wasn’t dead after all?  Apart from… everybody.  It would have been more of a shock if he had actually turned out to have died.  Basically, they ‘killed him off’ so that Elly and Finn could have their ‘Buffy and Angel’ moment in order to turn Finn evil and create this whole story.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the whole Finn plot.  I am not complaining.  But Shaun being alive was the worst ‘shock’ comeback ever.  Also, he is meant to have been to hell and back and yet he was able to get out of the hospital and fly to Australia from Switzerland all within two days?  Really?!  And he’s not even jet-lagged?  And there’s no physical sign of injury?  Come off it.

However, it was a very sweet moment when he was able to meet his daughter for the very first time.  And he forced his mother to confess all and turn herself into the police.  Susan and Bea (not to mention everyone else) got the shock of their lives to see him – unlike the viewers.  With Claudia having had no choice but to confess, Sam abandoned her like a rat on a sinking ship.  Shaun couldn’t forgive his mother for her actions.

While Toadie succeeded in getting Elly’s sentence reduced back to a suspended sentence, it really was just in time as she was in the middle of having to fight Patrice.  Andrea was utterly livid.  Before heading home to see her daughter, Elly confronted Claudia but her anger dissolved into unwanted pity.  While Claudia continued to accuse Elly of murdering Finn and being an unfit mother to Aster, Elly got the last word – if anyone is unfit, it’s Claudia, look what she turned her son into.  That’s what I’ve been saying all along!

As Elly returned home, she was delighted to see Aster and overwhelmed to see Shaun, although things were not as easy between them as we would have hoped.  Everyone in the Kennedy house has been through so much and everyone is processing what happened with Finn in different ways.  While Shaun offered to leave, Elly asked him to stay.  His family put her family through hell but it wasn’t his fault and he deserves to be a father to Aster.  Now, with Jodi Anasta about to depart the show, perhaps it would be nice for Elly, Shaun and Aster to have a fresh start together?

One thing that isn’t going well right now, is Karl and Susan.  Through this whole thing, the gulf between them is getting wider and wider.  They worked on the Elly and Claudia situation separately and although Karl tried to communicate with Susan, she did not want to communicate with him.  And even at the end, she clearly wanted nothing to do with him.  It’s very, very sad.  And it’s also very worrying that his first port of call is to call this Olivia woman and talk to her instead.  Karl and Susan are the best!  I can’t go through them breaking up!  I just can’t!

Dee was deeply concerned when Aaron mentioned that Claudia had paid money into Andrea’s account in prison, prompting her to confront her twin.  Andrea admitted everything, sending her into an angry rant about how easy Dee’s life has been (so easy, driving off a cliff and being ‘dead’ for however many years) and how hard it was for her to be dragged up by a crazy woman and have to fight for everything she has.  Subsequently, she was pulled away by a guard.

Across the Street, Naomi struggled to keep her feelings for Pierce under control almost as much as Pierce struggled to keep his clothes on at inappropriate moments.  Eventually, when Naomi made it clear that she didn’t want to work closely with him, ‘oblivious’ Pierce challenged her, wanting to know what he had done wrong, forcing her to confess her true feelings for him.  I think this situation is going to go from amusing to murky fairly soon…

Speaking of feelings, Kyle finally got his act together and ended things with Jess in order to try and make things work with Roxy.  Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late and Roxy had had enough of being heartbroken and gone to stay in Darwin to try and heal her heart.  Kyle, you are a bit rubbish sometimes.  That girl has done nothing but try to be there for you and you’ve treated her so badly.  Let’s just hope she still likes you when she gets home!

Neighbours has returned to filming

Episodes air on Channel 5, Monday – Friday, 1:45pm and 6pm