Next week on Home and Away in the UK, as Roo attempts to settle her foster child into her new life, Eliza’s fascination with death leaves us wondering whether she’s bringing danger to the bay.
This week saw the arrival of Eliza Sherwood (Martha Kate Morgan), a 14 year old girl who Roo (Georgie Parker) was asked to foster.
Eliza needed a new foster parent as a matter of urgency, after her last foster home was destroyed in a fire. Everyone got out safely, but Eliza was left with a burn to her arm.
Roo began her journey into fostering last year, after being inspired by Tane’s (Ethan Browne) request that she apply to foster the baby he found on the beach.
Although the baby’s mother, Sonia (Olivia Beardsley), eventually took her daughter back into her care, Roo was inspired to push forward with her application.
Roo was nervous about taking on a foster child, despite having completed all of the relevant courses, but Marilyn (Emily Symons) buoyed her by reminding her of how she successfully nurtured Maddy (Kassandra Clementi) and nephew Ryder (Lukas Radovich) over the years, and assured her that she and Alf (Ray Meagher) will be there to support her along the way.
When Eliza arrived at Summer Bay House earlier this week, the teen made it clear that she wouldn’t be sticking around for long.
While it was obvious that Roo was feeling uneasy about her new foster child’s demeanour, Roo put it down to her being frightened after her traumatic ordeal.
“That’s why I mustn’t give up on her,” Roo stated, clearly holding her reservations back. “No matter what.”
However, it quickly became clear to viewers that Roo has every reason to be concerned. Alone in her room, Eliza opened her musical box, the only possession she was able to save from the fire, and carefully looked through the items inside – a white feather, a lock of blonde hair, a family photo with the parents’ faces scratched out, a ring, and a lighter!
As she flicked the lighter on and stared transfixed at the flame, we were left wondering whether Eliza was the one who started the fire.
The following morning, as Marilyn went out of her way to make Eliza feel at home, preparing her a varied breakfast, Eliza was dismissive of her efforts.
Soon after, she lifted a $50 note from Marilyn’s handbag, and when she returned from a shopping trip with a thank-you card for Roo, it led to a tense confrontation when Roo asked how Eliza paid for it.
Eliza was upset that Roo appeared to be accusing her of stealing, but when Roo apologised and went to hug her, Eliza’s cold and blank stare made it clear that she had Roo right where she wanted her.
Next week, Roo continues to introduce Eliza to her friends in Summer Bay, as they head to the coffee cart, where she meets Justin (James Stewart) and Leah (Ada Nicodemou).
Eliza continues to be distant, not wanting to engage with Roo’s friends, and makes a quick exit as soon as she’s got her hot chocolate.
Roo explains that Eliza’s school reports claim that she’s very bright, but she’s just hoping that she comes out of her shell soon.
As Roo and Eliza walk along the beach, Eliza begins to open up about her struggles with school – the other kids picked on her, then the teachers blamed her for being disruptive.
Roo wonders whether Eliza’s brightness meant she was bored at school, so she suggests that they should home-school her instead, allowing them to work at her own pace (and saving the crew from having to dig out the long-forgotten Summer Bay High set).
Despite Roo’s offer to homeschool her, in the hopes that it would be more engaging, Eliza seems unenthused either way, and asks Roo what she thinks she should do.
Roo emphasises that Eliza needs to be the one to make the decision herself, but she’ll support her either way.
Alf is equally unenthused when Roo fills him in – how is Eliza going to make any friends if she’s not going to school?
As Eliza joins Roo, Maz and Alf for dinner that evening, she continues to be cold with them, and storms out to the caravan park without touching her food.
When Roo follows to find out what’s going on, Eliza finally snaps – Roo doesn’t need to pretend that she likes her, plenty of people have made that promise in the past, and they all eventually abandon her.
“Telling me this is going to be a home, telling me that everything’s gonna be okay. It doesn’t last. Sooner or later you’ll just get sick of me. You will.“
“No, I won’t,” Roo assures her. “You have my word that that’s not going to happen, okay? You have my word.”
It’s only when Levi (Tristan Gorey) arrives at the house to dress Eliza’s burn the following morning that she finally perks up.
She’s clearly intrigued when Levi reveals that he’s a heart surgeon, and she begins firing questions at him, asking him what’s the most intense surgery he’s ever done.
Roo explains that Levi recently operated on a baby while it was still in the womb – Harper (Jessica Redmayne) and Tane’s (Ethan Browne) baby boy – and Eliza’s eyes light up. They’ve finally found something she’s interested in!
However, Levi’s eyes widen when Eliza asks him what it’s like cutting into people, and Alf and Maz’s shared look make it clear that they’re concerned.
Her interest in the gory details of surgeries continues the following day, as Roo begins homeschooling her.
She initially has no interest in any of the subjects, but when she spots some intriguing photos in the history textbook, depicting bandaged wounds and saws used for amputation during World War I, she’s suddenly very interested.
Alf spots an opportunity to engage with her, regaling her with stories of his grandfather’s time in the war, and his time in Vietnam, but it’s clear that the war itself isn’t her main interest, as she asks him what it was like to see people die.
Do they need to worry about her fascination with injuries and death?
With Alf having found something in common with Roo’s new foster child, he invites her to come join him at the surf club, and she jumps at the chance to do something other than schooling.
Unsurprisingly, Eliza has little interest when Alf shows her how to change the batteries in the club radios, nor the amount of paperwork involved, and she’s equally unengaged when John (Shane Withington) introduces himself and begins sharing his experience with his own foster children.
She perks up again when she catches sight of Tane and a heavily pregnant Harper as they leave Salt together.
Once Tane is out of the way, Eliza rushes over to Harper, immediately placing her hand on Harper’s baby bump and asking what it feels like when the baby moves.
Harper is taken aback – “What are you doing?” – and Roo is forced to sweep in and pull Eliza away, before later explaining that she can’t go around touching people without permission.
She urges Eliza to apologise to Harper, but the teen can’t see what she’s done wrong.
When Eliza returns to helping Alf with his daily chores around the bay, they head to the newly opened bait shop, where he sets her to work washing the returned kayaks and wetsuits.
While she gets on with the task at hand, it’s when she heads inside that her interest piques, as she finds Alf sorting and cleaning his collection of fishing knives.
As Alf explains what each of the knives are for, he mistakes Eliza’s curiosity for an interest in fishing, and invites her to join him in the morning.
However, her real interest was the knives themselves, and as heads to get her a rod and reel, she’s briefly left alone with them.
That evening, after another awkward dinner at Summer Bay House, she heads back to her room, where she opens her prized music box once again.
She pulls Alf’s knife from her pocket, having stolen it from the bait shop, and examines it closely before adding it to her collection, which she stashes back under the bed.
Now with a lighter and a knife in her small but unusual collection of belongings, just what does Eliza have planned?
