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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4229-4233 by Aaron

UK Broadcast: Monday 9th June - Friday 13th June 2003
Written by: [uncredited writer], Ray Kolle, Chris Hollow, Noel Maloney, Jeff Truman. Directed by: Gary Conway, Helen Gaynor.

A simmering mixture of revenge and violence developed this week after a long-awaited confession, while one Ramsay Street resident received a phone call that would change her life...

Prompted by Lori's questioning, Jack finally admitted that he had been secretly seeing Nina. Taj was also told immediately afterwards and the fallout ensued.  In the street, Taj punched Jack in the face, but before the tussle developed into a full-blown fight, Susan and Lyn drove up and broke it up. Lori, still confined to her wheelchair, was devastated and moved into Number 28.  Taj began spending a lot of time with her, and she attempted to convince him not to try to get revenge on Jack or Nina. But in spite of herself, Lori had no hesitation in being cold towards Nina any time she tried to apologise. Meanwhile, Tahnee Coppin returned prematurely from student exchange in America and got a job at Lassiter's Hotel - the same place that Nina and Taj work. Nina found it difficult to accept that Tahnee had changed.

The best thing about this story was not how the teens reacted to the big revelation, but the little touches added by other cast members affected by the news. Scenes that particularly stood out were Harold and Susan's gossipy conversation about it in the Coffee Shop, and Stephanie's fiery lecture to Jack about the damage he had caused. Having said that, all of the members of the teenage love quadrangle turned in good performances, especially Jay Bunyan and Michelle Ang, who have always worked well together.  As for Tahnee's return, it was satisfying to finally see Tahnee and Taj in scenes together after it had been established months ago that they were brother and sister. It's also a very interesting development and Anna Jennings-Edquist is brilliant in the bitchy role of Tahnee.

With Tahnee back from America, Michelle received an exciting phone call offering her the chance to take Tahnee's place in New York. This news came just as Michelle and Connor had started acting like friends for the first time since they broke up, even though they hardly got the chance to talk before Connor was sent on one of his numerous errands for Lou. With Connor's encouragement, Michelle decided she would go.

As a departure story, this seemed oddly low-key, but at least it expanded on last year's United States exchange program instead of introducing another way of writing Kate Keltie out of the show. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, at least some of the spotlight will be focused on Michelle before she bows out, not just a quick 'goodbye' in her final episode.

Darcy was left all alone while Dee was taking a break with her grandmother in Tasmania. He was convinced by his fellow Aurora Club member James to hold another Poker night at his flat and subsequently lost thousands more dollars on top of what he had already lost. Fearful that he couldn't afford the gambling debt, Darcy quickly signed James's cheque and fled to Tasmania to be with Dee. He met Nancy 'Nan' Bliss who took an instant liking to him, and although Dee originally wanted him to leave her alone, she allowed him to stay for a while. Darcy failed to tell Dee about his gambling problem.

If this wasn't Tasmania, it certainly looked like it, and it was refreshing to see an expensive-looking location shoot being used. 'Nan' was delightfully irritating; a good addition to the relatively tiny Bliss family tree. And Darcy's insistence on lying his way through life provided enough tension in a story that's really only in its early stages.

Later in the week, we saw Max arranging a hot air balloon flight for Stephanie, in an attempt to compete with Alex's adventurous dates. Steph told him there was no competition and they settled on having lunch together by a river. Summer was happy to finally see Steph and Max as a couple, but Boyd was anything but pleased.

Of course it's predictable, but no-one can deny that it's good to finally see Max and Steph get it together after months of waiting around. We can only hope that Boyd continues his dislike for Steph indefinitely, because balanced with Summer's absolute adoration for her, it works unexpectedly well.

Sideline plots this week included Gino Esposito beginning to get on Harold's nerves as his new housemate. It was all supposed to be in good humour, but unfortunately Gino is a hateful caricature that should have been laid to rest a long time ago, and the 'hilarious' plot is compromising Harold's long-established character in the same way the Valda nonsense did last year.  Meanwhile Valda, who is far less annoying the second time around, recovered quickly from being dumped by her fiance and seemed to take a shine to Lou.  Lou on the other hand received a summons to appear in court over unpaid parking fines and begged Toadie for legal help. These plots came out of nowhere, but writer Jeff Truman provided some hilarious dialogue that made them entirely watchable. Summer, who was trying out for the girls' soccer team, asked Jack for help with her training. It was nice to see Jack involved in something other than the teen love quadrangle.

The gem of the week undoubtedly came with Lyn and Susan, who spent most of their time together with both of their husbands away performing in Jack and the Beanstalk, or visiting a dying Aunt, or whatever the excuse was.  Inviting her out for lunch, Lyn eventually asked Susan to be Godmother to her expected baby. The two always seem to enjoy doing scenes together and there is an amusing energy between them that should definitely be exploited in the future.

Notes: There were no writer, script producer, producer or director credits at the beginning of episode 4229.