Loveday Writing

Later, Penny and her boss, Dr. Foley, call Hugh asking for his case notes and care plan on Kassie as they want to pursue end-of-life care for her, however Hugh ends up angrily telling them that she is better at home and hangs up. When Penny sits with Kassie, Kassie asks her why she’s not back in Whyhope and whether death is the end. Penny tells her that everything is change and nothing ends.

Later when Charlie goes to see Wes at home, he informs her that Kassie is at the hospital having tests. They go to see Hugh and ask him what Stanwell Hospital can do for Kassie. He tells them other than managing her pain, they can’t do anything else for her. Charlie proposes that they bring her home.

When Hugh, Charlie and Wes go to the hospital, Wes signs her out while Hugh and Charlie get Kassie ready to leave. When Dr. Foley comes in, Kassie tells him she wants to be at home not the hospital, and they leave. When they get Kassie home, Charlie asks Hugh how long Kassie has. Hugh tells her that Kassie doesn’t have long as she’s no longer eating.

Later, Penny arrives to scold Hugh for discharging Kassie without telling her, but he stops her in her tracks when he informs her that Kassie doesn’t have long left. When Penny enters Wes and Kassie’s home, she is there for them as Kassie peacefully passes away.

Overall I felt that the Kassie subplot was handled beautifully. While the outcome was inevitable, I felt it was handled with the right amount of realism and sensitivity. While this kind of subplot generally can’t be dragged out, I was a little surprised that Kassie’s death was written into the second episode of the season. The performances of McMullen, Ventoura, Coco Jack Gillies (Larry – Wes and Kassie’s daughter) and Jackie Hamilton (Sam – Wes and Kassie’s son) were spectacular.

It will be interesting to see where Wes as a character will go from here. From the previews I’ve seen of next week’s episode, Charlie plans on throwing a fundraiser for the family, and Kassie’s funeral is held.

Hugh and Penny – Hugh spends most of the episode trying to run the new Clinic and Kassie’s care by himself on little sleep, as he is having difficulty finding a locum to help out. In the middle of trying to balance his work commitments, he tries to charm Sharna (on Meryl’s request) and he ends up succeeding when she brings him dinner and they eat together, with Sharna kissing him at the end of the night.

Meanwhile at the start of the episode, Penny tells her therapist all about her changes only for him to point out the obvious fact that she has changed as an attempt to run away from Whyhope (and Hugh). While Penny is dealing with Kassie and Hugh, she runs into Ken at Stanwell, who chastises her for coming back without telling him. She invites him to get drinks with her, where she admits that she had in affair while she was in Broome (again out of character, despite this new persona of hers) and it was a shortcut to breaking up with Jarrod. While Ken notices that Penny is not being her true self, they still manage to have fun by drinking shots and dancing the night away.

After Hugh and Penny deal with Kassie’s death, Penny informs Hugh that she will be working at the Clinic temporarily, until he finds a locum to replace her. The episode ends with them teasing each other at work, with Betty and Ken happily watching on.

Overall, while Hugh and Penny’s interactions were brief, they weren’t wasted. I saw Penny’s decision to stay at the Clinic coming from a mile away, but I’ve got no complaints. I’m looking forward to seeing her and Hugh work together again.

Meryl, Rod and Sharna – Meryl’s corruption subplot provided great and necessary comic relief moments throughout the episode.

Meryl spends the episode trying to cover her tracks – she starts with sneaking into Sharna’s office to get old files with Hayley by her side, where she informs Hayley that one of the many corrupt things she has done as Mayor was awarding contracts without going out to tender. She then goes to see Rod about the parks maintenance contracts and the local rugby club changeroom funding, and follows by burning the files at home. While she is burning the files, Rod comes to visit and tells her that they can’t get out of the trouble they’re in and suggests bribing Sharna, however it’s revealed he is recording his interaction with her.

Later when Rod and Meryl go to see Sharna, Rod plays his recording, only to find that he has partially recorded over it. He also tries to tell Sharna that Meryl was going to bribe her, only for Meryl to give Sharna a copy of the rugby club changeroom funding files, which she got from his mother.

After Rod leaves, Sharna tells Meryl to pay the fine and leave politics quietly, but Meryl says she’s going to fight for Whyhope and against the corruption charges.

Overall, the outcome of this subplot didn’t surprise me – Meryl’s not going to go down easily – but I enjoyed her and Rod’s interactions, and his attempts to take her down nonetheless.

Hayley and Ajax – More cracks are starting to show in Hayley and Ajax’s marriage, with both of them having a lot thrown on their plates. Hayley for some unknown reason is still being Meryl’s accomplice/minion, as well as raising Jimmy, and Ajax is struggling to run the farm and build his house. Their marriage problems are shown in a clearer light when Matt and Charlie overhear them having speechless sex (when their bed springs creak) and when they finish, Hayley admits that she didn’t have an orgasm and goes back to reading her book, while Ajax decides to camp out under the stars because he snores.

Another new character is introduced in Tom (Lincoln Younes), a handyman/farm hand that Ajax hires. Ajax takes to him right away, especially after he offers to help him finish building the house. Ajax invites him to dinner after giving him the caravan to stay in. When Hayley meets him, she clearly likes what she sees.

While I like the exploration of Hayley and Ajax’s marriage, especially showing realistic cracks in it, based on Hayley’s reaction to Tom as well as the show’s promos, I’m hoping that Hayley won’t give into temptation and have an affair with him. I guess only time will tell on that front.

Matt and Charlie – Matt and Charlie had limited screen time together as Charlie’s screen time was mostly spent helping Wes and Kassie. Charlie admits to Matt that she wrote the bad reviews which lead to him coming home. Matt is understandably angry and sleeps outside under the stars (this is shortly before Ajax joins him later). Charlie tells him she did it as he wasn’t listening to her when she told him she wanted to come home.

Charlie encourages him to bring Germany to Whyhope and has The Brewery become German-themed with German beer, however this doesn’t go down well with the locals. Later, Sharna comes to visit and encourages him to make The Brewery a cultural hub for Whyhope, and suggests that he host fundraisers and events to bring in income.

Overall, I’m glad that Charlie admitted the truth to Matt in the second episode so her secret wasn’t a dragged-out subplot, however I felt that the scenes involving Matt experiencing an “existential crisis” didn’t add anything to the subplot or the episode.

Overall I felt that this was a solid episode with Kassie’s death, Charlie admitting to Matt that she wrote the bad reviews, Penny and Hugh working together again, and the exploration of Meryl’s corruption and her efforts to both prevent it from being fully exposed and having to suffer the consequences of it. Most of these developments and outcomes pave the way for additional subplots and story arcs for the season.

Stray Observations:

-The Clinic has progressed with a slightly new sign on the door officially naming it the “Whyhope Community Clinic” and with a number of hospital beds for patients.

-Apparently people refer to Ken and his trait of being sensible as “Kensible”.

-Apparently Rod is writing a book called “50 Shades of Rod”.

-Apparently Rod has saved money for cosmetic work.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Underpants are not pyjamas.” (Hayley to Matt)
• “Why don’t you make her fall in love with you, that way she may drop the charges.” (Meryl to Hugh on Sharna)
• “Some things are more important than the law.” “Is that what you’re going to tell the police when they arrest you…again?” (Meryl-Hayley while they are snooping around in Sharna’s office)
• “It’s not my fault, I couldn’t see over your arm loads of corruption.” (Hayley to Meryl when she trips in Sharna’s office with files in her arms)
• “This better be the end of it.” “It’s just the tip of the iceberg.” (Hayley-Meryl on the extent of Meryl’s corruption)
• “You’re seriously not going to help?” “I’m contemplating the universe, I can’t.” (Ajax-Matt)
• “I can’t go to jail, not with my looks.” (Rod to Meryl)
• “If this Oktoberfest costume is some sort of seduction/apology attempt, I’d marginally might consider forgiving you.” (Matt to Charlie)