Irene ponders how her life has turned out in Home and Away

This week in Summer Bay…

MONDAY

Bree has caught wind of Mercedes’ kiss with Remi and the wheels are in motion towards a showdown. Why would Mercedes make a move on Remi when those feelings are clearly not returned? Bree is fired up, but Mercedes is not about to back down or break down. She’s glad Bree found out about the kiss. Sooner or later, Remi’s going to wake up and realise that he has nothing in common with Bree.

Remi’s album mixing is interrupted by Eden, who drops the bomb that Bree is confronting Mercedes despite telling Remi she’s at work. And true to Bree’s conviction, Remi heads straight to be by her side. An act immediately proves Mercedes wrong, and she is not sticking around. Bree has proudly set the record straight.

Rose and Mali process the trashing of his place while Rose calls it in. The graffiti on the table ‘stay away from my wife’ is unmistakable. It’s targeted vandalism towards someone, but Mali maintains he has absolutely no clue who could have caused this, or why. A uniformed Rose has to do her duty and officially question Mali about it, much to his distaste. Could Rose really think he would be with someone else? Xander offers a new lead, and sure enough, there is a big misunderstanding and Rose gets her man. All the riddles are solved but one: What was Rose’s purpose behind setting up the big romantic gesture in the first place? Only Rose can answer that, in three small words.

TUESDAY

Bree fails to convince Mercedes to attend the final recording session. Remi’s grateful for her efforts but determined to get it done anyway. Lyrik was a fully-fledged band before Mercedes came along. They can manage without her. But to their surprise, Mercedes turns up on the doorstep with a changed tune and agrees that the album needs her magic touch. A triumphant Remi returns afterwards with a complete set of recordings. And to top it off, he’s coming home to Bree. He’s the luckiest man in the world.

Tane and Felicity are in deep discussions about how to deal with her blackmailer. She’s left with this horrible feeling. Tane is reassuring, but Felicity gets a new message demanding a bigger ransom; ten thousand dollars.

Cash is following a lead on the case of Felicity’s assaulter and asks Felicity and Tane to come down to the station. He can show her a photo of this suspect if she’s ready to look at it. This triggers Felicity to realise she still has no recollection. Even if this was the man, she can’t remember him. Back in her own home she’s in a constant state of fear, and it’s hard to feel safe. When Cash reveals this suspect isn’t the right guy, Felicity is overwhelmed. Back to scrambling to put together the cash.

Xander feels responsible for Mali’s place being trashed and wants to make it up him. But after much pestering, he eventually backs down. To both the surprise of Rose and Mali, they arrive home to a romantic dinner for two, roses and all. It seems Xander might have figured out a way to help them out after all, and love is in the air, but who is going to say it first?

WEDNESDAY

Felicity and Tane are running out of time and ideas to come up with the ten thousand dollars for the blackmailer. Things are dire, but they have no choice. Checking their respective workplaces for some creative accounting opportunities is proving difficult. Even if they managed to pull some cash together this way, it’s not going to be enough. Felicity’s mind is left racing just looking at the cash in the open till.

While Theo surfs, Remi races Mercedes’ motorcycle through the wilderness. They both catch up with Justin the manager, who is back in action and down to business. Remi’s mixing the album, but then what? They need a launch!

Home and Away episode 8077; Felicity’s world is rocked when Cash reveals his suspect wasn’t the right guy. Tane tells Felicity he doesn’t think they should pay the blackmailer.

Tane thinks it’s time to tell the police, but Felicity won’t hear it. They take a breath and formulate a new compromise. They agree not to involve the police, but they also won’t pay up. They are going to hope it’s all a big bluff. It’s agreed, whatever happens from now they will deal with it together. But behind Tane’s back, Felicity is making plans to take out a loan.

John and Marilyn return aglow from Jet’s wedding. John is especially relieved to be returning to his own bed but is filled with guilt when Irene confides her place has been so quiet without him around.

THURSDAY

Felicity is concealing efforts to get a loan approved and pay her blackmailer. When Eden shares the mix of the album with her, Felicity is struck with an idea. She goes to Cash and asks him for the money to pay her blackmailer, under the guise that she’s supporting a Lyrik album launch. Sceptical, Cash turns to Eden for the truth and learns Lyrik are not even having the launch at Salt. Felicity has been caught out in her lie, and she explains she’s been reckless with her own money and now needs ten grand to cover herself. Supportive, Cash lends the money. But he divulges to Eden his suspicions that this is yet another lie.

Band manager Justin catches up with Kirby to take back the reins, and the work she’s done is impressive. Although, there’s a small concern that Kirby has assigned Theo the brunt of the publicity as punishment, being her ex-boyfriend. But Kirby vehemently disagrees. It’s Theo’s job as front man and if he doesn’t like that…tough.

John still hasn’t told Irene he’s moving out. Even with Marilyn’s gentle pressure, it’s hard to say no to a roast pork dinner. Marilyn argues that after recent events, it’s clear Irene prefers when you’re honest and direct with her. John agrees and gathers momentum to announce he’s moving out. Irene appreciates the honesty but will miss having him around. Probably more than she’s letting on.

FRIDAY

Justin has made headway in booking a venue for Lyrik’s album launch, aided by the well-connected Mackenzie. But when Theo catches on that things have been unravelling with Kirby, and now Leah is involved, he is worried it’s about to get worse.

Kirby makes it clear for Theo and Justin that they will only have purely professional relationships from now on. She takes a moment by the ocean to process and Mackenzie catches up to her. Kirby opens up about her troubled history with surfing, and the brush with fate that left a lasting inability to go out in the swell. Together, they get her a board and a wetsuit. Kirby’s going to paddle out and face this fear while Mackenzie will be there watching the whole time. Kirby works hard, resilient against the waves while Mackenzie cheers from the sidelines. Kirby emerges from the surf with a new sense of courage. Theo catches the end of her ride, astonished. Why would she have kept such a big secret from him all this time?

Irene is distracted at work. The sudden resignation of Kirby caught her off guard, but Marilyn knows John’s moving out is really what’s steering her train of thought. A walk along the beach gives Irene a chance to share her thoughts. For someone who thrives on the company of others, she spends a lot of time on her own. She does have so many friends who love and care for her, and she doesn’t want to complain, but Irene never really saw her life turning out like this.

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.