This week, Home and Away closed the chapter on one of the most enduring characters in Australian drama history as Irene Roberts — played for more than three decades

by Lynne McGranger — walked away from Summer Bay. The episode delivered soaring ratings, nationwide attention, and a tidal wave of emotion.

It also ignited a fierce debate that is still raging.

A Nation Tunes In

If there was ever any doubt about Irene’s status, the viewing figures erased it. Audiences turned out in staggering numbers to witness her final moments, pushing the episode to the top of the night across networks and making it one of the biggest entertainment broadcasts of the year.

It wasn’t simply another installment of a long-running soap. It was the end of an era, the goodbye to a woman who had become the moral backbone of the Bay — its foster mum, its straight talker, its survivor.

For many, watching felt less like TV and more like attending the farewell of a family member.

Irene’s Last Choice

On screen, the story leaned into both heartbreak and hope. Having recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Irene made a decision that perfectly captured her stubborn resilience. Rather than wait for the illness to steal her independence, she would leave while she still could.

Europe beckoned. Old memories beckoned. A final adventure beckoned.

The image of Irene choosing motion over decline, life over fear, was devastatingly powerful. Her determination to see friends while she could still remember them struck a chord with anyone who has watched time reshape someone they love.

It was brave. It was painful. It was very Irene.

Why Some Fans Felt Let Down

Yet for every viewer dabbing tears, another was venting frustration online.

The major complaint? Where were the familiar faces.

For a character who has stood at the center of Summer Bay since the early 1990s, many fans expected a parade of returning legends, emotional reunions, or at the very least a cascade of flashbacks celebrating her history. Instead, the farewell played out in a quieter, more contained fashion.

No grand roll call.
No avalanche of ghosts from the past.

To some, that restraint felt authentic. Irene has never been about spectacle; she is grit and plain speaking, a woman who would likely wave off fuss. But to others, the simplicity translated as a missed opportunity — perhaps even a disservice.

Social media lit up with divided reactions. Why weren’t more residents present? Why weren’t key characters there to hug her goodbye? How could the show let such a monumental departure pass without reaching deeper into its own history?

The passion behind the criticism only underscored how fiercely viewers care.

The Weight of Thirty Years

Part of the challenge is that Irene isn’t just another departing cast member. She is woven into thousands of storylines: troubled teens she sheltered, friendships she forged, disasters she endured. Generations of characters passed through her orbit.

Trying to summarize that in a single episode was always going to be impossible.

For newer viewers, the farewell may have felt moving and complete. For veterans, it was the closing of a book they had been reading since childhood. Expectations were enormous, perhaps unattainable.

Tears Still Fell

Despite the backlash, the emotional punch landed. Many fans admitted they were shattered by Irene’s final speech, by the tremor in her voice, by the bravery required to leave a place she loved.

“She’s been there my whole life,” one viewer wrote, echoing a sentiment repeated thousands of times.

Others praised the dignity of the exit, arguing that the focus remained where it belonged — on Irene’s agency, her refusal to be defined by illness, her insistence on writing her own ending.

Art Imitates Life

Behind the camera, the moment carried equal significance. McGranger filmed her last scenes at 72, departing not only as the series’ longest-serving female actor but as one of its most recognizable faces ever. Her recent Gold Logie win felt, to many, like a crowning acknowledgment of a career that helped shape Australian television.

For over 30 years she portrayed a battler with a heart of gold, a woman flawed yet fiercely loyal. Irene could be stubborn, nosy, hilarious, infuriating — and completely irreplaceable.

Why the Ratings Matter

The enormous audience turnout proved something vital: investment. Even in an age of endless streaming options, people made time to say goodbye. They wanted to witness the moment history turned.

Whether they loved or criticized the execution, they were there.

The Void Ahead

Now comes the uncomfortable part. What does Summer Bay look like without Irene Roberts?

Who becomes the keeper of its conscience? Who provides the tough love, the comic relief, the sense of continuity stretching back to another century?

The absence will echo. In the diner, on the pier, in every crisis where viewers instinctively expect her to appear with a practical solution and a cutting remark.

A Legend, Regardless

If the online clashes prove anything, it is that Irene mattered enough to fight over. Indifference would have been the real tragedy. Instead, fans are grieving loudly, passionately, imperfectly.

Just like families do.

Her final walk may not have satisfied everyone, but it cemented her status as a legend. Love her exit or question it, Irene Roberts leaves footprints that will never fade from the sand.

And as Summer Bay turns the page, millions of viewers are still standing there, watching the horizon, wishing she might somehow wander back home.