Susan and Katya’s custody dispute kicked off this week, with both women refusing to budge an inch in their belief that they should be the legal guardian of Rachel and Zeke. As they attempted mediation, Toadie found himself torn between Katya, who he was growing more attracted to, and Susan, someone he saw as a second mother. Although he was representing Susan, he tried his best to come to an agreement that would make both parties happy. However, when Katya brought her lawyer to the mediation meeting and started mentioning Susan’s connection with Karl, and his unethical behaviour with Alex, not to mention his problems with Janae Timmins, Susan realised that she had a serious fight on her hands. As the meeting concluded, she asked Toadie to hire someone to find out everything they could about Katya, as she needed to fight fire with fire. Elsewhere, romance was in the air for both Rachel and Zeke, but with mixed results. Rachel was still on a mission of self-destruction, but Stingray wasn’t about to see his friend ruin her life, as he caught her once again responding to the advances of a random stranger. However, as he offered her a shoulder to cry on, she took things a step too far and kissed Stingray, leaving him shocked. Meanwhile, Zeke helped Bree out of a tight spot by writing a history assignment for her, after her grades at school began to suffer. Realising that they still had feelings for each other, Bree asked Zeke if he’d like to start going out again, and he happily accepted.

Janae’s jealousy continued to cause problems this week, as Dylan blackmailed her and Boyd overheard the conversation. Deciding to play her at her own game, Boyd later explained to Janae that he’d decided to leave university, as the girls on his course were ostracising him and he didn’t think he could cope with it for another six years. A concerned Janae went to the university and tracked down Georgia, the girl she’d warned off Boyd, which had caused the whole mess. When Kim saw what his daughter was up to, he sat her down for a chat and she explained everything. Kim soon pointed out that it didn’t sound likely that Boyd would give up on his medical career over something so minor, and Janae realised that he knew what she’d been up to. She used the opportunity to get her own back, and told Boyd that his leaving the course and getting a job was a great idea, as they’d be able to get married, settle down and start having babies sooner than she’s planned.

As they left Erinsborough behind for Sydney, Izzy desperately tried to find a way to put Ned off her. Although Izzy treated him to the full works, complete with complaints about his taste in music, the motel they were forced to stay in and the food at the restaurant, Ned seemed unfazed, saying that he knew the real Izzy and she was nothing like that. During the meal, Paul phoned Izzy and when he mentioned that he was going to see Karl, as he’d been suffering from terrible headaches, she quickly came up with a shocking lie, telling Ned that Paul had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. The pair quickly returned to Erinsborough, where Izzy told Ned that he shouldn’t give up on his dreams, and would have to go to Sydney without her. With one problem at number 22 patched over, it wasn’t long before another came along, in the form of another threatening letter. This time, it read ‘I Don’t Think You’ve Been Pondering The Big Questions – Think Harder’ and Paul’s suspicions naturally went straight to Lou and Harold. Both men insisted that they were innocent, but Paul wasn’t about to believe it this time, only stepping up his efforts to destroy their business. Even when an earnest Harold visited Paul and advised him to get some protection at home, Paul didn’t listen.

Finally this week, Lou was suffering problems at work, following his ‘butchering a cow’ date with Angie, as he began to realise that the whole experience had put him off eating meat. Harold soon realised what was going on and was only too happy to welcome a new member to the vegetarian club. And Angie was causing trouble for Janelle too, who was desperate to prove to a visiting journalist that she knew enough about literature to write a novel. However, since Bree had written the entire book, Janelle was forced to wear an ear-piece and have answers fed to her by Bree and Kim. Miraculously, they managed to pull off the scam… for now.