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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4197-4200 by Rhys

UK Broadcast: Tuesday 22nd April - Friday 25th April 2003
Writers: John Hanlon, John Upton, Jeff Truman, Ray Kolle. Directors: Jovita O'Shaughnessy

Easter Monday brought viewers a slightly shorter week in Ramsay Street, but one that was nevertheless a hotbed of illicit feelings and raised tempers, as the actions of various residents began to catch up with them...

The main story to dominate the first part of the week was the conclusion to the drama unfolding at the airport, when Joe arrived in the nick of time to prevent Connor from stranding Michelle in Australia as he headed for London. Joe persuaded the two youngsters to return to Ramsay Street, where they were greeted by an ecstatic Lyn, who hadn't seen her youngest daughter in days. However, both Joe and Lyn were furious with Connor, believing him to be behind the original plan to run away. Despite Michelle's protestations, and her pleas that it was her idea to flee Erinsborough, Joe decided the only course of action was to banish Connor from the Scully residence. Michelle broke down at the decision, but Joe lost his temper with her, finally, telling her that the world did not revolve around her and that she had to begin growing up if she hoped to win any respect...

It cannot be argued that Kate Keltie has put in an outstanding performance as Michelle. In recent months, it has been noticed by many fans that the Michelle character has become more and more self centred - using others and expecting everything to turn out to her advantage. Therefore, the outburst by Joe was a fantastic response to what has been a well portrayed, and drawn out, bout of teen angst by Keltie. Similarly, Janet Andrewartha's portrayal of Lyn-with-child is a joy to watch - especially when she can do so little, yet bring so much to a scene.

The comedy dose of the week came in the form of a favour needed by Rosie - someone to drive the Church mini-bus complete with elderly parishioners. Lou immediately offered his services, using the trip out as an opportunity to ship consignments of his latest commercial venture - DVD players. His attempts to sell off part of his stock to the elderly were partially successful, as was his bid to trade with a patrolling policeman!

It's nice to see Maggie Millar, as Rosie, get some well-deserved screen time during her final couple of weeks on the show - despite the inevitable. In spite of Harold's initial dismissing of the DVD phenomenon, he soon changed his mind about them and buys a player from Lou, after watching a DVD of Singing in the Rain at the Kennedy house. Harold was excited when he learned that a free DVD came with each player sold, and admitted to looking forward to watching the film he receive - having never heard of Showgirls before!

Harold's attention was otherwise directed at the play, this week. Rosie interviewed Harold for the play's programme, while Stuart acted as photographer. Thankfully, for Harold, Jack and Nina began to enjoy playing opposite each other again when Harold introduced some relaxation exercises into rehearsals. Following his instruction, the couple recalled some of their most personal moments from childhood. Jack recalled his favourite bedtime story - which Nina took great interest in. The following day, Nina bought Jack a brand new copy of that very same children's book. This created an even closer bond between them. Jack worried about Lori's possible reaction to Nina buying him a gift, but Lori laughed and couldn't imagine why she would get jealous over a children's book given in friendship.

Elsewhere, Toadie and Dione's relationship was running into all sorts of problems - with Toadie taking the shock discovery that Dee was previously married very badly indeed. However, Darcy's plotting continued to create the major problems for Bliss and Rebecchi. The seemingly good doctor persuaded his "mate", Toadie, that he should have a meeting with Dee's husband, Darren, to try and find out a little bit more about their history. Darcy took great delight in relating the meeting to Dione, who was furious with Toadie for going behind her back. Susan, meanwhile, witnessed the friction between the couple in the Coffee Shop and offered her support to Dee and later Toadie - suggesting they both needed to understand how the other was feeling. Dione - keen to make amends, returned to No. 30 with a bunch of flowers, only to find Toadie reading through her old diaries. She was upset, and took Darcy up on his offer of accommodation...

This plot is certainly being dragged out - even by Neighbours' standards - but the plotting by Darcy, though almost overly comedic, is entertaining enough to watch. The main fault lies in the lack of continuation. Possibly, still due to Madeleine West's slow recovery, the number of episodes allotted to the story appears less than given to other plots, and there are often gaps of three or four episodes between installments.

The other main players in the week were Libby and Stuart. Following some unresolved tension between the two - following Libby's suggestion that Stu should play a lesser part in her and Ben's lives - the kindly mechanic demanded an explanation for Libby's coldness towards him. She admitted that she had feelings for him - or at least did feel something vaguely romantic at one point, and that this had scared her so soon after Drew. Stuart, however, admitted his feelings for her, and suggested that he could foresee them spending their future together. When Libby discovered a single red rose left on the windscreen of her car, she immediately assumed it was Stuart's doing and marched over to demand that he stop making such "inappropriate" gestures. Little did she know that the rose was left by Summer, who, through sneakily reading Libby's diary while helping tidy the Kennedy house, discovered how unhappy Libby really is. Stuart demanded to know whether Libby felt any romantic attachment towards him.

The Lori/Jack/Nina/Taj gang got themselves into more hot water when an attempt by Lori to question headteacher Candace Barkham's authority was dismissed. Lori was outraged, and seizing her opportunity, instructed Taj to use his new digital camera to capture Ms Barkham relieving herself of a wedgie! The gang duplicated the photo and plastered it all over the school. Libby caught Lori pasting one to a noticeboard, although sharing the joke to a degree, instructed her to remove all the posters immediately. Lori disobeyed this, and when Libby later discovered a plethora of photos all over the school, she brought it to Candace's attention... Thus Lori (and later Taj, who admitted his role in the joke) had to face up to their actions...

The character of Candace continues to be a joy to watch - and Kate Whitbread plays her to perfection. It's always welcome to see a character with her nature in Neighbours these days, where the art of the villainous bitch-type character appears to have been forgotten.

And in other news, Lou's over-40s dating evening debuted at the pub. Max and Harold were roped in to make up the number of males - and both were hounded by enthusiastic women taking a shine to them. Lou, however, was more than happy to accept the advances of local businesswoman Dorothy Stevens. Despite Harold and Max's subtle warnings of Dorothy's slightly "alternative" view on sex, Lou looked forward to his meal at her house. Also, Taj coached Karl in preparation for him joining in training with the local football squad and Toadie revisited Erinsborough High, at Susan's request, to give a careers talk.