A shocking new plot for David Tanaka has begun on Neighbours.
Following the disaster at River Bend, David elected not to treat a dying Gareth Bateman (Jack Pearson) on Friday’s episode of the Australian soap.
Following Freya Wozniak’s desperate attempts to seek him down, Neighbours’ latest episode eventually revealed the truth about Gareth after weeks of mystery.
Gareth said that he was never in danger from criminals or crooked cops after shooting Levi Canning (Richie Morris) and kidnapping Freya (Phoebe Roberts).
Gareth confessed to Freya that he was in collaboration with the gangsters, who have since guarded him.
Gareth remembered how he utilised his employment at the courts to assist the offenders by passing jury notes to their lawyers so that they could understand what the jurors were thinking and change their defence strategy accordingly.
Gareth went into hiding after someone at the courthouse became suspicious, and he cooked up a narrative about shady coppers so Freya wouldn’t delve too deeply.
Gareth had gatecrashed the River Bend excursion to assassinate Levi before he knew too much, continuing to obey orders.
After holding Freya at gunpoint and forcing her to drive away with him in the River Bend mini-bus, he appeared to be planning to do the same to her.
When Freya noticed Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) cowering in the rear of the truck, she hoped for rescue. He had plainly found himself in the wrong place at the wrong moment.
Aaron attempted to help Freya but was shortly discovered by Gareth, who brutally beat him and left him for dead.
Just as it appeared that Gareth couldn’t be stopped, an injured Levi arrived in the middle of the road. Gareth shot Levi in the arm yesterday, but he appears to have escaped major injury.
Freya swerved to avoid hitting Levi, smashing the car and sending Gareth flying through the windshield.
Meanwhile, David teamed up with Amy Greenwood (Jacinta Stapleton) to make a surprise appearance at River Bend, feeling guilty over recent rows with Aaron.
Amy had her own motives for attending, including the hope of reconciling with Ned Willis (Ben Hall).
David and Amy discovered Aaron unconscious in the road as they were approaching the hideaway. They opted to take him to the hospital themselves after contacting 911 and learning that an ambulance could take up to an hour to arrive.
When David and Amy got back in the car, they came across another frightening image when they discovered the crashed minibus and realised they’d have to stop.
With Gareth in severe condition, Amy and Levi agreed to drive Aaron to the hospital. Freya and David agreed to remain on the site to assist Gareth.
Freya briefed David on recent occurrences once they were alone: “He was planning to assassinate me. I assumed he’d slain both Levi and Aaron.”
“He did that to Aaron?” David enquired, appalled.
“He simply continued punching him,” Freya affirmed.
David and Freya took a step back and decided not to treat Gareth after seeing that he was unlikely to survive his injuries anyway.
Gareth’s Erinsborough Hospital coworkers observed as he grew weaker and eventually died.
“David finds Aaron and from that point, David’s life is about to alter in a really significant way,” Takaya Honda, who plays David, previously hinted at this scenario to Digital Spy.
“I have no idea what that is!” But, from the standpoint of ‘who is David,’ issues will arise. I’m looking forward to the public discovering that with David and riding along with him.”
Last year, Shane Isheev, the storey editor for Neighbours, hinted at this plotline.
“Just spent an awesome day in the #Neighbours writers’ room, plotting a moment I hope will go down as one of the show’s most shocking,” Shane teased on Twitter in September.
Shane added today’s follow-up: “Those of you in the United Kingdom… ‘THE MOMENT’ is approaching. It’ll have repercussions all the way to the conclusion. Put your seatbelt on!”
