Coming up on Home and Away in Australia, things are heating up in Summer Bay, as a death is confirmed for this year’s season finale.
This week sees Jo (Maddison Brown) continue to be grapple over her feelings, following the arrival in Summer Bay of ex-boyfriend Eddie Shepherd (Stephen Madsen).
Jo had only just entered into a secret romance with Tane (Ethan Browne), after months of will they/won’t they, so was thrown when Eddie turned up to complicate matters.
The two had split two years ago, as Jo struggled to cope with the death of her mother Kristina (Fiona Noonan).
But now that local councillor Craig Wendell (Justin Smith) is awaiting sentencing for causing the accident, as well as the killing of Theo (Matt Evans), Jo had finally found some peace and opened herself to potential romance.
Though David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) knew that Tane had been on Jo’s radar, he hadn’t approved of him as a potential partner for his daughter, and told Tane that Jo deserved someone less complicated.
When David later bumped into Eddie outside the surf club—who had coincidentally just signed himself up to Back on Track, Remi’s (Adam Rowland) music label—David was quick to invite him over to the house for a catch-up.
But there was no doubt that David was secretly hoping that Jo and Eddie could pick things up where they left off, unaware that Jo was already secretly meeting Tane in the local motel.
With old feelings bubbling to the surface after reconnecting with her ex, Jo was honest with Tane and asked to put things on hold, needing to see if there was still anything there with Eddie.
“There’s so much water under the bridge between her and Eddie, she lost her mum and then their relationship fell apart,” Maddison Brown told TV Week.
“He was her first love, and the ‘what ifs’ of their love story draw her back to him.”
She wasn’t, however, completely honest with Eddie about who Tane was, simply stating that he was her personal trainer.
As Eddie put on his first gig in Salt, he performed a song that was clearly written for Jo following their break-up, only for the moment to be interrupted by Tane who told Jo that he wanted to be with her that night.
Jo was furious at being propositioned in front of her ex, and though Eddie didn’t know the circumstances of what caused Jo to walk out mid-gig, seeing her and Tane talking the following morning told him everything he needed to know.
After Eddie headed to the Beach House to confront Jo, a promo for this week’s episodes shows him asking her to confirm outright that Tane isn’t just “a friend.”
When Jo later downloads to Lacey, she explains that she’s been asked to make a decision.
When Lacey asks whether she’s made any progress, Jo makes it clear that she hasn’t.
In the meantime, David puts on a BBQ to which Eddie is invited.
He tells Eddie that he’s happy that Jo has an old friend around after everything she’s been through over the past couple of years.
As Eddie looks over at Jo, she weakly smiles back.
“I don’t know what to do,” Jo is heard saying. “He just pops up again out of nowhere, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about that!”
Shortly afterwards, Back on Track’s hype man Sonny (Ryan Bown) decides to try and keep the momentum for Eddie going following the gig, and asks Jo to record a video testimonial.
“Tell me how great Eddie Shepherd is,” he asks Jo as he raises his phone to record, awkwardly putting her on the spot.
As everyone looks over towards her, Jo freezes and retreats into the house, claiming she just needs a second.
When David later talks to Jo in her bedroom, he reveals something that shocks her to the core.
Shortly before Kristina died, Eddie has asked them both for permission to propose to Jo!
With Jo now knowing the true depth of the love Eddie had for her, will she decide to rekindle things?
Moving into finale week, which kicks off on Monday 17th November, Remi is hoping to promote Eddie’s music at the upcoming Off the Rails music festival in Broken Hill, and he’s managed to bag his new artist a slot.
Before long there’s a whole group of Summer Bay residents joining them on the ‘party train’ to the outback, with their destination over 1000km west, near the NSW/SA border.
But as we’ve previously previewed, the doomed train will not make it to its intended destination.
Jo’s keen for some time out from the complications in Summer Bay, so seizes the opportunity to join Eddie, with Sonny, Lacey, Mackenzie (Emily Weir), Dana (Ally Harris), and Abigail (Hailey Pinto) also on board.
“Jo is grappling with what is the right thing to do, but when it comes to the festival, she is just looking forward to a few days to catch a breather,” Maddison continued.
Meanwhile, Leah (Ada Nicodemou) is continuing to shut Justin (James Stewart) out as she struggles with her grief over Theo’s death.
Leah had managed to latch onto Sonny as a confidant, but her mistakenly calling him Theo on more than one occasion caused concern that she was seeing him as a replacement for her newphew.
Sonny gently explained to Leah last week that he needed to distance himself from her, but Leah incorrectly assumed it was due to issues with Dana being jealous.
Keen to avoid a further argument with Leah, Justin decides to avoid another argument by simply not telling her that he’s going to festival.
But what he doesn’t realise is that Leah has found out and is also heading to the train station.
As the group set off on their journey, none of them will imagine the tragedy that awaits as the party gets started and the drinks flow.
Amongst the celebrations, there’s a surprise moment when someone pops the question…
Having previously planned to propose before their breakup some two years ago, could Eddie finally be getting his chance with Jo?
Shortly afterwards, the train heads towards a tunnel…
Inside, a small group of teens are spraying graffiti when they realise the train is approaching. As they flee, their bicycles are lefts sprawled across the track.
As the train strikes them, it causes the engine to derail and flip over, taking the rest of the train with it and sending the passengers flying.
“We know someone dies, but we don’t know who,” Maddison added, confirming for the first time that this year’s Home and Away will end with another fatality.
As the 2025 season comes to an end, who won’t survive?
Home and Away’s 2025 season finale will air as a triple episode, at 7pm on Wednesday 19th November on Seven.
