Home and Away Season Finale gets mixed reaction

 On Monday, Home and Away came to an end in Australia, in a three-episode finale that saw Alf learn the truth about the son of Martha, sleeping together with Ziggy and Tane, and facing Colby in jail.

But some viewers did not receive the finale well with many arguing that it was not as thrilling as finales in years gone by.

A ton had to fit into the final week of the show. It was a big shock for both Alf and Roo that Martha’s son showed up in Summer Bay, with Roo coming to terms with the fact that she has a half brother. The friendship between Dean and Ziggy looks to be over for good, with Ziggy finding herself with Tane in bed. Justin’s first day back at work meanwhile was marred by a police raid, as the cops were looking for signs of stolen property.

Plus we got our first glimpse of Lewis, the new character, bumping into Jasmine in jail. Yet they missed the drama and excitement that usually fills a season finale, even with such a busy final few episodes.

The dramatic 2019 finale last year saw a siege at Northern Districts Hospital, with Marilyn, Mason, Alex, Bella, Jasmine, and several other favorites from Summer Bay taken hostage by the Ouroboros gang while tracking down Robbo.

With the death of Mason Morgan, and the discovery that Scott was really on the side of Ouroboros, the big shocks came in the final minutes, leaving Robbo in grave danger.

The final scene of this year showed Colby surrounded by jail prisoners, when we heard one of them say, “You really thought you’d get away with it… Constable Thorne!” ”

Yet the final scene had already been previewed in the final week promo almost in its entirety, with fans expecting us to see a little more of Colby’s demise in the final moments of the episode.

We were also hoping to see the armed robbery of the Paratas play out or at least a big fight with Paul and Leon, criminal buddies. For a number of weeks, the Parata drama was building, and last Thursday’s episodes saw Ari receive Paul’s text telling him that all was set for their robbery.

So maybe the biggest season finale shock was the utter lack of reference in Monday’s triple-bill to the robbery. The police searched the garage, looking for signs that would lead them to Tane’s stolen goods, but the robbery itself was no closer to happening.

At the lackluster finale, fans took to the Back to the Bay forum to air their disappointment, with many speculating that the Covid break interrupted the final episodes planned.

The worst season finale in 32 years.

• Either that wasn’t the expected cliffhanger, or someone’s head was going to roll.
  ‘the Dag Puppy’
• That was the planned finale, there is no way. Something went wrong this year with the number of episodes.
  ‘Home and Away’
• For a season final, it was very average, but a three-month covid break probably didn’t help matters.
  Lynd. ‘Lynd’
• That was definitely not the finale of the season! It looked to me like an ordinary episode in the middle of the week. I was feeling cheated.
  ‘The Natasha’
• Thoroughly underwhelming. The only thing I really liked was the sort of closure to the plot of Tori/Jasmine/Robbo. Finally, the chapters on all that happened were closed, allowing them both to go on and live their lives next year. Wrapping up the drama for both of them filled the year. That was sweet. Otherwise ·
  Lauzzz
• Yeah, I’m with others and it felt like a regular triple episode… The season finale last year was possibly the most intense finale in my 13 years of viewing, followed by the following year as the most underwhelming season finale I’ve seen. But for everyone the year was exceptional and unprecedented, so no doubt it interfered with that. The Keiran storyline is the most fascinating thing I am looking forward to, I guess.
  Wanderer101 The Wanderer
• I’m waiting to air the finale! Maybe tomorrow? 
• Nah, I’m with everyone for real. I think the filming distance, unfortunately, stopped the electrifying finale from happening, but it seems as if Colby is up Ship Creek, and Kieran may be a problem for the bay.
  CaptainTed84 Captain

I don’t think that was what was meant. We seem to have about 15 (maybe more) fewer episodes. Because of the Olympics, I know we’d have 10 fewer because it went ahead, but it just feels like a regular episode. I was thinking that the Colby thing was going to happen, that the Paratas would have their showdown, maybe one or two more dramatic things. It seemed like it was supposed to be a couple more eps or so leading up to the final.
He-hapitoby

However in the 2020 season finale, Lynne McGranger, who plays Irene Roberts on the show, had a different opinion. To react to people’s negative comments and defend the show, she took to social media.

She replied on Instagram to a fan who described the show as “boring, disappointing with no cliffhanger.”

“Gee, Sebastian is so sorry, but a tiny little pandemic kind of got in the way,” Lynne quipped, perhaps realizing that the Coronavirus pandemic disrupted the initial final plans of the show.

“In defense of the hard work of the cast and crew, she also tweeted and described the final episode as a-freaking-mazing”.

Could the pandemic have affected the final episodes of the show?

A standard home and Away season include 230 episodes. This was due to be an Olympic year, meaning that in Australia the show usually takes an additional two-week break, leading to a shorter 220-episode season.

Yet this year, only 205 episodes aired in total, thanks to the global pandemic and the extended break the show took in March and April.

Might it be that the show ended a little prematurely? Was it originally intended to end the season finale on the 220th or 230th episode, but planning difficulties meant that the end was brought forward by a few weeks, with some episodes un-aired?

The real explanation for the much less thrilling finale, we’ll probably never know. If there is a fairly dramatic cliffhanger of 15 episodes in the next season, however, keep your eyes open next year it will add some weight to the rumor that the show ended earlier than expected.

In the first few weeks of next year, we definitely expect exciting drama, as Colby gets his comeuppance in jail, the Paratas eventually carry out their heist (or don’t and Heath Braxon makes his return.