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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4323-4327 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Monday November 3rd - Friday November 7th 2003
Written by: Linda Stainton, Drew Proffitt, Piet Collins, Ray Kolle, John Hanlon.
Directed by: Gary Conway, Jeffrey Walker.

Secrets were revealed all over Erinsborough this week, but plenty of people were still left in the dark…

Lyn’s problems were finally out in the open this week. After her spirits were raised by returning to work, she found that spending time with Oscar was even more of a strain. With Joe doing all the housework and looking after the baby, Lyn found excuses to stay out late – helping out with Gino’s fashion show, then helping him celebrate his birthday at the pub. While Joe was happy to spend the time at home, he also needed to tie things up at work, and so Lyn was forced to look after Oscar one day and took him shopping with her. After absent-mindedly placing a figurine in the baby’s pram, she was shocked when she set the alarms off and was confronted by a store detective. After finding herself speaking to the same detective, Alec Skinner, as last week, when she left Oscar in the car, she admitted to him that she didn’t want to comfort Oscar, who was crying. Detective Skinner recognised the signs of post-natal depression from his own wife and called in Karl, who diagnosed her with PND. She was then forced to admit the truth to Joe, Steph and Jack, who all offered their love and support…

After several weeks of odd behaviour, it’s good that Lyn’s condition has finally been diagnosed. Of course, the build-up was required for this week’s moving scenes to have their full effect, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to watch Lyn falling apart with nobody to turn to. Although recovery from depression is a long and slow process, hopefully we can gradually see some of Lyn’s happy-go-lucky personality returning as the weeks progress.

Steph’s inability to share her burden with anyone found her very alone at the beginning of the week. Having shared her secret, and moved in, with Libby, Steph found herself relying on her best friend as things got tougher. After Stu refused Steph’s request for some time off work, after she failed to give him a good reason, she resigned on the spot. She also went to the Hoyland house to pick up some of her belongings and found herself facing a barrage of abuse from Max. He accused her of being selfish and deliberately ruining his life after he had opened up to her and let her into his home. Steph found herself unable to explain her actions to Max, but by the end of the week, she had learnt of her mother’s PND and she finally broke down in front of Jack, revealing the truth.

In a similar way to her mother, Steph has been slowing falling apart since her diagnosis with breast cancer, though her having nobody to talk to was through choice rather than through a lack of understanding. Now that both Libby and Jack know, and Steph is heading into hospital for her operation, things can slowly progress and it can only be a matter of time before Lyn, Joe and Max find out the truth.

Some light relief came this work, as it often does, from the lads at the House of Trouser. After reluctantly agreeing to take part in Gino’s fashion show, they found themselves wearing bizarre clothes and make-up and prancing around on stage. Afterwards, they were discussing how bad the clothes were, when the designer over-heard them and decided to leave with their own clothes. Stu, Connor and Toadie were forced to walk home from Lassiter’s with only a sheet to cover the three of them. As they were sneaking through various backyards, they found some washing hanging out and were in the process of stealing it when the residents of the house caught them. Luckily, they were two young sisters, Kaveesha and Tammy Jones, who found the situation hilarious when all was explained. While Stuart was very taken with Kaveesha, Connor was less happy to be the object of Tammy’s affections, particularly as she had a laugh that could safely guide ships to shore.

Although intended as some comic relief from all the Scully’s problems, this storyline was simply annoying. Seeing both Stuart and Connor lurch from one relationship to another just becomes dull after a while. Fortunately, it does seem that, for Stuart at least, this is going to lead onto something far more interesting and hopefully we’ll see a new side to the character.

Elsewhere, Taj and Edwina were really beginning to hit it off, and it seemed that there was more to Miss Valdez than had first been expected. But when Jack found out that Nina was going on an Asian tour with Robbie D, he decided to get his own back by arranging to see Edwina again. Luckily, she had realised what a sleaze he was, and took the opportunity to tell him so, before revealing all about her affair to a stunned Taj. Meanwhile, Steph’s actions had far-reaching consequences, as Summer found her friends turning against her after rumours about Max spread around the school. While Summer defended her dad and his younger girlfriend, she found that her friends had decided she was no longer part of their gang. Also suffering at school was Sky, who began at Erinsborough High this week. Due to her unorthodox style, she found it hard to be accepted, until the girls found out that she knew Nina Tucker, local minor singing celebrity. Sky, however, saw straight through their phoney attempts to befriend her and called them all idiots for worshipping pop stars.

After a strong few weeks, there was a definite dip in quality this week, with Lyn and Steph’s health worries being the only two strong storylines. Luckily, both have begun to move on and become very engaging, while the rest of the characters are just waiting for their big moments.