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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4830-4834 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Monday, 9th January – Friday, 13th January, 2006
“Connor Among Thieves” by Drew Proffitt, directed by Jet Wilkinson
“Take This Mob And Shove It” by Drew Tingwell, directed by Tony Osicka
“Eat Surrender” by Judith Colquhoun, directed by Tony Osicka
“Dave New World” by Stuart Gaunt, directed by Tony Osicka
“Mister Mo Jangel” by Jeff Truman, directed by Tony Osicka

Many of the neighbours received good news in an unusually upbeat week on Ramsay Street…

To the relief of many (ok, all) viewers, the contrived situation involving Connor and Carmella finally seemed to come to a conclusion, of sorts, this week. Although everyone was very sympathetic towards Connor and his “mugging”, policeman Stu wasn’t quite so convinced, as the victim’s story seemed to have a few gaping holes in it. Connor eventually confessed to an increasingly guilty Carmella what he’d done and she tried to get him to take the money back, rather than simply transfer his problems. When Connor refused, thinking that he’d be in danger from the mob if Carmella didn’t get the money, she decided to leave the money and a note, outside the bikini shop. Although it got Connor off the hook, he was still under the impression that his life was in danger. Izzy then managed to convince Carmella that she had a hold over Connor and could use it to win him back. And so, that evening, as Serena celebrated leaving school, Carmella dragged Connor away from the party and asked him to wait outside as she talked to her mob connections in a deserted part of town. However, Carmella couldn’t keep the pretence going for long and she finally admitted that it was all a lie – the money had actually come from her mother. To make matters worse, Serena spotted Connor and his ex in the car together, jumped to the wrong conclusion and he was then forced to tell her everything. Realising just how wrong she’d been, Carmella decided that she’d completely burnt her bridges with Connor and left him to it, but not before trying to convince Serena to give him another chance. But she wasn’t quite ready for that and decided to pack up her belongings and move back to number 24. And so ended another stint from Natalie Blair. Although I’m usually a fan of Carmella (she’s the only person who makes Connor watchable for me), I found this plot to be a little rushed and very contrived. The fact that it led to more whining from Serena didn’t help either.

There was some more good news for the Bishops, when David realised that they’d won $250,000 on the lotto. He was quick to book a test drive in a sports car, though the salesman began to wonder if someone like David could actually afford it. It wasn’t until David spotted Paul chatting away to Dan, the salesman, that he realised that the money could turn him into his least favourite person. He opted not to tell the rest of the family about the windfall, but Lil ended up finding out from Lou, who regularly bought the lotto tickets for everyone at the store and had noticed the matching numbers. As she waited… and waited… for him to tell her about the money, she finally told him that she knew. David was then forced to admit that, after a night spent serving soup to homeless people with Harold and the rest of the family, he’d donated their entire winnings to the Salvation Army. Although Lil was stunned at first, David explained that the family was back together and happy, and that was all the riches they needed. David and Lil shared a kiss and the audience threw up. Across the street, Lil was also involved in helping out the Hoylands, as Steph grew more and more concerned about the mysterious box under the floorboards. Having done some research at the library, she’d found out that number 32 was on the same land as the old McKeller farm. She told Max that the McKellers had lost three children over the course of five years. Believing the house to be cursed, she told Max that they’d have to move away before the birth. However, when Lil called over and spotted the box, she explained to Steph that the items were part of a Pagan ritual to ward off evil spirits, and Steph admitted to Max that it must have worked, as the McKellers went on to have six healthy children. And so… everyone was happy.

Janelle – she of the oh so successful marriage – continued to give her daughters advice on their love lives this week, with varying degrees of success. Whilst Janae was desperate for a date with Boyd, her mother encouraged her not to make things too easy for him, and, as they planned a trip to the movies, Janelle ended up going along too. Just to make things awkward for Boyd. It surely worked. Elsewhere, Bree was trying to find a way to win over Zeke, and Janelle had another wicked little scheme up her sleeve. When Zeke handed Bree a note in class, she swapped it for another, less polite, version and allowed the teacher to get wind of it. As Zeke landed himself a detention, Bree then stood up and announced that Miss Buckley had a big bum. With both parties in detention, it gave them a chance to get closer, although Zeke was more worried about what his father was going to think. Meanwhile, Janelle was horrified to realise that Joe had emailed her novel to everyone in Lyn’s address book, by way of revenge for her stealing Audrey. Although Janelle ended up facing many irate locals, the plan backfired on Joe in a big way, as Janelle announced that she was too afraid to live in the bus, for fear of being lynched, and Lyn allowed the family to move back into number 26. Another nice, happy ending.

At number 22, Izzy was still suspicious of Paul’s daughter and finally found a way to get her own back, as she discovered a bottle of pills in Elle’s bag. Proving that she was still the Queen of manipulation, Izzy convinced Elle to cook dinner that night, then just before it was served, she planted some of the pills in her own meal. Complaining that it tasted odd, she invited Paul to taste it and he soon picked up one of the pills with his chopsticks and demanded some quick answers from Elle. For once, Elle was innocent, but as she protested, she let slip that she’d spiked Izzy’s food in the past. Paul decided that his daughter needed to go back to Tasmania, as living in Erinsborough clearly wasn’t doing her any good. However, the next day, Izzy was horrified as Paul had a sudden change of heart and realised that he’d never have a meaningful relationship with his kids if he sent them away at the first sign of trouble. And so, it was time for another happy ending – and a group hug – as Paul, Izzy and Elle became a family.

Finally this week, Ned was determined to keep his big secret under wraps, so he enlisted Elle’s help to convince the other guys that he was gay. The teen gang spent their last official day at Erinsborough High and went out in style with a muck-up day that left most of the population of the suburb covered in flour and loo roll. And not to be left out in all of the happiness, Susan and Alex found a ray of hope when a consultation with the hospital specialists revealed that Alex might have longer to live than first expected. I can’t help thinking that, with all of these happy endings, something bad is about to happen.