This week on Home and Away in Australia, after David discovers a woman and her son sleeping rough in Summer Bay, Roo finds herself with a new foster child.
David’s (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) time in Summer Bay has so far been mostly taken up with dealing with daughters Lacey (Sophea Pennington) and Jo (Maddison Brown), but he faces a delicate case this week when he’s called out to a disturbance involving a local homeless woman.
The new sergeant at Yabbie Creek police station, David was soon revealed as the estranged father of Lacey, who it transpired had left home and changed her surname six months previous.
Lacey has been struggling to forgive her sister Jo over a car accident that killed their mother two years ago—Jo was driving the car, and Lacey believes David has used his position to cover up the true cause of the accident, which has so far remained unexplained.
This week, David is called out to an incident where officers are having a difficult time with homeless woman Samantha (Heidi May), who has been forced to set up home in a tent.
“He discovers a distraught mother who has been squatting near a local neighbourhood, when a young boy appears out of the tent they call home,” Jeremy tells TV Week.
The presence of the boy, Cohen (Nathan Murray), quickly puts a whole new spin on the situation.
“The boy seems terrified and bravely tries to stand up for his mother,” Jeremy continues. “But upon searching the woman’s car, police discover a box full of mobile phones, reported as stolen.”
Having gone through his own tough time as a parent over the past couple of years, David can sympathise with Samantha. It’s clear that she’s having to do what she can to survive and provide for her son, but David has no option but to follow procedure.
David’s saddened as he’s forced to place Samantha under arrest, taking both her and Cohen back to the police station.
“He’s very scared,” 15-year-old Nathan adds. “The police are taking away the only person he has. She was doing everything for him, so he’s also worried, confused and angry.”
“He doesn’t understand that what she did was wrong–his mum has been protecting Cohen a lot and this has become a normal way of living and getting by.”
Whilst Samantha’s case awaits to be heard, David needs to ensure Cohen is cared for. Making some enquiries, it appears that Samantha and Cohen have been homeless for a fair while–and other than one relative over in Canberra, the pair are alone.
Luckily there is a registered foster carer available in Summer Bay, Roo (Georgie Parker).
After signing herself up for the scheme last year, Roo’s first fostering experience turned out to be a baptism of fire, as she wound up taking in the troubled Eliza Sherwood (Martha Kate Morgan) back in February.
Eliza had been taken from her parents as a child and raised by her grandmother, until her sudden death four years ago. She was then passed through the care system until a suspicious fire destroyed her last foster home.
Eliza’s behaviour soon caused divides in Summer Bay House, as Marilyn (Emily Symons) became concerned about the veiled threats Eliza was making towards her. Some enquiries with Eliza’s former foster parents revealed they suspected she had burnt down their house, shortly after some other children were brought into their care.
While being home-schooled, Eliza displayed an unnerving fascination with surgical procedures, began researching operations, and developed an intense interest in Harper’s (Jessica Redmayne) pregnancy.
She startled Harper by touching her baby bump, stole an ultrasound from Tane’s (Ethan Browne) bag, and later threatened a peer at Tane’s youth program with a broken bottle after an altercation.
Eliza’s fascination with Harper culminated when Harper went into labour during a walk. Knowing it was dangerous for Harper to give birth naturally, and fascinated by what could occur, Eliza withheld help by pretending to call an ambulance.
Tane and Levi eventually arrived to assist just in time, as Eliza secretly recorded the ordeal on her phone.
Eliza later chose to watch Alf suffer as he had another heart scare at the bait shop, claiming that she couldn’t find his pills (which she’d pocketed) and that her phone was dead. It was only thanks to the appearance of John (Shane Withington) that Alf made it up to the house to retrieve some spare medication.
Despite Roo’s initial resolve not to give up on her, the department ultimately stepped in, deciding Eliza required professional psychiatric care. Roo was devastated by the decision but accepted that Eliza’s needs were beyond what she could offer.
As Eliza was taken away, her parting words were particularly cutting, as she told Roo that she was worse than all her other carers.
The experience left Roo questioning whether she could continue on her fostering journey, and she’s spent the past few weeks staying with mum Martha (Belinda Giblin) in Merimbula, to give herself some time for careful thinking.
A second foster child requiring care on her immediate return to Summer Bay is therefore likely to be another dive into the deep end for Roo, particularly when Cohen is going to struggle with his new living arrangement.
“Cohen doesn’t want to trust anyone because of what happened to his mother, so he doesn’t trust Roo filling that spot,” Nathan explains. “He’s completely destroyed, realising he and his mum will be apart for a long time.”
Will Roo be able to put aside her own doubts in order to gain Cohen’s trust?
Luckily, it seems as though Cohen’s relationship with his new foster family at Summer Bay House could be a lot smoother than Eliza’s had been.
Cohen’s arrival has been anticipated since the beginning of the year, when Nathan Murray was spotted at Palm Beach filming various scenes with Georgie Parker and Ray Meagher.
One such scene saw Alf and Cohen fishing together, with a further scene showing Cohen walking with Alf and Roo before heading down to the beach with a football.
Last night, Georgie shared various pictures on Instagram from recent months, the first showing a selfie of her with Nathan during filming.
The photo was later reposted on Nathan’s own account, where he described her as “one of the best in the business“.
