Neighbours spoilers follow for Thursday’s (February 1) episode that is now available to stream on Amazon Freevee.
David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) sacrificed himself in devastating Neighbours scenes to save the life of criminal Eden Shaw (Costa D’Angelo) after the two plummeted down an embankment.
Eden, who caused Melanie Pearson (Lucinda Cowden) the insurmountable torment that led to her leaving Ramsay Street, staged a shocking comeback earlier this week in a bid to track down Krista Sinclair (Majella Davis).
The hardened criminal, who was released from prison, found ex Krista in the company of new beau Leo Tanaka (Tim Kano) as they enjoyed a getaway at a luxury holiday home with family and friends David, Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) and Nicolette Stone (Hannah Monson).
Eden’s reasons for returning largely involved the fact that Krista was carrying his baby and, in sinister scenes, he confronted her near a cliffside and urged her to come with him, grabbing her by the arm
Leo intervened, with a fight ensuing between the two. Krista’s screams and the sound of the struggle notified David and Aaron, who had been strolling nearby, of what was unfolding.
David bravely lunged at Eden, with the two plummeting down the embankment, much to the horror of those watching on.
Friday’s edition of the Amazon Freevee soap picked up shortly after the incident, with David in agony as he processed what had just happened. The former doctor quickly put on his medical hat and tended to Eden, adamant that he wouldn’t allow another situation like what happened at River Bend to transpire.
As fans will recall, David allowed Gareth Bateman, the unhinged ex of Freya Wozniak (Phoebe Roberts) to die in shocking scenes. Gareth had previously pummelled Aaron and left him for dead.
The incident, while understandable, led to David losing his licence to practice medicine as he was charged with medical manslaughter – and his inaction on that fateful day has haunted him ever since. Thus, when Aaron and Leo found him at the bottom of the embankment, David insisted that they help Eden first, refusing to let history repeat.
Aaron wasn’t keen on leaving his husband to fend for himself but David insisted that he was fine, claiming that he’d just sprained his ankle. Against his better judgment Aaron did as David asked, with he and Leo carrying Eden back to the car, where Krista drove him to the hospital.
But upon returning, Aaron was devastated to find David dead. What he hadn’t realised previously is that his soulmate had sustained an injury to his torso, which caused him to bleed out. Selfless David had refrained from telling his loved ones this at the time as, if they’d known, they wouldn’t have helped Eden.
Aaron desperately tried to revive David as a heartbroken Leo watched on but it was no use. David had died. Nicolette burst into tears upon finding out the news, as did Jane Harris (Annie Jones) back on Ramsay Street, as she told her fellow neighbours of the tragedy that had ensued.
Terese Willis (Rebekah Elmaloglou) was heartbroken, fearing that the update would ‘kill’ Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and therefore she tracked down her ex-husband to a hotel room at Lassiters and broke the news to him.
Paul went to pieces, unable to process the tragic events, with Terese accompanying him to the hospital where he reunited with Leo, Aaron, Nicolette and Jane.
A tearful Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) approached and granted Paul his request to spend some time with his son. Upon arriving at the mortuary, Paul broke down once again. ‘Goodbye, darling boy!’, he said through tears, which led to Karl becoming emotional again.
Aaron, meanwhile, found a voice recording from David on his husband’s phone. In the audio clip, David apologised for choosing to prioritise Eden’s health over his own, commenting that it was the right thing to do.
‘You made me so happy!’, he exclaimed, urging Aaron to look after his loved ones, including their daughter Isla, and to be happy again, while also making sure that Paul knew he’d forgiven him.
No, you’re crying.
This brings to an end Takaya Honda’s time on Neighbours as David, who became one of the show’s most-loved characters of all-time.
From finding love with Aaron to marrying him in Australian TV’s first gay wedding, David has been a part of not just Neighbours’ most iconic moments but of TV in general and, I don’t know about you, but I’ll certainly miss him.
