Loveday Writing

Later, her and Michael visit Rod at his home, where Michael asks him about securing favours from Council for his own personal gain. Rod refuses to answer his question and threatens to call the cops, Michael tells him that he and Meryl will leave. As they are leaving, Meryl tries to tell him about the buried cash but he stops her, telling her in way of a metaphor to get rid of any “war chest” she may have. Later at the homestead, Hugh invites Michael to go out to the pub with him, only for Meryl to stop Hugh from leaving as she has called a family meeting.

During the family meeting, she informs everyone that she has $13,000 on her hands to get rid of, that she offers to give away, but no-one takes it. Later in the episode, Charlie comes to her and asks her to give the money to Wes and the kids so they can go on the road trip around Australia that he and Kassie never got to go on.

At the end of the episode, Michael tells Meryl that Sharna would have been specifically sent to dig up dirt on her. Meryl tells him they need to find a way to take Sharna down.

Overall, I enjoyed the progression of the Meryl story arc with the introduction of Michael and the subtle moments of the possibly romantic history between them on display. I also appreciated the progression of the story arc by having Meryl take the consequences of her actions seriously, and by having something good come out of her bad behaviour by giving away the money she buried.

Hugh, Sharna, Penny, Michael and the Clinic – This episode sees the introduction of a new character, Melody, the Clinic’s new receptionist/Centrelink job placement, who shows up shortly after a hungover Penny arrives to work.

Later, Sharna comes to the visit the Clinic and gives them new KPIs to follow so the Clinic can get the funding it needs, ordering them to give her their first report on their results in a month. When Sharna leaves, Melody points out the KPIs are unreasonable. Hugh dismisses her at first, until Penny agrees with her and he goes to see Sharna. He tries to take advantage of their relationship to get her to give them easier KPIs to follow, to no avail.

Later, Ken tries to lead a brainstorming session with everyone on how to build up the Clinic’s client base, to no success, with only Melody offering suggestions of massage, reiki, and a walking group.

After the family meeting with Meryl, Hugh and Michael go to the local pub to drink and find Penny there. Matt walks in a few moments later, informing Hugh of his shortened picnic with Charlie. Michael pulls out a bag of cocaine for everyone to try, Matt declines but Hugh and Penny are interested.

Later, after a few drinks, Michael tells Hugh and Matt that he is the one thing standing between Meryl and a long jail sentence. Matt asks him how long, but he dismisses him without answering the question. When the bar announces it’s closing at 9.30pm, Penny invites Michael back to her house to party on. Hugh goes to Sharna’s house but she doesn’t let him in as he’s clearly drunk and high.

Later, Michael and Penny spend their evening dancing in Penny’s kitchen, only for Michael to suffer a cardiac arrest and collapse on her floor. Penny calls Hugh and takes him to the Clinic. Hugh orders Penny to help treat Michael. Hugh tells Michael he’s suffering from Atrial Fibrillation and shocks his heart back into sinus rhythm. When Penny walks away, Hugh asks her what she was thinking for partying with him and calls her out on her change of behaviour. She admits that she doesn’t know what she’s doing and who she is anymore. Hugh tells her to go home.

The next day, Hugh tells Melody can run a holistic program whenever the Clinic is closed. Melody asks to be paid, Ken writes down a number that he shows to Hugh, and then Melody. Melody accepts the pay rate. When Melody leaves to rearrange the Clinic’s kitchenette, Hugh asks Ken if the rate she agreed to is even legal, implying it is very low and she’s too green to know this.

Hugh goes to see Michael as he is about to leave. Michael reveals to Hugh that his episode the night before wasn’t his first, and Hugh gives him a treatment plan to see a cardiologist he knows, and a drug and alcohol specialist. Michael dismisses the plan as ridiculous, but Hugh tells him that his hard partying days are over and he has the option to get treatment, or risk having a fatal episode, or survive another episode but end up disabled from a hypoxic brain injury. Michael agrees to the treatment plan and Hugh tells him to be honest with Meryl about the seriousness of her fraud case.

At the end of the episode, Hugh goes to see Penny at her house and offers her a senior executive role at the Clinic, telling her that her new “work hard, play hard” persona isn’t working for her. He gives her a Powerade for her hangover and leaves.

Hayley, Ajax & Tom – Throughout the episode, Hayley keeps having flashbacks to her kiss with Tom in the previous episode.

Throughout the episode, Ajax is attempting to buy French doors for their house, but of course he gambles the money away at the local Bet M8 (TAB). Later, Hayley goes to the house site to find Ajax and the kids, only to find Tom there inside. Tom says they should talk about their kiss, Hayley says she shouldn’t have kissed him because she’s “married and a Christian”. Tom tells her that he thinks she’s amazing, and Hayley asks if they can be friends, and he agrees, but the sexual tension between them is still there. Ajax and the kids arrive, with Ajax telling her he has ordered the French doors, implying that he won more money through his gambling.

Later when Ajax goes to collect the French doors, he gambles again, while Hayley visits the site again and Tom gives her a “house tour”. Ajax loses the money for the French doors.

At the end of the episode, Ajax goes to see Meryl about the money, only for Meryl to tell him that it’s already been given away. Meryl asks him if everything’s okay and he says it is, but he turns and walks away with tears building up in his eyes.

Matt, Charlie & Wes – Charlie is still spending time with Wes and the kids in an effort to help him get through his grief, but this episode has things go too far. Their subplot kicks off with Charlie & Wes going for a morning run, with Matt asking Charlie if they can do something special today as it’s their wedding anniversary (despite the fact that they are divorced).

Later, Matt goes to see Meryl and tells her that he wants to propose to Charlie again and asks for his Nanna Hannah’s ring to give to her, but she refuses. Later, Matt and Charlie are having a romantic picnic for their wedding anniversary and just as Matt pulls the ring box out of his pocket to propose, Wes calls Charlie and asks her to come over. Matt’s clearly not happy, but Charlie still leaves. When Charlie gets to Wes’, she finds out that Wes called her because Sam can’t sleep because Kassie used to sing him to sleep.

After she gets Sam to sleep, Wes tells her that he and Kassie were supposed to go on a road trip around Australia, and that Kassie was the only person that could keep the kids from fighting. Just as Charlie goes to leave, Wes asks her to stay as he’s really struggling. She agrees. They end up sharing a bed and Charlie spoons him when he breaks down crying. The next morning, Charlie wakes up to find Sam sitting on the bed. Larry walks in and angrily yells at Charlie for staying over, telling her to get her own family.

When Charlie returns home, Matt is waiting for her and tells her that she can’t stay at Wes’ and that he’ll support her being there for him but that there needs to be boundaries. Charlie breaks down and tells him that she misses Kassie.

Overall, I felt that this was a weak episode due to what I felt was disjointed writing. While there were some good moments, such as the progression of Meryl’s and Ajax’s story arcs, the rest of the story arcs and subplots were all over the place.

While I imagine that there would have been behind the scenes reasons for Belinda Bromilow’s (Betty) departure, writing-wise it doesn’t make sense for Betty to be fired due to the costs in keeping her when another receptionist is hired anyway. Sure Melody is taking a lower pay rate, but Betty is someone who would have been happy to take a lower pay rate herself. I was also disappointed that her departure was barely mentioned or touched upon, considering how popular she was in the Whyhope community.

With the Matt, Charlie and Wes subplot, I felt this was a bit of a mess. As I mentioned in a previous review, I find it hard to develop an attachment to Wes, Kassie and their family, as we don’t know much about them as they’ve only been introduced this season, despite the fact that apparently everyone knows them. While Wes’ struggles with his grief and trying to keep his family together are realistic, I felt that Charlie staying overnight and sleeping with Wes in his bed was unnecessary and a little cringeworthy. Charlie’s guilt over wanting to be happy with Matt conflicting with her own grief over losing Kassie, could have been expressed in a more poignant and appropriate way than spooning Wes. I also felt that Matt’s attempts to propose Charlie didn’t add anything to the episode, especially as it never ended up happening.

With the Ajax, Hayley & Tom story arc, while I’m not a fan of the Hayley-Tom part of this story arc, I do appreciate the progression of the Ajax part. His gambling addiction is slowly progressing and it is clearly building up to a climax, but exactly when things will come to a head remains to be seen. Despite the fact that I’m not a fan of Hayley cheating, I appreciate the fact that both Hayley and Ajax are too busy trying to keep their respective secrets from each other to notice the problems between them. I’m looking forward to seeing where this story arc goes, and seeing how, where and when things will eventually come to a head.

Stray Observations:

Dora sighting: Outside of Matt and Charlie’s house at night.

-According to Matt, Charlie is a swimmer not a runner.

-Larry’s full name is Larissa.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “That food’s for the grieving!” (Charlie offscreen to Matt when he tries to eat food she made for Wes and the kids)
• “I want to ask Charlie to marry me.” “Again? Use the old one, I was going to give that one to Eliza for her 21^st.” (Matt-Meryl when Matt asks Meryl for his Nanna Hannah’s ring to give to Charlie)
• “I plead the Fifth.” “This is Australia, so we don’t have the Fifth Amendment.” (Rod-Michael)
• “Meryl’s got more secret chambers than Harry Potter!” (Rod to Michael)
• “It turns out that I have some extra money that I had completely forgotten about…” “Because you can’t remember where you buried it? Oh, am I right?” “No, an old pirate always remembers where she buried her treasure.” (Meryl-Matt-Hugh)
• “I like your mum but she is bad, that’s where you get it from.” (Penny to Hugh)