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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4368-4372 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Monday 19th January – Friday 23rd January, 2004
Written by: David Hannam, Michael O’Rourke, John Davies, Megan Herbert, Noel Maloney
Directed by: Julie Bates, Gary Conway

This week saw several relationships put under a lot of pressure as more than one devastating secret came out into the open…

Things finally came to a head for the Bishops this week, after David continued to deceive his family about his employment status. While Serena was making plans to go on a school trip to Paris and Liljana wanted to enrol on a course at Eden University, it seemed that David’s lies were really getting to him. When the couple’s anniversary came round and it seemed like a preoccupied David had completely forgotten, Liljana and Serena went to his office to surprise him with a picnic. When they found the building locked up and phoned David, he pretended that he’d been cut off. However, Liljana was already suspicious, having read in her coffee grounds that someone was lying to her, so when David got home, she was ready for a confrontation. He realised he couldn’t go on lying and told her that all their money was gone. Both Liljana and Serena were devastated by this news and its effect on the family. David walked out and Liljana blamed Harold for not being a better role model. The following day, things were still strained. Serena was secretly devastated to realise that she’d have to give up her posh grammar school and start attending Erinsborough High, while Liljana gave up on her plans to go to university. Though Liljana apologised, Harold took her words to heart and began making more of an effort to communicate with his son. Together, the family managed to work things out so that Harold would lend them the money to pay off the bulk of their debts and stay with him until they were on their feet again. Liljana also offered to work for free at the Coffee Shop, but once there, she admitted to Harold that she felt like a failure as a wife, since David had taken so long to confide in her…

After bubbling under the surface for the last few weeks, this storyline finally exploded this week, giving the actors playing the new Bishop family the chance to show us what they’re made of. Marcello Russo, as Liljana, was particularly good portraying the worry and guilt that her character was going through.

Susan and Karl continued to enjoy their few days in the country at the beginning of the week, but Karl got a nasty shock when Izzy turned up, having snuck away with Jack. When Izzy found Karl, he was hiding out in the pub with a drink, something Izzy quickly took the opportunity to tease him over. However, the tables were turned when Jack walked in and Karl spotted him, meaning that the two of them were in on each other’s secret. When Susan came down with a headache, she asked Karl to drive home, but he was hesitant, after having had a few drinks. He was forced to agree in the end, but became very agitated when they passed a police officer, randomly breathalysing people. Later at home, Susan went out with Lyn to the movies, but returned home unexpectedly and caught Karl finishing off a bottle of red wine. She was understandably upset with him for going behind her back, but he quickly turned it around on her, making her seem like the unreasonable one. Meanwhile, Taj came home in the midst of the argument and tried to make Karl see how badly he was treating his wife. Unfortunately, this only led to Karl losing his temper and Taj deciding to move into the spare room at number 30. Before he left, however, he tried to tell Susan what was going on with Karl, only to be interrupted, leaving Susan still in the dark about the extent of her husband’s problem…

Once again, this story is becoming the focus of the whole show as many other characters, such as Taj, Izzy and Jack, are getting drawn into the whole thing. With her discovery this week, it can only be a matter of time before Susan realises that Karl has been lying to her for weeks.

Lou and Trixie’s relationship moved on a great deal this week, but unfortunately, it was at the sacrifice of her bond with her daughter. When Nick, Nina’s father, requested a meeting with Trixie, she wondered if he wanted to give their marriage another try. However, she returned to the pub devastated that he’d simply wanted to agree on a division of their assets. Lou was less upset about this development however, as it allowed him and Trixie to start seeing each other, after they both admitted that they were in love. Later on, however, it seemed that Lou was backing off, not wanting to get too close to Trixie who was, after all, still married. However, Trixie shocked Lou by revealing that she and Nick had never actually been legally married as their ceremony had simply been a theatrical performance, with an actor friend standing in as the marriage celebrant. Although this changed Lou’s mind about the relationship, it also meant that Nina had been an illegitimate child, something that Lou urged Trixie to tell her daughter. The meeting didn’t go well, as Trixie reported back to Lou that Nina had taken it very badly and, soon after, she phoned to tell Connor that she didn’t want to see her mother again and would be staying with Nick…

After a few weeks of happiness, cracks began to show in Boyd and Sky’s relationship this week. While Sky was still grounded for sneaking out a few weeks ago, she was forced by Harold into helping out at a charity sale. Boyd tagged along, as usual, but he felt that the punishment was extremely unfair and revealed to Harold that Serena was infact to blame for the whole thing. Later on, Boyd and Sky attended a meeting about the school formal, during which Sky forced Boyd to agree with her votes. This led to Taj and Erin accusing Boyd of being unable to think for himself anymore. Sky was horrified by this accusation and told Boyd that he could do whatever he wanted to do. While walking home from the Coffee Shop that evening, while Boyd was having a pee in the bushes, Sky and Serena were approached by a group of guys trying to get them into the car. Sky was her usual subtle self and told them where to go, while Boyd looked on, seemingly too scared to come out and help them. Although Sky later assured him that it wasn’t a problem, Boyd felt guilty that he’d chickened out…