Next week on Home and Away in the UK, Cash gets some incriminating evidence against River Boy Dingo, while John discovers the true extent of Irene’s troubles.
Cash’s (Nicholas Cartwright) investigation into the River Boys continues to make waves in Mangrove River next week, as the surfing gang resort to intimidation tactics.
Having decided to head back to the police force, Cash managed to negotiate a return to his old ranking of Senior Constable, but the only available post was at Mangrove River—officially the worst station in NSW and where his predecessor Franklin McGrath had just been found dead, dumped in the local dam.
Cash was given a welcome by the notorious River Boys, only to find it had suddenly become a lot more personal. Their leader turned out to be none other than Rory Templeton (Joshua Orpin), Cash’s sister Felicity’s (Jacqui Purvis) new boyfriend.
Cash’s colleague Jo (Ariadne Sgouros) is sure that Rory and the River Boys are responsible for McGrath’s death, but Flick has so far refused to stop seeing Rory.
Determined to get to the bottom of things, Cash has taken a risky strategy of carrying out surveillance on the River Boys, something his predecessor was also doing before his untimely demise.
Next week, Rory’s sidekick Dingo (JK Kazzi) and a large group of his comrades welcome Cash as he reports for duty, surrounding his ute as he pulls into the station car park.
Cash refuses to be intimidated as he exits the car and makes his way towards the station, the mob following.
As he reaches the door, he finds Dingo stood in his path, who points out that since Cash has been watching them, they are now watching him.
“Does that bother you?” Cash asks. “Have you got something to hide?”
Dingo doesn’t reply, but with one last tease moves out of Cash’s way as he heads inside.
As the boys remain in the car park, Rory phones Dingo to call them off—he’s bringing Flick back to their hangout so wants to ensure she receives a good welcome.
Cash and Jo watch as the River Boys disperse, noting Rory is conspicuous by his absence. Their message is pretty clear, Jo comments, as she points out that this is what happens when you push back against the River Boys.
Cash has no plans to drop the surveillance however, and when he returns to his viewing spot a short time later, he’s disappointed to see Flick arrive at the house with Rory.
It’s not long before Rory points out that Cash is just outside, and the pair head over and offer him a beer.
Cash demands Flick get in the car so he can take her home, but she refuses. Cash has got what he has needed by this point anyway, and returns to the station with a full list of licence plates from the vehicles coming in and out of the River Boy hangout. Despite her misgivings, Cash orders Jo to run the numbers through the database.
When Cash returns home, kicking Rory out in the process, Flick is furious. Cash tells her about the investigation and comments that it’s quite coincidental that Rory has hooked up with the sister of the town’s new cop, but Flick quickly reminds him that she and Rory were seeing each other before he’d even taken the job.
Flick packs her bags and gives Cash an ultimatum—if Rory isn’t allowed in the house, then she’ll move out! Later, Cash reluctantly tells Flick that he won’t stand in her way if she wants to continue seeing Rory, but only on the condition that she return home.
Cash agrees to Flick’s point that he can’t police who visits the house when they pay equal rent, and even forces out an apology to Rory on Flick’s request.
When Cash returns to work, Rory is waiting for him outside. Using Flick as leverage, Rory asks Cash to stop watching their place, commenting that it would only take one word for Flick to move in with him—the last thing Cash would want.
It seems as though Cash could be about to hit the jackpot though, when Jo tells him that she’s got something to show him inside…
Although there was no CCTV footage from the area surrounding the crime scene, Jo has managed to obtain footage from one of the national park’s wildlife cams.
In the early hours of the morning before Franklin’s body was found, a car was spotted, registered to one David Lewis… Cash doesn’t recognise the name, until Jo points out that it’s Dingo!
Elsewhere, having fallen off the wagon last week in the wake of the Bronte (Stefanie Caccamo) drama, Irene (Lynne McGranger) is feeling at her lowest as she secretly continues to drink.
With Irene believing that she let down all her friends, Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Marilyn (Emily Symons) wonder if there’s any way they could find something positive for Irene to take away from the incident.
Leah suggests they organise an interview with the local paper Coastal News, so she and Irene can tell their side of the story. After learning they would be interested in running the story, Leah pitches the idea to Irene, pointing out that it may help others avoid falling for similar scams.
Irene agrees, but it’s clear that she’s secretly petrified about the idea.
The next morning, Irene comes into work late and announces that she is no longer interested in doing the interview, stating that she’s been humiliated enough without it being plastered all over the papers.
John (Shane Withington) witnesses Irene snapping at Leah, and he later reminds Irene that he went through exactly the same thing with Susie McAllister (Bridie Carter). And it was Irene who had encouraged John to face the world again.
Irene tells John she will go for a drive to think about it. However, when she returns and parks up on the boat ramp at the end of Flat Beach’s car park, she has a bottle of whisky in hand.
Having gained a few swills of Dutch courage, Irene heads back to the diner ready for the interview, surprising Leah and Marilyn with her sudden turnaround.
But Irene doesn’t plan on holding back when Coastal News reporter Fleur (Nikita Waldron) arrives.
As a drunken Irene makes barbed comments, both about Fleur and the Coastal News’s reporting standards (justified, to be fair!), she decides to spell out the perfect clickbait headline for them—”Irene Roberts, Born Loser, Perfect Victim‘.
Fleur laps it all up, keen to get her first front page story as Leah and John desperately try to interject. Irene seals the deal by vowing to slam her door in the face of anyone else who turns up with a terminal illness.
“Make my humiliation public, girly,” Irene states. “Because I don’t deserve anything else.”
And with that, Irene storms out. Leah is left begging Fleur not to run the story, but she claims she will make it a ‘balanced article’.
As John swiftly follows, Irene rejects his attempts to help her, snapping at him to get a life and stop clinging onto her.
Back at the Beach House, Irene is sitting alone on the stairs drinking when John calls over to check on her.
Startled by his arrival, Irene drops her bottle of whisky on the floor, and as John walks in, he’s greeted by the sight of Irene crouching over the broken glass.
Irene breaks down as John realises that his best friend is in serious trouble—will she accept his help?
Also next week, Levi and Eden’s dad arrives in the bay
There’s an awkward family reunion in Summer Bay when Levi and Eden’s father comes to town, while Xander suffers an accident.
