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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 195336" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 123-132Alan’s fragile medical condition is already proving a goldmine for the series, because it’s all about secrecy and trying to manage who knows what. People are trusted with confidential information which, for one reason or another, doesn’t stay confidential. Information is learnt accidentally and this leads to more deception when people have to pretend they don’t know.There has been a great series of soapy communications and miscommunications which might not have happened were we living in the age of the internet.First we had Donald learning about Alan’s medical condition from Barbara after she’d blurted it out to him in the heat of the moment:Donald is then sworn to secrecy, but gives himself away by walking away from an argument with Alan mid-sentence. The penny drops for Alan who barges furiously into an apparently empty classroom to confront Barbara, unaware that as he speaks in raised voice about his aneurism Tom is kneeling behind a chair just yards away (he was cleaning up gum in his new position as school caretaker).It was a great moment because of the way it was set up. We’d seen Tom clamber down to clean the gum and knew he was there as Alan spoke. So as a viewer I got to experience the same horror and powerlessness as Barbara, who also knew Tom was within earshot. It also led to a nice little exchange between Tom and Barbara after he’d clearly heard something he shouldn’t in which he assured her it would go no further.So far, so 2019, but in a pre-Google world, Tom then needs to ask former nurse Pippa if she’s heard of an aneurism because Alan Fisher’s got one. The latter part of their conversation is in turn overheard by Carly who - in her new hyper-selfish mode - sees an opportunity to use it for her own ends.Carly’s TV bit has been a pleasant surprise. I was expecting tedium (of which there is a dose or two), but her newfound ego and subsequent relapse into self-centredness has created some very welcome waves in Summer Bay House, leading to stand up arguments with her foster parents. First Pippa and Carly discussed her lack of responsibility around money, and Carly was given short shrift verbally. Then - after discovering Carly had told Celia about Alan’s aneurism for the sole purpose of stopping Celia chaperoning her upcoming modelling gig - Tom understandably blew his stack, pushed her to the bed and threatened to wallop her: something Carly has since used against him, resulting in Tom ordering Carly gone (there’s also been some fun evil twin stuff with Samantha - at her father’s behest - trying to alienate Carly further by pretending to be her sister and rubbishing the Fletchers to Miss Molloy. All of which led Carly to push a cake in her sister’s face).Celia learning about the aneurism from Carly caused yet more problems for Tom, when Barbara assumed he had told her deliberately. Meanwhile, thinking Celia must have found out about his aneurism from Donald, Alan has now punched his father. So it’s fair to say things are kicking off.And in among this there have been two losses to the Fletcher family. Frank has moved into the flat behind Ailsa’s store where he shares with Narelle. And, more significantly, Lynn has been reunited with her parents. Lynn’s been mostly under the radar of late (deliberately, I assume), but she was at the centre of things for an episode or two before departing and was perfectly serviceable. Perhaps the tears were for real. Wisely, the responses of other characters to the impending loss served the story as much as Lynn’s tears. In particular there was a beautiful scene between Lynn and her foster mum:The first departure of a series regular - a main character featured in the opening titles - is a notable event for the series. It hasn’t impacted on things a great deal because Lynn has never felt like a major player. Which is part of the character’s appeal. She’s simply been the girl next door. As things get ever soapier, it’s perhaps simply time for her to move on. Like her family, I acknowledge it but there’s too much happening around it for it to alter my viewing experience to any degree.New phrase for my surfie glossary: Tea Bags, according to Alan are “Hacks who just sit out the back of the waves and jiggle around.” I'm glad he eventually told us after teasing Bobby to watch out for teabags, because Urban Dictionary has quite a different definition of the word.</blockquote>

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