THIS ARTICLE REFERENCES THE UNMISSABLE DRAMA IN EPISODES SET TO AIR BETWEEN APRIL 15-18 2024

All images courtesy of Amazon Studios

There’s been a lot going on in Erinsborough over the last few weeks and next week we see the drama amp up in two of the big storylines, a potential embarassing situation for a Ramsay Street icon and challenging times for some of the younger residents.

CHELSEA PANICS AS SHE BECOMES SIDELINED

We don’t need to discuss everything that Chelsea has done over the last few weeks, but, needless to say, she isn’t done yet. As Paul starts to rebuild his support network, Chelsea feels pushed out. Leo and Abigail have moved back into the penthouse and Paul asks Chelsea to move into a hotel suite to give him space with his son and granddaughter.

To make issues worse for Chelsea, IT guru Jeffrey returns. It turns out that he saw her indecent proposal deal as something more than it was and wants more out of Chelsea. Scared that if she refuses Jeffrey will spill all to Paul and Krista, revealing her role in the sauna incident, she strings him along, but how long can she keep goi9ng for before the truth finally comes out?

Krista begins to demand answers on what happened on that fateful day. Knowing that she is at risk of being exposed, Chelsea takes drastic action.

TERESE FACES HER REALITY

Returning to Erinsborough, Terese throws herself back into work. The opening if Eirini Rising is imminent and she has a lot to catch up on. In an attempt to get ahead of any bad publicity from the accident caused by Felix and JJ, she starts an advertising campaign for the development starring Karl. She is also on the hunt for an Operations Manager. When she almost hires the wrong person, Paul steps in to offer his help and advice. As Jane sees the former couple bonding and working closely together, she can’t help but question if Terese being so close to Paul again is a good idea.

Everywhere Terese goes she seems to bump into Melanie and it becomes annoying that the two dance around each other trying their hardest to not be in the same place at the same time. Melanie confronts Terese and offers an apology. At first, Terese shuts Melanie down, but on reflection realises that they are going to have to learn to exist in the same universe and the pair both feel sad that everyone’s life is worse off because of what has happened.

KARL GETS INTO A TIGHT SITUATION

Receiving a phone call from Susan that she has decided to stay in Sydney a little longer, Karl admits that he is fearful that she doesn’t want to come home.

He busies himself preparing for his photoshoot for the Eirini Rising advertising blitz, continuing his healthy eating plan and exercise regime. When the day of the shoot comes, still concerned about his appearance, Karl decided to don some “shapewear” under his clothes. Karl struggles with how constricting the undergarments are though and his photoshoot results in a lot of images where Karl is wincing in pain from his tight underwear!

One side effect of Karl’s new diet is the effect on his digestive system and once again, Karl struggles to get through one of his bike rides with Melanie.

When Melanie hears from Wendy that the local police are searching for a “Phantom Pooper”, she looks at where incidents have been reported and puts two and two together and wonders if Karl could be the culprit the police are searching for. Surely not?

THE VARGA-MURPHYS BATTLE FOR JJ

Andrew reveals that, thanks to Felix’s statement, JJ is only up on some minor charges for his involvement in the Eirini Rising robbery, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he is in trouble with the school and education board.

Cara and Remi begin a charm offensive with Jane, trying to convince her that JJ needs to stay on at Erinsborough High. Whilst Jane eventually agrees to support JJ, the final decision is with the education board. At the meeting to decide JJ’s fate, the teenager fails to show up, devastated by the fact that Felix still refuses to see him.

In an attempt to resolve his feelings, JJ arranges to meet up with Jools, the only person still talking to Felix. Rather than helping JJ, she reveals that the only reason that Felix did the robbery was to get enough money to get as far away from JJ as possible.

A devastated JJ confides in Andrew how much he wants to connect with his biological father, but Andrew asks who JJ wants to be as a person and if connecting with Felix will help him become that person.

SYRON PASS THE NICOLETTE TEST

Back on track after a bump or two in the road, Sadie and Byron are sickeningly in love. A cynical Nicolette, watching the lovebirds, comes up with the idea to invite the pair to a family lunch with her and Aaron. Whilst Nicolette has fun asking probing and personal questions, Sadie is desperate to get Nic’s seal of approval.

Sadie turns the tables during the intense questioning and asks Nicolette about her own love life and if she has been involved with anyone since Kiri. Nic is taking aback by the reality check and realises that Byron has a good thing going on with Sadie and tells Byron not to mess things up the way that she did with Kiri.

Syron take that as the Nicolette seal of approval and are thrilled to have passed the test!

MACKENZIE SEARCHES FOR ANSWERS AS HAZ GETS DEEPER INVOLVED IN THE HACKING

Viewers have been on a rollercoaster of a ride with Haz. When we first met him, we loved this easy-going coffee lover and his cute dog. Then he turned out to be a bit selfish when it came to his relationships with women. Then he got a little weird. Then the hacking happened. We suspected him. Then we found out it wasn’t him and so felt sorry for him. THEN we found out about his horrific past as a hacker and we all turned back to disliking him.

We suspect that the story isn’t as clear cut as it seems though, we know that Haz isn’t the most open and honest person, especially when it comes to talking about his past.

Mackenzie is desperate to help Haz track down who is responsible for the recent hackings and deep fakes, but Haz is reluctant to let her get involved. Mackenzie decides to play sleuth and with the bits of information that Haz has revealed about his former life, manages to track down Haz’s victim, Zach Wade.

She arranges to meet Zach but discovers more than she bargained for when Zach reveals all what happened to him including that Haz and his pals created a compromising deep fake video of Zach’s wife which resulted in a spiral in their marriage and life.

Zach is rebuilding his life now but Mackenzie is shocked by the cruelty of Haz’s actions. She tells Haz that she doesn’t know if she can still be with him knowing what he is capable of.

Desperate to show Mack that he is a good person, Haz tracks down one of his former associates, ‘Pr0xxy’. Together they try and work out who is responsible for the latest attacks. ‘Pr0xxy’ can tell that the deep fakes are the work of an amateur, not a professional, so he instantly discounts any of the people that they used to work with. If it isn’t the former friends that Haz turned his back on, who IS responsible?

Holly sees that Mack is upset and that there is something serious happening so tries to find out what is wrong. Mackenzie refuses to reveal the truth just yet, she still has work to do. Adamant that she needs to work out what is going on, she arranges another meeting with Zach.

How much longer can Chelsea’s secrets go undiscovered? Will seemingly meek and mild Jeffrey be her downfall? Is Karl really Erinsborough’s phantom defecator? What is the truth behind the hacking saga?

All of this drama will be revealed in new episodes of Neighbours streaming on Amazon Freevee and Amazon Prime Video, with episodes dropping at 7am Monday-Thursday.

You can check out a full summary of this week and next week, complete with image gallery, by clicking here.

By Matt Sole

Matt was a Neighbours fan through the late 1980s and 1990s. After a number of years living overseas he returned to the UK and fell in love with Ramsay Street again in 2017. Away from Neighbours, Matt spent many years working as an Entertainment Director for a major Cruise Line. He is also an avid quizzer and has appeared on many TV game shows including Bridge of Lies, competing with other members of the ramsaystreet.co.uk team.