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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4178-4182 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Monday 24th March - Friday 28th March 2003
Written by: Bert Deling, Ben Marshall, Martin McKenna, Noel Maloney, Jeff Truman. Directed by: Gary Conway, Tony Osicka

Addiction - whether to alcohol or gambling - was on the menu this week in Ramsay Street. Meanwhile, nobody's love lives were running smoothly... until Lou hired a new barman.

The truth about Ruby was finally revealed to Harold this week - but not by the lady herself. When Harold's tuba was found in a local junk shop, Ruby's nervous reaction confirmed Rosie's fears about who was behind the robbery. However, as Ruby continued to put off telling Harold about her gambling addiction, Rosie put friendship before ethics and blurted out everything. A horrified Ruby reported Rosie to Bishop McDermott then poured her heart out to Harold, who at first felt angry and betrayed. However, after seeing Ruby's remorse, he told her that if she were prepared to admit she had a problem, he would stand by her. Lou and Rosie, expecting Harold to cut all ties with Ruby, were shocked and worried about whether Harold had done the right thing... The performances in this storyline have been strong and consistent and it has also been ideal for helping Tom Oliver to gradually get back into the action on Ramsay Street. Harold's reactions to the revelations about Ruby were very realistic and within character - although you have to wonder whether his charitability will leave him nursing a broken heart and an empty wallet.

After beginning as a rather amusing storyline about his inability to live without alcohol, Karl's storyline took a rather more dramatic turn this week when he was charged with drink driving. The prospect of losing his licence for six months, plus a fine, was too much for the proud doctor, so he only mentioned the fine to Susan. However, after consulting Toadie, and letting his temper get the better of him, Karl admitted all to his wife. While she was sympathetic, Susan was also concerned that Karl found it so difficult to live without alcohol and would even lie about his situation to save face. As this storyline is running alongside Ruby's gambling addiction, it is difficult not to draw parallels between the two. Whilst we have not known Ruby for long enough to understand her history or feel much sympathy for the character, with Karl it is a different story. Looking back over his eight years in the show, it becomes evident that Karl is often seen popping down to Lou's Place for a bottle of wine and that this storyline is a nice and realistic continuation of that. It really has shown a new side to the character, with him feeling quite desperate about the situation and it has also led to some powerful Kennedy scenes as Libby joined in too. Witnessing them arguing over the drink driving, she told them that they'd only just got back together and after all they'd been through, this really wasn't worth throwing things away over. Never a truer word was spoken...

Steph and Max's inability to admit their feelings about each other continued this week. Towards the beginning of the week, Max was still being pursued by single mum Joanne. She managed to work her way into his home by cooking lunch to thank him for helping her son get a place on the cricket team. Summer quickly made her feelings clear by squirting tomato ketchup all over Jo. Steph, all ready to admit her true feelings to Max, found Jo in his kitchen and quickly changed her mind. In typical Neighbours style, as soon as Max told Jo he wasn't interested, Steph met Alex Argenzio, the new barman at Lou's Place. In further frustrating scenes, a distraught Max watched on as Steph got closer to Alex, raving about their first date - diving with sharks at the Melbourne Aquarium. This is certainly the sort of storyline Neighbours does extremely well - two characters who are obviously meant to be together but spend many months trying to do it (or indeed decades - Libby and Drew, anyone?). Carla Bonner never fails to give an enthusiastic performance and there is definite chemistry between her and Stephen Lovatt, so it'll be very interesting to see how this one pans out over the coming weeks...

The love square involving Nina, Taj, Jack and Lori also continued this week, but concentrated more on the friendship between Jack and Taj. Jack continued to feel awkward as Taj revealed his problems with Nina, and also the fact that he was tempted by ex-girlfriend Allie. Nina attempted to avoid the situation entirely by staying home 'ill'. At the end of the week, Nina was back at school and had also pulled out of the play in an attempt to avoid Jack. Then, despite Jack's protests, Taj managed to talk him into helping train the school soccer team. However, after a disastrous match, Jack's anger boiled over and he began fighting with Taj on the field. This storyline continues to paint Jack as quite a dark character, which Jay Bunyan plays perfectly. Taj, as the happy-go-lucky school spunk, unaware of his girlfriend's cheating, is also well portrayed. However, the two females in the equation - Nina and Lori - are more difficult to work out. Up until a few months ago, Nina would barely talk to another person, let alone string two blokes along at once. While she still has a certain vulnerability, it is a shame she has suddenly been thrown into this storyline, as it is not exactly a situation you would place her in. Similarly, Lori's ignorance to what is going on is quite bizarre as she comes across as quite a headstrong, perceptive young woman. The storyline is entertaining enough, but we need more insight into the female characters points-of-view if it is really going to work.

Also this week, Darcy began to act on his discovery of Dee's wedding certificate by hiring a private investigator to find her husband. Mark Raffetty had some nice conniving scenes as he told Toadie he'd "never get involved with a woman who'd been married before". Toadie himself was finally allowed to practice law, scenes which really worked thanks to recurring guest star Ben Anderson as Tim Collins. Stuart admitted he's made a mistake getting engaged to Flick, so hopefully Blair McDonough will finally get some kind of storyline, rather than moping around over his fiancee. In scenes lifted directly from 'The Simpsons', Boyd and Summer made some crank phonecalls to Moe, I mean, Lou at the pub. Lou proved himself to be back on form as he got his revenge by convincing the kids that the stress had almost given him a relapse. Finally, various Scully family members and hangers-on began to trickle back from Nana Connie's funeral this week, though little was mentioned about the woman herself. The most poignant scenes of this storyline came with the return of Janet Andrewartha, who returned to the show after a break to visit the UK for the National Television Awards. Her understated performances really were quite touching and finally brought some emotion to a storyline that was sadly neglected from the beginning.

All in all, it was quite a slow week, the only storyline that seemed to last longer than an episode was Karl's drink-driving drama. It was nice to see both Lou and Boyd interacting with some more characters this week, while Alex could be an interesting addition to the cast - even if his sole purpose is nothing more than to delay the inevitable.