"Neighbours" Episode #1.5635 (2009)

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Writer:

Pete McTighe (writer)

TV Series:

"Neighbours" (1985)

Original Air Date:

27 February 2009 (Season 1, Episode 5635)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Friendship | Father Son Relationship | Family Relationships | Friend | One Word Title

Cast

Nikki Coghill	...	Miranda Parker
Steve Bastoni	...	Steve Parker
Eloise Mignon	...	Bridget Parker
Tom Oliver	...	Lou Carpenter
Jane Hall	...	Rebecca Napier
James Sorensen	...	Declan Napier
Stefan Dennis	...	Paul Robinson
Pippa Black	...	Elle Robinson
Margot Robbie	...	Donna Freedman
Jackie Woodburne	...	Susan Kennedy
Caitlin Stasey	...	Rachel Kinski (credit only)
Sam Clark	...	Ringo Brown
Kym Valentine	...	Libby Kennedy
Carla Bonner	...	Stephanie Hoyland
Brett Tucker	...	Daniel Fitzgerald

Series Cast

These people are regular cast members. Were they in this episode?

Ricky Regan Matthew	...	Nicky Thompson
Lynda Keane	...	Meryl Tanner
María Mercedes	...	Lucia Cammeniti
Matilda White	...	Sgt. Joanne Douglas

"Nothing lasts forever, my friend"

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This should be an emotional tour de force, a rousing final farewell to a character who has been a mainstay in the show for a long time.But it isn't.Mainly because we're left thinking that we've been here before, about six months.It's hard to get worked up about the "permanent" departure of a character who's come back from the dead.And it's just so forced.Harold's sudden friendships with Susan and Toadie, neither of whom he's seemed especially close to, seem like a desperate attempt to convince the viewer that the show will carry on without him by having him pass the torch to the only characters the producers are certain will be there next year.Aside from Karl, whose absence is just ridiculous.The scenes with the photo album and the poorly chosen flashbacks just come across as mawkish.Fortunately someone seems to realise this and gives Harold a fitting send off by giving him a reunion with Lou that is completely free of artificial sentiment and completely true to the characters.It's their bickering and affection for which Harold will be remembered, not meaningless rhetoric.

That should have been the last scene of the episode but instead we get more of the Parker drama.Bridget's hatred of Joanna when she's seemingly agreeing with everything she said is a bit odd.Declan's reaction is kind of understandable even if it's still hard to picture him as a father.Miranda comes across as unhinged which might be the intention.Let's see if they take it anywhere interesting.

Paul and Cassandra's plot line is just two horrible people being horrible to each other and it's hard to care, although worth it for the banter between Elle and Donna.Complaints about the show's casting policies probably explain the sudden influx of ethnic extras in the general store, which seems a bit too much like tokenism.