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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4206-4209 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Tuesday 6th May - Friday 9th May 2003
Writers: Anthony Morris, Linda Stainton, Katrina Foster, Chris Milne. Directors: Gary Conway

BBC scheduling brought another shortened week, bringing misfortune, romance and some tragic news for the Ramsay Street residents...

The love quadrangle involving Jack, Nina, Lori and Taj took up a large part of this week's action. Lori finally took centre stage after many, many episodes spent chasing Jack around, wondering why his moods seem to change every five minutes. After Nina took some decisive action and dumped a confused Taj, he needed some comforting, so Lori stepped in. They inexplicably decided to hang out at the public swimming pool, where Lori broke the number one rule - no running. A nasty fall and a serious spinal injury left Lori unable to walk. Proof, if any were needed, of how quickly someone's fortunes can change. Jack happened to be on his way to dump Lori, but even he realised that with her lying paralysed in a hospital bed, it probably wasn't the best time to do it. After a series of tests, Lori learned that the damage to her spine might never fully heal, meaning that she may never walk again. With Lori facing such an uncertain future, Jack was left more confused than ever...

Michelle Ang finally got the chance to shine this week after months of hanging around the background, shooting confused glances in the direction of Jack. After being told the devastating news that she may never walk again, Ang gave a performance that showed real shock and vulnerability, making the scenes very moving. These developments have also breathed new life into a plot that has been treading water for weeks now and has really put Jack in a very awkward situation.

In a very traditional Neighbours plot, Lou and Connor conspired to prevent Harold from seeing the terrible review of his play in the Erinsborough News. After gathering up every copy of the newspaper from around Lassiter's, they got a friend of Lou's to mock up and frame a different review, one that showered the production with praise. After phoning the reviewer, Jasper Truffaud, to thank him, Harold was very embarrassed to find out the truth. Although grateful to have friends who would go to such lengths to spare his feelings, Harold was devastated to read such a scathing review of Mission: Erinsborough. So much so, that he contacted Truffeau and arranged a meeting where they could both put their point across. However, after asking Rosie for her honest opinion, he realised just how strange the play really was. Fortunately, Jasper phoned and cancelled, leaving Harold with the overall impression that the reviewer had conceded defeat.

This was a very typical and watchable Neighbours story, helped along by the fact that the partnership of Lou and Connor is a very successful one. With the impending departure of Michelle, Connor seems to have found a new, and more interesting, partnership. Meanwhile, the play storyline seems to have come to its conclusion, which is a shame as it really did bring a lot of characters together in one situation, bringing back a much-needed community feel to the show.

Dee and Toadie continued to respond in different ways to their break-up. While she began to rely more and more on the friendship of Darcy to get through the situation, he decided to put his ex behind him as quickly as possible and hook up with Sindi Watts, who was more than willing to fill the gap left by Nurse Bliss. Dee and Darcy went on a dinner date to the Aurora club, where Darcy took every opportunity to highlight the differences between himself and Toadie. Dee began to wonder whether she and Toadie were ever really meant for each other, as Darcy's plans to win Dee back continued apace. Meanwhile, having been paid by Darcy to flirt with Toadie, Sindi realised she genuinely liked Toadie and managed to get his number and set up a date. Toadie's friends were shocked by this development, but an angry Toadie told Stuart that he wanted no more mention of Dee at Number 30. Libby and Steph were further shocked when they saw Sindi leaving Toadie's home early in the morning, but Toadie refused to apologise for having fun.

This storyline still has a long way to go, but the re-introduction of Sindi Watts has definitely breathed new life into it. The similarities between Madeleine West and Marisa Warrington, who plays Sindi, are obvious, though this will presumably be incorporated into the storyline at some stage. Certainly there is a huge pinch of salt to be taken with this storyline, as it's quite obvious that Dee and Toadie would see straight through Darcy after all that's gone on, but Neighbours fans are good at suspending belief and it is a very good storyline.

The differences between Steph and Alex also began to show this week, just as she was preparing to set off with him on a trip around Australia. After the terrible accident that struck Lori, Steph found that Alex's clumsy attempts to comfort her were just irritating. However, Max made her feel a lot better by explaining that a friend of his had been through the same thing and pulled through. Steph realised that she was quickly becoming irritated with Alex's company, but couldn't stop thinking about Max and she told Libby of her fears about going away on the trip. Libby knew, as does most of Erinsborough, that Max and Steph belong together and so she asked Steph whether it was really Alex she wanted to be with or whether there was someone closer to home'

Steph and Max have definitely become the latest in a long line of Neighbours couples that the fans desperately want to see together. The writers are certainly dragging it out as much as possible, but the chemistry between Stephen Lovatt and Carla Bonner is still shining through and making the whole process very watchable. Hopefully they'll still be as watchable when they finally get together.

Other plots this week included Valda making herself more and more at home in Erinsborough, scoring a job as chef at Lou's Place. Many find Valda unbearably irritating, many don't, but the trio of Lou, Connor and Valda seems to have a lot of mileage in it and certainly makes a difference from her chasing Harold. The atmosphere between Libby and Stuart was also extremely awkward leading to them arguing in the pub about the situation with Dee and Toadie. It's nice that the writers are maintaining the problems between these two, but hopefully it will move on soon, to give both characters something fresh to do. Summer and Boyd worked very well together and she continued to be threatened by Jacinta into giving up her paper round. It's a shame that Boyd needs to get involved in Summer's stories to be interesting, but the siblings have a definite air of Todd and Katie when at their best.