Loveday Writing

Ainsley – As this episode mostly focuses on her, I’ll start with her. The episode kicks off with Ainsley revealing that the gang bought the last house they saw in the previous episode, with Ben and Simmo renovating the old garage, which will be the nursery for her baby. Heather comes with her to her ultrasound, where Ainsley asks her doctor to write the sex of her baby down on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope, so she can have a cake made for the gender reveal party.

When Ainsley posts a picture from the ultrasound on social media to announce her pregnancy, Lachlan’s ex-wife, Mel, immediately posts nasty comments. Heather tells Ainsley that she doesn’t have to justify herself to Mel or anyone else. Moments later, Ainsley’s stepmother, Cheryl, calls her to ask about the comments, during the call it’s made clear that Cheryl knows about Ainsley’s situation and doesn’t approve, and she has kept it a secret from Ainsley’s father, Des.

When Ainsley goes to see Lachlan and asks him to give her Mel’s phone number, so she can tell her directly to stop posting nasty comments, Lachlan refuses. This leads to Ainsley tracking Mel down at a nail salon that her mother owns. When Mel tries to run away from Ainsley, it’s revealed that Mel thinks Ainsley and Lachlan are together. Ainsley tells her that she’s not with Lachlan and doesn’t want to be. Mel then reveals to her how difficult her pregnancy has been as she backs her mother’s car into another car. Ainsley takes her home for Harry to check her out, but Heather checks her out when she sees them walking to the front door. Ainsley lets Mel stay the night, so she can rest.

When Mel gets up in the middle of the night, Ainsley sees her as she’s sleeping on the couch. While Mel is slightly hostile, they bond when Mel admits she’s terrified of becoming a mother. Mel apologises for the nasty comments she posted on social media.

The next day, Lachlan arrives for the gender reveal party, where Ainsley reveals that Mel will also be attending, and she’ll be telling her father about their situation. When the situation is revealed to Des, and he and Lachlan fight about how Ainsley will handle raising the baby, Ainsley stands up for herself.

Ainsley cuts the cake and it’s revealed the baby will be a girl, Mel also tells her that she is having a baby girl, and takes a picture of everyone at the party. The episode ends with Mel and Ainsley agreeing to allow the girls to be a part of each other’s lives, and bonding further by looking at photos of Mel when she was younger.

Overall I felt that this subplot was well written. It was a subplot that had to be dealt with eventually and I’m glad it was dealt with sooner rather than later. I also appreciated that Ainsley emphasised that there are no victims in her situation – Ainsley did choose to be with Lachlan and the pregnancy is the consequence of that choice, and Mel chose to be nasty, but did take responsibility for her own actions. I also appreciated Mel and Ainsley connecting for the sake of their girls. It will be interesting to see if a friendship develops over time.

Harry and Liz – Harry and Liz spend the episode attempting to date, telling each other about their prospective dates, and promising to make phone calls to each other to give them the option to bail out of the date if it’s not going well. When Ben asks them about their dates and their techniques, he questions whether they are putting their best foot forward. Liz counters by pointing out to Ben that him and Heather aren’t that open about their relationship due to Heather’s dislike for PDAs.

Harry’s and Liz’s dates for the evening don’t go well and they end up coming home early. When Manju, fully recovered from her stroke in the previous season, comes over with food for the gender reveal party the next morning, she tells Harry about Xavier, Martin’s nephew.

When Harry visits Manju and Martin and meets Xavier, everything goes well and they end up hooking up. While Liz goes on a date with a man she likes, only for him to pretend to take a phone call to get out of it, which she catches him do by calling him while he’s pretending to be on a call. The man admits that he felt there was no chemistry between them.

Heather and Ben – There wasn’t much focus on Heather and Ben in this episode, other than Ben expressing PDAs to Heather in front of the others, after Liz points out to Ben that their relationship isn’t out in the open.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid episode with the Ainsley story arc, and Harry and Liz’s hilarious dating subplot. I also appreciated the character development in Manju, going from being homophobic towards Harry in the previous season to trying to set him up with her partner’s nephew, and even advising Ainsley against gender stereotypes towards her baby.

Stray Observations:

Running gag – The characters stating that ‘everyone’ is doing gender reveal parties and Heather asking exactly who would through gender reveal parties.

Running gag – Ben assessing Liz’s and Harry’s date outfits.

-Mel is five months pregnant.

-Ainsley’s last name is Elling.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Lizzie that shirt is giving me laidback, sexy sophistication.” “What am I giving you?” “Mate, I’m getting first class international flight vibe.” (Ben-Harry-Ben on Liz’s and Harry’s date outfits)
• “When it comes to romance, I know what’s best for me.” “What about Hazza?” “I know what’s best for him too.” (Heather-Ben-Heather)