Perdita
11-03-2017, 04:56
Home and Away definitely wasn't holding back when it came to shock cliffhangers in Friday night's episode. Not only is a terrifying bushfire about to rock Summer Bay, we were also left to ponder the shock reveal that John Palmer is the town's mystery arsonist. Who'd have thought it?
Adding to the high stakes, Billie Ashford has gone into labour in the middle of nowhere, Justin Morgan has been stabbed, and Irene Roberts's villainous son Mick Jennings is back in the area. None of which can be good news...
This episode served as the 2016 season finale when it aired in Australia last year, while we'll only have to wait until Monday to find out what happens next. But if that's still way too long for you, here's our handy roundup of the big storylines you need to watch out for next.
And be warned: there are some pretty huge spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.
1. Bushfire horror
Friday's episode ended with Summer Bay's locals still having a right old laugh at the Summer Grooves music festival, but they certainly won't be smiling for long. Early on in Monday's episode, Phoebe Nicholson gets a call from policewoman Kat Chapman about the oncoming bushfire and she quickly spreads the word that everyone needs to get out of there.
Zac, John and Matt also take charge in the chaos that follows, but it soon becomes apparent that Marilyn Chambers, Olivia Fraser Richards and Mason Morgan are all missing. As frantic search parties are launched for those who are AWOL, not everyone will make it out unscathed.
2. Marilyn's new nightmare
We won't tease you too much - Marilyn does survive the bushfire (yay!), but there's still a long journey ahead for her after she gets caught right in the middle of the disaster. The Home and Away favourite gets rushed to hospital next week after Alf finds her with severe burns following a desperate search.
Having received emergency treatment, there's good news for Marilyn when Dr Nate assures her that the damage isn't permanent and the scars on her face will go away in time.
In the meantime though, a clearly traumatised Marilyn starts cutting herself off from the world and is reluctant to even leave the house as she doesn't want to face anyone. With the Bay crying out for Marilyn's upbeat influence (especially with some dark storylines ahead), we can only hope someone can give her the confidence she needs to get back out there again.
3. RIP Billie
Billie is another Summer Bay favourite who gets rushed to hospital early next week, after this week's episodes ended with her stranded on a remote road while in labour. Fortunately, she has her loyal boyfriend VJ with her and when he sees the oncoming bushfire, he quickly carries her off to safety. We knew that burly recast would come in handy some day!
Billie gives birth to a baby girl called Luc at the hospital, but tragically there's no happy ending in store for this particular story. Just a few weeks after Luc's safe arrival, Billie's own health takes a turn for the worse and it's later confirmed that she has an aggressive form of cancer.
With only days left to live, Billie ties the knot with VJ at the hospital before they're parted forever in tearjerking scenes, which had a huge impact when they aired in Australia recently.
4. Mick's return
Irene is terrified next week when Mick turns up at the Beach House and begs for her forgiveness. She tries her best to play along despite her fears, but her true feelings become very clear to Mick when she hears Brody's voice and calls out for him to rescue her.
In the days that follow, sinister Mick continues to lurk in the shadows until he finally strikes by kidnapping baby Luc. Is this only the beginning of his latest reign of terror in the Bay, or could it lead to him getting locked up at last? Let's hope it's the latter, for everyone's sake.
5. John's guilt
It's always the one you least suspect. Despite having established himself as a pillar of the Summer Bay community in recent years, it turns out that John is also a serial arsonist. So is it a classic soapy case of a character inexplicably changing their entire personality for no reason? Fortunately no.
John actually has a brain tumour which is causing his out-of-character behaviour, but this won't become clear to the local residents for another month yet. Scenes airing in mid-April see Kat discover who the arsonist really is, just as John suffers a worrying seizure and gets rushed to hospital.
Despite the extenuating circumstances behind his recent actions, it's not long before John is facing a backlash from the local community, as well as wrestling with his own guilt over all the damage he's caused. Will life for him ever be the same?
6. Bianca and Heath are back again
They may have recently left Summer Bay again to star in two new spinoff dramas, but we haven't seen the last of popular couple Bianca and Heath just yet. When they return to the Bay next week, they're hiding yet another big secret - Bianca is pregnant.
Although it should be happy news for the pair, Bianca can't help but feel haunted by memories of how she lost baby Rocco and almost died herself when she was giving birth to him. After a heart-to-heart with Nate, Bianca finally tells Heath that she can't have the baby - but will she change her mind before they both wave goodbye to the Bay again?
7. Zac cheats on Leah
There's also yet more trouble ahead for Zac's marriage to Leah, with the unwelcome return of Zac's flirty former editor Sam causing even more problems.
When Zac begins to drift apart from Leah as a result of their many issues, he finally makes a terrible mistake by sleeping with Sam. Could this be the final nail in the coffin for his relationship?
8. Justin fights to be a father
Proving his resilience yet again, Justin survives his season finale stabbing, and his main focus afterwards is trying to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Ava. The only problem is that Ava's mother Nina still can't make up her mind about whether it's a good idea for him to be part of her life again. (With the Morgans in "terrifying danger" every week, we don't blame her.)
Nina's anxieties only grow when she hears about Justin's stabbing and she urges him to promise that Ava would be safe if she did start spending time with him. Will Justin realise this is a promise he really can't make?
9. A blast from the past for Tori
In a welcome change from hostage situations and kidnappings, Tori's next big storyline sees the arrival of her old flame Riley Hawkins. Tori dated Riley before she went into witness protection, but they're thrown back into each other's orbits when he takes on a new job as a surgeon at the hospital.
Riley is keen to get some answers on why Tori disappeared all those years ago and what she's been up to since (where to start?), but even though she's irritated by his attitude, old feelings run strong and they eventually get back together.
As the rekindled romance progresses quickly, Riley even invites Tori to move to the city with him. When she refuses and he realises her feelings for Nate may be the reason why, Riley takes some ruthless revenge by falsely reporting Nate for medical negligence in relation to Billie's death. Could this vendetta destroy Nate's career?
Digital Spy
Adding to the high stakes, Billie Ashford has gone into labour in the middle of nowhere, Justin Morgan has been stabbed, and Irene Roberts's villainous son Mick Jennings is back in the area. None of which can be good news...
This episode served as the 2016 season finale when it aired in Australia last year, while we'll only have to wait until Monday to find out what happens next. But if that's still way too long for you, here's our handy roundup of the big storylines you need to watch out for next.
And be warned: there are some pretty huge spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk.
1. Bushfire horror
Friday's episode ended with Summer Bay's locals still having a right old laugh at the Summer Grooves music festival, but they certainly won't be smiling for long. Early on in Monday's episode, Phoebe Nicholson gets a call from policewoman Kat Chapman about the oncoming bushfire and she quickly spreads the word that everyone needs to get out of there.
Zac, John and Matt also take charge in the chaos that follows, but it soon becomes apparent that Marilyn Chambers, Olivia Fraser Richards and Mason Morgan are all missing. As frantic search parties are launched for those who are AWOL, not everyone will make it out unscathed.
2. Marilyn's new nightmare
We won't tease you too much - Marilyn does survive the bushfire (yay!), but there's still a long journey ahead for her after she gets caught right in the middle of the disaster. The Home and Away favourite gets rushed to hospital next week after Alf finds her with severe burns following a desperate search.
Having received emergency treatment, there's good news for Marilyn when Dr Nate assures her that the damage isn't permanent and the scars on her face will go away in time.
In the meantime though, a clearly traumatised Marilyn starts cutting herself off from the world and is reluctant to even leave the house as she doesn't want to face anyone. With the Bay crying out for Marilyn's upbeat influence (especially with some dark storylines ahead), we can only hope someone can give her the confidence she needs to get back out there again.
3. RIP Billie
Billie is another Summer Bay favourite who gets rushed to hospital early next week, after this week's episodes ended with her stranded on a remote road while in labour. Fortunately, she has her loyal boyfriend VJ with her and when he sees the oncoming bushfire, he quickly carries her off to safety. We knew that burly recast would come in handy some day!
Billie gives birth to a baby girl called Luc at the hospital, but tragically there's no happy ending in store for this particular story. Just a few weeks after Luc's safe arrival, Billie's own health takes a turn for the worse and it's later confirmed that she has an aggressive form of cancer.
With only days left to live, Billie ties the knot with VJ at the hospital before they're parted forever in tearjerking scenes, which had a huge impact when they aired in Australia recently.
4. Mick's return
Irene is terrified next week when Mick turns up at the Beach House and begs for her forgiveness. She tries her best to play along despite her fears, but her true feelings become very clear to Mick when she hears Brody's voice and calls out for him to rescue her.
In the days that follow, sinister Mick continues to lurk in the shadows until he finally strikes by kidnapping baby Luc. Is this only the beginning of his latest reign of terror in the Bay, or could it lead to him getting locked up at last? Let's hope it's the latter, for everyone's sake.
5. John's guilt
It's always the one you least suspect. Despite having established himself as a pillar of the Summer Bay community in recent years, it turns out that John is also a serial arsonist. So is it a classic soapy case of a character inexplicably changing their entire personality for no reason? Fortunately no.
John actually has a brain tumour which is causing his out-of-character behaviour, but this won't become clear to the local residents for another month yet. Scenes airing in mid-April see Kat discover who the arsonist really is, just as John suffers a worrying seizure and gets rushed to hospital.
Despite the extenuating circumstances behind his recent actions, it's not long before John is facing a backlash from the local community, as well as wrestling with his own guilt over all the damage he's caused. Will life for him ever be the same?
6. Bianca and Heath are back again
They may have recently left Summer Bay again to star in two new spinoff dramas, but we haven't seen the last of popular couple Bianca and Heath just yet. When they return to the Bay next week, they're hiding yet another big secret - Bianca is pregnant.
Although it should be happy news for the pair, Bianca can't help but feel haunted by memories of how she lost baby Rocco and almost died herself when she was giving birth to him. After a heart-to-heart with Nate, Bianca finally tells Heath that she can't have the baby - but will she change her mind before they both wave goodbye to the Bay again?
7. Zac cheats on Leah
There's also yet more trouble ahead for Zac's marriage to Leah, with the unwelcome return of Zac's flirty former editor Sam causing even more problems.
When Zac begins to drift apart from Leah as a result of their many issues, he finally makes a terrible mistake by sleeping with Sam. Could this be the final nail in the coffin for his relationship?
8. Justin fights to be a father
Proving his resilience yet again, Justin survives his season finale stabbing, and his main focus afterwards is trying to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Ava. The only problem is that Ava's mother Nina still can't make up her mind about whether it's a good idea for him to be part of her life again. (With the Morgans in "terrifying danger" every week, we don't blame her.)
Nina's anxieties only grow when she hears about Justin's stabbing and she urges him to promise that Ava would be safe if she did start spending time with him. Will Justin realise this is a promise he really can't make?
9. A blast from the past for Tori
In a welcome change from hostage situations and kidnappings, Tori's next big storyline sees the arrival of her old flame Riley Hawkins. Tori dated Riley before she went into witness protection, but they're thrown back into each other's orbits when he takes on a new job as a surgeon at the hospital.
Riley is keen to get some answers on why Tori disappeared all those years ago and what she's been up to since (where to start?), but even though she's irritated by his attitude, old feelings run strong and they eventually get back together.
As the rekindled romance progresses quickly, Riley even invites Tori to move to the city with him. When she refuses and he realises her feelings for Nate may be the reason why, Riley takes some ruthless revenge by falsely reporting Nate for medical negligence in relation to Billie's death. Could this vendetta destroy Nate's career?
Digital Spy