This week on Home and Away in Australia, Tane returns to Summer Bay with baby Maia, while Theo is forced to choose between Valerie and his life with Leah and Justin.
Last week saw Tane (Ethan Browne) make a bad decision as he snatched baby Maia from Northern Districts Hospital.
Tane had grown attached to the baby, who he found abandoned in the sand dunes of Summer Bay a number of weeks ago.
When the parents didn’t come forward despite extensive press coverage, Tane named her Maia, after the Maori word for courage, and began to explore becoming the baby’s emergency foster carer.
When he learnt that his lack of Australian residency prevented him from doing so, Roo (Georgie Parker) stepped up to the plate and put in an application herself.
However, an alternative foster family was found shortly after, and Tane was faced with the prospect of saying goodbye to the baby once and for all.
With an AVO against him, a result of an altercation with Coastal News journo Peter Rolfe, Tane was unable to even visit the hospital to say goodbye. Dana (Ally Harris) felt sorry for him and decided to sneak him into Northern Districts late at night, giving him one final opportunity to see the baby he had grown so attached to
Yet Dana made the foolish decision to leave Tane and Maia alone together, and when she returned just minutes later, Tane and the baby were gone.
Dana was left feeling distraught as she copped the blame for Maia’s disappearance, with even her sister Harper (Jessica Redmayne) giving her a serve for her seemingly endless slip-ups.
Dana sent text after text to Tane hoping to tempt him back to the bay, but only received one short reply, assuring her that Maia was fine and demanding she stop texting.
This week, Tane realises the stupidity of his actions. Being the centre of a nationwide search, he knows that he’ll be caught eventually, and decides to turn himself in.
TV Week reports that Tane is arrested and faces trial, as Ethan Browne explains that his character’s decision will have major consequences: “He’s facing prison time for sure,” Ethan tells the publication.
Worse still, he still faces the prospect of losing baby Maia to the government care system, the exact thing he was trying to avoid.
Despite the Parata family’s reputation, and some foolish decisions since he first moved to Summer Bay, Tane has managed to avoid a criminal record up until now. Is all that about to change, and will Tane face jail for his actions?
Elsewhere, Justin (James Stewart) is dealing with the fallout of Kirby’s (Angelina Thomson) bombshell, in which she revealed that Theo (Matt Wilson) had stolen money from him to spend on drugs.
Theo has been hooked on party drugs since Valerie’s arrival in Summer Bay earlier this year. Valerie uses them to cope when things get tough, and it didn’t take long for Theo to appreciate their benefits.
Theo did his best to quit the habit early on, but Valerie (Courtney Clarke) became upset when she learnt that he’d only pretended to take one during one of their sessions, and encouraged him to pop another pill as an apology.
Last week saw the pair desperate for more, but with cash in short supply, they were forced to betray the man who’s given them a roof over their heads.
With Lyrik set to perform at Leah (Ada Nicodemou) and Justin’s wedding, Theo explained to Justin that the band didn’t want paying, but that he did need some urgent cash for sound equipment.
Justin happily obliged, but when he mentioned the deal to a confused Kirby just hours later, she realised that Theo had in fact stolen the money to spend on drugs.
Kirby was forced to fess up to Justin, explaining how she knew that Theo and Valerie had a drug problem, but that she’d kept it to herself. With his wedding to Leah rapidly approaching, Justin pleaded with Kirby not to tell Leah, as he rushed to try and get hold of Theo himself.
As the wedding of the year airs tomorrow, Theo returns just in time, and Justin is forced to play happy families so as to not disrupt the ceremony.Theo joyously acts as best man, with no idea what’s around the corner.
With the ceremony over and done with, Valerie gets out her little bag of pills and suggests to Theo that they have some fun.
“Come on, don’t you want to be an even better best man?” she asks encouragingly, as Justin watches on with concern.
Justin then takes the opportunity to confront his nephew.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on?”
“I would, but I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Theo retorts.
“About you stealing money from me to buy drugs.”
Now, TV Week reports that the police are set to get involved in the weeks to come. The publication states that drugs will be found stashed in the Lyrik van, prompting the police to investigate.
As Justin finds out what’s happened, he’s finally forced to tell Leah the truth.
The newlyweds both agree that Theo is better off without Valerie, and tell him so. Yet despite Theo knowing they’re right, his heart says otherwise, and he’s not ready to say goodbye to the girl he was falling in love with.
Will Theo choose Valerie over his family?
