Hollyoaks Spoilers 16-20 Feb
2496: Jack is released from prison
Airs on Monday, February 16 2009 at 18:30 GMT on Channel 4
The McQueens don pregnancy bumps to see what they can acquire in the shops to raise a bit of cash. The puppies are causing havoc in the house and destroying everything in sight, but Michaela's very protective over her babies when Mercedes has a go at them for ruining her best gear.
When Carmel comes round to see her family, she's annoyed when the McQueens slip out on their stealing spree and she's left to feed and cater to an idle Zak and Malachy. She's further angered when Carmel's she bumps into her mum and sisters in town and discovers them shoplifting. Carmel tries to persuade them to do the right thing by handing the goods over but just when she thinks her family are going to concede, the girls make a run for it.
Meanwhile, Jack is released prison but returns to a turbulent home. Frankie's anxious to get everything ship shape for his homecoming, while Steph tries to keep her frantic mother calm. Newt's disappearance doesn't help matters as Frankie realises Jack will want to see him - he's the only one who hasn't let him down. Newt's not sure he can forgive Jack for everything he's put him through and can't face seeing him, until Lauren encourages him to be there.
For the first time in his life, Jack feels ashamed coming back to the village and knowing he has to have a prison tag fitted only adds to his humiliation. Malachy's hostile towards him when he goes round to apologise and isn't willing to forgive and forget what he did. The family try to help Jack re-adjust to being back home but when Jack realises Darren's learned nothing from his time in prison, all his anger and frustrations come flooding out and he attacks Darren, before ordering him to leave.
Warren's on the verge of losing it over Louise but tries to stay upbeat for Spencer's sake. Spencer's agitated after Warren's argument with Sasha and doesn't understand why he won't let him be her friend.
Left alone, Warren's reminded of Louise when he sees her clothes in the wardrobe and snaps into a rage, ripping them apart.
2497: Mercedes fumes at Myra's ignorance
Airs on Tuesday, February 17 2009 at 18:30 GMT on Channel 4
Warren takes his frustrations over Louise out on Spencer but Spencer's confused and doesn't know why he's so angry with him. Theresa's out with Anita and the pair bump into Newt and Lauren. As Theresa and Lauren trade insults, Newt becomes increasingly annoyed by Lauren's petty sniping. When Theresa sees Spencer wandering through the village she quickly latches on to him, knowing he can buy them some booze.
As the gang continue their party back at Warren's flat, Newt's uneasy watching Lauren taking advantage of Spencer and leaves. Warren's angry when he returns to the flat to find the drunken teenagers trying to humiliate Spencer. He's then thrown into a fit of rage when he finds them messing with Louise's belongings.
Meanwhile, Jacqui sells the stolen goods but Carmel's angry with her family after catching them shoplifting and wants to report the lot of them. Myra invites Carmel for dinner to get her back on side and stop her going to the police. However, she's uncomfortable when Malachy offers to cook the dinner, although she keeps her concerns hidden from the rest of the family.
As they all sit down to a family meal, Myra can barely conceal her horror at sharing the same table with Malachy. Mercedes loses patience with her mum when she realises she's worried about 'being infected' with HIV and although Malachy's hurt when Myra confirms it, he understands how she feels.
Mercedes is angry with Myra but it's Carmel who puts a stop to the argument, finally labelling her family as bickering, selfish thieves, before storming out.
Darren's gutted when he tries to go back to Steph's flat and realises Jack wasn't joking about kicking him out. Cindy and Newt feel for him as they hand over the keys to Frankie's old flat and tell him Jack's refusing to back down this time - he wants him gone.
Later, Darren's spooked when he arrives at the empty flat and is glad of Newt's company - even though he'll never admit it. Darren's desperate for company and is pleased when Cindy turns up at the flat. But when she thinks he only wants her to stay so he can have his wicked way with her, she quickly leaves.
Darren's nervous left alone once again but is relieved when Newt turns up and asks if he can stay the night, knowing that Darren's feeling anxious.
2498: Darren has a panic attack
Airs on Wednesday, February 18 2009 at 18:30 GMT on Channel 4
Darren's finding life alone in the flat difficult and keeps the radio on to avoid the silence. Newt feels for him and offers to help redecorate after school to take his mind off things and Darren's glad of the company as the boys set to work.
With the job done, Darren feels uneasy when it's time for Newt to leave and tempts him to stay with a curry. But as they eat, the flat's suddenly plunged into darkness and Darren begins to panic. He admits to Newt that he's terrified of living alone after being locked in a cell. As Darren's composure deteriorates and his chest begins to tighten, Newt calls an ambulance.
Anita's grounded after arriving home drunk the previous night and Gov's determined to find out who she was with. She's horrified when he starts ringing round her friend's parents, knowing they'll be fuming with her for grassing. Theresa's grounded and Lauren manages to sweet talk her way out of it but the girls are annoyed that someone's grassed them up and go round to confront Anita.
Gov's not best pleased to find that the girls have broken into his house and marches them home. Lauren's angry with Anita for getting her in trouble but she's hurt when Anita retaliates and points out that Newt thinks she's an idiot for the way she's been acting, knowing there's truth in what she says.
Lauren goes to the flat to speak to Newt but when she overhears him on the phone talking about her, she flicks the switch on the fuse box in a fit of anger and plunges Newt and Darren into darkness.
Warren looks after a Spencer who has a hangover from last night but warns him he's never to bring anyone back to the flat without asking him. As Warren tries to calm his anger, Spencer apologises, knowing how much Warren's hurting now Louise has gone.
Warren realises the effect his worries over Louise are having on Spencer and decides it's time to move on. The boys get rid of everything in the flat that belonged to Louise and Spencer's thrilled that it's just going to be him and his big brother from now on.
Zak's life is being made a misery by the puppies but Michaela refuses to get rid of them just because he's allergic. Zak can't cope with the itching any longer and an upset Michaela is forced to give her babies up for the sake of her boyfriend.
2499: Cindy tries to take Darren's mind off things
Airs on Thursday, February 19 2009 at 18:30 GMT on Channel 4
Newt's worried about Darren potentially breaking his curfew by doing a runner and finds himself telling Cindy about Darren's trip to the hospital after his panic attack. Cindy marches straight round to see Darren but she's not exactly very sympathetic. Darren's scared and plays everything down, but he eventually snaps when Cindy pushes him for answers. He proceeds to tells her about his post prison fears.
Not knowing what to do, Newt turns to Jack for help. Darren's pleased to see his dad but it's awkward between them as Jack stands firm, not wanting to show any weakness. Darren desperately wants to start again with his dad, but just as it looks like Jack could change his mind, he spots Darren's bag and is angry when he realises he was going to run away. Cindy soon takes Darren's mind off things as she reminds him what he's missed out on while he was away.
Realising that she's on her own after overhearing Newt calling her yesterday, Lauren tries to make it up to Anita but she's not willing to forgive her so easily after landing her in trouble with her dad. When Newt tells Anita and Lauren about Darren's panic attack last night, Anita knows Lauren was the cause of it and can't believe she won't own up.
Lauren feels guilty but can't bring herself to tell him and risk pushing him further away. Anita finds herself in a difficult position when Newt tells her he's going to talk to the police to stop Darren breaking his curfew and has to tell him the truth. Lauren's crushed when Newt, furious at what she's done, ends their relationship.
Zak sets Hayley up on a date with Elliot. Feeling sorry for his sister after listening to her joke about being the only single girl left at the end of a night, Zak decides to boost her confidence by asking Elliot to take her out on a date. Hayley's bemused when an extremely nervous Elliot turns up at the SU with flowers and wonders what on earth is going on.
After a few uncomfortable silences and listening to Elliot wittering on, it soon becomes clear she's been set up. Elliot's relieved when he's let off the hook and quickly heads off as Hayley reprimands her brother.
Rhys and Gilly organise a 'Roaring Twenties' night for The Dog tomorrow but Hannah's finding it difficult to tell her brother that she's going to work for Justin instead. When she hears about their suggestions for a feel dating game, she's not impressed and suggests an alternative.
Rhys has a go at Justin for stealing his 'Speed Hating' idea and as their argument threatens to get out of hand, Hannah steps in. Rhys is riled when she finally tells him she's choosing to work at Justin's night at the SU Bar. Justin's pleased that Hannah's not going to back out and seems more interested in her than Leila.
Mercedes is resolute that Malachy's not moving out just because of Myra's bigoted views and asks her mum: would she want her to move out if it was her who had HIV? A guilt-ridden Myra changes her mind when Mercedes announces that she'll leave if Malachy has to. Myra admits she's not comfortable with the situation but insists she just needs time to get used to it and is relieved when Mercedes agrees to stay.
2500: Rhys secures a date with Hayley
Airs on Friday, February 20 2009 at 18:30 GMT on Channel 4
Lauren's desperate to explain why she lied to Newt and puts pressure on Anita to ask him to meet her as he's ignoring all her calls. Anita tries her best but Newt's sick of listening to Lauren's lies and wants nothing to do with her. Anita soon forgets all about Lauren and enjoys spending her own time with Newt but Lauren's heart breaks when she overhears them talking about her.
Lauren corners Newt in the classroom and apologises for her behaviour, desperate to win him back. Although Newt's confused about his feelings, he tells her to back off. Lauren's distraught and angry when she sees him and Anita hugging. Fired up and full of rage, Lauren catches Anita alone and attacks her as a horrified Newt comes to Anita's rescue.
Rhys and Gilly are excited for their 'Blind Date' night at The Dog and test out the darkened booth, ready to welcome the many beautiful women that are going to come their way. They're left disappointed, however, when nobody turns up.
A disheartened Rhys gives up and starts dismantling the booth when he spots Hayley sitting in the corner. There's an instant attraction between them as they flirt with each other and Rhys is victorious when he gets Hayley's number – he has himself a date.
It's Justin's 'Speed Hating' night at the SU Bar and it quickly fills up as the couples sit and have their three minute rant before moving on to their next partner. Elliot's losing the will to live as he sits listening to various women rant on but he's cheered up when Leila, who's finding the whole thing unbearable too, rescues him and they leave.
Justin only seems to have eyes for Hannah, but is frustrated that he can't act on it, especially when Ash turns up and spoils their fun. He's irritated as he watches them together and takes his frustrations out on Hannah but she's not letting him get away with it. Justin's humiliated by Hannah and is left feeling sorry for himself when Ash mocks him.
Ste's desperate to be part of his baby's life and has to get Amy on side but Josh stands in his way. Knowing Justin's been to antenatal classes before, he asks him to show him exactly what he needs to do at the birth.
After demonstrating some techniques, Justin decides the best place for him to be while Amy's in labour is in the pub. With Josh out meeting the editor of a fanzine, Amy agrees to meet Ste in the park so he can see Leah. Ste's gutted when Amy realises he's only using Leah to get back in her life and leaves.
Steph holds her dance class in The Loft but it's chaos. Sarah offers to be her assistant with her dance experience but she's stunned when Steph makes her audition for the job. Tom and Holly cheer her on as she gives an impressive performance but Steph refuses to acknowledge that she's good and Sarah tells her to stick her job. But Sarah has the last word when Steph comes crawling.
