Janae felt increasingly isolated this week, as Stingray got all of the attention at home and she began to turn more and more to Karl, the school counsellor. However, when Janae witnessed her brother chatting to Karl, she suddenly decided that everyone was out to get her and she reacted by running home and kissing Boyd. Unfortunately for Janae, Boyd told her he wasn’t interested so she went home and packed her things, adamant that nobody wanted her around. Stingray tried to convince Janelle to make her daughter stay, but Janelle pointed out that this wasn’t the first time that Janae had done a runner. When Stingray mentioned that Janae had overheard an earlier conversation in which Janelle said that Stingray was the only one of her kids that was worth anything, Janelle finally started listening and set off to bring her daughter home. Janae was busy trying to hitch a ride when Janelle pulled up and attempted to convince her to return. Janae refused to listen, so Janelle changed tack and offered her daughter a ride to a truck stop instead. When they arrived, Janelle, in a rare act of sensitivity, told Janae that she wanted her to come home. Back in Ramsay Street, mother and daughter had a few hours of understanding before they were back at each other’s throats. Later in the week, Janae thought she’d found a new way to win Boyd – by imitating Sky. She broke in to number 24 and took some of Sky’s stuff, but Boyd quickly sprung her plan and forced her to return it all.

Bobby was up to his usual tricks as he continued to juggle Lyn and Susan. However, during one particular conversation with Susan in the bar, Karl happened to walk in and notice the chemistry between the two of them. As he later confronted her about this, as well as her plans to leave for Shepparton, she finally decided that she’d had enough of being coy and spent the night with Bobby. As she left the bar the following morning, she happened to bump into Karl, confirming his suspicions about his ex-wife’s new man. Susan, however, was more concerned about Izzy finding out, but Karl made no promises about not telling her. Later that day, Bobby ran into Lyn, who was free from Oscar for a few days, and wanted to spend some time with him. Desperate to share her news with someone, Lyn, naturally, headed straight to Susan’s and owned up about her new man. Susan said nothing, but later tracked down Bobby to find out what was going on. He quickly explained that he had believed his dinners with Lyn were going to be family occasions, and he had no idea that Lyn had anything romantic in mind. Continuing his day of ratbaggery, Bobby then met up with Lyn in the park, where she voiced her concerns about the family finding out about them. He assured her that it didn’t matter and invited her to spend some time along in a German-themed lodge that he knew of. After spending a brief afternoon in bed, Lyn made her excuses and left, uncomfortable with the whole situation, so Bobby called in back-up, namely Susan. Although she paid him a visit, she only turned up to tell him that the whole “sneaking around in a German cabin thing” wasn’t really her scene.

The week also saw Steph and Max attend their first meeting about adoption. Along with other prospective parents, they were given a harsh introduction to the whole subject, warned that many of them wouldn’t make it as far as being adoptive parents and they had to be realistic. During their individual interview, Steph was given plenty of food for thought when the interviewer, Peter Reece, threw some difficult questions at her. He asked if Max and Steph were using the baby to save their marriage, whether they’d be able to cope if the baby were disabled and how they’d feel if the parents suddenly turned up, wanting access. Although Steph fielded these questions well, it was when Peter asked her if she’d still love the adopted baby as much if she were to suddenly fall pregnant. Steph later admitted to Max that she wasn’t sure, but he told her that it didn’t matter where the baby came from, all of their children would always be loved equally. It was nice to see some of the harsh realities of adoption being presented during this storyline, so hopefully the writers can keep that up, without the viewers losing interest.