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Weekly Reviews
> Episodes 4441-4444 by Rhys
UK Broadcast: Tuesday 4th May – Friday
7th May, 2004
Written by: Drew Tingwell, Helen MacWhirter, Chris Hollow,
Piet Collins
Directed by: Jeffrey Walker
A shorter week than usual in Ramsay Street, owing to the May Bank Holiday. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of drama as many stories continued on their merry way.
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Things weren’t looking too prosperous for Michelle’s future with Connor, despite her desire to get back together with him. A pleasant meal time was interrupted by a phone call from Carmella who wanted to come round and see Connor. Jack, however, was wary of his sister’s motives and warned Connor that he would be forced to spill to Michelle about Lori’s pregnancy if he didn’t confess first. As if Connor wasn’t already in a quandary, he was further confused when Carmella began getting heavy and hinted that she would tell Rocco about the relationship if Connor wouldn’t commit. In reality, he needn’t have worried, because like last week, Rocco was too busy trying to keep his mistress, Sindi, by his side. Her affection for Toadfish continued to trouble her and she didn’t seem able to get the hint across to Rocco, who took her out for an expensive meal in a bid to display his devotion to her. The ‘Rocco gangster’ story seems a little odd to the viewer. On the one hand, Rocco is presented as a camp, stereotypical Italian gangster who despite the comical aggression wouldn’t hurt a fly. Yet, we are also meant to accept him as a far more seriously threatening character in relation to the story of Lou and his mounting debt, where a lack of repayments causes him to really fear Rocco.
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On the subject of which, Lou’s money troubles continued to spiral out of control, when the neighbours complained to him that the audio speakers he sold them were faulty. Karl, among others, gave Lou a talking to so as to try and make him cough up refunds out of guilt, but he was defiant and hid behind a lack of guarantee that the products would work in the first place. After a day that saw more complaints; an immoral sale of a mechanically dodgy motor car to a single mother and a visit by Rocco, Lou went to see Susan and broke down in tears, citing losing Louise and Trixie as the ultimate sadness he could suffer. Lou offered him a hug, but Lou misinterpreted her gesture and tried pulling her closer to him. Susan, however, pulled away and was shocked. As actor Tom Oliver has since pointed out, the initial scripting of that scene required the two characters to kiss, but thankfully, for the sake of believability, the kiss was relegated to a hug of desperation by Lou, which is likely to have saved the two characters’ relationship from future detriment.
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Meanwhile, the Hoylands were active this week, as Gus continued his Jekyll and Hyde-like appearances. He apologised to Izzy for his dissing of her the previous week, and after a while she accepted his apology and their ‘relationship’ was back on. However, Karl was both jealous and concerned for Izzy and tried, again, to warn her away from him. A cruel comment from Gus to the local GP about his crumbling life, despite the supposed privileges endowed upon doctors, fuelled Karl’s desire to change his image slightly, and he followed the same route as Philip Martin did in 1995 by dressing in funkier shirts and wearing a leather Jacket on his night out. Gus, however, took this as a further opportunity to poke fun at him.
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Among other events in Erinsborough, Sky finally got over her embarrassment around Max following the ‘catching in the act’ incident a few weeks ago, thanks to Boyd, who scheduled a school project of Sky’s around his father, so they could break the ice. Liljana was nearly caught out by Karl when he tested her loyalty and code of confidentiality at the surgery by leaving Izzy’s patient folder lying around under her nose. He later commended her on her professionalism, as he had planted a note in the file to expose any nosiness. And, Stuart’s mission to make it in the police force got a surprising boost this week when his enemy of a sergeant finally gave him the praise he deserved when he successfully completed a driving course. Whether the praise was genuine or not remains to be seen.
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Finally, the “issue of the year” on Neighbours was finally brought to the surface, this week, when Scott deliberately skated out in front of Max’s reversing car to test his stunt skills. Max was worried he had seriously hurt the lad, until Scott showed no signs of being injured and keenly asked Max to reverse out again so he could test the stunt a second time! Max’s desperation led him to take Scott to the surgery where Karl recognised Scott’s behaviour as one of the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This followed an incident where Toadie’s cousin had done a BMX stunt in No.24’s swimming pool to try and impress Serena – much to Harold’s annoyance!
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