Leo Tanaka of Neighbours will confront frantic demands from his loved ones over baby Abigail, as Leo’s sadness over Britney Barnes’ death drives him to distance himself from his daughter.
Leo (Tim Kano) has been struggling to deal since the unexpected death of Britney (Montana Cox), Leo’s fiancée and Abigail’s mother, following the recent storm disaster. In recent episodes, he was frightened when he turned his back on Abigail for a brief time, only for her to slip off the sofa.
Although Abigail is unharmed as a result of the incident, Leo has begun to doubt his parenting abilities, so he begs his brother David Tanaka (Takaya Honda) and David’s husband Aaron Brennan (Matt Wilson) to take Abigail home and become her parents.
Aaron and David are both taken aback by Leo’s request that they raise Abigail instead of Leo in scenes set to air in February.
David is confident that Leo will come to his senses and want his daughter back, but Aaron is worried that they may lose Abigail once more, just as they did last year when they found that Abigail, whom they had been raising as their own, was not the child they had with Nicolette Stone (Charlotte Chimes).
Even though Aaron and David are eager to assist Leo, he may be asking too much of them this time.
Leo continues to be gone throughout the week, pulling farther and further away from Abigail. Even an appointment with her doctor isn’t enough to persuade him to allow himself be near his daughter.
Everyone around him is pleading with Leo to get his act together and be there for Abigail, but he refuses. He believes he has made up his mind and will not change his mind.
What does Leo and Abigail’s future hold?
Actor Tim Kano, who plays Leo, recently spoke with Digital Spy on his character’s delicate mental state following Britney’s death, adding that Leo is worried that “he’ll never live up to the expectation” of being a good father to Abigail.
“I think he’s extremely stressed and doesn’t want to disappoint his daughter or let Britney down, so he hands Abigail over,” he stated. “I think he’s really overwhelmed and doesn’t want to disappoint his daughter or let Britney down, so that’s why he passes Abigail over.”
