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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4264-4268 by Mark

UK Broadcast: Monday August 11th - Friday 15th August 2003
Written by: John Hanlon, Michael O'Rourke, Anthony Morris, Noel Maloney, Chris Hollow. Directed by: Jovita O'Shaughnessy, Jeffrey Walker.

Arrivals, departures, returns, sex. It's been a busy week in Ramsay Street...

The week began with that classic morning-after-the-night-before feeling visiting Lori, as she was seen trying to sneak out of Connor's bedroom after their spontaneous night together. Connor caught up with Lori just as she was about to leave No. 30, and an immediate awkwardness was present between the two, with Connor unsure of how best to bid her farewell - eventually settling on a kiss. While Stuart was quick to tease Connor about his one night stand, Lori consulted Karl about having some tests for STDs done because she and Connor had failed to use any protection in the heat of the moment. Karl also suggested running a pregnancy test, and Lori - in a moment sure to come back and haunt her - dismissed the idea since she was on the pill.

The jaw-dropping moment where Lori and Karl engaged in a frank discussion about the dangers of unprotected sex was one of the highlights of the week. For too long, Neighbours had existed in a cosy world where couples didn't appear to have sex unless they were married (in which case it was perfectly acceptable). So the refreshing and realistic occurrence of sex between two single adults has to be wholeheartedly welcomed. It has only been in the last six or seven years that Neighbours has shied away from tackling the subject of sex in this way - which is a shame. Let's not forget, back in the more conservative 1980s, Scott and Charlene were discussing sleeping together - and very nearly did - while they were still in high school. It's extremely gratifying to see the audience being treated with a higher level of respect and intelligence in relation to a subject like this, and all credit to the story team for having the courage to up the ante a little in this regard. Now, if they can just work on Gino referring to Aaron as his 'boyfriend' instead of his 'flatmate'.

Summer returned from her trip to Fiji this week a changed person. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, she recounted her experiences of helping the sick and needy with Rosie, and provided plenty of headaches for Max as he gradually began to realise that - amongst other things - most of Summer's wardrobe would need replacing after she gave away her clothes to the poor of Fiji. However, the real shock came when Summer announced her intention to become a priest, with stunned looks following from Max and Steph. Marisa Siketa returned to the series this week a bundle of energy, providing some rather amusing moments as she demonstrated this new side to the character of Summer.

Meanwhile, Boyd continued in his quest to knock Michael Martin off his throne as all time Number One teen terror on Ramsay Street. Up until this week, Boyd had mainly been rude, selfish and stroppy but things were moved up a notch in this batch of episodes as he extended his tearaway behaviour to new heights. Acting like a child at a fancy dinner at Lassiter's to celebrate Heather's birthday, Boyd managed to get the entire party thrown out after one too many pranks aimed at Taj. Heather was so sickened by his behaviour that by the time they made it to the hotel lobby, Boyd found himself dumped. He then went on to contemplate shoplifting - a sure sign that things can only get worse from here. Handing Kyal Marsh this sort of material has probably saved the character of Boyd from fading into oblivion, or at the very least, permanent annoying character status. Boyd works so much better as the teen from hell, and his opposition to the Max and Steph relationship is providing the character and writers with stacks of material. Let's hope Boyd continues to resent Steph, because it makes for damn good conflict and drama.

Ruby left Harold this week after coming to the conclusion that she would never truly get over her gambling problem as long as she had him behind her. In an emotional moment, Ruby tearfully said her goodbyes to Harold, despite his desperate pleas for her to stay. Maureen Edwards is certainly a fine actress, but the character of Ruby never properly seemed to fully fit into the 'Neighbours mix'. It was never clear whether she was to be a sympathetic character, or a bad character, or neither. And above all else, I never really felt that she would be the kind of woman that Harold would choose to commit himself to after Madge.

As one character departed this week, a new one arrived in the form of Darcy's replacement at the surgery, Dr. Cameron Hodder. Cameron has to get top marks for quite amusingly putting his foot in his mouth on a number of occasions before the end of the week. When Karl introduced him to Dee at the hospital and mentioned that Dee runs a massage practice from the surgery, Cameron unwittingly - yet hilariously - told Dee he hoped to have a similar relationship with her as the one she had with Darcy. At dinner with the Kennedys, Cameron did it again by quipping that Karl must be an alcoholic after Karl refused a glass of wine from him. He then proceeded to bring the touchy subject of Darcy up at the dinner table, causing an uneasy silence before Susan was saved by the sound of Ben crying and ran to get him. And to round things off nicely, Cameron then assumed that Ben was Susan's child before Libby rather awkwardly revealed that she as Ben's mother. Libby, of course, clearly had a thing for Cameron. Their initial meeting at the start of the week had been a frosty one after they bumped into each other at Lassiter's and exchanged words. It was only that evening that they discovered who the other was when Karl asked Libby to take his place at a dinner with Cameron at the hotel to welcome him to the practice. Kym Valentine has been sweet as Libby struggles to come to terms with developing feelings for a new man. Kym excellently manages to convey the guilt Libby is obviously feeling inside over Drew without it ever actually having to be mentioned. As is becoming the norm in the more recent episodes, the audience is being trusted to pick up on the emotional signals more than in the past - a technique that is working extremely well.

In a heartbreaking scene, Valda bid farewell to her beloved poodles Blanche and Stella, and appeared to be basically living on a park bench. Looking tired, dirty and coughing and wheezing, Valda was a truly sad sight. Luckily, Lou and Steph found her just as she appeared to hit her lowest ebb, and they rushed her off to Erinsborough Hospital where she was treated for pneumonia. Lyn was hugely relieved to learn her aunt had been found safe and well, and hurried down to the hospital to shower her with affection and find out why she felt she had to leave in the first place. Some scenes of bonding followed with the pair, as they reflected on times past, and Lyn learnt some new pieces of information about her childhood from Valda. But despite encouragement from Lou, Valda still couldn't bring herself to admit the truth to Lyn about her parentage, and she was forced to continue suffering in silence. Joan Sydney's return to the series after a few weeks' absence is a hugely welcome one - even though Valda hasn't been her usual bouncy, larger than life self. Instead, we have seen a tortured, vulnerable and pretty unhappy Valda, and Joan pulls it off with perfection. An addition to the cast to be treasured.

In scenes reminiscent of the grand old days of the notorious and constantly resurfacing Ramsay/Robinson feud, the Kennedys and Scullys looked set to remain at loggerheads longer than either family initially expected. Granted, most of the animosity is between Susan and Lyn, but there's plenty of opportunity for the feud to expand to their husbands, or even down to the next generation with Libby and Steph possibly clashing over the fall-out between their mothers'. At the start of the week, an awkward moment occurred on Ramsay Street as Lyn and Susan briefly cast eyes on each other before both going about their business. Susan later saw Joe and Lyn eyeing up a dress for the baby at the mall, and after they had moved on, Susan decided to buy the dress as a gesture of apology to Lyn for everything she had done. However, in a surprising turn of events, Lyn - who had previously been the one to make excuses for Susan's behaviour and fretted about their damaged friendship more so than Susan - refused to accept the gift and left Susan - and even Joe - shell shocked by her harsh and stony faced reaction. Although Jackie Woodburne looked slightly like she'd slipped on that bloody milk again as Lyn's reaction sunk in, the Lyn/Susan feud (or as I prefer to call it the Kennedy/Scully feud) was a joy to watch. Having built up the friendship between the two next door neighbours much more in the last six or twelve months, it has now been knocked right down, and the fall-out makes for some great scenes. There's plenty of scope for this rift to resurface every now and then, and a recurring sense of unease between the two most prominent families in Ramsay Street would be a joy to watch. There has always been tension between Karl and Joe, and Libby and Steph have had their ups and downs too. So now that Susan and Lyn have reached this point too, it would be nice to see some more Kennedy/Scully fall-outs in the future.