This week on Home and Away in Australia, Dean and Levi race to save Mackenzie and Ziggy after they’re taken by two dangerous men.
Last week, viewers were reunited with Dean Thompson (Patrick O’Connor) and Ziggy Astoni (Sophie Dillman), two years after they moved to Queensland to be closer to Dean’s son Jai (River Jarvis) and Jai’s mum Amber (Maddy Jevic).
Just over a week ago, Levi (Tristan Gorey) surprised Mackenzie (Emily Weir) with the news that he’d finalised his divorce from Imogen (Georgia Blizzard), after his sister Abigail (Hailey Pinto) reminded him that it had now been over a year since they separated.
As they celebrated, Levi hit Mac with another surprise – with them both having time off, he’d booked tickets to Queensland, where he planned for them to stay with Dean and Ziggy, who Levi had yet to meet.
While Mac was excited by an impromptu trip to Queensland, she didn’t share Levi’s excitement at the idea of meeting up with her brother, knowing that Dean still struggled with the idea of their relationship.
Mac and Levi got together when Levi was still with his now ex-wife Imogen, and the revelation of their affair broke Imogen’s heart.
Last year, Mac paid her brother a solo visit to update him on her new romance, but while she was fearful that he wouldn’t approve of Levi, Dean gave Mac his blessing.
However, as Mackenzie and Levi soon discovered when they arrived in Queensland last week, Dean still has serious doubts about Mackenzie’s choice of boyfriend.
The duo’s trip started off in style, as they arrived by helicopter before making their way to Dean and Ziggy’s beachside house, but their joyful mood was soon soured as Dean made his feelings known.
Dean was elated to be reunited with his sister, but as Levi went to shake Dean’s and told him it was good to finally meet him, Dean coldly responded with: “Is it?”
Dean soon made his concerns clear – if Levi was capable of cheating once, what’s to stop him doing it to Mac?
We were also reunited with Dean’s straight-talking mum Karen (Georgia Adamson), who’d coincidentally made the trip to Queensland to see her granddaughter Izzy.
She joined the pile-on – “Oh, you’re the married guy Mac’s having a fling with!” – and brought up her own experience of being cheated on by Dean and Mackenzie’s dad Rick Booth.
As it became clear that Dean wasn’t going to soften towards Levi, Mackenzie eventually told Dean that they were leaving, and the pair headed back to their hotel to continue their holiday alone.
Karen and Ziggy chastised Dean for the way he treated his sister’s new boyfriend, with Karen softening when she realised that the pair had been together for over a year.
Dean eventually offered an olive branch and invited Mac and Levi back to the house, where he agreed to show them the sights of Queensland.
This week, Mac, Levi, Dean and Ziggy try to enjoy their time together, as they head out on a boat trip around the islands. Yet Dean’s attitude still hasn’t changed, as he continues to give Levi a hard time.
“What is your problem?” Levi asks, menacingly brandishing a snorkel.
“Where do I even begin?” Dean retorts, and as Levi begins to reply with “Mate…”, Dean cuts him off.
“I am not your mate. And I never will be, so stop trying.”
When the two couples enjoy a tense meal together in the evening, Dean can’t wait to get away.
As he gets up and leaves, telling the other three that he’s heading back to the hotel, Ziggy follows him outside.
“Are you happy?” she asks. “You’ve completely ruined this holiday.”
“It’s not a holiday with him, it’s torture,” Dean replies.
The following day, Ziggy forces Dean to make amends with Levi, and orders the pair to head off together to talk things through.
Yet as Mackenzie and Ziggy wait for their partners by their car, they’re approached by two men – prison escapees, still dressed in their green prison uniforms.
“Can we help you?” asks Mackenzie, as Ziggy realises that they’re in danger.
The men force the pair into Dean and Ziggy’s car, and order a terrified Ziggy to drive towards the state border, where they’re looking to make a getaway.
Nearby, Levi and Dean endure a tense walk together as they head back to the car, and Dean still isn’t letting up.
“You don’t rate me mate, I get it,” an exasperated Levi tells Dean. “To be honest, the feeling’s mutual.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Levi adds, but as they get to the car park, they see Dean’s car speeding off. Hanging out of the window is Mackenzie, who screams out Dean’s name as one of the men puts his arm around her neck and pulls her back into the car.
“Ziggy!” Dean shouts, as he and Levi sprint towards the car, but their efforts are in vain.
As Levi throws his hands up in the air, the pair realise that they’re going to have to work together to track down and rescue their partners.
Dean grabs a boulder and smashes the window of a nearby car, before setting about hotwiring it.
Levi worries about what he’s got planned, but Dean doesn’t have time for his concerns: “The girls are in danger. Are you gonna saddle up or what?”
“It’s a serious situation, and Dean and Levi have to navigate this drama together,” Patrick O’Connor told TV Week about the dramatic new development. “Levi is very straight and narrow, then [there’s] Dean, who’s just not that way.”
While Levi wants to call the police, Dean makes it clear that they can’t – they’ve just stolen a car themselves! The boys then race along the coastal road, attempting to catch up with their kidnapped partners, as a terrified Ziggy continues to follow her captors’ orders in the other car.
A promo for the upcoming episodes sees the apparent leader of the two prison escapees tell the other that he “wasn’t planning on leaving any witnesses,” leaving us wondering what they’re planning to do with Ziggy and Mackenzie once they’ve made their escape.
Unbeknownst to even Mackenzie, there’s something else to complicate matters – as Ziggy is 13 weeks pregnant. Ziggy stalls the men as she tells them she’s got morning sickness, and Mackenzie initially plays along, before realising that Ziggy is telling the truth!
The promo appears to show the car hitting a bump, as Mac and the leader jolt in their seats.
The second of the two escapees is then thrown out of the car’s passenger door at high speed, and it’s not clear if it’s an accident, a bold move by Ziggy, or whether the escapees have turned against each other.
Dean and Levi soon catch up with the man, who is lying injured in a field at the side of the road.
As Dean screams “where are they?” it appears that he doesn’t have any answers, and Levi has to hold Dean back from causing the man any further harm.
Back in Ziggy’s car, the leader then tells Ziggy to “say goodbye to your mate,” prompting screams of “no, no, no, please don’t!” from Mackenzie.
Soon after, Dean and Levi come to a sudden halt as Dean spots his car lying abandoned in a field, the doors and boot open, with Ziggy and Mackenzie nowhere to be seen.
Will they be able to track the pair down before it’s too late?