Belle is not long for this world. It’s funny though as she seemed grand last week. Her decline started from the minute that she told people about her illness. Now she can barely stand up on her own and is getting sick on Aden. Of course her condition isn’t a laughing matter but the rapidity of it’s progress is typical of the Summer Bay time warping effect.

This is actually very upsetting. Belle wasn’t half as annoying as some of the SB residents and now she’s on the way out. Irene didn’t take it too well but she came around in the end. I was waiting for a classic “Oh my Gawdfather” but perhaps the situation was too grave.

Dunno why Nicole has gone stone mad though; has she just copped on that Roman is in jail? Confused Geoff was certainly striking while the iron was hot anyway!

Ooh now that was an episode.  Rachel was in labour after her extra-long pregnancy (in Summer Bay time).  Tony nearly didn’t make it, then he did, then the baby nearly didn’t make it, then he did.  To top it all off, the lady who just lost her baby in Rachel’s care is hanging around the hospital, poised to nick young Harry.  Me fingernails are bitten to stumps; it’s pure Hand that Rocked the Cradle.

I barely had time to exhale when Nicole found Belle taking handfuls of drugs.  That’s how you take cancer drugs, apparently, by the handful.  She thought Belle was up to her old prescription-drug-taking tricks, so Belle confessed that she was dying.  Looks like she won’t be able to have those babies everyone keeps going on about.  Give a girl a chance, she’s not even married yet!

Amanda’s coming back to town.  That’s three harlots in close proximity.  Martha and Charlie better keep their men close.

I wish Belle would hurry up and tell Aden she’s on the way out. No doubt she’ll drag this out ’till the wedding and tell him on the altar or something. She may as well go back on the drugs. Irene can go on the grog when she finds out and the two girls can liven the town up.

It was a busy day in Summer Bay General. Constable Risotto introduced himself as “Rosetta” to Clint Eastwood the runaway Indonesian. How did Angelo get his own name wrong? He’d want to consult with Colleen pronto.

Hugo made a hames of pretending he doesn’t speak Indonesian. I bet himself and Clint are off on a boat playing with Lou’s other hand.

Ah Aden. Ye big thick. You can’t be saying that kind of thing in Summer Bay. If you do, someone dies. But at least Belle got a big sparkly ring before the off.

That was a prime piece of Summer Bay timing; on the very day that he moves in with Belle, Aden decides he wants to marry her.  Mad.  I fully expect that the wedding will be next week, shortly followed by the 4 kids she mentioned, then a hasty divorce.

Poor old Belle. Not only does she have to worry about her own addiction problems, but she now has junkie superstar Liam trying to get all up in her business. If that wasn’t enough to cope with, Aden is annoyed with her because he thinks she’s doing a line with Liam. Add to that the fact that her foster mother Irene is in jail for shooting one of YBPD’s finest (surely an oxymoron), to the fact that she can’t handle the lunchtime rush at the diner and it makes for an unhealthy cocktail of stress and pressure.  Thankfully, Belle’s rejected Liam’s advances and advised him to go back to rehab.  Something about him tells me that he won’t take her advice.

Ok, so there was a lot of drama in that episode.  Aden and Belle and Rocker Man, Irene and the disappearance of Lou, and Roman’s drama is lurking in the background too.  But the biggest revelation of all was that Rachel is ONLY six months pregnant!  She’s huge!  And doesn’t seem to be affected by the Summer Bay time warp.

Maybe this is part of the mystery too?

P.S.  Does anyone else think Aden should step up as the new Noah?  That was some nifty advice he gave Tony…

Janey, Officer Risotto would have the whole town in a cell if he got the chance!  Poor oul’ Irene is very shaken up.  And back on the grog, too.   Maybe she’ll open a bar when she serves her time in the YCPD station.

Belle’s rocker mate is a bit of an eejit, hanging around her.  Good line from him about Aden sleeping with his sister, though.

I see Pippa is waltzing around Summer Bay playing foster mother to everyone again.  Only this time, most of the residents don’t know who she is.  Certainly the likes of Annie, Geoff and Jai arrived long after she swanned off into the sunset.

Poor Roman – not only is he blind, but he’s suffering some kind of post-traumatic stress thing from being in the not-so-secret Special Forces.  Plus, Miles is making jokes at his expense.  Today’s was a winner – “you’re already blind, a couple of beers won’t hurt”.

Belle met a junkie rockstar in rehab.   Maybe she’ll go on tour with him when they both get out.