When Neighbours burst back onto our screens with the surprise twist of Terese marrying Toadie, long-time viewers were confused.
The two had always been good friends, and Sonya and Terese used to support each other’s sobriety from alcohol. But how on Earth did they get together?
That’s one of the big questions that needs to be answered on Neighbours during the week of 11-13-23. The series will intertwine flashbacks of the missing two years with present-day stories, hopefully leaving us with more answers than questions.
Melanie’s return to Erinsborough last Thursday set things in motion. Now she’ll have an incredible story to tell — but will Toadie believe her?
She tells him and Terese that she has to go back to two years ago, but it’s not clear exactly what her story is. But it looks like she’s running from an accidental death — a clip in the spoiler video shows her tussling with someone who then falls.
Time jumps weren’t a soap opera trope until Days of Our Lives tried one. But Neighbours’ version is more logical.
The series had to jump forward in time because everything had been wrapped up neatly during the original finale. So the best way to undo all the happily ever afters was to go into the future, with little explanation of how these people had gotten from where we left off to where they are now.
The flashback week promises to explain all — and even better, there will be many returns to accompany the story.
A dozen characters are returning. David, Aaron, Nicolette, and (presumably) Isla will be back, and David and Aaron are staying beyond the flashback week. Elly, Bea, and Chloe are also slated for return, and Callum will feature in flashbacks.
Yashvi Rebecchi will also return, probably in flashbacks, and for some reason, Amy Greenwood is back. I’m not looking forward to Amy’s return — she added nothing to the show beyond a ridiculous dating-two-men-at-once storyline that I’d rather forget.
And Imogen will again return, as she did for the wedding, as well as Mal Kennedy and Phil Martin.
It’ll be fun to catch up with familiar characters and find out who’s staying and only appearing in flashbacks.
It’s also fascinating how many storylines seem to be interconnected. Eden’s the key to all of this, but how? He was introduced as a random bad guy who messed with Holly and Mackenzie, but he also has been living with Melanie and hit Nell.
Hopefully, Eden’s obsessive love story, or whatever it is, will soon end. If anyone deserves to go to jail, it’s him!
Please scroll down to check out all eight Neighbours spoilers for the week of 11-13-23.
Melanie tries to tell Toadie and Terese her story.
According to spoilers, Toadie refuses to believe her — and why should he?
Melanie told him she was leaving because she wasn’t cut out to be a stepmom. She deeply hurt his kids, especially Nell, and broke his heart.
Whatever her story is, Toadie’s moved on, and it should stay that way. What she did was seriously uncool, and it’s hard to imagine an excuse that would make it palatable.
An unassuming resident of Ramsey Street confesses their part.
Since Eden is involved with nearly every storyline in the flashback, it’s likely Holly’s the one who comes forward.
She’s hardly unassuming, though. Nobody on Ramsey Street is.
But is she to blame for any of what happened? Or is she feeling guilty when she’s not responsible?
Paul scrambles to stop Terese from knowing why he broke up with her.
A spoiler clip has David confronting Paul, suggesting he call the cops instead of keeping the lies going, but Paul refuses. Instead, he wants to stop Melanie from telling the truth.
How are these two connected? And what does it have to do with Paul’s breakup with Terese?
Stefan Dennis has said that Paul left Terese to protect her. In lesser hands, that would be a tired soap trope, but I want to know what the story is here!
David, Aaron, and Nicolette return to Erinsborough.
I’m thrilled these three are back, though hopefully, we’re past everyone using Nicolette as a punching bag.
Paul did a number on her last time, only for everyone she loved to treat her like the worst villain in the world. We don’t need any more of that.
Nicollete has been recast, so she’s likely back for longer than a few days. I can’t wait to find out what she gets up to!
We learn how Eden and Holly’s story ties into the last two years’ events.
Eden doesn’t seem like the most important character. He was horrible to Holly, dated Mackenzie for a few weeks, and then absconded with everyone’s wallets before displaying a violent streak no one expected.
How, exactly, is he related to any of the rest of what we’re about to learn?
Some long-time viewers have suggested that Eden is Melanie and Paul’s son. Let’s hope not! Paul’s had more than enough pop-up children; David and Leo should be the last to find out they’re his.
Will Reece’s search for Krista relate to everything else that happened two years ago?
Reece and Bryan’s search for Krista ties into the bigger mystery involving Paul, Melanie, and Eden, though it’s hard to understand how.
Did Krista get involved with Eden? We already know he’s violent, so he could have kidnapped her or left her for dead somewhere.
Let’s hope this story doesn’t have a tragic ending. Neighbours is often light-hearted, but things get intense when it goes for devastation.
Past and future collide as secrets come out and tensions come to a head.
The flashbacks are interspersed with current-day reactions to what everyone’s learning. Among other things, could Toadie and Terese be headed for a breakup for the sake of drama?
While some viewers feel they’re mismatched, the fact is that Toadie moved on with Terese. I don’t like it when soap characters drop their current love the second they learn a former love is available.
Toadie and Terese are adults who should play it more maturely than that. Let’s hope they do.
Once they know the truth, everyone must figure out where to go from here.
The secrets of the past two years will turn everyone’s life upside down. Toadie’s not the only one who’ll have decisions to make.
If the events of the past two years have anything to do with Krisa and Reece, it’ll leave Reece with yet more decisions to make.
The Varga-Murphys weren’t in town when this happened, but could JJ’s biological father be mixed up with all of this, too?
Your turn, Neighbours fanatics. What do you think we’ll discover during the flashbacks? And which returning characters do you hope stay longer than this special week?
Hit the big blue SHOW COMMENTS button, and let us know your thoughts.
For more Neighbours chat, check out the latest Neighbours reviews
Neighbours streams on Amazon Freevee in the US and UK and Amazon Prime in Canada. New episodes drop Mondays through Thursdays after broadcast on Australia’s Peach 10.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.