Coming up this week on Home and Away in Australia, Felicity realises that married life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, while Justin prepares to say goodbye to Ava forever.
Last week, Tane (Ethan Browne) and Felicity (Jacqui Purvis) were married in a lovely Mori ceremony in an isolated bushland, and they immediately took off for a week-long honeymoon in New Zealand to meet the Parata whnau. However, it appears that Flick takes the honeymoon period’s end too seriously after their return this week.
When their first attempt at a wedding went wrong, Tane had family members there initially (though without some of the most important ones who couldn’t make it for various reasons). However, when that all went wrong, the couple settled on a more low-key ceremony the second time around.
After a brief break, Flick eventually had the chance to get to know the entire Parata family, and this week, as they’ve returned to Summer Bay, Flick is still feeling great.
As seen in the promo for tonight’s episode, Kirby (Kirsty Marillier) and Theo (Matt Evans) witness the newlyweds driving back down Saxon Avenue on their return home.
“Did you miss us?” Flick shouts out of the window, as Theo shouts “Welcome home” back to her.
Kirby comments that Flick looks so happy, as Tane then goes on to carry Flick over the threshold in the age-old tradition.
After later celebrating the occasion in the usual fashion, things seem to take a turn as a post-coital Flick and Tane lie in bed.
As Tane dozes away, Flick looks at the wedding ring on Tane’s finger and ponders. Something isn’t right.
Despite all her initial fears about marriage following Tane’s proposal last year, it appears that actually getting wed hasn’t changed her life in any dramatic way.
“Things are meant to feel different,” Flick eventually explains to Tane. “I guess it didn’t last…”
Tane questions what she’s talking about, and Flick simply answers, “The magic.”
The following day, Tane goes all out in dressing up and serving his wife champagne and fruit by the pool in an effort to bring back some shine.
But it’s obvious that Flick still thinks that everything has been a little underwhelming.
“Well I think we’re pretty good together,” Tane comments.
“I know, I know,” Flick replies as she tries to reassure him
“Then why are you so… unhappy?” Tane questions, as Flick struggles to answer.
Is their marriage looking to be heading to the rocks already?
Also this week, Xander struggles to come to terms with the shocking events of last week, which saw him and his colleague Jamie (Hugo Liu) brutally attacked.
When the two were dispatched to a remote location, local drug dealer Brock (Ben Corlett) was waiting for them after an unsuccessful effort to break into their ambulance. They soon realised they were being ambushed as the two men discovered themselves surrounded by three more men holding weapons.
Rose (Kirsty Marillier) was compelled to inform Xander that Jamie had passed away at the scene while Bree (Juliet Godwin) later evaluated Xander at the hospital. After hearing the news, Xander’s heart rate rapidly increased and he became tachycardic. He was then whisked away for an urgent scan and surgery to repair a ruptured spleen.
Later, when he came to, Xander angrily lashed out at Bree, kicking her in the stomach to get her away, and began trying to rip the equipment off.
Bree had to put Xander under anaesthesia while the team was holding him down, and she later told Rose that it was probably because of an allergic response to the anaesthesia.
As the action picks back up, Xander is recovering but is still visibly struggling with his mental health as he grieves the loss of his coworker, who left behind a family.
“It’s survivor’s guilt and it eats him up inside,” Luke Van Os told TV Week.
When Rose mentions Jamie’s funeral, she’s shocked when Xander is insistent that he needs to be there to pay his respects.
“Xander feels the loss of Jamie deeply, as well as the pain for Jamie’s family… he wants to do everything possible to help them grieve,” Luke continued. “But in doing so, he also becomes a bit reckless.”
Bree warns Rose that Xander is in no fit state to leave the hospital, both physically and mentally, but of course she’s powerless to stop him discharging himself if he’s that determined.
“Rose is worried about Xander and his reckless attitude – especially while he needs to heal,” Luke adds. “It causes a few arguments between them.”
Will Rose be able to talk some sense into her brother?
Another difficult job for Justin (James Stewart) is to inform daughter Ava (Annabel Wolfe) that she must go back to the city.
As the previous week came to an end, Justin was coming to terms with the possibility that he might go to jail for attacking Conor (Tom Dawson), whom he thought had attacked Ava.
Ava lied to Theo while saying that she was being held captive in Conor’s van against her will in an effort to win his heart and become her knight in shining armour. Instead, Theo relayed the information to Justin, who reacted angrily when he located Ava and observed Conor getting clothed (he had just exited the shower block).
Justin’s attorney Tom (Tony Cogin) warned that things weren’t looking good because Conor was claiming psychological harm as a result of the beating and they ‘apparently’ couldn’t show that he knew the message was from Ava, being sent from her anonymous fan account. He forewarned Justin that the prosecution would seek the harshest punishment possible.
As Justin realised he needed to make preparations for the worst outcome, he told Leah (Ada Nicodemou) that he didn’t want Ava there to see it.
“I don’t want her to watch me getting ready to go to prison,” he stated. “The girl feels guilty enough already.”
Leah offered to help break the news, but Justin figured it would be best to do it on his own.
“On the surface, it seemed as if she was running away from her heartbreak and Theo,” Annabel Wolfe told TV Week of Ava’s stunt.
“Yet at the core, I believe it was a final, desperate plea for her father’s love.”
When Justin breaks the news to Ava that she must go home to mum Nina (Zoe Naylor), Ava refuses to leave her dad’s side.
In the end it does come down to Leah, who tells her that Justin won’t be able to focus on fighting his case if he’s worrying about looking out for her.
Ava reluctantly agrees to leave Summer Bay, and as she says an emotional goodbye to Justin, they both know that it could be the last time before he ends up thrown in jail…
NOTE: This week, Home and Away will air single episodes on Monday and Tuesday as usual, followed by a triple-bill on Wednesday. There are no episodes on Thursday evening.
