Nothing personal: I'd rather help Libby than you, too.
Oh, Neighbours. Just when I compliment you for doing so well by keeping things simple, you have to go and ruin it by having a big disaster. You make me so sad sometimes...
In the obviously much-needed cautionary tale on the dangers of poorly-organised parties, the roof of the warehouse hosting this week's dance party collapsed, trapping basically the entire teenage population of Erinsborough and then eventually Karl and Libby too. It sounds exciting, I know, but whether it's because Neighbours hasn't done a story like this in a while or because juxtaposed with the simple drama of recent months a story like this just feels out of place, this week Neighbours was somewhat of a test of endurance.
Inside the wreckage, things weren't so bad. Declan and Didge talked things out, Riley and Elle got closer, Karl stirred up a hornet's nest of stepchild syndrome in Zeke, and Ringo listened to Jessica's obvious swan song speech. That much I could live with. What sucked was the awkwardness of what was happening outside. Watching Lou, Valda and Marco making sandwiches in a sequence shot as if it were the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan or the awkward clucking of panicked parents outside the accident site; the heavy-handed attempts to relay the great drama of the situation only compounded the fact that we knew nothing really bad was going to happen to anyone we cared about. And to spend so long - three whole episodes of search and rescue! - on something we knew wasn't going to go anywhere made it all feel a bit laborious.
Perhaps even more annoying, though, was seeing Angus relent to Rachel's pursuit of him. That didn't make any sense. He was being strong, doing the right thing and turning Rachel away despite her constant protests, and I was impressed; for once a soap character in a precarious situation was doing the sensible thing. Then, Rachel decides to go back to his house, say "actually, I'd rather we got together" - as if breaking up was her decision in the first place! - and Angus inexplicably relents, as if her insane logic carried any weight at all. It was crazy. And haven't we done the Rachel dates an older guy story already? There's no way anything in this story arc can be as entertaining as the day Stingray went into Rachel's room and realised he was dating a child when he saw all her stuffed toys. No way.
Elsewhere in Erinsborough: A distressed Janae kissed Darren, effectively putting a timer on Darren's seemingly repaired relationship with Libby (thanks, Janae!). Declan prodded the sleeping beast that is Paul Robinson's dark side and smiled as if anything but pain will come from it. Don't you know how crazy Neighbours gets when Paul is evil, Declan? Don't do it to us.
More rape? Really?
While Neighbours was doing something slightly different, though, Home and Away seemed all too happy to stick with what it knows best. Having been censured by Sam for leering at a sleeping Matilda, it appears that Johnny Cooper may have raped Sam. I almost can't believe it. I mean, what actually happened in that room was shrouded in ambiguity but there were certainly some allusions to rape and I think where Home and Away is concerned you almost have to assume that's what happened. The show is practically obsessed with the matter. It was a good scene, though, and it really put Johnny over as a great villain, even if his motive is completely ridiculous.
Almost everything else was focused on the death of Dan Baker. Personally the funniest thing about it for me is that Dan was deemed so unimportant his death didn't even warrant Home and Away's special sad opening titles that are hauled out for every tragedy. Hah. Even the creators know no-one cares about Dan.
Elsewhere in Summer Bay: Annie knowingly lied to the police and accused Aden of getting her drunk and trying to assault her. Tony and Rachel had an awesomely entertaining date; "So you don’t mind a mature drop, then?" was perhaps the best line ever. Jazz and Amanda both returned for Dan's memorial and instantly delivered the fireworks and cattiness we were all hoping for. Hooray! Also, Jazz wants Tony back and thinks blackmailing Sam is a good idea. I smell a tangled web...
No comments:
Post a Comment