Home and Away has aired an unexpected death in its latest Australian episode, as Perri killed his abusive father Carl.
Perri Hayes (Cantona Stewart) arrived on Australian screens in late July as part of Tane’s (Ethan Browne) outreach programme for troubled teens.
With Perri being one of the few teens to take the initiative seriously, Tane soon took him under his wing, with Perri explaining that his upcoming 18th birthday meant that he needed to stay out of trouble, else next time he’d be facing prison rather than another stint in juvie.
It was soon revealed that Perri had been carrying out various illegal activities for his dad, Carl (Matthew Holmes), who frequently abused him throughout his childhood and teenage years.
If Carl arrived home unhappy, Perri knew that he would soon bear the brunt of his dad’s anger, so he felt pressured to do as he was told.
When Carl tracked his son down to Summer Bay and aggressively tried to force him to return home, it was the final straw for Perri, and he told Rose (Kirsty Marillier) that he wished to press charges against him.
A couple of weeks ago, the father and son faced each other in court, but when Carl was found not guilty, Perri was left terrified that his dad would come after him in search of revenge.
Rose took out a temporary AVO, preventing Carl from going anywhere near his son, but Carl took no notice and cornered Perri outside the Surf Club, where he warned him that there would be consequences.
In today’s dramatic episode, which is believed to be airing as the UK Season Finale in November, Carl tracked Perri down to the Saxon Avenue house where he now lives alongside Tane and Cash (Nicholas Cartwright).
Perri returned home to find a large knife stuck into a chopping board on the kitchen counter, with his AVO paperwork underneath it, and his dad waiting for him.
Carl had previously told his son that he was leaving for a fresh start, but that he needed Perri’s help one more time to get the cash he needed to start his new life.
Perri still refused to help, so Carl grabbed him and dragged him out into the backyard, where he repeatedly plunged his head into the pool in an effort to get him to change his mind.
Meanwhile, Tane, who has become a father figure to Perri since he arrived in the bay, was with Harper (Jessica Redmayne) in the Summer Bay parkland when Harper doubled over, having felt something strange in her abdomen.
After a brief moment of concern, she realised that it was her baby kicking.
Harper has recently discovered that she’s pregnant with Tane’s baby, following their one-night stand earlier in the year. Tane was delighted to feel his baby kicking for the first time, and he suggested that he, Harper and Perri grabbed dinner together that evening to celebrate.
Tane texted Perri to invite him, but when he didn’t hear back, he headed home to track him down. As he walked through the door into the pitch-black house, he realised something was amiss after turning on the light to see the knife stuck in the chopping board.
Venturing out into the back garden and calling Perri’s name, he spotted the silhouette of a body floating face down in the pool, illuminated by the pool’s lights.
His face turned to shock as he called out Perri’s name again, assuming him to be the lifeless body, but as he rushed to investigate, he heard Perri’s voice call out, “I didn’t mean it.”
Perri was slumped next to the house in a state of shock, as he uttered the words: “I killed my dad.”
A promo which aired after the episode reveals that Tane calls the police after the shock discovery, and Rose and her colleagues descend on the cul-de-sac in upcoming episodes, which will form the 2024 season return in the UK.
As Tane explains to Rose that Carl broke his AVO, he heads into Perri’s room to fetch him. However, in the time it’s taken for the police to arrive, Perri has vanished.
Tane texts him, urging him to come home and letting him know that everything will be okay, but it seems the teen has no intention of complying as he switches his phone off.
“I know it looks bad,” Tane tells Rose.
“Yeah, it does,” Rose responds. “So if you’re hiding him, Tane, you need to tell me where he is.”
The promo then shows another police car pull up at Tane’s house on a different day. As Tane asks what’s going on, Rose tells him: “You need to come down to the station with us.”
Is Tane about to get into trouble for Perri’s actions?
The murderous cliffhanger is expected to form Home and Away’s UK season finale, with the episode airing on UK screens on Friday 15th November 2024.
Home and Away doesn’t air in December in Australia and the UK, and with UK roughly seven weeks behind Australian broadcasts, recent years have seen both countries have distinct season finales.
Last year’s UK finale saw Justin (James Stewart) and Leah (Ada Nicodemou) trapped together in an empty warehouse after being kidnapped by members of the Vita Nova cult, with Justin left for dead.
The pair also played a significant part in tonight’s episode, as Justin found himself trapped in the wilderness by Claudia Salini (Rachael Carpani), one year after his near-death experience at the hands of Vita Nova saw Leah propose to him.
Justin has secretly been acting as chauffeur for Claudia in recent weeks, after Theo’s (Matt Evans) negligence at the garage saw him forget to service the brakes on her car. After Claudia was involved in an accident, Justin was quick to switch to damage control, as he tried to convince Claudia not to sue.
He kept the plan from Leah, who had turned against Claudia after she publicly berated Theo in the diner. Recent weeks have seen Justin answering Claudia’s every request for a lift whilst keeping it a secret from Leah and Theo, claiming to always be meeting with suppliers.
In that time, Justin has learned that Claudia’s work trips are to conduct home assessments for veterans, which earned his respect and caused him to warm to her. Justin has also been able to provide a listening ear for Claudia as she’s gone through issues in her marriage.
In yesterday’s episode, Leah discovered the truth, and tried to get in contact with Claudia. However, with Claudia out with Justin yet again, she managed to get hold of Claudia’s husband Eric, who revealed that Claudia had cheated on him in the past, and he believed she was doing it again with Justin.
When Claudia convinced Justin to take her to yet another home visit, she attempted to keep him there for as long as possible, before attempting to kiss him.
Justin pulled away and insisted that he was a happily married man, but Claudia questioned why he had been keeping their trips together a secret from Leah.
Justin insisted that he wanted nothing more to do with Claudia, and set about returning home, only to find that he no longer had his keys. Claudia had taken them, and she threw them into the bushland, leaving them both stranded at the cabin with no phone signal.
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The episode aired with Justin bedding down for the night in his ute, while Leah anxiously waited at home, having prepared a romantic meal to celebrate the anniversary of their engagement.
With no word from her husband, she left him an emotional voicemail message, where she told him that if he didn’t have a good excuse for not being there, they were over.
