Sunday, May 1, 2016

Thoughts about "Neighbours" - April 2016

Here's another installment of my thoughts about Neighbours post. I'm going to be writing about the episodes that aired in April 2016.

The month of April was mainly about the explosion at Lassiter's hotel and its aftermath.

Sarah, who was staying at the hotel, was back in town and had a minor injury. She wanted to talk to Karl and Susan, about something, but wouldn't share why. Sarah has stage three cancer, and she wants her son Angus to stay with the Kennedy family. She doesn't feel like she is able to cope on her own with her troubled teen. Karl and Sarah share a romantic past, even though he is much older than her. Susan was relieved that Sarah didn't want to screw up her marriage after Nene's feeble attempts. Nene thankfully has left town to get help after everything she did from lying about being Pam to working as a nurse during the disaster when she shouldn't have been.  Sarah took over Terese's job temporarily and renting from Sheila.

Kyle broke Amy and Jimmy's heart as he decided to go to Europe with Georgia. Thankfully, Georgia was no longer at the hotel when the accident happened. She still love her husband, and got a full-time nursing position in Germany. After a short time in isolation, little Bossy the dog will join the reunited family. This upset Sheila and Xanthe as they would miss him. And since Sheila bought the house, she needs her grandson's part of the rent. Thankfully lodgers have been found.

The Willis family lost Grandpa Doug and Josh. They were at the hotel with Ned, Brad's son with Beth, who was estranged from his Dad. They were setting up a reunion for the entire family. Doug died of a heart attack due to the stress and Josh bleed out due to his injuries. To rescue Daniel from the wreckage, the pillar that was impaling Josh had to be moved, which is why he died. There were two versions of the scene for the UK they used Adele's "When We were Young", while the Australian version used another song. He lived long enough that everyone got to say goodbye to him except for Piper. He even had a video call with Amber and their baby Matilda. The memorial brought Pam back, and Paul crashed it. He wanted Terese to believe, him as there was no way he would put both the woman he loves and Daniel into danger. No one really reacted to Paul's strong feelings, and just hate him. We also found out how Ned was in a gang. As part of the gang, they robbed his grandparents' home, and Pam couldn't forgive him. Eventually there was peace, but it took time. Ned was frustrated about how he was treated as a lesser child by Brad as Brad had no pictures of his oldest on his computer. As payback, Ned sent the wrong video to the event, and everyone saw the drone footage of Brad and Lauren kissing instead of a tribute to his father. We saw Josh's headstone on screen, and Ned wasn't even mentioned as one of his siblings.

A new character came to town that everyone is still calling John Doe. He saved Paige's life in the explosion, and perhaps has a past with power tools, but we don't know anything else. John was in a coma, and now has amnesia. Paige convinced Amy to give him a trial at the yard, and he was successful. Amy liked him enough to ask if Sheila would house him too.

Imogen and Daniel left town under happy circumstances. She got a call from Naomi (off screen), inviting Imogen to go to school at Stanford in California, while working for Naomi's company.  Imogen nearly didn't take the position, as she worried about her mother drinking again. Terese was fragile, but wanted her daughter to not feel the need to sacrifice for her. The couple decided to wed, so Daniel could join her. Madison, Daniel's younger sister, arrived in Erinsborough. The two chatted, and she supports the marriage. They were going to elope to the registrar, but a flower arrangement clued Terese in, and she and Brad found them before they said "I do". Imogen wore Terese's wedding gown, and Piper inherited her sister's car. Susan agreed to perform the ceremony and nearly everyone attended. Daniel and Imogen left to meet Daniel's parents before they went to the US.

Paul had a rough month, being blamed for the explosion at Lassister's hotel. For once, it wasn't his fault. He had been framed and the plans were put into his briefcase. Steph shared it with the cops as to not upset anyone. That said she is the only person who completely believes Paul is innocent of this crime. The person he paid off to tamper with the hotel didn't do it, but won't testify. At least his newly returned niece Madison is willing to give him a chance. Paul's situation put a strain on Steph and Mark, but for now they are okay. Paul is under house arrest wearing a monitor, and cannot try to investigate what happened.

Tyler admitted to the police that he had touched the furnace. He wasn't at fault though, which made him relieved. This broke his friendship with Piper, as he kept it a secret initially. Tom Quill was missing after he and Aaron fought. Aaron confided in Nate, who returned after getting emergency services training. Nate helped many people that day. Tom blackmailed Aaron, as everyone including Tom's family believed he was missing. Julie was asking everyone about her stepson. Tom's money was taken by Xanthe and Ben. Xanthe used the money for clothing and a photo shoot, while Ben used some to replace Piper's broken MacBook. Earlier, Piper took photos for Xanthe, but Xanthe didn't like him. The shots though of Ben were great, as he really was good at posing. Piper found out how they took the money out of Tom's hotel room, when he was believed missing. Xanthe seems jealous of Madison, while Piper became frustrated that Xanthe was shallow.

Toadie nearly died, but was saved before he got injured again. Thankfully, he can now walk with little or no help. He told Steph to toss out his red folder if something should happen to him. The audience still doesn't know what Toadie is hiding from Sonya.

This month of Neighbours moved very quickly with a lot of additions and departures. We'll see how the newbies get on, and how that will influence the use of the other more long running characters.

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