This week on Home and Away in Australia, a woman arrives in Summer Bay claiming to be Andrew’s mother – but is she really who she seems?
In recent weeks, Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) and Justin (James Stewart) have been preoccupied with trying to piece together the past of new character Andrew (Joshua Hewson).
The troubled teen arrived in late April when he left a note in Justin’s bag during his community service, begging for help.
“Pleese help. Need food. I live in the house with the blu letta box.”
Justin soon found the teen collapsed on the floor of the house and rushed him to hospital, where it was discovered that Andrew was severely malnourished.
In the end, Cash located a missing person’s report, through which we discovered that Andrew Lawrence hadn’t been seen in more than ten years.
It turned out that Andrew had been residing in the home with his father, who had kidnapped him when he was just four years old from his mother, who is now known to go by the name Esther.
His father belonged to the Vita Nova doomsday cult, which was under investigation by a police taskforce. For years, Andrew’s father had kept him confined to a home with stringent restrictions on what he could do and who he could speak to.
Cash quickly discovered that Andrew’s father had passed away from a heart attack a few weeks before to Justin discovering him, leaving Andrew alone in the house without access to food or clean water.
Cash had hope that his mother was still alive even though Andrew’s father had informed him that she had passed away. But he had no way to find her because she had left her last known address.
Because Andrew believed his father would never do such a thing, Cash’s assertions were initially rejected by Andrew. However, it quickly became apparent that he had a complete existence before his kidnapping that he couldn’t remember when he went to the beach and found that he was a confident swimmer despite having previously thought he had never set foot on a beach.
Cash’s quest for information has been fruitless because the Vita Nova taskforce did not consider Andrew’s case to be urgent because he was older than 16.
Theo (Matt Evans) posted an explanation of the situation on social media in the hopes that internet sleuths may help them uncover additional information. He was inspired by the online forum that Kirby (Angelina Thomson) had created to assist Marilyn (Emily Simons) with her recent Stunning Organics issue.
At the end of Monday’s Australian episode, Theo explained to Cash what he’d done.
“I put up a page online, a missing person’s page, just to see if anyone had any information on Andrew,” he explained. “And I’ve been getting messages all day.”
While Cash looked decidedly unimpressed that Theo had gone rogue, his interest was soon piqued when Theo revealed that he’d made progress and perhaps had a lead.
“These last few messages say that they have information.”
In episodes airing later this week, a woman claiming to be called Esther, played by Mandy McElhinney, arrives at Yabbie Creek Police Station having seen Theo’s post.
She says she’s Andrew’s mother and is delighted that the police have found her long-lost son!
But is she actually who she claims to be? While Home and Away is keeping her true identity a secret, it seems too good to be true that Andrew’s mother would notice Theo’s message so swiftly.
When asked about the unexpected new twist, Mandy told TV Week, “It’s such a thrill to play this character.” In addition to being excited to work on such a classic show, I was excited to play this character. It has a complex arc.
Could the doomsday cult have actually sent one of its members to find Andrew as a result of the social media post?
“Justin and Leah prepare for an emotional farewell,” the synopsis for this Wednesday’s episode begins, implying that Esther would want to take Andrew home with her. However, in this week’s last episode, “Justin fears for Andrew’s safety,” it is implied that not all is as it seems.
Then, in the episode airing down under next Monday 22nd May, there’s an unexpected turn of events as “Margot torments Andrew.”
Just who is Margot? Could she be the real identity of this mysterious new woman?
Next Monday also sees Justin and Cash locate Vita Nova. A recent promo shows that the pair will head out in search of the dangerous cult, as they pull up at a remote compound.
As they pull up in Justin’s ute, things quickly turn sinister when they come across a man armed with a crossbow.
As another man walks towards them, it looks like they’re about to put themselves in serious danger in their search for the truth.
UK viewers will see Andrew’s arrival in mid-June, with the woman professing to be Andrew’s mother arriving on UK screens in mid-July.
