This week on Home and Away in Australia, Tane returns to Summer Bay with baby Maia, while Theo is forced to choose between Valerie and his life with Leah and Justin.
Last week saw Tane (Ethan Browne) make a bad decision as he snatched baby Maia from Northern Districts Hospital.
Tane had grown attached to the baby, who he found abandoned in the sand dunes of Summer Bay a number of weeks ago.
When the parents didn’t come forward despite extensive press coverage, Tane named her Maia, after the Maori word for courage, and began to explore becoming the baby’s emergency foster carer.
When he learnt that his lack of Australian residency prevented him from doing so, Roo (Georgie Parker) stepped up to the plate and put in an application herself.
However, an alternative foster family was found shortly after, and Tane was faced with the prospect of saying goodbye to the baby once and for all.
With an AVO against him, a result of an altercation with Coastal News journo Peter Rolfe, Tane was unable to even visit the hospital to say goodbye. Dana (Ally Harris) felt sorry for him and decided to sneak him into Northern Districts late at night, giving him one final opportunity to see the baby he had grown so attached to.
Yet Dana made the foolish decision to leave Tane and Maia alone together, and when she returned just minutes later, Tane and the baby were gone.
Dana was left feeling distraught as she copped the blame for Maia’s disappearance, with even her sister Harper (Jessica Redmayne) giving her a serve for her seemingly endless slip-ups.
Dana sent text after text to Tane hoping to tempt him back to the bay, but only received one short reply, assuring her that Maia was fine and demanding she stop texting.
This week, Tane realises the stupidity of his actions. Being the centre of a nationwide search, he knows that he’ll be caught eventually, and decides to turn himself in.
TV Week reports that Tane is arrested and faces trial, as Ethan Browne explains that his character’s decision will have major consequences: “He’s facing prison time for sure,” Ethan tells the publication.
Worse still, he still faces the prospect of losing baby Maia to the government care system, the exact thing he was trying to avoid.
Despite the Parata family’s reputation, and some foolish decisions since he first moved to Summer Bay, Tane has managed to avoid a criminal record up until now. Is all that about to change, and will Tane face jail for his actions?
Elsewhere, Justin (James Stewart) is dealing with the fallout of Kirby’s (Angelina Thomson) bombshell, in which she revealed that Theo (Matt Wilson) had stolen money from him to spend on drugs.
Theo has been hooked on party drugs since Valerie’s arrival in Summer Bay earlier this year. Valerie uses them to cope when things get tough, and it didn’t take long for Theo to appreciate their benefits.
