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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 2728 - 2732 by Billy

Originally broadcast in 1996. UK Gold: Monday 21st April - Friday 25th April 2003
Writers: Hugh Stuckey, David Allen, Scott Taylor, Marieke Hardy, Ian Coughlan. Directors: Robert Meillon, Nicholas Bufalo

A week of tangled relationships this time, with the Kennedy kids having relationship problems with their partners, Sarah and Catherine having a falling out, Darren's jealousy ultimately putting Libby and Brett in serious danger, and Danni giving Luke an ultimatum...

The most interesting element in this week's episodes was the Darren/Libby scenario. Darren has irritating Libby, due to his feud with her father and brother - and his jealousy over her friendship with Brett led to disaster. Libby was concerned for her exams, feeling that all this "agro" with Darren wasn't helping matters, so she broke up with him. Darren was devastated, and Todd MacDonald again, gave a great performance, with a real sense of desperation as everything collapsed around him. His work with Handy Sam's is also not going according to plan - Lou gave the renovation work at Chez Chez to Mal, and Darren was fired by a client too. Brett comforted Libby, and the pair ended up kissing. I can't say I didn't see this coming, but it helped progress the storyline and highlight the way Brett feels about her. Brett had decided to take Libby to the bush to clear her head before her exam - Darren followed and sabotaged the engine, leaving them stranded.

I'm absolutely loving Darren at the moment - since Cheryl's death he has been consistently interesting and enjoyable to watch, and his protrayal of the jealousy felt is excellent. It's also great that Brett Blewitt is still around all this time since Cheryl's death.

Next door to the troubled Kennedy house, at Number 30, Sarah and Catherine's relationship hit the rocks. Catherine became increasingly frustrated at her sister's attitude to her past, thinking she was a coward to run out. Sarah consequently asked Catherine to leave, saying she had outstayed her welcome. Finally, some interesting scenes between the sisters, who have beforehand had zero chemistry.

It looks like Nicola Charles has managed to settle down and sort her character out a bit - her scenes were a lot better this week, and Catherine and Sarah finally came across as sisters in their scenes. As so often is the case in these situations, the girls made up after they spoke about their problems.

Luke was also suffering relationship issues, with girlfriend Danni. Having pulled together through Debbie's psychotic meddling, the pair finally seemed settled. But Danni's jealousy was still evident. She asked Luke to kick out one of the girls so she could move in with him, despite having the whole of Number 22 to herself (why Luke simply doesn't move in Number 22 with her is a mystery to me). Luke was finding it difficult to decide - Jo had just split from her husband, Catherine was recovering from Stonie and had nowhere else to go, and Sarah was on the run from her ex-fiance.

Danni and Luke appear to be drifting now, just waiting to be written out. I think that both the characters have run their course - Luke's storylines have completely dried up (how many job interviews does one guy wanna have?) and Danni's treading old ground. I think the sooner these two are put out of their misery, the better.

The senior cast didn't really seem to feature much this week, with virtually cameo performances and appearances from Lou, Marlene, Phil and the Kennedys. I would have liked to have seen further developments between Ruth and Phil, but this week seemed dominated with Lance and his relationship with Hannah, which, if I'm honest, was hardly gripping stuff.

Billy and Melissa's relationship finally ended when she gave him a CD to apologise not going on a picnic with him - the CD was given to her by her other boyfriend, and had a message to her scrawled inside. Billy was devastated, and was also humiliated when neither Melissa nor her boyfriend seemed bothered about what had happened. Melissa left with her boyfriend, apologising to Billy. Toadie did his best to cheer him up, and their friendship really became evident. However, Billy's bitterness showed a nasty side to the character, where he said Toadie had no right interfering when he's never even had a girlfriend. I thought this was harsh of Billy, but considering what he had just gone through, it made sense. With Melissa written out, preparation is underway for Anne's arrrival - hinted at by the countless mentions of her from Ruth throughout the week.