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Weekly Reviews
> Episodes 4398-4402 by Rhys
UK Broadcast: Monday, March 1st – Friday,
March 5th, 2004
Written by: Helen MacWhirter, Graham Hartley, Piet Collins,
Judith Colquhoun, Ben Marshall
Directed by: Tony Osicka, Chris Adshead
Sneaking around, family planning and home
economics were the order of the week down Ramsay Street
way…
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ontinuing the shock of Harold’s stroke last week, the
very early part of this week saw the patient begin to
recover comparatively quickly. However, regardless of
physical strides forward in his recovery, Harold’s attitude
wasn’t to the liking of the neighbours when he snapped
and lashed out at them several times. The most shocking
incident occurred when he attacked Summer for trying to
eat one of his chocolates. Although the story received
little attention in the latter half of this week’s episodes,
we have had a taste of things to come, and with the well-publicised
‘change of character’ that Harold is to endure, it seems
this is only just the start of a long journey back to
some form of normality. Also concerning the Ramsay Street residents this week
was the issue of raising a family in the Hoyland household.
Lyn, upset for her daughter’s sake by Max’s revelation
that he didn’t want any more children, decided she would
impart her feelings on the matter, to the annoyance
of Max. However, after much deliberation and having
been shocked by Steph’s admission that she would consider
leaving the relationship if only to have kids of her
own, Max agreed. This wasn’t the end of their woes,
though, as Summer and Boyd overheard their discussions.
Initially overjoyed at the thought of having a baby
sibling, Summer was quickly disheartened when Boyd joked
that she would no longer be ‘daddy’s little princess’
and Izzy backed up this theory that the middle child
is always forgotten about. This prompted several scenes
with seemingly repetitive content in which various Hoyland
family members had to assure Summer that she would still
be loved just as much as she always had been. Izzy,
however, took every opportunity to have a dig at Steph
in front of the kids – part of her plan to turn them
against her. Boyd, though, was aware of this, knowing
as he does about his aunt’s devious ways. An example
of Boyd’s intervention in her plans was shown when Izzy
readily offered Stephanie a home made pancake to eat
which had fallen on the kitchen floor by virtue of being
tossed by Summer. Boyd’s had to make an excuse so as
that Steph wouldn’t eat it. This, it was clear by the
look on Izzy’s face, didn’t please her.
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Not only busily intervening in her family’s affairs,
Izzy also caused unrest among the neighbours with her
continuing friendship with Karl. Having the house to
himself in Susan’s absence made Karl take full advantage
of his freedom, and he paraded around the house in his
underwear, in a scene designed to test the stomachs
of even the hardiest Neighbours viewers…. Similarly,
he attempted to revert to his youth by arranging nights
out with past friends. After repeated bouts of trying,
he eventually found an old uni mate who would have a
drink with him. This friend, however, was more interested
in pulling Izzy’s friends who happened to be in the
pub at the same time. Despairing at Karl’s seeming unwillingness
to be unfaithful, the friend left with Ms Hoyland’s
girlfriends and left Izzy and Karl together. Several
drinks later and two arrived back by taxi in Ramsay
Street, totally sloshed. A late night feed for Oscar
enabled Lyn to see the couple stumble back to No.28
at 2am, causing her to think the worst. The following
day, Lyn went round to check on Karl, assuming the two
had slept together. She was relieved, however, when
she saw Izzy emerge from No.32 a little later. Yet,
doubts remained, especially when she witnessed the couple’s
flirtatious behaviour in the Coffee Shop.
Lyn was not the only resident to be suspicious of Karl
and Isabelle. Malcolm returned on Friday to try and
suss out why his parents had spent Christmas apart and
why neither seemed willing to talk to the other. His
suspicions of something being amiss were heightened
when Izzy called unexpectedly at the house and later,
during a talk with Mal, affectionately called Karl ‘a
dag’ and sang Susan’s praises. This contrasted with
Toadie’s later revelation that Susan and Izzy did not
get on well at all. This all culminated in Malcolm shadowing
Karl leaving the house late at night. He traced him
to a bar, where he was enjoying a rendezvous with none
other than Ms Hoyland. Seeing this story pan out has
been a joy. Although the inevitable sadness at seeing
the Kennedys split, the knowledge that the story team
have the confidence in the actors and the strength of
the characters to carry it off is pleasing, as well
as at least guaranteeing the future of Susan, Karl and
Izzy, easily three of the programme’s most popular characters,
for a while to come.
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As if she wasn’t busy enough, what with helping to
entertain Karl and interfere in her brother’s relationship,
Isabelle still managed to find time to instruct Summer
on the art of kissing, following a disastrous first
snog with Declan. Summer’s practice with an orange led
way for Izzy to reveal she used to practice on a basketball.
Fair play for aiming high…. Aiming high also were Toadie
and Stuart, who were determined to secure Taj a work
placement, following losing his film-school place after
confessing to cheating in his HSC. Rebecchi and Parker
caused disruption at Lassiter’s Hotel when Taj revealed
a famous film producer, Sam Tinselman, was a guest.
They attempted to get her attention by breaking into
her room and plastering reminders of Taj everywhere
in the hope she’d be impressed into offering him a place.
Despite much confusion over room numbers and guests,
the plan worked and Taj, convinced his job at the hotel
was finished after the mix-up, was granted a work placement
with Sam and left Erinsborough in one of the series’
lowest-key departures!
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And
finally, Trixie and Lou’s relationship appeared fairly
stable, though the same could not be said for the former’s
domestic skills. The new bride managed to burn two batches
of muffins, solidify the meat gravy, cause havoc cleaning
the kitchen with unsuitable materials and scorch an
iron through Lou’s shirt. Lou, though smitten, was worried
that Trixie wasn’t getting enough stimulation from being
a housewife and assured her it was OK with him if she
wanted to continue singing. Trixie, however, excersised
her selfish and devious nature when she informed pseudo-gangster,
Rocco, of his daughter, Carmella’s, relationship with
Connor, as a pay-back for him giving her a dressing
down over Lou’s concern for Harold.
Notes: Mal Kennedy’s name was misspelt
‘Malcom’ in the closing credits on Friday.
Nina sent Lou and Trixie a postcard mid-week
informing them she was well in Bombay and approved of
their marriage. Nina’s continuing absence was due to
actress Delta Goodrem’s illness at the time of filming.
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