Izzy and Karl’s relationship moved up a gear this week as they agreed to live together. However, they also got another taste of family life when they looked after Ben together, and it seemed that Izzy wasn’t quite as motherly as a pregnant woman might need to be. As Ben got out of control at home and started throwing toys at her, then shoved his ice cream in her face at the Coffee Shop, it was obvious that her parental skills would be requiring some fine tuning. Other areas of family life were causing her problems too, as Karl’s daughter Libby made it perfectly clear that she would never accept this woman in her father’s life. Meanwhile, Izzy was also laying the groundwork to cover for her pregnancy, as she managed to finally get Gus out of her life. Visiting him at the mental hospital, she explained that she’d been sleeping with someone else whilst going out with him, and he was not the father of her child. Gus seemed to get the picture, but Max and Steph were concerned about the urgent meeting that Gus requested with Izzy. Although Max felt that there was nothing sinister to it, Steph was still suspicious of her future sister-in-law. Although only in its very early stages, this storyline is becoming more complex and involving more and more characters as each week rolls by. How much longer will Izzy be able to keep her lies under wraps?

Meanwhile, Karl’s ex-wife Susan was busy proving that her own love life was no less complex. With Lyn still interfering at every possible opportunity, Susan and Tom announced that they’d be going to an Amnesty International conference, and would be travelling up there together. However, some terrible weather meant that not only was the conference cancelled, but the pair of them also had to work out in the rain preventing flood damage. By the time they got back to their cabin, an already-sick Tom was feeling a lot worse and starting to suffer from a fever. Susan assured him that she would take care of him and tucked him up in bed. She sat by him through the night and kept him cool with a flannel, but was shocked when he started talking in his sleep. Susan listened uncomfortably as Tom ranted about his problems within the church and with his conscience, and then he announced that he loved “her”. With Tom’s sickbed declaration a very suitable Friday cliffhanger, and a definite twist in this story, it seems that Susan may have to wait until she finds out if she was even the woman Tom was referring to, let alone what they’re going to do about this awkward situation. This is certainly an interesting story for Susan, and probably not a situation she could have been pictured in a few years ago. But with everything that’s happened to her in recent years, the whole premise is made a lot more acceptable.

The Bishops were also at the centre of some extremely odd behaviour this week. Liljana was becoming increasingly concerned that David was playing away from home, as he became very secretive and started disappearing a lot and receiving strange phone calls, all of which he put down to an increased workload, what with Toadie in hospital. However, Lil wasn’t quite ready to believe this, especially as her coffee grounds had shown that someone was deceiving her. She voiced her concerns to Lyn, even going as far as to suggest that David might have picked up some kind of “cheating disease” from Karl. Lyn was far from convinced, laughing off Lil’s fears, and when Susan called round, her reaction was the same. But as Liljana went outside, she saw David conducting a secret phone call behind the bushes in the front garden and rushed back inside. She pointed him out to Lyn and Susan, who were forced to agree that this did seem like a very suspicious piece of behaviour. Meanwhile, while Lil and David were out at the pub one night, Serena and Sky, along with Boyd and Scott, arranged for a few friends to come over for a party. Remarkably for a Neighbours storyline, they actually managed to get it all cleared up before the folks got home, although a pair of trainers left by the sofa made David realise that they’d been up to something. He didn’t say a word, but was then in for a rude shock when Scott decided to introduce Serena to the exciting virtues of mooning passing motorists. Unfortunately, the first person he chose to moon happened to be David, who, although not seeing Scott’s face, announced that he would definitely recognise the rear end again, as it had some very strange markings… With all the heavier storylines going on in the street, it’s nice to have a family with a few more light-hearted problems. Adding Scott in with the Bishops has also been a great way to increase the comedy.

Also this week, Sky was busy making plans for her and Boyd to begin driving lessons, but he was less than thrilled with the idea. While Sky went off and got her L plates, Boyd feigned a headache in order to get out of it, leaving everyone slightly confused about his behaviour. Stuart was delighted when Steiger allowed him to sit his final exam and even more thrilled when he was informed that he’d passed. Unfortunately though, he almost messed it all up when he mistook his Senior Sergeant for a stripper. And finally, it seemed that Jack was burning the candle at both ends, working all day and partying all night. He was in for a slight wake-up call though, when the mysterious letters to the “spunk” at number 26, turned out to be for Lyn, and not him.