Xander feels the pressure from Rose in Home and Away

This week in Summer Bay…

MONDAY

Eden and Cash support Felicity before her Restorative Justice meeting. Eden can’t quite believe it’s going ahead and is quick to assure Felicity that “it’s not too late to change your mind”. But Felicity knows she has to do this. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” she tells her loved ones, knowing they’ll be with her every step. While the trio head to the police station, Tane arrives home to an empty house. Where is everyone?

At the police station, the meeting commences, with Eden close by her friend’s side. Felicity is terrified as she comes face to face with her attacker, but she’s clear on what she wants – to leave this room today with nothing left to say. It isn’t long before the meeting devolves into chaos, with Jeremy dodging Felicity’s direct questions, and Felicity quickly losing her temper. She storms out of the room and considers abandoning the process altogether, but after some encouragement from Eden decides to continue alone. Even if her attacker is there for the wrong reasons, he needs to hear what she has to say.

Meanwhile, having heard from Remi that Felicity is at the police station, Tane wastes no time by storming in, and it’s left for Eden to talk him down. She had the same reservations as him, but she now knows that Felicity needs this to move forward, and he needs to let her. In the meeting room, Felicity grills her assailant: “Why me?”. Jeremy tries to explain himself, but Felicity has reached the conclusion she needs to. “You’re pathetic,” she tells him. “And you’ll never hurt anyone again”. Jeremy is humiliated, and Felicity finally feels a sense of closure. In fact, she’s ecstatic as she debriefs Tane at home, but Tane has reservations and is clearly hurt. Why didn’t she tell him about any of this?

TUESDAY

Tane is blindsided by Felicity’s decision to exclude him from the Restorative Justice process, and he voices his hurt that she did it while he was away. “Maybe this isn’t about you,” she finally snaps at her husband. Felicity confides in Eden – she had always planned to tell Tane about meeting Jeremy, but she never got around to it. Eden is sympathetic, and she counsels Tane. “She was so brave,” she tells him of his wife’s ordeal. Later, Felicity tries to explain her position to Tane – she had a huge decision to make, and she knew he’d try to talk her out of it. The next morning, Tane repairs things with Felicity, but with a caveat – from now on, they’re a team in this marriage.

A pensive Eden watches on as Remi performs Secrets, busking to a growing crowd who are loving the music. Unfortunately for Remi, Forrest Duke happens to be in that audience, and has recorded Remi breaching Kirby’s copyright. “Pull this stunt again, and I’ll be seeing you in court,” he tells Remi. And it’s clearly not an empty threat. At home, Bree buoys Remi – it was so great seeing him play again. But Remi still has doubts – is his music career over? Remi and Eden are broken when they read the news on their socials that Kirby’s solo career has been announced. She’s really left Lyrik, and the reality hits home for her former bandmates.

As Kirby celebrates with Forrest later, her mind is with Lyrik, and she’s crushed when Remi and Eden ignore her at Salt. Only Bree offers her congratulations and urges Kirby not to give up on the friendship. It’s clear to her they’re all missing each other, so maybe it’s not too late to fix things. When Kirby extends an olive branch the next morning, though, Eden and Remi are hostile as they deliver a bombshell: Lyrik are no longer allowed to play their own songs. Kirby is flummoxed – she had no idea. Hurt and finally understanding her friends’ coldness, Kirby confronts Forrest. “You had no right” she tells her new manager. Is she burning her solo career before it gets off the ground?

WEDNESDAY

Xander presses Mali – why did he and Rose argue last night? Was it about her father? Mali confirms it was, and issues Xander with a warning that Rose is struggling. Mali encourages his friend to talk to his sister. Meanwhile, Samuel fills Rose in on her family history and the two are getting along well enough to decide to grab lunch. But when she walks into Salt with Mali and Samuel, Rose is hurt when Xander blanks her.

Rose and Xander confide in Mali and Mackenzie respectively about their sibling tension, and Rose realises she needs to decide what she wants from Samuel. When Samuel hints at further contact, Rose withdraws – she had a father and she’s not looking for a replacement. She’s sorry, she can’t have a relationship with him. Xander doesn’t understand – why would she have invited Samuel into her life only to dismiss him? What was it all for?!

Alf invites Marilyn to join him in visiting Roo, but Maz is still covering Irene’s shifts at the Diner and can only send her love. Later, she worries to Leah about both Roo and Mr Stewart and before long, Leah has an idea to help out – a day pass. They’ll need to check with the care team, but what they want is to take Roo out for the day for a picnic. Later, Marilyn seems to be having second thoughts on the whole idea, and she confides in Leah that she still feels responsible for Roo’s injuries. Leah reassures her friend – Roo hasn’t said anything negative about Marilyn, so what does that tell her? Alf soon interrupts with news on Roo – she won’t be needing a day pass after all because they’re moving her back to the Bay!

THURSDAY

Forrest defends his actions to Kirby – his job is to work in her best interest. He will do what’s necessary to protect her and her career, but she has to manage her friendships. But his reasoning falls on deaf ears when a hurt Kirby storms out of their meeting. Forrest approaches her later to apologise – he should have told her about the copyright permissions and asks that they move forward. Kirby chats with Justin about her concerns – can she really trust Forrest after this? Justin is supportive and encourages her to set some ground rules going forward, and once the dust settles with Remi and Eden, he knows they’ll support her too.

Cash updates Harper on her sister’s case – now that Madden has warned him to back off, he’ll have to tread more carefully, but he’s optimistic about making progress. When Cash quizzes Dana about her timeline on the day the drugs were stolen, she mentions she had lunch with Harper that day, something that never made it into her statement even though she’s certain she told Madden. Cash has a thought – the restaurant might have CCTV footage that could exonerate Dana. Madden meanwhile has called Harper in for questioning, and with Cash by her side she’s grilled about her sister’s whereabouts. As the pair leave the interview, Madden issues them with a threat – he knows they’re both lying, and things are about to get very messy for both. Later, Cash heads to the restaurant to retrieve the CCTV footage and, reeling from reading the lies in Olly’s statement, Dana can’t resist calling him and teasing the evidence in her favour: “You’re not going to win this.”

Alf asks Bree for help with the staff at City Hospital – Roo has asked to move home, but they’re resistant, and Alf can’t think why. Bree promises Alf she’ll look into it. When she does catch up with him, she’s reassured – Roo is meeting all her recovery targets. Alf is relieved but still wants his daughter home, and Bree urges him to be patient for Roo.

FRIDAY

Dana is primed to celebrate as she and Harper wait for Cash to return with the CCTV that can prove Dana’s innocence. But Cash has bad news for Harper when he sees her – when he went to collect the CCTV footage from the restaurant, it had already been collected. Madden or someone working with him must have intercepted the footage. When they break the news to Dana, she’s devastated, and forced to admit that she inadvertently gave Olly the heads-up. Cash is more hopeful though – this proves that Olly and Madden are connected! But they’ll need to be more careful than ever, and that means continuing to hide Dana at Irene’s, for now…

Xander feels the pressure from Rose – he doesn’t like lying to their mother, even by omission, and she’s been calling a lot. Regardless, he promises Rose he won’t say anything about her biological father… yet. While Rose vents to Mali about the developing situation, Xander finds himself face to face with a visiting Samuel. When Rose gets home, she’s frank with Samuel – she would have preferred a heads up. Nevertheless, she invites her father to stay for coffee, and they spend the afternoon together. When Samuel hints that he might stay in the Bay overnight though, it’s too much, too quickly for Rose, and she lashes out at Mali. When Samuel stops by the next morning, though, Rose is open-hearted, and after he gifts her with a bracelet her grandmother had made, she invites him to stay.

Now that his team bonding event has been approved, John frets that it won’t live up to expectations, and ropes a reluctant Mackenzie in to contribute. Mac is full of suggestions, but John is hard to please, shooting down suggestions of an escape room or especially a Lyrik gig. When he sees Xander mixing a drink for himself, though, he’s struck by inspiration – a cocktail class for the surf club members right there at Salt! He’s certain Alf will approve.

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.