Neighbours

As Gary begins another life on the run, Naomi dreads coming home to face Sheila after their big fight. However, Naomi’s world is turned upside down when she discovers Sheila collapsed on the floor. Sheila gets whisked away to hospital where Karl confirms she’s suffered a severe heart attack and may not make it through the night. Kyle and Naomi are eventually joined at the hospital by Gary.

Despite a furious Naomi insisting Kyle did the wrong thing by calling the police on Gary, believing they should have handled it as a family and let Gary have an opportunity to come clean, Kyle maintains his position. He believes his father needs to be held accountable for his actions. To Kyle’s surprise, Gary returns to the hospital and even when he discovers the police have been informed.

Back from Queensland, a downcast Daniel tells Imogen he’s still feeling bad about the break-up with Amber but has been helped by the support of his uncle. Imogen reluctantly reveals Paul’s involvement in paying Gary Canning to do his dirty work and Daniel grapples with his uncle’s low behaviour. Later, Josh and Imogen cross with Amber, and Imogen frets over Amber’s coolness.

Matt and Lauren are alarmed when Bailey receives a letter in relation to the Turner Family Trust, the entity which now owns the house. They manage to cover, but later learn that Amber and Mason have also mistakenly been sent letters, too, despite Kathy being listed as the only person to receive correspondence.

Matt tries to convince Lauren of his reasons for wanting to buy the house from the kids. He can’t stand the thought of being a tenant to his own children, believing it’s the parents’ job to provide shelter for the family, not the other way around. But Lauren can’t understand why he’d want to commit to a huge mortgage in order to own the house they’re already living in rent-free.

Georgia is put in an unenviable position when Gary asks her to convince Kyle to visit him before he’s taken to jail. But Kyle is still too angry at his father and refuses. Sheila, however, can’t let Gary go away without seeing him one last time, and she asks for Kyle’s permission to do just that. During her visit, it’s clear that Sheila still holds a lot of pain over Gary’s actions.

After her bag’s snatched, Sonya goes to hospital to be looked over. However, it’s her heart that has suffered the most damage as she reveals Erin’s betrayal – she’s off the wagon and Sonya’s devastated. Later, Erin confesses she was tempted but didn’t go through with it – she’s still sober. She wants to do things differently this time and make amends with her daughter.

Sonya tries to paint a positive picture of Erin’s recovery to Toadie but he’s not buying, especially when Susan arrives to inform them of Erin’s late night visit. Sonya’s apologetic, and assures Susan she’ll talk to Erin about it. Toadie accompanies her and doesn’t beat about the bush, requesting Erin not inconvenience the neighbours. Erin reacts badly, and promptly marches to the hospital.

When Amber expresses interest in attending another of Daniel’s drop-in events, he gets Imogen to help him hastily pull one together for that evening. Lauren witnesses longing looks from both Daniel and Joshua towards Amber and raises the possibility that both of them are hoping for more from her than friendship. Resolved to spend some time getting to know herself, Amber reassures Lauren.

Having heard from Josh that Imogen is secretly in love with him, Daniel asks her if it’s true. But a mortified Imogen denies the charge, reassuring Daniel that Josh said it just to stir the pot. Feeling betrayed and humiliated, Imogen rips into Josh – she can’t believe he’d embarrass her like that. Josh feels terrible, insisting it was just a slip in the heat of the moment.

Sonya has good news: Erin’s daughter Cat wants to set up another meeting. Erin’s nervous, but with Sonya’s support, agrees to do it. When Cat turns up early on her BMX, Toadie’s the first one to encounter her. Immediately feeling an instinctive need to reach out to her, they chat about BMX, finding a tentative bond despite Cat’s determination to keep her distance.

Sonya’s wracked with guilt over the tension between Cat and Erin, but Toadie insists she’s not to blame. When Erin later demands that Toadie give her Cat’s address, he reminds her that direct access to Cat wasn’t part of the deal. Frustrated, Erin lashes out, accusing the Rebecchis of sabotaging her relationship with her daughter. Stressed and anxious, Erin turns up at Karl’s office.

Naomi prepares a press conference to launch the Erinsborough Festival with the help of Kyle, Brennan and Bailey. Meanwhile, Paul is approached by Dennis Dimato, a businessman who has recently inherited some properties in the area. He reveals to Paul that he wants to meet the main business people in Erinsborough and, sensing an opportunity, Paul suggests he will sponsor the festival.

Chris is surprised when Lucy decides not to delay while they wait out the IVF quarantine, and instead try self-insemination. And Lucy’s thrown when she discovers Chris hasn’t told his parents, privately pondering his level of commitment. Chris faces the music and talks to his parents, who give him their blessing, but he still harbours concerns about the rushed timeline.

Josh drops off Imogen’s phone before going to community service, but she guesses it’s just an excuse to see Amber. Paige warns him to respect Amber’s need for time on her own but it’s clear he’s pining. After finding some film during a clean up, Josh gets an idea of how to win her favour and suggests she process the film. Amber is wary of his intentions but accepts the gift.

Erin is nervous about the imminent arrival of Cat, and Sonya is heroic as she reassures her. But Erin has a wobble; the nerves getting too much for her. Sonya finds her at The Waterhole, trying to stave off a craving by playing cards. Erin admits that she’s been feeling the pressure and asks Sonya to take a step back. Sonya thinks they are back on track, and Erin lets her believe that.

Lucy and Chris are both gearing up for their home insemination, but Paul is concerned that they’re not taking their joint venture seriously enough. He can’t believe that Lucy hasn’t organised a written contract between her and Chris, but Lucy argues that she doesn’t see the need. She and Chris are friends, and they trust each other. That’s good enough for her.

After poaching The Waterhole’s hot barman, Lou approaches Sheila to apologise and broker a truce in their ‘café war’. But when he sees she’s upped the ante with a new menu, all thoughts of reconciliation are out the window. Lou ropes Paige in to the hospitality battle, and soon they and Sheila set about doing their best to steal each other’s customers.

Meanwhile at the party, Paige observes the flirtation between Naomi and Brennan and feels compelled to give Naomi a gentle warning about Brennan; that he’s not in the market for a serious relationship. When Naomi challenges Brennan, he confesses, just as Paige had predicted, that he’s not in the right headspace for a relationship. Surprisingly, Naomi seems pleased by this.

Preparing themselves to be in peak physical condition for trying for a baby the following week, Chris and Lucy are stunned when they receive the news they are both carriers for spinal muscle atrophy. Georgia clarifies the risks of passing the condition onto their baby, and the ramifications of having a child with it; how debilitating and potentially fatal it can be.

In the wake of being knocked to the ground when Hermione is stolen, Amber is stunned when Daniel finds her, having sensed her need for help. She believes it’s a sign they belong together and Daniel agrees. Josh meanwhile, is oblivious and has put up a post on the council forum page to solve the mystery of the man in the old photo of the kissing couple.

When Toadie and Sonya reveal to Cat that they are considering letting her move in, Cat tries to shore up the outcome by emphasising how much her foster parents don’t want her. Toadie goes into protective mode, reassuring Cat that they won’t let her come to any harm. But Sonya reaches out to Cat’s foster mother.

Kyle’s worried Sheila’s recovery isn’t going as smoothly as the doctors had hoped. He’s convinced she needs to slow down and when Sheila rejects this, he comes up with a plan to keep an eye on her. But when Kyle starts lurking around the bar, Sheila’s suss, finally forcing him to come clean – he’s worried he’ll lose her. Touched, Sheila concedes – maybe she could do with a bit of help.

Paige is horrified to discover the Erinsborough Festival logo has been doctored by Paul who has covered the naked female form on it. Paul doesn’t see what the big deal is; he can’t have a half-naked woman as part the festival logo. Paige points out that the other part of the logo is a naked male form which he hasn’t deemed necessary to cover at all. Paul says that’s different – he’s a guy.