Another plot that has been surprisingly well handled by the storyliners is that of Karl’s alcoholism. This week saw the story move up a gear as Susan discovered Karl had substituted the Scotch he drank from the drinks cabinet with cold tea! Convinced he had a problem with alcohol, Susan vowed to help Karl through it and he agreed to go and see a counsellor. However, unbeknown to Susan, the session didn’t go well with Karl refusing to admit he had a problem, instead suggesting to the expert that his “couple of glasses a day” was normal and healthy. When the counsellor tried to suggest that perhaps there was more deeply rooted situation, Karl walked out of the session, although he made Susan believe he had booked another appointment. The week got no better when Lyn commented to the Kennedys that Karl had mis-prescribed Oscar’s medication on the prescription for the chemist. Although the chemist had rectified it and Lyn claimed she accepted it was a genuine mistake, Susan had her doubts over Karl’s sobriety at work and Lyn later showed signs that she didn’t quite trust Karl anymore, knowing as she does about his problem with drink.

The other big story of the week was Trixie’s proposal of marriage to Lou. Despite their whirlwind romance, the couple have well and truly fallen in love, and despite an initial reservation about Nina’s reaction to the news, Lou accepted the proposal wholeheartedly, and a thrilled Harold helped prepare an engagement party at the pub for them. Although Trixie tried in earnest to get in touch with Nina, she had no luck. It was shocking, therefore, when Connor arrived to say a neighbour of Nina’s father, Nick, had told him that the two of them, along with Nick’s new girlfriend, had upped sticks to India to the land of Bollywood. Trixie was heartbroken, but Lou made her realise that Nina was old enough to make up her own mind about what to do, and Trixie should concentrate on what made herself happy from now on. Nina’s absence has been coped with admirably, all told. The sudden departure of Delta Goodrem from the set due to illness could have spelled the end for Lou and Trixie, so it’s a tribute to the writers who managed to support the story without one of its key characters. This week also saw Connor confess to Trixie that he loved Nina, after the Tucker mother had accused the Irish lad of taking too great an interest in their affairs.

The tension of Taj and Jack’s HSC examinations took their toll on poor Jack at the end of the week. Despite having resisted temptation to have a sneak peek at the exam paper that a friend of Taj’s had stolen, his intense revision sessions obviously took their toll on his health as he suffered an acute bout of bowel movement on the morning of his maths paper. Lyn, fortunately, managed to rush to the school in time with a dose of Imodium no doubt, enabling Jack to sit the exam in time! Whether there was a need to hear Jack’s lavatory experiences or not is debateable! Likewise, the slight infatuation Neighbours had with vulgarity this week was also evident in Oscar’s bouts of wind…

In other news, Joe tried his hardest to convert his youngest from being a Bold and the Beautiful fan to watching sport, but Lyn wasn’t convinced and Summer’s ‘relationship’ with Declan began to gather pace when she opted to accept lifts from Declan’s mother over Max! Summer’s aunt Izzy didn’t have quite the same success as her niece this week, however. Steph suggested Izzy would be impressed with the new mechanic at the garage, Aaron. However, despite her best flirting techniques, poor Izzy had to accept that Aaron was gay and immune even to her charms.