Despite Lewis’ best efforts, the grim reaper hasn’t visited Summer Bay in a long time. Mason Morgan was shot during the siege at Northern Districts in the 2019 season finale, and Robbo Shaw died of internal bleeding shortly after in dramatic episodes that aired at the start of the 2020 season.
Their deaths continue to have an influence on the town’s citizens, with Jasmine only just resuming dating and Tori currently afraid that Justin’s unpredictable behaviour will result in the loss of a second brother.
Summer Bay has gone nearly a year without a death, which is impressive considering the town’s vulnerability to natural calamities, explosions, and gang activity. All of that is about to change this week, though, when a body is discovered on the beach. Worse yet, it’s someone we recognise!
According to TV Week, the body will belong to one of Leah (Ada Nicodemou), Justin (James Stewart), Mackenzie (Emily Weir), or Susie (Emily Weir) (Bridie Carter).
And, in the course of a dramatic week of episodes, all four of them could meet their maker.
For months, Leah and Justin have been in a rough place. Justin has been spiralling out of control due to his continuous back pain, while Leah has been sidetracked by her search for Susie to the detriment of her relationships. He’s gotten hooked to painkillers, and we’ve seen him become increasingly frantic in recent weeks to acquire a steady supply of the hazardous drugs.
He started by calling each medical centre and stating that his doctor was out of the country or busy with other patients, and persuading them to issue him a new prescription. He tried unsuccessfully to get Christian (Ditch Davey) to write him another play, but the doctor wisely declined.
Justin became desperate and turned to the internet to get his dose, obtaining faulty pills from an unknown source.
His addiction has caused him to become increasingly erratic, and his temper swings recently led in him firing Ziggy (Sophie Dillman) and smashing a cup in rage after he came to a stalemate with one medical centre.
Last week, his dangerous online buy caused him to pass out, prompting Leah and Alf to explore the garage for indications of how he’d overdosed. When Leah discovered several bottles of medications concealed in a locked cupboard, she realised for the first time how much difficulty he was in.
She’s doing her hardest to encourage her partner and convince him that he has a serious problem, but she’s hitting a brick wall.
Justin becomes more violent than ever this week. He’s jealous, out of control, refusing to admit that he’s an addict… But surely he wouldn’t go too far and murder Leah?
Is it possible that Justin will meet his match? He’s planning to lash out and punch newcomer Stephen (Bren Foster) this week… We don’t know much about Stephen or what he’s capable of — will he retaliate and do something he’ll regret?
When it comes to Mackenzie, her behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic.
As you can see in the latest ad below, she’s about to make a huge fool of herself when she gatecrashes Nikau’s (Kawakawa Fox-Reo) party at the Parata House, and she’ll be embarrassed the next day when she realises there’s video footage of her activities.
She rips into Mia (Anna Samson) at the party when she begs her to come inside, makes another attempt on Emmett (JR Reyne), and scolds Dean when he wants to take her home. As she attempts to cope with her sadness, she is alienating more and more people, and this is her lowest point yet.
When Dean returns the next day to check on her, she is nowhere to be found. After her miscarriage and separation with Ari (Rob Kipa-Williams), she’s still in a lot of pain, so has she done something stupid?
Dean is unable to contact her as time passes, and is compelled to contact the police to report her missing. Is it going to be her body that washes up on the shore?
While TV Week states that four persons have been identified as the mysterious body, it appears that identifying the likely victim is very simple. We get regular peeks of the actors filming the show at Sydney’s Palm Beach, and the cast also posts the rare behind-the-scenes snapshot on social media, which can help us figure out when a character is departing… or not.
Emily Symons, who plays Marilyn, recently posted a behind-the-scenes shot of a wedding that was recently postponed, which was generally assumed to be that of Tori and Christian.
We don’t expect Leah or Justin to die any time soon, given that the wedding hasn’t happened yet and isn’t slated to air for several months.
TV shows are known to share photographs on social media just to throw viewers off, but dressing three of the cast members up in expensive formal wedding garb seems like a lot of effort. We think it’s safe to say Leah and Justin aren’t the mysterious body.
The cast turned to Instagram again a few days later, this time sharing a series of behind-the-scenes photos from a lavish gala held at Salt.
Sam Frost, who plays Jasmine, shared images of a number of cast members, including James Stewart (Justin), Shane Withington (John), and Lynne McGranger (Irene), but most significantly, she shared a shot of a beaming Emily Weir, captioning it, “Take a look at her, what a stunner.”
In recent months, Emily Weir has been seen filming with newbie Harley Bonner. Harley, who previously appeared in Neighbours as Josh Willis, will soon be seen as Dr Logan Bennett, the town’s newest doctor.
Emily and Harley were seen kissing and holding hands in paparazzi images, implying that the two are romantically linked… or at the very least another one of Mac’s fleeting encounters.
Again, because these scenes haven’t yet broadcast, Mackenzie appears to be ruled out as this week’s shocking death.
Susie McAllister is the only one left.
Susie vanished from Summer Bay after defrauding Leah, Justin, and the Surf Club of tens of thousands of dollars. While she had recently reconnected with John and agreed to meet with him, she was startled to see that he wasn’t alone — Leah and Stephen were lurking in the shadows.
But what caused her body to wash up on Summer Bay’s shore? Is this part of her ruse, or has something gone horribly wrong with the next stage of her scheme?
How would Leah and John react if they realise their scammer died before they could bring her to justice after spending so much time tracking her down?
“Our viewers are in for a wild ride,” series producer Lucy Addario said of this week’s shocking revelation to TV Week. The terrible revelation is expected to happen on Thursday’s episode, so we won’t have to wait long to find out what happened!
