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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4201-4205 by Jamie

UK Broadcast: Monday 28th April - Friday 2nd May 2003
Writers: Judith Colquhoun, Chris Hollow, Kim Leeanda Wilson, Ben Marshall, Michael O’Rourke. Directors: Tony Osicka, Jeffery Walker

A court case, love splits and budding new relationships, this week in Erinsborough had everything and involved everyone...

We rejoined the cliffhanger on Monday between Stu and Libby, after he admitted his feelings for her. She simply told him it would take a lot of time, and doubted his ability to sustain his level of adoration, but thanked him for his honesty. A frustrated Toadie asked him to take Libby’s feelings and position into consideration and berated him for bringing Dee into the conversation. Meanwhile Dione was still living in Darcy’s house (and total oblivion), while he orchestrated the latest attack on her partnership with Toadie, sparked by a chance meeting with old flame Sindi. Arranging for her to come on to Toadie in front of Dione, he effectively ruined any chances of them getting back together. He then turned to comfort her back at his house...

This storyline continues to frustrate at a low speed, going nowhere fast and infuriating viewers with Toadie and Dione’s selective blindness. That said, believable performances were turned in by the couple and Darcy’s camp supervillainy is a joy to watch.

Karl’s vendetta against the rat continued, providing a welcome comedy storyline for the viewers, and a welcome distraction for the character, whose imminent court case overshadowed his week. Susan found the offending rat, dead in the garage of natural causes. Despite Toadie’s best efforts, sadly the driving ban was upheld and the fine doubled...

Even more sadly simply too much was going on in the court case episode - Toadie and Dione and the play - for Karl’s plight to be given the time it deserved. Also in an act of “sheer coincidence”, all of year twelve happened to attend the court that day on their legal studies trip, giving a way for Karl’s indiscretion to get out among the residents of Ramsay Street. I refuse to believe that this was the best way for such news to circulate, and the way in which Jack and Taj immaturely spread it was questionable, especially when you take into consideration Taj’s infatuation with Karl’s daughter at Erinsborough High. However, there was some nice continuity from using the same location as for Matt Hancock’s court case last year, and a proper location interior instead of a set.

This week saw the culmination of the community play storyline, and while it served the purpose of getting Jack and Nina to finally admit their feelings to each other – and to plan such admissions to their respective partners – it was a welcome conclusion. A rather contrived storyline saw Harold propose a sleepover after the dress rehearsal before the performance the next evening. Of course, at this sleepover Jack got a little closer to Nina, they slept together - strictly in the Neighbours sense of the word of course, in separate sleeping bags - and he held her while she slept. Joe finally relented and helped further with the set building after refusing to allow his name to be put on Taj’s work. During final rehearsals Lori wondered exactly how professional her boyfriend’s working relationship was with Nina. Elsewhere, Harold arranged for a celebrated local critic to watch the show. The play was horrendous for the people of Erinsborough; however enraptured Lyn was by Jack’s performance - “I really, really believed you were from the future!” - Lou fell asleep repeatedly and Summer later admitted to her father that “it stank”. The defining moment came with “Raph” and “Clarissa”’s final scene, one which regular viewers know all-too-well. “My darling. To never see you again, to never touch you again, my life would be torment.” It was obvious to the televisual audience that all acting ceased for the young lovers here, and that a true declaration of love was being shared...

Infuriatingly, this fact was completely missed by the play’s audience onscreen. Contrived isn’t the word for how blind the people of Erinsborough have been, especially Lori and Taj - although the former is at least starting to get suspicious - to the burgeoning romance in front of them. This has been one of the storyline’s major flaws, the selective stupidity of Lori and Taj. It became very difficult to believe that no-one could see what we, the audience, took for granted. That said, there were encouraging performances from Jay Bunyan and Delta Goodrem, which did not translate to the stage. Perhaps this was a concerted effort to distinguish Jack and Nina's acting ability from that of Jay and Delta? Either way it felt slightly awkward, but a casual viewer could easily see what was being attempted. The two have obvious chemistry, however, which extends way beyond the teen dialogue they are handed. The scene with them sleeping together, and the play’s final kiss were really electrifying moments and they are the first teen couple this reviewer has cared about for quite some time. One nice thing to have come out of the love square this week was a lovely conversation between Lori and Steph, with Michelle Ang turning in a very natural, relaxed performance and Carla Bonner playing every bit the big sister. The play will also bring a welcome conclusion to Harold’s luvvie demeanour which is frankly terrible - it’s just so out of character for him and while amusing at first, has quickly descended into tedium. His hammy monologue for the Erinsborough News was the epitome of lame.

A major return came in the form of Valda Sheergold, Lyn’s unexplainedly Liverpudlian “aunt”. She arrived with news that she was engaged to a man she met on her cruise, and dug herself in “to help” in the Scully household...

For spoiler-free viewers, Valda’s return could be a real kick in the teeth with no real benefits but she does have a part to play in future episodes. Valda has a Marmite quality to her and let’s just say this reviewer doesn’t love her, but hope springs eternal that things will be different this time to her last horrendous appearance.

Finally, Steph and Max made more stumbles in avoiding eye contact. Alex was still planning to tour Oz and to avoid ruining his relationship with Steph, he invited her along for the ride. She excitedly accepted, much to Max’s consternation. In one of his only moving scenes with his on-screen mother, Max admitted to Rosie that he was terrified of losing Steph, like he lost his late wife Claire. He conceded that he’s not ready for dating, to give himself to somebody for fear of losing someone; she told him it was okay to love again, to have some courage...

It’s heartbreaking that Rosie and Max should share such a scene so close to Maggie Millar’s departure. Her loss will be a bitter blow to the senior cast and will relegate Harold and Lou further into the background, Harold especially. Another sweet scene came with Boyd’s attempts to cheer his father up after Max had potentially lost Steph permanently.

This week saw another partnership commence, that of Connor and Lou. The Irishman used his gift of the gab to offload Lou’s DVD players, and so impressed was Lou that he offered Connor a place as his protégé. Connor avoided Michelle for the most part, driving her to distraction until finally at the end of the week she delivered an ultimatum: be with me no matter what my family thinks, or we call the whole thing off...

I find myself suffering a little from “teen forbidden love” fatigue with this storyline, as commented upon in previous weeks here, Michelle has been transformed from a three-dimensional character to Holly Valance Mark II with her recent storylines, a change which isn’t welcomed by everyone. That said, Connor’s relationship with Lou as partners in crime is extremely promising, and any doubts about his place in the show after Katie Keltie’s departure have swiftly disappeared.

Minor gems of the week included Joe and Lyn’s dinner in front of Supermarket Sweep and Harold trying Steph’s motorbike for size. Also worth watching is a storyline involving Summer’s nemesis, trying to get her paper round job. This story should allow Marisa Siketa to act in her own potential rather than being limited by Boyd’s storylines as a sidekick; we have already seen one sweet scene between the two of them, Kyal Marsh is at his best as a protective older brother.

A mixed week in Erinsborough, but nicely every character was included in a storyline in some way and almost all were carried to some conclusion.

Notes: There is some confusion over the spelling of director Jeffery Walker's name. The former spelling was seen at the beginning of episodes, yet in the closing credits, where he's listed as a Film Victoria director's attachment, he was billed as Jeffrey Walker.