NimirRaj

Sad to hear about Bernard & Mr Prentice as well as how Brett, Jeremy, Rani, and Tristan had to go on social security due to how the pandemic impacted their work. Nice to hear about Virginia’s charity work and especially uplifting to hear how Thomas clearly got the help he needed to help him work through his grief.

Very sweet ending to see Thomas show up with Jonathan’s help and Virginia’s clear happiness at having him there.

Nice to see Virginia & Desmond planning their wedding though now they’ve all got coronavirus to worry about. Catering jobs especially are surely going to drop off severely once the pandemic seriously gets in motion so I’m a little worried for everyone from both a health & financial standpoint as we know here in reality it has been hard for many people.

Glad to see so many people including Desmond & Virginia get out ok though sadly I’m sure not everyone did. Virginia has always seemed like a good soul so I’m not really surprised she felt inspired to get involved with charity work, though it is of course nice to see. As far as Jonathan & Lachlan go… Lachlan more power to you.

I definitely never foresaw this turn of events. With Matt mentioning his thinking about walking by Ricky’s house it gives the impression that he still lives in the same general area so it seems more than obvious that nobody ever tried to find him as I’d expect them to have likely succeeded if they put in any meaningful effort. I mean it wouldn’t be super easy but I’d think the cops would have found him by now if they looked hard enough. What did the cops and/or child services say about him being missing? I’d think they’d have a lot of questions for the pastor and his parents. Flashing back to the previous chapter his comment of “They made it sound like we were in danger.” is really throwing me for a loop as I now even more so cannot understand why the sheriff pulled his gun on them. I mean I thought “maybe” they falsely claimed Charles & Matt were armed yet if they seemed to portray them as in some sort of danger it blows that theory out of the water. I’m assuming Matt is going to run into Ricky and/or Charles while working at this club yet considering the surprise twist I don’t want to really try to predict anything.

The Divas “ice bucket challenge” fundraiser was very sweet to see. I presume, and it may have been mentioned when the couple was first introduced yet my memory is bad, that Brett & Jeremy have an open relationship. I’m hopeful that’s the case as obviously that would be for the best for multiple reasons but I do recall that Jeremy seemed irritated recently by Brett’s flirting making me wonder if I’ve made the wrong assumption. Hopefully no drama is on the horizon for them.

Interesting to see the contrast between the dire situation by the lake and the gayety at Divas. If the fire wasn’t bad enough before now they’ve had fuel added to it which doesn’t bode well for it going out anytime soon and we’re sadly reminded of the stark reality of how someone like Virginia would undoubtedly have fire insurance yet many other people in the same situation wouldn’t. While their lives are the most important things not having a house to return to is no small thing either. Like with the firefighters this may inspire Virginia to get involved locally such as seeking donations from her rich friends to help those who’ve lost their homes.

Great to see Thomas is not only getting the help he needs but that at times he’s aware Jared is dead as that makes me more hopeful as to how well the therapy could go. Glad to see Desmond & Virginia are doing ok yet the hint at the next chapter doesn’t sound too positive. I mean New Year by the lake. What could be better? makes me assume the fire is going to drive them to/into the lake. Hopefully this is a red herring, though I suppose a New Year’s swim isn’t the worst outcome.

Virginia’s response to the situation might be shocking to Desmond & Andy but to me all I can think is what else do you say? Definitely a beyond stressful situation that deserves some strong language. Fires can be unpredictable so we can only hope it doesn’t reach their home despite it seemingly being inevitable. So, now that we had Dean fire his shot who’s next? This could become a competitive sport. 😂

Don told Stephanie and her family that Robbie wanted her to keep the baby? Why didn’t he just tell them he wanted to marry her and propose on his behalf as well? Poor Jo has her work cut out for her. Robbie has a rocky, steep road ahead of him.

Wow, Ted Cruz I mean Prime Minister Morrison should be ashamed of himself. Glad to see that Virginia & Desmond are fine though if I were them I think I’d have already hit the road just incase. It looks like as @ReaderPauland @chris191070have said that there is a silver lining in Thomas ending up in the hospital as it seems like he’s going to get the mental help he needs. Interesting to see that it sounded like Thomas’ injury was from the needles and not the sounding rod as I could see him doing some major damage with that. Ouch.

Damn. I mean I’m not really surprised by any of this per se yet still that was a interesting conclusion to the story of G or what we know of it. Still find the whole situation very bizarre as it was all seemingly done just to get Zeke’s money. Sounds like a lot of work to steal some cash, though I presume all those drugged employees helped G in other ways beyond just tricking Zeke.

I can see things from both Andy and Dean’s point of view yet to me they need to find a middle ground. Andy while he agrees that Thomas needs professional help is in my mind not helping by seemingly trying to ignore the reality of the situation but I also feel that Dean’s bluntness might not help the situation either. Andy’s plan to essentially wait until Thomas makes the decision to get help on his own may make some sense on paper yet considering he refuses to even subtly remind Thomas that Jared is dead how long will it take before Thomas is even remotely ready to consider that he needs help? As things stand he seems fairly oblivious to his needing help. I hope Virginia and Desmond are both ok as the location of the fire feels ominous. As far as the hints at the next chapter go I would presume the prime minister reference is related to all the wildfires going on as well as his possible inaction regarding them and the reference to Christmas being celebrated in various ways could mean many things really. It most likely refers to how Thomas plans to spend Christmas with Jared though I’m sure everyone in the group has their own traditions that would mean Christmas is a little different for all of them. The main thing that stands out is the line “another nasty accident” as the last serious accident we had cost Jared his life. The accident could be Thomas getting hurt due to his… workouts or while I wouldn’t call it an accident with the fire being in the same town as Virginia’s house maybe it will sadly end up on fire. Of course a less pg idea makes me wonder if it refers to the um mess Thomas made on Dean’s face as he clearly felt it was nasty… Can’t say such a “nasty accident” is likely to involve Dean again giving how uncomfortable he finds it to be around Thomas not to mention he’s extremely unlikely to put himself in the firing line again. 😂

The loss of lives and the wildfires were/are tragic though Virginia’s desire to help the families of those firefighters was very sweet adding a little light to such a dark atmosphere. I dunno if my response to Thomas referring to going home to see his dead lover as if he’s still alive would cause me to simply say he’s not done with his grieving. Admittedly Thomas acts fairly normal around others yet I’d think Jonathan’s recount of Thomas’ comment would set Andy on alert to some extent. Perhaps Thomas’ future interactions with Dean will set off some alarm bells for him that something isn’t quite right. Thomas clearly needs professional help especially as these…conversations may lead to him becoming more extreme over time to the point he could permanently injure himself if not outright risk his life in some way. edit: I forgot to mention that one wild theory I had previously was that Jared may have faked his death making me curious if there could be a connection between that and Thomas’ apparent breakdown. Is there a remote chance he actually saw Jared while out and about in Paris??? Highly unlikely but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t expect an unforeseen rabbit hole. 🤷🏻‍♂️

A gun?! Damn the homophobia in this town just went up another notch as I’m guessing the sheriff has been told Matt ran away from…”salvation.” Hopefully I’m wrong and the sheriff has been told some wild bs that made him trigger happy like they were armed & dangerous as silly as that sounds. 🙄 Part of me can’t see this ending well for them anytime soon considering the boys don’t really have anyone on their side yet I’m somewhat hopeful Pete knows someone who could help based on his undisclosed plan. That’s really the only silver lining as maybe he has a relative who works for social services, is a child advocate, some sort of lawyer, etc. 🤷🏻‍♂️