This week on Home and Away in Australia, an intriguing new storyline sees many of the bay’s favourites struck down with a mystery illness.
Surf club manager John (Shane Withington) and his trusty newly qualified lifeguard Dana (Ally Harris) are experienced in keeping Summer Bay’s surfers safe, but this week, their actions could be the cause of a series of shocking collapses, as an illness spreads through the bay.
A sunny Summer Bay morning begins like any other, until surfers start to spot debris strewn along the beach.
Monday’s episode ended with Justin (James Stewart) and Theo (Matt Evans) stumbling upon a number of washed-up items – a plastic container with a ‘Chlorine’ symbol on the side, a rolled-up hose, and a face mask. Later this week, John springs into action, joining Justin and Theo on the beach, where the pair have already begun piling up the mystery containers. Yet while it initially seems that only small items have washed up, Dana eventually spots a large wooden structure surrounding two faded pink storage containers. Either someone has dumped the container on the sand or it’s been washed ashore overnight. John gets straight on the phone and alerts the authorities to the potential flotsam, but as the hours go by, nobody arrives to help.
“When the authorities don’t seem concerned, he’s prepared to just remove it,” Shane tells Australian magazine TV Week in the latest edition.
But it’s some magic words from Dana which change his mind. “What if it’s treasure?” she asks, prompting John to grab his bolt cutters. “Let’s get this thing open!”
Yet the decision to open the strange item proves to be a massive mistake.
As Dana grabs a crowbar, they begin to wrench open one of the two containers, and are immediately hit by an awful stench.
“What’s inside will be catastrophic,” says a new promo for the dramatic storyline.
Within seconds, John collapses to the ground!
What have Dana and John just unleashed upon the bay?
“[John’s] first thoughts are for Dana,” Shane continues, explaining the aftermath of opening up the contaminated container. “But then he’s concerned that an illness might afflict the community.”
He’s right to be concerned. As the day goes on, other residents begin to faint, and it’s clear that something is quickly spreading throughout Summer Bay.
As time goes on, and John’s condition worsens, he begins to wonder whether this is part of an organised plot to take down the town.
“As John gets sicker, he begins to think that the disease could be the end of him,” Shane adds.
It’s a race against time for doctor Bree (Juliet Godwin) to trace the source of the contamination that’s making so many in the bay ill, and figure out a treatment.
Will she succeed?