Had the series gone on, Ben's darker side would have been brought more to the fore again. Clive R had been getting bored with the way Ben had been made to appear too nice since Derek's appearance on the screen, and had come to some sort of deal in order to persuade him to stay with the show. I can only assume that that would have meant taking Ben back to his darker days. So nothing that was ever said in the show can really be taken as definite, whether it exonerates him or not. They explained a lotof things in the last couples of months of the show's life, mostly because it was being brought to an end, but an awful lot of it never really made sense.

We're never entirely meant to know the truth about Ben.

Would we have wanted to?

Im intrigued now, what didnt make sense?

You mean aside from all the explanations about Maria in the last six months of the show?!

Monday 24/1

Oh dear. Rae is depressed again. Her mother and father have just sent her a cardboard box full of childhood momentoes, which apparently means that they don't want her in their house anymore. Okay. So how do I interpret my parents throwing my stuff out altogether?! Anyway, she mopes and Casey tries to make her feel better, but she winds up going to the medical centre to cry on Wei Li's shoulder. She thinks about hooking up with him instead, in order to make her parents happy. Weirdo.

Elsewhere Thickardo is paddling like mad in a bottomless lake as he tries to tell Paula that he wasn't doing anything incriminating the night that she was kidnapped. Honestly, really, truly. He tells her, with meaningful looks at Gobby, that the woman he was with meant nothing, that nothing happened, and he had no desire for it to. Paula walks out, winding up commiserating with Casey over at The Waffleless Waffle Shop. Who is running the Waffleless Waffles shop at the moment, and failing to make the all-important missing waffles, I don't know, since Elaine is currently being all saintly in jail. But who cares. Paula and Thickardo are reunited, anyway, after more desperate reassurances. Gobby leaves them alone - though she stands outside for the rest of the episode listening in. Paula isn't happy.

And Dimples isn't sure that he wants his manic grandmother to go to Sunset Beach instead of him, as he doesn't believe that she really wants to help Elaine. She says she will, he says she won't, but it looks like she's going anyway. They should all go. That way once the story comes out they can all share the SB jail together, and work out their issues in group therapy. It'd save us several months of plot, anyway.

**********

Tuesday 25/1

Dimples reads letters written by his mother to AJ. He sniffles. Beside him, Caitlin also sniffles. They read about how much Elaine loves her son, and they sniffle. They read about how much she loves AJ, and they sniffle. Eventually they read about Cole's alleged death, and they drown in their own tears. Cole decides he's going back to Sunset Beach, but when Caitlin goes off to check up on Grandmother Deschanel, Dimples decides he's going back alone. It's too dangerous to take Smurf with him. Or something.

Rae, meanwhile, has gone to San Francisco, to talk to her weird parents. Her mother gives her a family heirloom necklace, saying how sorry she is that they're not allowed to talk anymore. They sniffle. Back in Sunset Beach, Bungalow is worrying that Rae is going to cave in and marry Wei Li to get her parents back. Michael tries to make him feel better by saying that Rae doesn't love Wei Li, but since Michael is oblivious to Vixen Virginia's increasing smittenness with him, he's not the best one to judge. Virginia is now hallucinating about him, and wondering if there's any way that she can get him for herself.

Also scheming (as always) is Gobby, who takes advantage of some time alone to pore over her mad scrapbook. Thickardo comes in and finds the scrapbook, including a picture of him and Paula, all torn up. He challenges Gobby, and she tells him that it's her father's scrapbook, telling the lifestory of his beloved estranged daughter. She's just trying to finish it, with clippings from the SB Police Station Press Room. How come everybody in SB has professionally modelled publicity shots of themselves?! Thickardo is suspicious, anyway, but Paula is touched by the gesture. Or possibly is just touched, who knows. Gobby glares at the scrapbook later, and goes all cackly and manic. Fine. Not at all bonkers then.

Wednesday 26/1

Michael and Vixen Virginia decide to go on a picnic, which makes Jimmy go all glowery. He's still convinced that his mother is after Michael - which, of course, she is, though apparently only Jimmy can see it. Mark turns up to accompany them, which makes Michael go all wistful, as he wishes that Jimmy still liked him the way that he now likes Mark. Michael... you killed the kid's father. Really, did you expect him to just forget about that?!

Bette, meanwhile, is being hilariously manic (or Bettishly manic, perhaps. Bettish. That should be a new adverb). Anyway. Her financial advisor has just skipped town with all of her money, leaving her completely destitute. For some reason Eddie is hanging around the house, having lost his apartment along with his job, and Bette is eventually worn down by his frantic begging and yelping, and employs him as a PI to track the guy down. Eddie is delighted, and goes dashing off, barking and chasing his tail. Actually he buys them some wine to celebrate, but since none of them have any money, who knows how he manages it.

And so to the saga of madness and plotting, where Annie and Tim are barely able to keep their hands off each other long enough to put their various plans in motion. Joan is off home, because Hank The Plank, her so far invisible husband, has hurt himself. It was turning out to be an extraordinarily long Mother's Day visit anyway. Mother's Day must have been over a fortnight ago. She and Smeg wander around Ben's house again, as usual without any particular reason to be there, whilst he claims to be off on his way to a meeting in Santa Barbara. Oh yeah? I don't see how business at The Deep or The JavaWeb can possibly lead you to a meeting in Santa Barbara, Ben. It's those hookers again, isn't it. At any rate, he's clearly not on his way to a meeting at all, but is heading off to a costume party dressed as The Blue Buccaneer. Give him a moment and he'll go to fetch his sword. Joan tries to get him to promise that he won't hurt Smeg, but he fades into moody silence and never answers. Can't say I blame him - everybody's so bloody judgemental about his private life! At the airport Meg tries to tell Joan about her suspicions, and presumably what she found in the Locked Room, but the call for boarding comes, and Joan leaves. Smeg sighs. In the end she makes her way to Ben's place for another perusal of the blood stains, just as Ben gets home. Or "The Slasher" as he's now known. Or not.

Is this thread dying?

No, but my monitor did. Sorry!

Thursday 27/1

Cole reads more of the letters that his mother wrote to his father years ago, telling of her pregnancy, the birth of Little Dimples, and his supposed death days later. Realising that his mother didn't abandon him, and that his grandmother appropriated all the letters without AJ ever having seen them, he decides that enough is enough, and that he's going back to Sunset Beach. And does, leaving Caitlin behind listening to Grandmother Deschanel's memories, whilst imagining herself and Cole in the middle of them all. Which isn't nearly as moving as was probably intended.

Gregory and Olivia talk. How Greggie manages to even look at Olivia given what she's wearing, is one of life's great mysteries, but possibly he's colourblind. She looks like a green neon frog at a rave, but he seems to find this attractive, and they begin to get at it (on the bloody sofa again!). He gets a telephone call which sends him rushing out of the house, though, and Cruella realises his sources must have found Cole. She sighs and mopes and worries, partly about Caitlin, but mostly about herself.

And Smeg, trapped in the Locked Room by Ben's sudden arrival home, hears the key turning in the lock, and realises that she's now stuck for real. She tries to get out of the window, but it's locked, and realising that she'll have to come up with some other plan, she wanders around looking at the room in the meantime. She looks at Maria's sketch pad, and reads some of her final diary, all the time wondering if TGO has locked her in. She eventually decides that it must have been Annie, trying to stir things up again. Downstairs Ben broods heavily, captivated as usual by the painting of Maria. Annie tries to sneak in, as part of her plan to break up the unhappy couple, and has to cover fast. Ben just tells her he's busy. He's got "business", apparently. Possibly paperwork, possibly chopping Meg up into little pieces. You can never tell with Ben.

**********

Friday 28/1

In the jail at the police station, Cole has a talk with his mother, explaining that he now knows the truth, and is determined to help her at her hearing. She refuses, saying that he'll be arrested, but he's determined. Which is when Greggie walks in, being as obnoxious as only Greggie can be, and yet still with more charisma than most of the rest of the cast put together. He has Cole arrested. Back at Grandmother Deschanel's, Caitlin begins to worry, and dashes off back to the beach after him, with Grandmother Deschanel hot on her heels.

Panic-stricken that Dimples will tell all, Cruella awakens from maddened daydreams, and rushes off to the police station, where all civilians are allowed all access all of the time. She busts in on Greggie and Cole doing something approaching a macho standoff, and tries to get Greggie to see that he's just pushing Caitlin away. He refuses to understand, and she collapses. Cue more threats, more posturing, and more promises to destroy each other/break each other/end this, that and the other for each other forever, just as Caitlin dashes in.

Locked in her little room, Smeg is busy reading Maria's diary. She can't understand what's happened in the bloodsoaked room if Ben and Maria loved each other as much as the book says. I don't know either, Smeg. Maybe Madwoman Carmen sacrificed something. Downstairs, desperate to get Ben out of the house so that they can fulfil another part of their plan, Tim and Annie are failing dismally. Eventually Ben disappears on some errand, however, and upstairs Smeg hears the door unlock. She dashes off, eventually climbing down some ivy on one wall, but running, seconds later, into Ben. She panics, but goes inside and stalls for thinking time, eventually deciding that Annie is behind everything. When Ben leaves them alone for a few minutes, though, Annie listens to all charges in confusion, and eventually says that she's been with Aunt Bette all evening - which Bette herself then confirms when she turns up too. Why does the entire population of Sunset Beach routinely walk through Ben's house as though they own the place?! That doesn't even happen in the houses of people who actually enjoy the company. Convinced now of Annie's innocence, Smeg's little brain whizzes and whirs. In that case, she decides, it must have been TGO who locked her in the room - so she has to be scared of him after all. She quivers. Ben doesn't much care. He just wants to get back to his brooding.

Nice to see you back here, Micks. Back to making my days special, no doubt. Thankyou for the updates, my dearest!

Good to have you back Mickey!

Virginia falling off the chair...reeaaaally didnt see that one coming

I also thought Olivia was quite entertaining today. 'Shreeak, aaah, breaaathe,gaaasp, breaaaathe, over emphasis on certain syllables, sigggh....'

Good old exhaling Oh-livia. It's a wonder she doesn't hyperventilate with every sentence.

Monday 31/1

Caitlin is furious with Greggie, and refuses ever to speak to him again. They glower, they shout, they make their respective threats, with Cruella trying to play peacemaker. Meanwhile, Dimples is being processed at the police station, because of the assault charges Greggie is trying to bring against him. Paula Of The Fluctuating Accent apologises, and tries to bond with her brother over the fingerprinting kit. Eventually, though, Caitlin's pouting wins through, and Greggie agrees to drop the charges. Smurf is delighted. Paula is delighted. Cruella is delighted. Dimples looks highly suspicious, and I don't blame him. Greggie couldn't look more shifty if he'd been caught red-handed writing "I have dastardly plans for Cole" in his diary.

Martial Law is upset. Oh poor Martial Law. She's torn between Bungalow (otherwise known as the nicest man ever), and Wei Li, who's an annoying git. Eventually, having made a complete hash of her attempt to patch things up with her parents in San Francisco, she tells Casey that she thinks she should have married Wei Li to begin with. Yes, Rae. Marrying the insufferable ego-machine just to stop your parents acting like spoilt children is entirely worthwhile... Casey looks as moody as it's possible to look when you're the nicest man ever. Which isn't really all that moody.

And Jimmy carries on his campaign to be the sulkiest person in the world, which is reasonably understandable given that his father was murdered by his best friend. When Bubblewrap rings up from Hong Kong, he tells her that Michael and Vixen Virginia are off making out somewhere, and then grouses around the apartment, worrying that Michael is going to end up being his step-father. Virginia tries to scold him, but in the process manages to fall off the little step that she's standing on, and for some reason requires being rushed to the medical centre, to be tended to by Ultra Worried Rae. Not sure I'd want her looking after me just at the moment, even if it is the Most Minor Medical Incident Of The Month. "Preoccupied" doesn't even begin to cover it.

Cheers!

Tuesday 1/2

Cole decides that the best thing to do is give his evidence to the judge in private, then skip town with Caitlin. Neither of them trusts Greggie, so clearly their combined brain power is a little more worth having than it was in its separate forms. When Cole tries to set things up, though, the court head persony-type (that's the official term ) calls Greggie to tell him about the Dimpled Request. Greggie glowers and fizzes for a while, then has Cole kidnapped.

At the courtroom, everybody is assembling. Meaning that they're all arriving, not that they're all putting each other together from little kits. Woo. Sunset Beach Meccano! Cole has not yet arrived, and Elaine and Paula worry. Greggie comes in acting all nonchalant, and gets in a huff when he hears that Cole seems to have done a runner. Good old Greggie. It's nearly time to get moving with the hearing, but everybody is more interested in asking what's happened to Cole. Caitlin wants to know too, as she's standing under the pier waiting for him. But he's kinda tied up right now. Ouch. Old joke. Sorry.

And Annie and Tim sizzle in the heat (and in other's heat) on the beach, making their plans and muttering over the sun oil. Tim's hair looks much better with a gale-force-ten beach wind blowing through it. Not that that's at all relevant to the plot, but who cares. Eventually Tim slips away to see what's going on with Smeg back at Surf Central, overhearing her telling Mark that Ben is beginning to scare her. Triumphant, Tim returns to Annie. Meg, meanwhile, has returned to the Locked Room again - clearly she has some manic compulsion where that room is concerned - and winds up reading more of Maria's journal. She reads about secrets, and wonders what secrets Ben and Maria might have had. Eventually she steals an old letter, that also mentions The Secret, and scurries off back home with it. Annie and Tim see her making her escape, looking over her shoulder all the time, and clearly spooked. They whoop in glee. Plan A, or B, or whatever the hell it is that we're on now, is going just fine.

Wednesday 2/2

Elaine's hearing commences. This basically means everybody repeating the story of how and why Del got killed. Yes, we know all this. Save us, please! Everybody bar Greggie worries about Cole, though they needn't worry, as he frees himself with remarkable speed. Sadly he doesn't seem to remember until after he's knocked out the pilot that he doesn't actually know how to fly. Cue dramatic engine noises, and an alarming tilt to the camera. Back at the courtroom, Grandmother Deschanel is about to tell all - don't bother, please. We already know all! - when Cole bursts in. Everybody looks relieved except Greggie, who glowers. You want to watch that, Greggie. It's a bit of a giveaway.

And Martial Law packs up to go to San Fran for another assault on the parents, this time with Wei Li for company. The inference is that she's not coming back. Casey wanders tragically on the beach for a while, then goes home to find that his mother has moved in. Since she's instantly a more interesting character than poor Rae ever was, he immediately cheers up no end.

Sunset Beach mecanno! Woo!

Be cool, wouldn't it. Disassemble Caitlin at will!


Thursday 3/2

Cole and Greggie posture a lot, and exchange pointless threats, before Greggie decides to give his rousing closing address before bringing on his last witness. Not sure why the Prosecuting Attorney didn't object to that, as she'd be well within her rights, but obviously she wants all of this over as quickly as possible too. Dimples takes to the stand, reads lots of bits of letters that we've already heard before, and recounts bits of tale that we've already heard before, and then slinks off, trying to look mean and broody. Leave it to Ben, dear. The judge deliberates briefly, before giving Elaine three years probation, and two hundred hours community service. Everybody celebrates, and Interpol arrests Cole. Caitlin shows the drama queen side that she's inherited from Cruella, and pants that she'll "Never forgive you, Daddy!" Shut up.

Casey's mother is called Alex. She and Casey and Michael have a cheery reunion and some very large sandwiches, before they leave her alone in the house to go and see the end of the trial. Alex looks sad, and makes some serious phonecalls.

And TGO walks broodily around his house, indulging in his second favourite hobby (staring at the door of the Locked Room). Smeg confronts him about it, and they have another yelling match. As per usual this means her becoming highly offended by his refusal to tell her all his intimate secrets. He yells back, and she panics and flees out onto the beach, and into the arms of Mark. She tells him about the Locked Room, and everything that she's found in it, and when Ben goes off with Annie to Elaine's hearing, the pair of them sneak back in for a look at the blood stains. Tight Pants is hanging about too, up to another stage of The Great Plan. I guess we have to wait until tomorrow to find out what.

Friday 4/2

Cole is taken away by Interpol, with Caitin trying to cling to him. She mobilises the rescue team of Paula and Thickardo, who fail to be of any use whatsoever, but do seem to enjoy having another crisis to deal with. Cole is loaded up on a passenger jet, bound for Europe, promising to Be Back Soon. Left behind, Caitlin swears revenge on her father, who lurks in a dark corridor nearby and smirks contentedly. Cruella worries to herself, but mostly just about herself, as she seems to be suffering from morning sickness. Or what-time-of-the-day-it-is sickness, anyway. Times of the day are notoriously difficult to pinpoint in this town.

Casey and Michael throw a party for Elaine, which supposedly half of Sunset Beach is present for, though we only see three people. Everybody spends all their time worrying about Cole, who unsurprisingly hasn't turned up. Alex is sneaking health drinks and medication, and trying to make unconvincing jokes whenever she's caught at it. Congratulations, Alex. You've already had more plot in two episodes than Martial Law had in five months.

And Smeg and Mark arrive in the Locked Room to find it swept up, cleaned up and generally neat and tidy. Smeg begins to tremble. Mark doesn't know what to believe, but eventually they decide upon Annie as the culprit - until she points out that she was at Elaine's hearing, and has only just got back. Smeg now doesn't know what to think. Meanwhile, on his own at the Deep after never having turned up at the hearing, Ben washes copious amounts of blood off his hands, and then sinks down onto the floor. He goes home and growls at Meg when she tries to get an explanation out of him, and Annie points out that tomorrow is the anniversary of Maria's death. Tomorrow is one day when "you really don't want to be around Ben." Meg twitches and looks increasingly afraid, and runs home to Surf Central to whimper at Mark. Left alone, Ben is spending the afternoon (or morning, or whatever time of day it is at his end of town) with his demons. Which he admitted to having yesterday, and I forgot to write about. Yay! Demons! They share a glass of brandy together, and brood en masse. Ben has his Dangerous head on. Even the demons look nervous.

Yay! Demons!

Did see some of yesterday's...Loved the windswept hair that Ben had!

We're getting knocked out by the neighbours!

They don't have any demons in Neighbours.

We'll win then!

Sure we will. If necessary, Ben can always have one of his demon attacks, and murder the Neighbours cast. Let out his inner Derek.

None shall beat TGO and his demons.