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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 191139" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 18-24  (...cont'd.)The series has made good use of the POV shot. The most recent was gorgeous Jessie being murdered. Poor cow. The scene of her lying on the ground looking up at Nico with her big brown eyes was rather heartbreaking. This series has certainly picked up Sons and Daughters’ bravery baton when it comes to brutally killing off animals.Nico’s resulting nervous breakdown - he’s now locked in a psychiatric hospital, rocking back and forth and unresponsive to the people around him - has seen Nicholas Papademetriou giving a fine performance.Naturally, the same can’t be said for Helena Bozich. There was an excruciating outburst in which she hurled fruit and cliches at Martin and Lance. But the writing for Lynn is at least bold in its choice of topics. A crisis of faith, for instance:The series’ attitude towards faith makes for an absorbing undercurrent. It’s mixed enough to almost be balanced. Holier than though Celia is an object of derision for both characters and writing. While Lynn is the more straight portrayal of someone with faith. Her abusive background is directly tied into the echo chamber of Catholicism in which she was raised, an unwanted child - one of many siblings - as the result of failed practice of the rhythm method. Her parents' hypocrisy is implicit in the fact that they argued constantly and her father used to physically beat her. It’s a weighty background for a fourteen year old and a great example of this series pulling no punches, despite some of this information being given to the audience piecemeal in a bid to add layers so that the viewing experience can be as simple or as complex as it’s interpreted to be.Reflecting on her own abusive father, Carly comes round to Tom’s job. In typical Carly style, her change of heart is partly motivated by a desire for Matt to like her, since he finds her snobbery a turn off. Nonetheless, her apology is sincere and a nice moment for the character:Meanwhile, Pippa’s pregnancy is turning out to be anything but the miracle it first appeared. It seems it’s not that Tom and Pippa couldn’t have children, but that they couldn’t do so safely:We also learn that Tom has had a vasectomy. So while this is a soapy chance-in-a-million thing, Tom and Pippa’s own incredulity at this happening pre-empts and dispenses with that of the audience before the question has even entered our minds.Now Pippa’s decided to have the baby, without telling Tom there’s a 50% chance of her surviving the birth. She’s only confided in one person. Floss really is Aunt Fiona, but without the infuriating obsessive control issues and creepy handsy stuff.Little details are helping ground this series in character. There was a lovely moment at the beginning of a scene in which Tom and Pippa were seated on the sofa, Tom flicking through a copy of Hollywood Wives and chortling loudly and derisively. There was no further dialogue about it - none was needed -  but it added an authentic, light character moment. Some might even describe it as Knotsy.By this point in the original run, Home And Away was vying with Knots Landing for the series that was closest to my heart. No mean feat, considering Knots was mid-Season Six as these episodes first aired. I'm not saying Knots ever got toppled, and I'm not saying that it didn't. I am saying it’s easy to see why Home And Away quickly became so important to me. There’s something incredibly special about these early days. There's a purity to it. Not an ethereal purity, but rather an undiluted headiness that comes from even breathing it in gently. Despite (or perhaps because of) some of the material being designed to appeal to a juvenile audience, almost every scene means something (excluding most of the tedious Lance and Martin stuff. But even their larking around has given us serious consequences). Every scene is written and played for complete truth. Without even realising it, the series has me invested. Weaker links are negated by the strength of the writing, or elevated by the energy of the series’ stronger performers. When I watch it, something happens. I feel a warmth for the people on screen in a way I rarely do.</blockquote>

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