Martha’s estranged son arrives in town during this week’s Home and Away in Australia, causing issues between her and Alf. Things are about to get complicated as we hurtle towards the season finale.
Last week’s episodes saw Martha admit to Irene that she has a son, and that Alf has no idea that he exists!
As far as Martha knows, her son doesn’t know where she is… but that is about to change, as Summer Bay shows up unannounced.
Recently, Alf pressed Martha for more specifics on her past relationships, and while she made it very clear that she had not lived a nun’s life for the 30 years they were apart the details were also quite scarce. On the Thursday triple bill, she got a mysterious letter from a man called Kieran, who wrote that she had to speak to him and would soon see him.
Whoever this man was it was definitely someone from whom she did not expect to hear. She made an equally enigmatic phone call to someone else from her past, soon after receiving the email.
She thanked them for passing on Kieran’s letter, glad that they hadn’t told him where she was living now. “I truly never thought I’d hear again from him the caller told her. Listen, I must come and see him myself. Tomorrow, how about? ”
She set out to make arrangements for this other man to go to Merimbula to meet him, leaving Alf very confused. With the bombshell, however, obviously weighing on her mind, she later admitted to Irene the truth. She’s frenziedly worried about how Alf would react to the news that she has a son, and she’s been keeping it secret from him since they were reunited.
Have you ever done something that you really regret, Irene? “Irene asked her.
Telling her that the last people she could speak to were Alf and Martha, Martha swore Irene to secrecy and told her how she had an adult son. It’s a no-brainer for Irene, she’s got to tell Alf and he’s certainly going to understand… but Martha knows they have a very troubled relationship and they haven’t seen each other for years.
What if they really don’t want to reconnect? What if there is anything not so friendly about it?
At the end of last week, she left Alf for Merimbula, recognising that she was off to figure out something complicated, but with no idea what. “We should deal together with things. Whatever it is, is this so bad? “Asked her, he. “I know not. As soon as I get back from Merimbula, it will all become clearer. On this one just believe me.
Today, Martha’s estranged son is coming to Summer Bay this week and things are about to get hot pretty fast.
Her son, Kieran Baldivis, happens to be a troubled man dealing with alcohol abuse and with a history of mental health problems. The last time the pair saw each other after things turned abusive, Martha had to call the police on him.
Is history going to be repeated? Some of Kieran’s upcoming scenes are seen in a teaser for the final week of the year, which you can view below. Things start peacefully, with him coming to the diner and telling Martha he’s looking for the Stewarts.
He obviously knows, at the very least, that Martha is remarried. But how much does he know about the past of his mum and Alf together? Plus, when Martha’s away in Merimbula, would he show up, leaving Alf to deal with this bombshell on his own?
Publicity pictures show Alf, Martha and Kieran sitting on the sand, talking with the three of them. Obviously things can’t start off too poorly.
Yet some dramatic twists and turns are certainly to come. In a violent outburst, the season finale promo sees Kieran aggressively hitting a tree, suggesting a reconciliation between him and Martha is not going 100 percent smoothly.
Rick Donald plays the new character Kieran, and Rick recently talked to Australia’s Sunday Mail about his upcoming show stint, suggesting that Alf doesn’t take his arrival too kindly.
‘I knew I was going to go with Ray [Meagher] toe to toe,’ says Rick. That’s a big part of why I decided to do it… get the latest one ripped off by Alf Stewart! ”
The Sunday Mail article notes that with his character proving to be a “tornado stirring things up,” he is on a collision course with Alf.
Before he acts, Alf is not really one to ponder, so it will be important to see how he copes with Martha’s bombshell. With the arrival of her son imminent, he’ll have little time to digest the news. Will he be able to keep calm with Alf having almost no idea about Martha’s past?
To understand how to play the part of someone dealing with addiction, Rick talked about the research he had to do for the role. “I was never a great drinker, but it is just just tragic to hear and read tales about what people have been through. He told Sunday Mail, ‘The hold it has on people is frightful.’.”
It sounds like Kieran is going to hang around for a while, meaning that once the show returns in early 2021, he’ll play a big part. This wouldn’t be a storyline where he comes in, gets drunk for a week and is magically fixed, Rick told the paper.
Rick explained, “The writers were really keen to explore it … and try to get a true representation of the struggle.” He is “contracted until early next year according to the publication, although it has not been verified if the actor will be filming until early next year or whether until then his character will merely be on screen.
As part of Thursday’s triple bill, Kieran will first arrive at Summer Bay on Thursday 26 November. The final episodes of the year then air on Monday, November 30, in a dramatic season finale for three Summer Bay families that will have huge repercussions.
Watch the trailer of the season finale below.
