Having been caught in a broken lift at the end of last week, Karl and Izzy’s relationship was forced to suddenly change under these stressful conditions. Although they began the experience hating each other, the situation, coupled with the heat, caused them to get closer. Much closer. However, just as they were sharing a kiss, the lifts were fixed and they were freed. Much to everyone’s embarrassment, it emerged that Sky and Boyd had been in the lift next to theirs, and saw Izzy and Karl stumbling out, half-dressed. This development led to tension in Izzy’s relationships with both Karl and Gus. And it seemed that when Boyd revealed all about Karl and Izzy to Gus, Izzy would have some explaining to do. Meanwhile, Gus was making sure to make himself indispensible in the Hoyland house, but he used some confusing tactics to achieve this. After his mysterious phone bidding several weeks before, which caused the price of number 32 to go way above Max’s limit, Gus suddenly owned up, claiming that it was a practical joke. He also offered a confused Max a check for $40,000, which was how far the Hoylands were forced to go over their limit. By the end of the week, with Steph away and Max spending most of his time recuperating in bed, Gus was throwing his weight around. However, it seemed that his bully tactics, particularly with Boyd, were not being met with the respect that Gus felt he deserved. After weeks and weeks of this story bubbling away in the background, it seems that Gus’ true colours can’t be far off being revealed. With more than one Ramsay Street resident now starting to wonder why Gus is hanging around so much, it can’t be long before someone discovers his ulterior motives…

Meanwhile, the sudden disappearance of Toadie continued to cause problems for those closest to him. Scott was informed of Toadie’s disappearance by Susan and Sindi, and he did not take the news well. It wasn’t long before he was getting upset with Serena as she tried to stop him from leaving, and then accidentally striking her across the face. Of course, this was witnessed by David and Liljana, who forbade their daughter from seeing the Timmins boy, who they viewed as unstable. The ramifications were further felt as Stuart attempted to get to the bottom of Toadie leaving, by following Rocco around and almost sacrificing his place on the police training programme. Sindi had also been made homeless in the wake of Rocco finding out the truth about her and Toadie, so she ended up moving in with Susan at number 28. She later received an email, supposedly from Toadie, stating that he just had to get away. By the end of the week, Angie was back, determined to find out exactly what had happened to her youngest son. Within the space of two days, she’d blamed Sindi for the whole affair, told Scott he was coming back to Colac, and then accused Susan of using Scott to fill the void in her life since her husband left! Luckily, she calmed down in time to listen to Susan and realise that Scott was just beginning to settle in Erinsborough, so, with Toadie away, he too could move into number 28. Considering that a huge part of the purpose of this story is to right Ryan Moloney out temporarily for his real-life honeymoon, it’s certainly had far-reaching consequences. The star of these scenes has to be young Ben Nicholas, who is really showing what a great actor he is, but mention must also go to Lesley Baker who, complete with bright red hair, managed to turn the whole street upside-down with her brief visit.

After the recent revelations, Sky continued to reject the memory of her mother and everything it stood for. However, while trapped in the lift together, Sky and Boyd managed to find time to repair their relationship, at least on a physical level. The following day, Sky came across some of her mother’s possessions, amongst some boxes that David and Liljana had kept in storage. It was while reading an old diary of Kerry’s that she found an entry which was written for Sky herself. It explained how much she loved her daughter and how much she wanted for her. It made Sky realise that she had mis-judged her late mother. From then on, the old Sky began to return, as she and Harold discussed a protest over the science teacher at school who was using his classes to mistreat chicks. She also agreed to help out her old friend, Walter Mouse, who was in hospital with a broken leg, by running his market stall. Unfortunately, their use of Bob, Harvey and Audrey to model Walter’s doggy jackets backfired when the three dogs started running riot. In the process, they ruined Lou’s stall, meaning that Sky and Boyd were forced to hand over all of Walter’s takings as compensation. The fact that the show managed to get Linda Hartley back to complete a voice-over for Sky reading her mother’s diary, really added something to this storyline. And thankfully, this now means that we’ve got back the original character of Sky, complete with all her weird and wonderful comments on those around her.

Lori continued to make her presence felt, and she was certainly having an effect on her ex-boyfriend, Jack. The Scully lad was very uncomfortable seeing Lori, Maddy and Connor together as a family unit. Meanwhile, Lori was also facing the wrath of Lyn, who blamed her for the premature departure of Michelle. However, when Lyn saw Lori struggling with Maddy in the Coffee Shop, she tried to offer some assistance. Lori became defensive, and admitted to Lyn that she felt like a failure as a mother, particularly as her own parents had been quite negative of her mothering skills. However, Lyn took Lori home for a coffee and told her that she was doing a fantastic job in difficult circumstances. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Connor and Jack was growing as Lori cancelled some shopping plans with Connor to go out for a picnic with Jack. During the picnic, Jack dropped the bombshell that he wanted to provide the role of father in Maddy’s life, and would move back to New Zealand with the two of them, if Lori agreed. It’s great to have Michelle Ang back in the show briefly, and this story is proving useful at igniting the old rivalry between Jack and Connor. Jack might be making himself look like an idiot, throwing himself at the girl who happens to be nearest to him, but what else is new…

Elsewhere, Lou came to an important decision about his relationship with Valda, as he realised that he wanted her back and would go to any lengths to get her. Unfortunately, this was not what Valda wanted to hear, and she decided to let her feet do the talking by making a sudden departure for her old job in Broome. Steph also took leave from Ramsay Street, but only for six weeks, as she took part in a schools tour, talking about her battle with breast cancer. Meanwhile, Harold also had a change in personality, as he started shouting at a couple of Salvation Army volunteers in the pub. He was soon put in his place by Lou, and Harold stopped and realised that he was perhaps being too harsh on his old fuddy duddy personality. Also, after getting attached to the chick that Sky had brought her for her school project, he also decided to return to vegetarianism.