Cash hides his pain in a shower in Home and Away

This week in Summer Bay…

MONDAY

Rose is intimidated by the prospect of meeting Mali’s mum at such short notice – no notice, as she reminds Mali. “She’s going to love you”, promises Mali. When Rose does meet Vicky – or “Victoria”, as she corrects Mali – there’s immediate tension. But as Elandra quickly points out to Mali, their mum is happy to meet Rose, but she’s not at all happy with Mali for keeping her a secret. Vicky warms to Rose quickly, but when she asks what she does for a living and discovers that Rose is a cop, both she and Elandra head for the car. When Mali tries to stop them, Vicky’s disapproval is clear – “Your father would be so ashamed of you”.

Eden finds Cash drinking in uniform at Salt and manages to coax him home, where Cash hides his pain in a long shower. Loyal Eden encourages him to open up, but Cash isn’t ready – “I’ll talk to you in the morning”. When she wakes to an empty house, and Cash’s uniform left behind, Eden’s worry is palpable. She catches up with Cash on the beach and he spills all on Felicity’s blackmail ordeal. Soon Eden gets to the crux of the issue – Cash is a cop, so why didn’t his sister trust him? Later, Eden and Cash make plans to go away together. With her support, he may just get through this.

John is still concerned for Alf and voices his opinion to Marilyn – doesn’t she think something’s been off? Marilyn tests John’s theory at home by testing Alf’s hearing. She’s convinced he’s fine, but John counters that people with hearing loss read facial expressions to make up for what they can’t hear. Marilyn’s sure he’s wrong, but John is steadfast, and when Marilyn tests Alf by obscuring her face while talking to him, it seems John’s right. Will Marilyn be able to convince Alf to get help with his hearing?

TUESDAY

Elandra tries to broker peace between Mali and his mum, with Vicky enraged by the news that Rose is a cop. Elandra opens up to Rose – she and Mali have a brother who’s been unfairly targeted by police, thus their family’s distrust of cops. Vicky lays it out for Mali – yes, she’d be happier if Rose had a different job, but it’s the lying by omission that has cut her deep. What has happened to her son? Mali opens up to his mother, he’s in love with Rose. He hopes that she can accept her, and Vicky ends up offering an olive branch to her son’s girlfriend.

Justin tries to reassure Theo after his stumble at the album launch Q&A, but Theo wallows in his humiliation. Justin even finds him rehearsing public speaking at home. When they brainstorm solutions later, Justin’s focus is split, and Theo rails at him for not treating him as a priority. Tensions continue to spike between the two later when Theo snaps at Justin for continually bringing up Lyrik at home. When Theo checks his email, the unthinkable has happened – he’s been made into a meme! Theo is devastated. Can he ever live this down now?

Alf continues to avoid the topic of his hearing loss but it’s obvious to his friends that he’s struggling. Marilyn can’t hold her tongue anymore and confronts her friend – he needs to address this. Alf doesn’t take to the intervention kindly, and the next morning Marilyn frets to Justin that she believes Alf has scarpered to the city alone. Justin thinks it’s premature when Marilyn suggests calling Martha, but when Marilyn queries what can they do, Justin comes up blank. Will Alf be ok?

WEDNESDAY

Marilyn is concerned that she still can’t get a hold of Alf, and neither can Justin when she enlists his help. Marilyn confides in John – “Mr Stewart’s gone missing, and it’s all my fault”. When John searches for Alf at the Diner later, Irene has a plan to flush him out. She’ll tell him there’s an issue at the Bait Shop. Soon Irene has news for John and Marilyn – Alf has gone to the city to be with Roo. They’re relieved he’s ok, but Marilyn still frets over being given the cold shoulder.

Theo is still reeling from his debut as a meme, and it doesn’t cheer him up when Justin finds it funny. On that front, Justin has big news – he’s locked in Drive Time with Felix J for Lyrik. Theo offers to put his hurt aside to do the interview, but Justin quickly corrects him – “Kirby’s got it covered”. Sulking later and lashing out, Theo accuses Kirby of deliberately undermining him at the launch so that she can be the face of Lyrik.

When he tunes into the interview later, Kirby is being grilled over rumours of bad blood within the band. “We trust each other, and we have each other’s backs” muses Kirby, and Theo feels small for turning on her earlier. Kirby meanwhile vents to Mac and Xander about Theo’s treatment of her before taking a mysterious phone call. She later tells Mac; a huge talent rep has gotten in touch and wants to meet. But he’s not interested in meeting Lyrik, just Kirby. Is she about to go out on her own?

Home and Away, episode 8089. Eden unloads to Bree and Remi about her growing concern for Cash and how he’s not coping.

THURSDAY

Kirby is meeting with renowned solo artist manager Forrest Duke, and he makes it clear from the outset that he’s interested in signing her. He’s transparent though – if she signs with him, she’ll have to leave Lyrik. It’s clear that she’s tempted, but it’s a huge decision for her. After sleeping on it, she puts a call in to Forrest. She wants to know what this solo career might look like…

Remi is stoked when Bree surprises him with a vinyl copy she had made of Lyrik’s new album, and he invites the band over to listen over pizzas and beers. Remi and Bree are on a high, but Eden continues to worry about Cash – their time away doesn’t seem to have helped him. She comforts him when she finds him up in the middle of the night – “You can’t save everyone all the time”. Can she get through to him in his darkest hour?

Felicity seems to be doing slightly better, with Tane pointing out that it feels like they’re getting back to a normal version of them, as they’re loved up on the beach. She’s somewhat put out then when Cash ambushes her the next day with a half-cooked plan to prevent further sexual assaults. It’s clear that Cash’s grief and guilt are pushing him into further action, but Felicity is blindsided by his manic approach. Everyone is concerned for Cash right now.

FRIDAY

While Eden and Felicity search for him, Bree catches up to a manic Cash – she’s worried about him. Cash tries to put her off about how troubled he is – he was kept up by someone playing music last night – but Bree can tell her friend is struggling. She urges him, he can’t help others with nothing in his own tank. He needs to find a way to reconcile the bridge between being a cop and a brother.

Later, Cash catches up with Flick and Tane and apologises for his gung-ho approach. He’s going to look after himself from now on, before trying to fix everyone else. He apologises to Eden as well – he just wants to get back to being a good boyfriend. When Felicity catches up to him later, she resolves they should sort things out together. She wants to clear the air with her brother, and they do. Felicity is surrounded by her loved ones when she receives the good news from the DPP that Jeremy has plead guilty. She won’t need to appear in court.

Remi and Justin bond over listening to Lyrik’s album on vinyl and the interview requests keep rolling in for Lyrik, but there’s no sign of Kirby. Irene tips him off that she had something on her mind the last few times she’s seen her. Later, Justin summons Remi for an urgent band issue and drops a bombshell – Kirby’s been meeting with Forrest Duke, and he only represents solo artists! Justin is the latest resident of the Bay to cop a spray from Alf when enquiring about his hearing. But Justin is persistent – he keeps at Alf to open up to him, and Alf finally relents. He jumps the gun and wants to resign from the club, but Justin urges him to get a medical opinion first. Chucking everything in isn’t an option, and Alf is finally compelled to ask Bree for help.

Home and Away airs 1:45pm on Channel 5 and 6pm on 5STAR. First-look screenings air at 6:30pm on 5STAR and the series also streams on My5.