Tonight’s Home and Away saw the long-teased return of Brax and Ricky after Dean called on them for help with protecting Tane from prison.
Months after their return was first announced, tonight saw the highly-anticipated return of Brax (Stephen Peacocke) and Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) for the first time since their exit in 2016.
In last week’s episodes, with Tane’s (Ethan Browne) court case looming, Mackenzie got in touch with Dean (Patrick O’Connor), her brother and former leader of the River Boys, which was previously headed up by Darryl “Brax” Braxton.
She wanted to know if Dean could help someone disappear. Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) had been working hard to clear Tane’s name after he was set up by Harper’s (Jessica Redmayne) mum Kerrie (Sara Wiseman), but his plan had backfired.
Cash managed to track down Kerrie’s dealer ‘Uncle’ Fred Byen (Matt Bosenberg), hoping it’d be proof that Kerrie was the one who planted the drugs in Archie’s bedroom, and prove that Tane wasn’t dealing drugs himself.
However, Kerrie had got to Fred first. He claimed to Cash and David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) that he’d not seen Kerrie in years, before ‘revealing’ that he was just small fry in a bigger operation, headed up by Tane Parata!
With evidence mounting, Tane’s solicitor then encouraged him to plead guilty. When he refused to, insisting that he hadn’t done anything wrong, his solicitor quit.
Tane was left fearing that pleading not guilty would result in a longer jail term, with the prospect that he wouldn’t get to see his son grow up.
With the court date set for the following week, and with David unable and unwilling to ask the DPP for more time to prepare the case, Tane was ready to admit defeat.
“Once I set foot inside that courtroom, I’m not coming home,” he told Mackenzie as the two had a heart-to-heart.
At the end of last week, prompted by their emotional conversation, Mac called Dean (Patrick O’Connor), one of the former leaders of Mangrove River’s infamous River Boy gang, to ask for his help.
She asked Dean if, theoretically, someone needed to disappear for a while, whether he would be able to help.
In tonight’s episode, as Tane came to terms with the fact that he faced near-certain jail time, we saw the ramifications of Mackenzie’s call to Dean – thousands of miles away on the other side of Australia.
In a remote cattle ranch somewhere in Western Australia, we reunited with Brax and Ricky, who are now living a very different life from the one they left behind in Summer Bay way back in 2016.
We saw Brax heading up a team of stockmen as they carried out a muster – herding livestock across the dusty landscape of WA, using helicopters, utes, horses and dirt bikes to get the cattle safely back to the ranch.
As they finished rounding them up, Ricky and Casey (Austin Cutliffe) arrived.
Last time we saw Casey he was just a baby, now he’s a 10-year-old boy wishing he could’ve joined his dad on the muster.
As Brax later points out, thanks to their escape to rural WA, his son’s only struggle in life these days getting his homework done – a million miles away from the struggles he could’ve faced if they hadn’t left their River Boy life behind.
After Ricky asked Brax if he’d got all the livestock back, he asked her if everything was alright while she was gone.
“Yeah, fine…” she began, before adding a potentially life-changing sentence. “Dean Thompson called!”
When Brax later returned Dean’s call, he discovered that Dean wanted his help in hiding a man who’d been stitched up for something he didn’t do.
“It is a big ask,” Brax responded. “I don’t know who this bloke is. I’ll have to get back to you.”
Ricky assumed he’d have said no, and was left frustrated when Brax said he’d told Dean he’d think about it.
He later told Ricky that the boys are the only reason they’ve had ten years of peace, and the reason why Casey’s only worry these days is his homework. He feels like he owes them.
“You and I know more than most what it’s like to be stitched up by the cops.”
But Ricky had a major concern – with the pair seemingly on the run, “if the cops are looking for this guy, he could lead them straight to us. That could destroy everything we’ve built here.”
Yet fiercely loyal Brax knew there was only one option, and in her heart, Ricky did too.
As she pointed out – “Once a River Boy, always a River Boy.”
He decides to give Tane a chance, TV Week has revealed that it comes with a condition – he’ll meet Tane away from their rural ranch, but he’ll send him packing if he doesn’t like what he hears.
At the end of tonight’s episode, Mackenzie caught up with Tane in the Summer Bay parkland, as she asked him where his head is at with his legal situation.
When Tane replied that the odds were stacked against him and that it looks like he’s “going to prison no matter what,” Mackenzie reminded him of option he’d seemingly not yet considered.
“Or you could run!” she proposed. “Come on, surely you’ve thought about it by now?”
Upcoming episodes will see Tane say an emotional goodbye to Archie. Then, armed with a new identity, he jumps on a plane to Perth, where he and Brax meet at the Elizabeth Quay Bridge in the city’s CBD.
Promos for upcoming episodes have already shown a tense encounter between the pair, with Brax asking Tane why he should help him.
“You gotta talk fast. Why should I stick my neck out for you?” Brax asks. “Clock’s ticking…”
A following scene will see Brax get back in his ute to drive away, seemingly unconvinced by Tane’s argument.
Desperate for help, Tane stands in front of the car, slamming his hands on the bonnet when Brax tries to drive off.
Brax seemingly sympathises with Tane, knowing how close he came to spending two decades in prison and losing out on a close relationship to his and Ricky’s son, Casey.
Recent promos have shown Tane hanging out at Brax and Ricky’s remote ranch, watching as the pair play with Casey.
What we don’t know at this stage is what Tane’s long term plans are. As willing as Brax and Ricky are to help, we can’t imagine the plan is for Tane to live out the rest of his days at their ranch.
Yet fleeing Summer Bay just days before his court date – and while he’s still meant to be attending regular bail check-ins – means he’s just made his situation significantly worse.
It’s now been confirmed that Cash will soon be joining Tane in Western Australia, presumably in an attempt to bring his friend back to the bay.
It was already rumoured that Cash would be heading west, as fans of the show believed they had spotted Nicholas Cartwright filming alongside Ethan Browne when they headed to WA last year.
Until now, it’s only been a rumour. But yesterday, in a new interview with The West Australia, Ethan Browne confirmed that Nick Cartwright was also on set with him, revealing that the pair had cabins close to each other.
“Everyone was sort of in their own cabin — Nick Cartwright and myself, we were way at the back, behind everything,” Ethan explained.
Will Cash be able to convince Tane to return to Summer Bay before it’s too late?
