Whichever show you prefer, there can be no argument that Home and Away has always been slightly more ambitious than Neighbours. In terms of storylines, dialogue, characters or even deft little directorial touches, it has always been the risk-taker of the two, the Mel Gibson to Neighbours' Danny Glover. This week was a pretty good example of what that can mean, positive and negative...
Starting the week by devoting an entire episode to Sally's near-death experience, Home and Away pulled off one of those truly memorable soap moments. As with Alf Stewart's It's A Wonderful Life episode a few years ago, Sally was persuaded to stay alive for the benefit of mankind by a former Summer Bay resident (her long-dead foster father Tom), but this time with an added twist: something awful is going to happen to Leah, and someone else must die to take Sally's place and "restore the natural balance". It's all pretty standard stuff, really, but the fun thing is how brazenly Home and Away have decided to present the validity of Sally's vision this time. Whereas Alf's vision could conceivably have been a product of his imagination, it seems that Sally was actually at the gates of Heaven. She was given legitimate, verifiable information that she had no other way of knowing beforehand, and by the end of the week had all been confirmed; Sally finding out for certain that Cassie is pregnant and Leah suddenly receiving the news that Dan had died. It was all true. So what does this mean? The only two valid explanations I can come up with are that (a) Sally has developed psychic powers, or (b) Home and Away has confirmed that, in their soap universe at least, there is, indisputably, an afterlife. Wow. It's a bold move, isn't it? I mean, soaps are supposed to be centred in reality and Home and Away has decided to grant an answer to one of real life's greatest mysteries. I can't see Neighbours doing that. So what does it mean? Does it affect the way we as an audience should react to character deaths? Does it make it easier for us to know that Dan is now undoubtedly in a better place in a state of pure bliss? I guess I'm not sure. Maybe when a character I'm not completely indifferent to dies I'll find out. For now, I'll simply appreciate Home and Away's boldness.
Where boldness becomes less fun is when it involves insanely far-fetched stories, and seeing Sam roped into stashing Johnny Cooper at Tony's house just feels completely nuts. Creating an afterlife is one thing, but trying to make Sam seem interesting by giving her some big secret? I'm sorry, but that's just silly.
Meanwhile, although life in Erinsborough may seem embarrassingly tame when compared to life in Summer Bay, the results of Neighbours' back-to-basics promise have been surprisingly good so far. Aside from Rachel's little tryst with her teacher, almost everything in the show at the moment is grounded in the mundane realities of everyday life and it's getting away with it. Steve and Miranda fretting about a mortgage, Susan battling illness, Oliver worried about child access, the kids sneaking out to a party, Elle and Riley trying to impress at their new jobs; I'm quite frankly shocked at how enjoyable it's all been. I doubt it'll stay this way for long, but for now, score one for the "keep it simple, stupid" philosophy.
Elsewhere in Summer Bay: Annie downed half a bottle of whiskey and Aden got the blame. Stories like these - where we side with the outsider against the obnoxious, small-minded town folk - are always fun, a nice little inversion of the norm. Jack told Martha he couldn't be friends with her unless she's friends with Sam too. Cassie finally learned that being HIV Positive does not automatically mean you have three months left to live.
Elsewhere in Erinsborough: Libby told Darren she was staying in Erinsborough with or without him. Steve, Miranda, Ned and Janae tried to find a way to buy the newly available No.26. Rachel unfairly harassed Angus. All the kids snuck out to an illegal dance party, a phrase that sounds completely stupid every time someone says it.
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