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Weekly Reviews > Episodes 4393-4397 by Steve

UK Broadcast: Monday 23rd February – Friday 27th February, 2004
Written by: Jeff Truman, Katrina Foster, Martin McKenna, Stuart Gaunt.
Directed by: Gary Conway, Tony Osicka

It was season finale time once again, with a sad departure, a wedding and the life of one of the street’s most popular residents hanging in the balance…

For the members of the Bishop family, it was a week of roller-coaster emotions. With Christmas upon them, Liljana was upset that David would be away in Sydney for the holiday, until he suddenly returned, the job having finished early. Meanwhile, their daughter, Serena, was convinced by Chris to spend the night with him. She was flattered and agreed to go along. However, as the evening progressed, she began to feel more and more uncomfortable trapped in the hotel room with him and his video camera, so she ran out. Once outside, she checked her messages and found out that Harold had collapsed while at Lou and Trixie’s wedding. With the whole family gathered at the hospital, they were informed that Harold had most likely suffered from a stroke and that it would take time to determine the seriousness of his condition. Once he was awake, the family began to rally around, while Serena went to visit Chris, who sent her flowers by way of apology. She ended up modelling in a swimsuit for him, and she wasn’t the only one whose behaviour made a sudden you turn. As Harold was trying to get to sleep, he complained to the nurse that he needed a blanket. While the nurse went to get home, Harold displayed some uncharacteristically selfish behaviour by stealing the one from the man in the bed next to him.

This storyline has come at the perfect time for Harold, as he is surrounded by family. It has also been fascinating to watch the different reactions of the characters, with David and Sky hit hardest by the tragedy. Meanwhile, the storyline with Serena and Chris becomes more disturbing by the day, but the writers must be applauded for tackling such a controversial subject in a mature way.

At the Kennedy house, Christmas turned into the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Susan came across Karl’s expensive gift for her – a watch. After a chat with Liljana, she suddenly came to the realisation that this was simply a way to relieve his own guilt. She then told him about the arrangements to fly all the kids to Adelaide for a big family Christmas, and admitted that this, too, were her way of bribing him back into a happy marriage. She decided to go to Adelaide on her own, making the excuse that Karl had a patient at home that he had to take care of. When Izzy saw Susan leaving alone in her taxi, she popped over to give Karl some left-overs. The following day, she spoke to Karl and tried to make sure that it wasn’t her presence that had caused the marital problems. He assured her it wasn’t, and he escaped to a café to be alone. While there, he decided to remove his wedding ring, but when he received the emergency call about Harold, he left in such a hurry that the ring remained on the table.

Another storyline that’s being handled in a very mature way, the breakdown of the Kennedy marriage is also proving heartbreaking to watch. In the expert hands of Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher, every scene is charged with emotion and it’s very difficult to tell where they can go from here…

The Scully and Hoyland families united for the Christmas celebrations, as both Joe and Jack were away, and Steph didn’t want to see Lyn and Valda spend the day alone. As it was their first official Christmas as mother and daughter, it was a very special one for Lyn and Valda. Valda gave her daughter a photo album, containing all the pictures that meant a lot to her, while Lyn gave her mum a locket with a picture of her as a baby inside. Meanwhile, Boyd and Sky also had their first Christmas as a couple, and, as if to affirm the belief that they’re soul-mates, they bought each other the same gift – engraved dog tags. Steph and Max also enjoyed celebrating together for the first time, and she made sure she shook off her useless cook tag, as she made a seafood buffet for everyone.

With the reported developments for the Scully family coming up later this year, it’s great to see that Lyn, Valda and Steph can now rely on the Hoylands to be their extended family. The scenes with Lyn and Valda this week were especially touching and it was great for the show to once again touch upon their relationship.

In the build-up to Lou and Trixie’s big day, she began to sense that he was keeping secrets from her. Concerned about the return of his old flame Valda, Trixie was convinced that Lou was up to no good. However, when the wedding day arrived, after a bout of last-minute nerves, she found out the truth when her limo pulled up outside Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne, to find Lou waiting for her in the foyer. With all their friends waiting inside, the couple had a true theatrical wedding by getting married on stage. With the party then moving on to the pub, the wedding speeches were just beginning when Liljana rushed in to call for an ambulance, explaining that Harold had collapsed outside. When Lou found out that Harold’s stroke could have been a result of his kidney donation, he felt awful, but as time went on and her wedding and honeymoon dreams fell apart, Trixie struggled to maintain her composure. After an outburst in front of Connor, he accused the new bride of being distraught because she was no longer the centre of attention, and she warned him that he wouldn’t get away with talking to her like that.

Although the sudden change in Trixie’s character was slightly odd, it’s probably not totally unexpected, given her history in the theatre. It would seem that, after a whirlwind engagement, the marriage might be even shorter…

The boys at number 30 also had an interesting week. At the beginning of the week, Stuart was attempting to get Jamie home to his father in Adelaide. With a little help from Harold and the Salvation Army, they managed to get him back in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, Toadie witnessed Stuart’s efforts and ended up going to Stu’s caravan to try and make things up. After a chat in the pub, the pair were friends again and Toadie invited Stuart up to Colac with him for a Rebecchi family Christmas. Meanwhile, after weeks of resisting, the romance of the wedding finally caused Connor and Carmella to give in to their feelings. However, later that night, Trixie caught them together while locking up the pub and, following his run-in with Lou’s new wife, it seemed like Rocco might be about to find out the truth.

Overall, this was a great week for Neighbours, with all the characters involved in their own way, whether in new storylines, or still feeling the effects of the events of the past year. As well as it being great to finally see another Christmas in Ramsay Street, it was also refreshing to see the two longest-running characters, Lou and Harold, at the centre of the action during the season finale.

Notes: Episode 4396 (the 2004 Season Premiere) saw the debut of a brand new set of opening and closing titles. Clare Renton-Power resumed her occasional role as Nurse Evanovich in Friday’s episode, 4397.