The newest episode of Neighbours was drenched with bloodshed, with one character being shot in the arm, another going through a vehicle glass, and a third being bludgeoned with a tyre iron.
As the Gareth/Freya drama came to a horrible conclusion, David (Takaya Honda) was left responsible for a death among the horrifying carnage.
Viewers saw Gareth Bateman (Jack Pearson) arrive out of nowhere with a gun to confront Levi in the previous episode (Richie Morris).
Levi called his bluff, the men tussled, and Levi legged it while Gareth scurried around looking for his dropped weapon. Unfortunately for Levi, Gareth discovered the gun and shot him in the arm. Levi, who was injured, fell and banged his skull on a rock, appearing to be lifeless.
In today’s episode, a deranged Gareth came upon Freya, who then came across Levi’s lifeless body and quickly realised her own life was in jeopardy.
Gareth whipped out his revolver and kidnapped her, cable-tying her hands to the van’s steering wheel, but it was too late. He told her he’d been lying to her the whole time; he wasn’t fleeing the gang, he was assisting them, and her interfering had gotten him into trouble.
As the gravity of the situation dawned on a horrified Freya, and the music took an unusually sinister turn, Aaron (Matt Wilson) quietly emerged from the back seat to let her know she wasn’t alone.
Fortunately for Freya, the van then developed a flat tyre, requiring Gareth to exit the vehicle to repair it. Unfortunately for Aaron, this meant Gareth had a metal bar. Gareth rounded on Aaron with the rod and rained blows on the new dad’s head and torso as Aaron struggled to subdue him.
As the terror violence rose to startling new levels in the pre-watershed show, the impact of the weapon striking Aaron’s flesh was horrible, as Freya filled the air with bloodcurdling pleadings for Gareth to stop.
In another part of the world, an injured Levi came to his senses and realised he needed to save Freya. He leapt into a kayak to pursue the truck (it having been claimed earlier that it was faster to get out of there by river than by car), but his gammy arm quickly got him into difficulties, and his boat overturned.
On their way to surprise their partners, an unconcerned David and Amy (Jacinta Stapleton) came found a lifeless body in the road.
David jumped into medical mode and grabbed his first aid equipment, only to find it was his own hubby who needed help. Distraught, he went to work saving his own life despite the fact that Aaron’s head had nearly caved in at the back.
They decided to drive him to A&E themselves because an ambulance was unlikely to come very soon.
As Freya and Gareth re-entered the road, Levi ran out in front of the van, causing Freya to swerve and hit a tree, hurling Gareth through the windscreen unbelted.
a tear-filled As Amy discovered the scene of the van accident, David clutched Aaron in his arms and begged him not to die. David was compelled to leave Aaron to respond to the injured party, where he discovered Gareth was struggling to breathe.
Freya described who the injured man was – the person who had beaten Aaron so terribly that he was scarcely identifiable – just as he went to work saving another life. She pleaded with him not to save Gareth’s life, and with five simple words, she struck the final nail in her boyfriend’s coffin: ‘He simply. Kept. Hitting. Him.’
They determined Gareth wouldn’t be able to survive his injuries, and they watched as he struggled for his last few breaths before succumbing to his injuries. Yes, David stood by and watched a man die while he had the opportunity to save him. Yikes.
Will Karma return to get David now that the trailer for next week shows Aaron taking a turn for the worse? It appears that another fatality is on the way…
On Channel 5, Neighbours airs weekdays at 1.45 p.m. and 6 p.m.
