With a little understanding, you can find the perfect blend

Neighbours has recently reached dizzy dramatic heights, with the fire, Marco's death, Steph's kidnap, and the subsequent behaviour of the crazed stalking arsonist. The way they dealt with the challenging emotional issues and strains placed on the characters provided one brilliant half hour on Monday. I was constantly on the verge of tears and deep introspection- not of a sarcastic kind, but of the kind intended by the brilliant writers.

A few issues have been thrown up this week though. The arsonist threatened the sacred open door policy of Ramsey Street. Despite a policeman imploring Steph and Toadie to "Lock all the doors and windows", they couldn't do it. With a lunatic on the loose, they left the back door open, in case a neighbour needed access to the smoothies. They also let a toddler and small child hang around the kitchen, unattended, in the middle of the night. Thankfully, the arsonist just tried to cuddle one of them, then ran away.

Unperturbed, Toadie continued to leave the back door unlocked, so the man who fooled a state-wide man-hunt, again, just wandered into the kitchen. With the room to himself, he picked his weapon wisely. A blunt pair of old scissors. Who wants a kitchen knife, when you could jab someone with a five inch long blunt object. Somehow, these managed to penetrate Steph's lung from only a small backlift, while his arm was gripped by Toadie's angry hand.

Oh, and Zeke saw Didge's fannaroonie.