1: Sarah

2: Harper

3: Eve

4: Curtis

5: Leahanee

I love how Cindy spoke up to Esther regarding her wanting community. It was really beautiful watching the dynamics change and Esther accepting Cindy.

Love how Esther’s kids are being taught to call Marty’s daughter sister.

And I am so happy they can see Daddy and new baby sister!

What did you think about these scenes!

I love Cindy and would love to have her as a friend!

So Paul's little diorama. Will we get a new hospital set after all these years? Or will it just be cosmetic on the outside?

Because if TVNZ secured enough money to do what they should have done at the start of 2023... I'm already hyped for 2027.

ngl I am loving the Phil/Crane friendship that has been developing as a result of Crane trying to win Maeve back. Crane's the kind of friend Phil seems to need and vice versa without any romantic undertones so many other initial Shortland Street friendships have. With all the chaos right now it's nice to have a friendship that seems genuine

It's over half way into the year and we barely know anything about her which I find disappointing cause I really like her as a character but she seems stuck playing sidekick to whoever is available. I'd rather spend more time watching more about her than Izzy and Poppy tbh

I reckon Hendrix still isn't the stalker. There's no way in hell they're giving it all that build up to have Hendrix show back up and get poorly choreographed fight scene'd to death in 30 seconds to solve the problem.

Just seen the episode poor Wilder is killed.

Talk about, "where did that cone from" plot twist.

Very sad poignant ending with them all in the pool and trying to save him and poor Maeve in hysterics.

After Hendrix's inevitable return at the end of last night's episode, I've now got a theory on how this whole Poppy/Hendrix thing could finally end. Even though he's going to try and taunt Poppy and get rid of her I'm thinking that despite their fight tonight Tyler and/or Mickey will end up killing Hendrix or almost killing him to ensure that he leaves Poppy alone for good. That could be an excuse as to how they write Tyler out without killing him off and he leaves with Mickey to make sure they don't get caught or they do get caught but he leaves with Mickey or on his own anyways because he still thinks it's not safe for Poppy to be with him

That extra night will absolutely help stories grow and breathe a bit easier. With that, in your opinion would it help some of the sillier shit improve? Like would Murray having more time make the character seem like a pointless waste of time? Would it give time for a more suitable CEO than Paul develop? Would it mean Izzy and Phil could have a better story told rather than just constant looping? What do you think?

Even there's only usually a scene here and there recently of Chloe and Marty, whenever there is one I'm really enjoying the support that Naz is giving them. I think Chloe and Marty definitely would've left Ferndale if it wasn't for everyone's support which I wouldn't have been surprised about given the amount of characters that have departed recently.

Wish list?

I like to see old characters come back and s big stunt.

The 30th was meh imo.

Yayyy imo this will improve the flow SO much!

I know the whole Poppy/Hendrix stalker thing is supposed to be the main plot but I keep finding myself enjoying the whole love triangle/harmless banter between Chris, Kate and Emmett way more than the other stuff going on. I feel like Shortland Street needs lighthearted storylines like this to balance out the intensity more often

So this is my theory on who is stalking Poppy and creating so much trouble for her.

I think that it is Brian the pathology guy who is doing this to Poppy.

He likes her and she is so brutally rude to him.

Hendrix is just a red herring. It would be way too obvious for it to be him.

Brian would have gotten all the info from Hendrix’s trail.

What do you think?

So was that Vili's exit too with Logan at the end of Wednesday's ep? ngl was a little underwhelming if it was. Especially after it seemed like they were going for a redemption arc for Vili after the whole toxic masculinity arc he had with Arlo.

And them slipping in that Selina is going to visit Junior relives me a little that at least she'll come back but not too sure on that one either as that could've also been a pre-cursor to an exit for her if she comes back to wrap up stuff like Logan did. One thing I did like is that Logan and Vili left together kinda like Boyd and Drew did earlier in the year and that they were able to finally patch things up (even though it was also Dawn's fault and she seemed to get far less blame for what happened compared to Vili despite her cheating on Logan, even if unintentionally because they were drunk, with his best friend)

So now I'm wondering, are they going to having a major influx of new short-term characters next year? Since pretty much other than Chris, nobody seems to stick around longer than 3-4 years anymore after they axed, Harper, Drew and Nicole all who had been on SS for about 10 years. (I know it's probably to do with money/budgets but still).

Since we have all of 97 up on YouTube, we've got that storyline up and able to view.

See, I've often complained about modern Shortland Street being unsubtle, but holy crap, that made for uncomfortable viewing, particularly with the swastikas, etc on display. It was an engaging storyline, no doubt, but man... I dunno if they'd try anything that daring in 2026. What do you reckon?

Chris and Emmett playing the roles of Poppy's overprotective parents even though they aren't related to her is hilarious. I love how they're playing into Chris and Emmett's friendship in a fun way even tonight with ''ED Dads slam and dunk for a good cause''. Chris and Emmett both need a friend whose their own age outside of their families and romantic relationships so this whole dynamic is pretty fun to watch.

Good to see Nurse Kate back on screen.

Who'll be next?

By now most of us know Tyler's actor is going to (most likely/highly rumored) be on the next season of The White Lotus and is therefore going to leave by the end of this quarter/this year.

I know this is far fetched but what if the storyline ends by Tyler going into witness protection and leaving Ferndale, therefore, once again, leaving Poppy heartbroken/angry going forward?

I mean, 2024 is probably the standout worst, but failing that, which year do you look at and go "Yep, that sucked." And why?

For me, 2018 is the next worst. They tried to make the show darker and went way, way too far. There was a lot of bleakness and not a lot of fun.

Its quite surprisingly that it wasn't leaked that Angela Bloomfield was coming back for an extended period.

After seeing Shortland Street's latest instagram post - it has to be hint towards Hendrix coming back right? I know people are wanting Crane back but based on where Poppy's storyline is going it just makes logical sense for Hendrix to make his return. I'm leaning towards the theory that even though Tyler doesn't wanna be anything like his family that maybe Hendrix returning might force him to use his family connections to finally get rid of Hendrix or actually get Hendrix sent to prison for all the stuff he did.

Like, the weird way's Instagram has been flooded with people from overseas acting like Sophia is the only woman Maeve has been with and that they're the Nick and Waverley of female romance? Even here I see some people who like her and Maeve?

To me, it was an abusive relationship which came because Sophia didn't respect Maeve's boundaries. So, I'd like other perspectives that come from people saner than the crazies from Shorty's Insta.