Loveday Writing

Easton and Diana meet with Margot Duplass (Rachel Griffiths), a local vintner, at the space. She has outgrown the space but is looking for a long-term tenant. After having a brief conversation with them in which Easton tries to pitch his profile as a business plan, and Diana talks about what she has envisioned for her desserts, Margot asks Diana to bring a dessert and Easton to bring a business plan to her vines the next day.

While Diana is at home finishing her dessert sample for Margot, Denise finds out about the advertorial and forbids her from associating with Easton. Diana leaves, only for Denise to stop her from being able to use her car to get to the meeting, however Diana rides Nayani’s bike to get Jim’s house. Diana asks Easton to apologise to Denise for whatever he did to upset her, however he blames Denise’s issues on Jim as he raised her on a “burial ground.” When Diana asks what he means by this, he reveals that June’s body is buried in the yard. He then takes Diana’s dessert sample and goes to the meeting with Margot on his own.

While Diana is stuck at Jim’s, she cleans up the kitchen, and Denise attempts to make her own pasta sauce from scratch. When Nayani asks her what kind of pasta she is going to make, Denise then tries to make her own pasta from scratch. Denise then gets a text from Diana inviting her to a mandatory family dinner at Jim’s.

While Easton explores Margot’s barrels of wine, Margot propositions him and they sleep together. When Easton jokingly asks if they sealed the deal, Margot laughs at him and points out that neither the dessert nor him can speak for Diana, he didn’t bring out the business plan she requested, and she asks him if he has any capital or cash reserve. When he says that he, or his profile, is the business plan, Margot points out that his profile won’t pay his bills.

When Easton goes back to Jim’s, he decides to cook the pigeons that Jim shot as part of a stew. While Denise is still attempting to make pasta, Easton calls her using Diana’s phone, asking her to come to dinner. Brett points out that if she doesn’t go to the dinner, she will lead Diana right to him. Despite Jim’s protests over the kitchen cleaning, he relents to the dinner, bringing lemons with him, which Diana uses to make a tart.

During the dinner, the tension between Denise and Easton comes to a head when Diana tries to address their issues, and tells everyone that Easton is thinking of having the restaurant in the house and named after June. Both Denise and Jim yell at Easton, and Denise tells Diana she is a naïve, ridiculous, deluded child. When Diana calls Denise out on her anger towards Easton, Denise finally reveals her resentment towards Easton for raising and then leaving her.

The episode ends with Denise revealing to Easton that June is in fact not buried in the yard. After Denise gives him a shovel to dig up the grave to prove it, he digs it up to find an animal skull.

Overall I enjoyed this episode due to the development of the strained relationship between Easton and Denise, and Easton being brought back down to reality by Margot and realising that he needs Diana as much as she needs him. It’ll also be interesting to see what comes of Easton discovering that June is not buried in the yard, in the next episode.

Stray Observations:

Running gag: Denise’s inability and attempts to make pasta sauce (and later pasta) from scratch.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Don’t slouch.” “I had scoliosis in year 8, don’t shame me.” (Easton-Diana while posing for promotional photos)
• “We better get these two out of here before Jim sees them. Double homicide is bad PR.” (Easton to Diana on the journalists interviewing and photographing them for an article)
• “Put your gun away you fucking lunatic!” “Don’t you come near my gun!” “Look, look – there’s a rabbit over there. Go, go! Rabbit!” (Easton-Jim-Easton in the background as Diana is having promotional photos taken)
• “Why do I feel like I’ve just been to see the headmistress?” “Yeah – a headmistress you want to get spanked by I bet, you naughty boy.” (Easton-Diana on Margot Duplass)
• “I slept under a bridge in London, it’s character building.” “It does explain your character.” (Easton-Diana)
• “There’s eccentric and then there’s illegal.” (Diana on Jim’s behaviour and June’s grave)
• “I have a pair you fuck knuckle, they’re just all up inside me…sorry Gran.” (Diana to Easton on growing a pair, whilst standing next to June’s grave)
• “God I hope your food is easier to swallow than your bullshit.” (Margot to Easton)
• “What the shitting shit happened in here?” (Jim to Diana on her cleaning up the kitchen)