Jack Ori
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Jane Harris’ stubbornness is a double-edged sword.
Her strong stand against a student’s homophobic comments is one that many American television characters — and real-life school administrators — could learn from. But her attitude toward Terese is ridiculous.
On Neighbours during the week of 10-09-23, Jane’s fight to keep the school open put her in a precarious position. Will she give in to blackmail?
Jane’s behavior was more annoying than admirable for the first half of the week.
Understandably, she felt Terese betrayed her by putting a bid on the school property. But Jane acted as if Terese advocated for the school to be shut down rather than focusing on finding an appropriate solution.
As Terese pointed out, other developers were also bidding on the property, so it’s not like her withdrawing her application would save the school. The issue seems to be population-based; if the school doesn’t have sufficient enrollees, the city will close it and send kids to a school in a neighboring town.
That’s not Terese’s fault. So instead of creating unnecessary drama over Terese’s supposed role in this, Jane should focus her energy on enrolling students and rallying parents to put pressure on whatever officials are in charge of this decision.
That’s something that Terese might be willing to help her do!
But Jane may have seen the light by the end of the week. Wendy’s poor behavior toward Cara in the name of protecting her turf might have given Jane pause. Jane didn’t appreciate that nonsense, especially since Wendy interrupted her attempt to fix the school situation.
Jane’s attitude toward Noah’s homophobic-based bullying of Dex was right; let’s hope it lasts.
Pete: I want to apologise for my son’s behaviour. We will be having words at home.
Jane: I appreciate that, Mr. Dawes. I’m glad we’re on the same page about this. Noah will be given a three-day suspension.
Pete: Don’t you think that’s a bit severe?
Jane: It’s the standard protocol. I want to send a strong message. Bigotry has no place in our school.
When Susan was principal, Erinsborough High became a place where all students felt safe being themselves. Susan supported Mackenzie as the school’s first transgender student. Jane is continuing that tradition by not allowing students to bully Dex because he has two mothers.
This is the kind of social issue storyline that soaps should pursue. While soap operas have long been an escape from daily life, they also can influence public opinion, and societies worldwide need to understand that this type of bullying is not okay.
It also happened that these scenes aired on the anniversary of Matthew Shepherd’s death, making them even more poignant.
Hopefully, Jane will continue to stand firm despite the circumstances. Pete’s father has rallied six other families to threaten to withdraw from school if Noah isn’t reinstated immediately, which makes it more likely that the school will close, but even so, Jane can’t give in.
If she does, it not only suggests that she doesn’t mean what she says but also gives any parent who doesn’t like her policy outsized power. All parents have to do is threaten to withdraw their children from school, and they can make Jane do whatever they want.
That’s not a sustainable position for a principal. Jane will have to let Pete throw his tantrum even if it means the school closes. Besides, how many of these parents will back off of withdrawing their kids when Jane doesn’t give in?
Meanwhile, Wendy’s playing with fire to get rid of Cara.
She isn’t accomplishing anything except making herself into an extremely unlikeable character. She’s investigating Cara’s private life, stirring up trouble with people who want to do violence, and trying to get her in trouble at work, all because she thinks Cara stole her job.
Rivalries might be a soap opera trope, but this one is ridiculous.
No one owes Wendy that job. Paul and Reece made the decision they felt was suitable for Lassiters, full stop, and Wendy’s petty behavior since isn’t convincing anyone otherwise.
Did Wendy sabotage that fan so that it would fall while no one was in the area? Given her recent behavior, that seems likely. As for Cara being “AWOL,” she was at the school dealing with someone bullying her son, and she likely had Paul’s permission to leave.
This situation will get worse quickly, and things will likely spiral out of control, all because Wendy decided to declare war. I hope she gets her comeuppance soon.
It’s too bad Paul didn’t catch Sadie snooping through his things. Paul doesn’t put up with that kind of nonsense; this would have gotten ugly, and Sadie and her mother would have both deserved it.
Paul finally stood up to Reece, too. She isn’t his boss and doesn’t have the power she thinks she does, though I’d love to know what she and her father are up to.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much movement in that mystery yet. Instead, we had an entire week of back-and-forth with Reece and Byron. This relationship is my least favorite part of Neighbours, and Byron drunkenly demanding Reece give him a chance to explain his side of the story didn’t help.
I also don’t appreciate Paul using Byron’s past against him. His condescension toward Byron’s history as an escort is almost as bad as how everyone treats Days of Our Lives’ Nicole Walker about her similar past.
Elsewhere, Toadie finally learned Nell’s secret! But is Nell finished causing trouble?
Neighbours is based on people having honest conversations, especially parents and kids, so it was on brand for Toadie to straighten out Nell’s behavior by confronting her with the hard truth that Melanie was never coming back.
Nell: You asked me to give you a chance and I didn’t. I was the worst. But now, I’ll let you see the real me.
Terese: I already know the real you. I’ve seen you grow up from a sweet little girl into a kind young woman with a big heart. To be honest, I admire you.
Nell’s apology to Terese afterward seemed heartfelt and genuine, and Terese finally acknowledged that she and Nell have known each other all of Nell’s life. (It’s too bad there was no space for some flashbacks of Scarlett Anderson as an adorable little Nell!)
Still, this felt like a too-rapid resolution to the problem, and I don’t fully trust Nell not to return to her old ways after making an effort for a little while.
Similarly, Toadie quickly forgave Terese. It was refreshing to have a soap couple talk things out instead of breaking up for the sake of drama.
Yet it also felt somewhat anticlimactic, as if there was supposed to be something more to this story than what we got.
We’ll have to wait to find out what is next for this new family. Will Nell take as kindly to the idea of counseling as Terese thinks she will? Or is there more drama to come from Nell’s issues?
The other big question of the week is whether Mackenzie will ever tell Haz how she feels about him!
She didn’t do a great job hiding her disappointment that Haz and Billie seemed to be getting on well, but Haz hasn’t picked up on that and thinks she’s a supportive housemate.
This story is so frustrating. It could be resolved quickly if Mackenzie would communicate her true feelings.
Instead, she’s about to date someone else, making everything messier and more complicated.
Finally, who else is sad that Harold is leaving Erinsborough? It’s great that his memory issues have been resolved and that he’s seizing the day and making the most of what’s left of his life, but still.
Hopefully, this iconic character will come back soon.
Your turn, Neighbours fanatics. Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us what you think of this week’s episodes.
If you’re eager to discover what happens next, check back over the weekend for the latest Neighbours spoilers.
Neighbours airs on Amazon Freevee in the US and UK and Amazon Prime in Canada. New episodes drop on Mondays through Thursdays at 2/1c in the morning, after broadcast on Australia’s Peach 10.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.