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Weekly Reviews >
Episodes 4303-4307
by Rhys
UK
Broadcast: Monday October 6th - Friday October 10th 2003
Written by: Megan Herbert, Katrina Foster, John Upton, David Hannam, Elizabeth Packett
Directed by: Gary Conway, Chris Adshead
An old face returned to cause trouble, while a new discovery worried Stephanie...
One of the most eagerly anticipated moments on Neighbours, in recent years, occurred on Monday, with the long-awaited return of Sky Bishop Mangel to Erinsborough. Her return was somewhat out-of-the-ordinary, with Harold's granddaughter appearing in his kitchen one tea-time! After a brief misunderstanding, Harold soon realised who the "intruder" was and was overjoyed at seeing Sky for the first time in over ten years! Sky's return certainly did what was promised, and that was to bring trouble and stress to Harold's life. After only a week, he had accused her of smoking marijuana, despaired at her loud music and clashed with her on several occasions. Fortunately, towards the end of the week their relationship appeared to improve, although Harold's persistence to teach Sky more about Kerry, whom she does not remember well, proved fruitless.
Although Sky is still supposedly only visiting Harold for a week, already the seeds have been sewn for a lengthy run. She has already developed a close bond with Boyd - which has proved to be a blessing for the development of that character, also. Similarly, we know, as viewers, that something deep down is troubling Sky - hence her mood swings and general inability to converse with more than a few surly grunts. Whether it's purely down to the fact that her step-father, Joe, has found a new partner to replace Melanie (the only real mother figure Sky has known) or whether it's something unrelated, remains to be seen. Regardless of reasons, Sky has already proved a hit with fans, both those who remember the original character and those who are new to her. Stephanie McIntosh has more than proved her worth as a very capable young actress in only four episodes, and we look forward with great anticipation as to how the character will blossom.
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This week also saw some wonderful material by the character Susan. Feeling extremely low, she broke down in tears in front of Lyn, admitting she felt she couldn't trust anyone, and that Karl and Libby, the two closest people to her, had deceived her. The scenes where Susan, alone in No.28, while Karl was visiting Libby, were quite heart-breaking to watch. Although the rift in the family is largely due to Susan's treatment of Libby, one must feel sympathy for Susan, who has had one hell of a traumatic journey throughout her time in Erinsborough. Towards the end of the week, Susan snapped at Karl, insinuating his affair with Sarah was in someway linked to Libby's betrayal. She later apologised in a highly charged emotional scene, admitting she felt totally lost and untrusting of people.
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While the Kennedys were arguing and crying, the Scullys were comparatively happy. Joe and Lyn set off mid-week on a trip to the coast, to take some time out with the baby due soon. However, they had their doubts about leaving Jack in charge of the house, especially with Nina's parents away too. However, Jack and Nina headed off to a country hotel for the latter to perform a new song. Jack, knowing how special Nina wanted her first sexual experience to be, decorated their room with flowers, chocolates and candles. Nina, though, still didn't feel the time was right to sleep with Jack, and although he put on a content face, he was obviously disappointed. Alone, in the hotel bar, Jack was approached by a strange female, who introduced herself as Edwina Valdez. She flirted endlessly with Jack, and in a roundabout way, offered him sex which "no one would know" about. The young Scully refused her advances however, but a chance meeting at Lassiter's Coffee Shop the following day allowed Jack to reveal his email address to Edwina. This sparked off a series of flirty emails, to which Jack responded. Nearly caught by Nina, he passed Eddie off as the sister of a friend, which also worked as an excuse when Nina caught Jack talking to her at the Coffee Shop a couple of days later. Stephanie, however, was aware of the emails Jack was receiving, and had her doubts as to whether Nina knew.
This storyline is particularly bold by Neighbours' standards, and is reflective of the type of plots we would have seen prior to the beginning of the "Stanley Walsh" era, where the risk of offending prudish viewers proved an overriding factor in the production of the show. Thankfully, under Ric Pellizzeri, the writing and story team are being allowed to take more risks, which are paying off.
Toadie was still grieving for Dione, and this was affecting his work. Tim Collins made several attempts to make him take more time off, but it wasn't until Toadie snapped at a client he was to defend regarding the betrayal of the client's wife, that Tim forced him to stay at home until he'd sorted himself out. It's been refreshing to see that despite being pretty much "on his own" now, with this story, Toadie is still being used to display the grieving process.
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And, the week ended on a rather negative note. Stephanie had promised to go and watch Summer take part in a gallop at her horse riding classes, however, Steph had more important things on her mind having discovered a lump in her breast whilst working at the garage. The appointment she had been given to have the lump inspected clashed with Summer's lesson, causing the young Miss Hoyland to throw a hissy fit, exclaiming that Steph always told untruths and never kept her promises. Steph, full of worry about her lump and angry at Summer, told her off and warned her not to use her "little princess routine"! They made up the next day, however, and Steph agreed to try and make the second half of the lesson. Yet, her appointment was late, and although Karl believed the lump to be a cyst or somesuch harmless growth, he did request to inspect Steph again at another point in her menstrual cycle. Summer, of course, was furious at her for having missed the entire lesson, and even Max made Steph feel guilty for not having cancelled what he believed to be a routine check-up. Steph broke down and shouted at Max, telling him to leave her alone! Again, the "new regime" is becoming evident with stories such as Steph's cancer, and the ways in which characters are now reacting, for example, her fight with Summer.
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As a general note, it has to be mentioned how wonderful it's been to have so many past references to older characters and events, this week. Largely due to Sky's reappearance, of course, we had references to Kerry, Melanie, Joe Mangel and Toby. Whilst little touches such as Harold telling Sky that the Hoylands live in her old house across the road adds authenticity. And, even without Sky's presence, Lou's comments about Lauren's time with the equestrian centre when talking to Kat and Max about Summer's riding seemed totally natural and totally in context.
Notes: The firm of which the client Toadie annoys has connections with was referred to as "Herbert and Radulovich" - a reference to story team members Megan Herbert and Lara Radulovich. Sky Mangel was added to the main cast list on the closing credits, on Thursday.
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