This week on Home and Away in Australia, Tane’s stint behind bars takes a potentially deadly turn as he’s set upon by a fellow inmate.
Just when it appeared that his luck had finally changed, after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Tane (Ethan Browne) is subjected to a brutal attack in prison leaving him fighting for his life.
It’s been more than two months since Tane was arrested after being set up by Harper’s (Jessica Redmayne) embittered mother Kerrie (Sara Wiseman), who had planted a bag of drugs in baby Archie’s cot before ringing in an anonymous tip-off.
With Kerrie disappearing, and no other evidence coming to light to prove he didn’t do it, Mackenzie’s (Emily Weir) got in touch with her River Boy brother Dean (Patrick O’Connor).
He arranged for Tane to skip bail and escape to Western Australia, to hide out with Brax (Stephen Peacocke), Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) and their son Casey (Austin Cutcliffe).
Tane was eventually talked into returning after Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Jo (Maddison Brown) tracked him down in WA, and after handing himself in he was placed on remand until his trial date.
It wasn’t until last week that 10-year-old Casey, who has been staying in Tane’s house since he returned to Summer Bay with his mum and dad, was able to uncover what two months of police investigation hadn’t.
Turning on Archie’s nanny-cam, which had been sitting in the house for all this time, he found crystal clear footage of Kerrie planting the drugs!
The oversight stunned Cash and Yabbie Creek sarge David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor), who joined viewers in wondering how on earth it could have been missed for all this time.
N.B. There’s also the fact that Kerrie clearly would have left her fingerprints on the bag, but that remains unnoticed…
Meanwhile, incarcerated at Graydon Correctional Facility, Tane has so far been keeping a low profile.
Prison Officer Peterson (Cameron Jones) has been trying to encourage Tane to get involved with some prison programmes, but Tane quickly shut the idea down.
Despite that, Tane has already managed to cross paths with one of the more volatile inmates, Knox (James O’Connell).
Seeing Knox brought back onto the wing after being in solitary confinement, Peterson warned Tane to steer clear.
But as Tane later quietly watched Knox intimidating some other inmates, Knox approached him and asked what he was in for.
When Tane explained he had breached bail, Knox told him he had no chance of getting out again—insisting the officers would do whatever it took to keep inmates locked up, and singling out Peterson in particular.
When Tane replied that Peterson had been alright to him, Knox warned him that he should choose carefully as to which side he was on.
Back at the police station, David eventually confirmed that the footage of Kerrie had been verified and was being passed on to the DPP.
Yet the process isn’t a quick one, with Tane’s loved ones frustrated as he remains inside despite the evidence proving his innocence.
However, Jo later admitted to David that she had a brief sense of relief on learning that Tane wasn’t being released immediately, meaning she could spend a little longer avoiding him—her first visit to Tane having been far more confronting than she’d anticipated.
“Every time I come and see you, I’m going to get searched and watched, and then we get to sit at a picnic table and try and find five seconds to hold hands,” she vented to Tane.
“Rinse and repeat for 15 years, is that what this relationship is going to be?”
As Jo left, both she and Tane were left wondering whether there was any future to their relationship.
“Jo is completely in love with Tane and would do anything for him,” Maddison Brown explained in an interview TV Week. “But visiting him in prison forces everything into reality very quickly.”
This week, Tane still remains inside as the authorities drag their feet over deciding his fate.
Although he’s innocent of the drugs charge, there’s still the question of him skipping bail whilst already on a suspended sentence.
When Cash visits the prison to tell Tane there’s still no further update on his release, Tane is frustrated, particularly given that Archie’s first birthday the next day.
“You said it’d be sorted by now,” he exclaims. “What the hell happened?”
Little does everyone realise that the delay could prove fatal.
The following day, Tane spots Officer Peterson being surrounded by Knox and a group of prisoners, and he doesn’t hesitate in rushing over to intervene.
But before he can do so, he is tasered by one of the other inmates. Incapacitated, Tane is defenceless as Knox and the group turn on him, giving him a severe beating.
By the time other guards reach him, Tane has been left bleeding and unconscious.
Tane is rushed to Northern Districts Hospital, where Levi (Tristan Gorey) is stunned to see him brought in on a gurney. With serious abdominal injuries, he requires urgent surgery, and Levi moves quickly to prepare.
Jo arrives soon after, going straight to Tane’s side as the reality of his condition becomes clear.
“He risks his life to save someone else, which is exactly who Jo knows him to be,” Maddison continued. “Seeing him fighting for his life puts everything into perspective for her.
“She feels a deep sense of guilt for ever questioning their future, even though those feelings were coming from a very real place.”
Will Tane pull through?
