Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) was left hanging for dear life on the roof of Lassiters as the year drew to a dramatic close in Neighbours – but this is a cliffhanger that long-term fans may have felt a little déjà vu while watching.
The scenario began when Terese, who had been drinking heavily, went to the rooftop pool area to be alone and drown her sorrows.
Harlow Robinson (Jemma Donovan) was quick to track her down, and the two were soon at odds once more.
Before the argument, Harlow had just gotten some dirt on Glen Donnelly (Richard Huggett) from a PI and was ready to share what she had discovered with Terese.
The papers containing all of Glen’s classified information were strewn over the premises. Terese lost her balance, and she spent the rest of the year clinging to the rooftop, trying not to fall to her death.
Glen and Paul (Stefan Dennis) stood on the ground, watching her, and for the former, it was a harsh reminder of the tragedy that threw his life into disarray back in Christmas 1991.
Glen was the one who was hanging on back then, after slipping on the same hotel roof while repairing a loose banner for Paul.
While we hope Terese will be able to escape to safety, Glen was not so fortunate, as he collapsed in front of several shocked onlookers.
Glen was misdiagnosed with paraplegia, and Paul almost cheated him out of his right to sue. He went missing after believing his family had sided with his half-brother, and he didn’t return until early this year.
Glen’s relationship with Paul is still shattered, so could seeing such a stark reminder of his accident exacerbate their rift? And, more importantly, will Terese be able to climb her way to safety?
Shane Isheev, the episode’s writer, revealed that the scene was a direct reference to the dramatic 1991 finale, saying on Twitter that he “couldn’t resist” the reference. “It’s a huge week, but not as important as the year ahead,” he teased 2022.
Despite the undeniable drama, this was not initially scheduled to be the conclusion, and the dramatic climax was created after scheduling problems caused the planned year-end to be pushed back to 2022.
However, the scheduled end-of-year event will still go a place, and we believe it will be a huge hit with people when we see it in January.
Neighbours are now on hiatus until January 3, 2022, when it will return.
In a first for the long-running drama, the United Kingdom will finish the first week ahead of Australia. The show’s Australian home, 10 Peach, went down to four episodes per week a few weeks ago; Channel 5’s current aim is to preserve the five-episode-per-week schedule.