Well, after 40 years and more than 9000 episodes, Neighbours has officially come to an end — for the second time.
Australia’s longest-running soap opera was first axed in 2022 and aired a star-studded finale featuring cameos from Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie and Guy Pearce. A deal with Amazon then saw the show return in 2023, only to be cancelled again less than two years later.
Talk about leading someone on.
What happened in the Neighbours finale?
Unlike the 2022 finale, Thursday night’s hour-long episode wrapped up with very little fanfare. Not only did it air outside of the primetime slot at 8:40pm, but none of Ramsay Street’s superstar residents made a surprise return.
Instead, the episode revolved around the development of a new freeway that would demolish all of the homes on the street. The characters had resigned themselves to leaving and there was debate over whether they should relocate to Robinson Towers in Melbourne’s CBD or to a new development called Ramsay Hills.
After a farewell party at Lassiters soundtracked by a club remix version of the show’s theme song, our gal Susan Kennedy (played by Jackie Woodburne) ultimately decided she wanted to stay and fight for Ramsay Street.
The episode ended with Susan tearfully walking out onto the street, hearing the voices of her former co-stars, before being joined by Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) and Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis).
“I love our friends, I love our neighbours and I don’t want to find a new perfect blend; I want to stay in this one,” Susan said.
“So what do we do?” Paul asked.
The camera then panned out to show the trio standing in the middle of the cul-de-sac, unsure of what comes next.
What happens now?
Naturally, fans were divided on social media about the open-ended finale, with some describing it as “perfect” and others saying it was “garbage” and a “waste of time”.
“Well that was wonderful and I sobbed like a baby,” one person wrote.
“It wasn’t ‘nostalgic’ enough on the ep. Especially when lots of us have watched since childhood #SaveNeighbours,” someone else countered.
There was also plenty of speculation about whether the show would eventually return, but no official announcement has been made yet.
Was that a Home and Away reference?
Perhaps the strangest part of the episode was when Annalise Hartman (Kimberley Davies) seemingly referenced Neighbours’ long-running rival Home and Away.
During a conversation with Susan about a “growing resistance” in the town, Annalise commented on a similar community near Sydney.
“There is a precedent. It’s a little community about an hour outside of Sydney. You know, not dissimilar to this. They’ve found a way to keep going,” she said.
Fans immediately thought she was referring to Home and Away, which launched in 1988, a few years after Neighbours.
So, does this mean both shows exist in the same cinematic universe? Has Toadie ever enjoyed a holiday in Summer Bay, or did Alf Stewart happen to pop by Harold’s Cafe in Erinsborough?
Surely in this universe, both locations are on the AFP’s radar for having the highest number of cults, kidnappings and car crashes.
Neighbours‘ executive producer Jason Herbison has already confirmed to Digital Spy that the easter egg was intentional and only one cast member picked up on it during filming.
“Well done for spotting the Home and Away reference,” he said. “You’re in good company — Matty Wilson was actually the only person to spot it during filming.”
Neighbours might be done and dusted (for now), but fingers crossed Home and Away’s producers have the same sense of humour and are willing to do a crossover episode in the future. Now that would be iconic.
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