A new Home and Away promo has given our first look at Summer Bay’s newest bad boy, played by Joshua Orpin.
Tonight’s episode of Home and Away in Australia saw the Allen siblings arrive in Summer Bay. Led by ringleader Nat (Claire Lovering), the Allens are a group of petty criminals from Mali (Kyle Shilling) and Iluka’s (Dion Williams) home town of Mantaray Point.
Nat and her brothers Campbell (John Harding) and Gordie (Brandon McClelland) arrived in search of Iluka, who had stolen $8,000 from them and skipped town.
Mali had called Nat to tell them they were happy to return the money, but it was no surprise that the gang wanted more than just their cash back.
They trashed the farmhouse where Mali and Iluka have been living, and waited for the brothers to return. However, they were interrupted by the arrival of Mackenzie (Emily Weir) and Levi (Tristan Gorey), who were planning on having some alone time.
The loved-up pair soon found themselves tied to chairs with their mouths bound, with the Allens wanting to give Mali and Iluka a surprise when they finally returned.
It was Mali who returned home first. He managed to talk Nat into untying Mackenzie, but things took a turn as Levi managed to break free and dived upon one of the Allen brothers.
Despite Levi’s best efforts to overpower his kidnapper, the doc found himself receiving punch after punch to the abdomen. The episode ended with Levi in a bad way, as Mac and Mali begged Nat to let them call an ambulance.
Nat refused, instead demanding that Mali lure Iluka to the farmhouse first.
A promo for next week’s dramatic episodes sees Mali do just that. As Iluka arrives at the farmhouse, Nat tells him that he’ll be coming with them.
Despite Mali’s best efforts to stop the gang from leaving with his brother, he finds himself pushed to the side, as Campbell and Gordie escort Iluka out.
“Don’t worry, little brother,” Iluka says as he follows the Allens’ directions. “I’ll see you soon.”
Despite Levi in hospital and Iluka nowhere to be seen, Mali decides to keep the truth from Rose (Kirsty Marillier), but she quickly realises that something’s up.
“It’s Mali, I’ve never seen him like this before,” Rose says as she opens up to Xander (Luke Van Os) about her boyfriend’s odd behaviour.
“What did you tell Rose?” Mackenzie asks Mali at the hospital as they pay Levi a visit.
“Mali, I’m trying to help but you’re not making this easy,” Rose says as she heads to the hospital, where Levi is recovering.
She knows that something big has happened, but with Mali staying quiet, she’s unable to help.
Catching up with Kirby (Angelina Thomson) in Salt, Rose struggles to hold back the tears as she tells her friend, “I wish Mali would just trust me. It’s secret after secret with him.”
“It will threaten to destroy him,” says the promo’s voiceover.
Next week, Mali sets about trying to track down his brother and free him from the clutches of the Allen siblings. The new promo shows him and two heavies pull up in a truck, where Nat, Campbell and Gordie are lined up in front of their ute.
It’s then that we get our first glimpse of Home and Away’s newest “bad boy,” played by Joshua Orpin.
As Mali steps forward, Joshua’s character is seen to his right, standing in front of the truck in a black vest top.
The arrival of a new bad boy character was announced earlier this year, when Australia’s Daily Telegraph reported that Joshua, who is best known for playing Conner Kent (aka Superboy) in the second series of DC Comics’ Titans, had joined the show.
“I can say he is a bit of a bad boy who comes into the show and stirs up some trouble among the Summer Bay locals,” Joshua told the publication. “He is seemingly one thing on the surface but he has a great depth to him that I’ve had a lot of fun exploring.”
Intriguingly, the publicity photo for Joshua’s character bears more than a passing resemblance to the one used for Dean’s debut back in 2018.
While the publicity shot showed Joshua without tattoos, the promo reveals that his character actually has a tattoo on his left shoulder, just above where Dean’s tattoo was.
With Mali needing reinforcements to help free his brother, it makes sense that he would call on his old mate Dean for help.
With Dean the former leader of the River Boys, the infamous Mangrove River gang, could Summer Bay be about to welcome another River Boy into its midst?
Back to the promo, we then see Mali throw a punch in the direction of Gordie, before the brother gets him in a headlock and throws him to the ground.
At that point, two police cars speed around the corner, with Rose at the helm.
As Mali continues to grapple with Gordie, Rose runs in, and she and another officer pull the fighting pair apart.
“What are you doing here? Get out,” Mali screams, angry to have been interrupted.
“Who even told you we were here?” Mali later asks his girlfriend, to which she responds, “You’ve got your secrets, I’ve got mine.”
Will Mali open up to his Senior Detective girlfriend about his brother’s criminal activities?
