How does it stack up against other moments?
Strewth! Home and Away promised a catastrophic train derailment would leave the lives of several characters on the line in its season final – and that’s exactly what the beloved show delivered.
In the heart-stopping final moments of Wednesday’s triple-episode of season final, a ‘party train’ bound for the (accurately named) Off the Rails music festival in Broken Hill derailed in a tunnel, sending the train skidding off the tracks and passengers flying.
Fan favourites Remi (Adam Rowland), Mac (Emily Weir) and others were left unconscious on the ground. Were they alive or dead? We’ll have to wait until the show returns in 2026 to find out who survives.
As cliffhangers go, a train crash, set away from Summer Bay, was an ambitious way for the show to go out. Truth is, the final two minutes of the triple ep final provided one of this year’s most dramatic H&A moments. Did it leave us gobsmacked in the same way as Theo’s (Matt Evans) death earlier this year? Nope. Or was it as memorable as Irene (Lynne McGranger) leaving the Bay? No way.
At this point, H&A has had more deadly, drama-filled moments than Alf (Ray Meagher) has had baked dinners. Many of those moments have taken place in final episodes of the year.
Since the show first landed on our screens in 1988, seasons have ended with everything from sieges, floods, crashes and fatal shootings.
And here’s what the good ones all have in common – the edge-of-your-seat drama leaves you hankering to know what happens next. That agonising months-long wait for the series’ return, when the truth is finally revealed, is almost impossible to bear.
In that sense, this year’s final absolutely succeeded. Fans will be desperate to know who lives and who doesn’t.
The best cliffhangers need an element of danger. The 2023 season final, for example, featured a crash and a kidnapping. Double-whammy!
Some fans thought last year’s season final, some of which centred on the fate of Harper’s (Jessica Redmayne) unborn baby, was a little lacklustre. This year’s final, however, did propel us towards the shocking crash.
Much of the final ep focused on getting everyone aboard the train. With Remi having recently secured a spot for Eddie (Stephen Madsen) on the bill at the music festival, the train ride to the festival was a chance to party before the big event. Along for the ride were several of their friends, including Justin (James Stewart), Lacey (Sophea Pennington), Dana (Ally Harris), Abigail (Hailey Pinto), Sonny (Ryan Bown) and Eddie’s girlfriend, Jo (Maddison Brown).
Eddie’s proposal to Jo was a surprise for fans, particularly as he’s a relatively new character. Many fans likely wanted Jo to choose bicep-flexing Tane (Ethan Browne) over him. A conflicted Jo pushed pause while she collected her thoughts. And then, minutes later, all hell broke loose when the train derailed.
One of the final’s touching moments saw Leah (Ada Nicodemou) admitting to Alf that she’d been using Sonny as a replacement for her nephew Theo, who recently died tragically. “I haven’t been dealing with grief, I’ve been living it,” a sobbing Leah told an understanding Alf.
Where does this year’s final stack up against almost four decades of other H&A finals? Around the middle. The deadly train crash – all two minutes of it – was a thrilling finish to the year.
Home and Away will return in 2026 on Channel Seven and 7Plus.
