Loveday Writing

Alexa talks to Craig and questions why it took him so long to get to Rory and why he didn’t go to the funeral, and notices that he has a turtle tattoo. She then talks to Soraya, who informs her that the ‘cure all’ juices that she and Rory had been promoting were just about to go international. While Alexa is asking her questions, Soraya appears to be taking Rory’s death a little too well, while Soraya’s younger sister, Eden, is more hostile towards her. When Soraya and Eden get into an argument, Alexa asks to use the bathroom, which gives her the opportunity to copy the files from Soraya’s computer onto a USB drive. Before Alexa leaves, she asks Eden why it took her 30 minutes to call the police about Rory’s death, as she was also on the beach that morning with her coffee cart.

Back at Alexa’s apartment, Madison tells her that Soraya’s files were clean. She also tells Alexa that she found data from a fitness app on Rory’s watch that tracked his vital signs. When Madison tells Alexa that his vitals went crazy minutes after he went into the water, this makes her realise that his watch wasn’t on his body when it was found.

Later Alexa goes to see Soraya while she’s in the middle of a photo shoot. Soraya tells Alexa that she was in the hospital the night before Rory died but won’t tell her why. Eden tells her that she was in the hospital for hyperemesis gravidarum (extreme morning sickness). Before Alexa leaves, she notices that Soraya has the same turtle tattoo that Craig has, on the back of her neck. When she returns to her apartment, Alexa asks Madison to find out who last accessed the watch and when, but Madison discovers the watch has been switched on again.

Later, Alexa goes to a memorial service for Rory at the beach, where she notices Soraya yelling at Craig to leave. She also manages to find (with the help of Madison over the phone) the watch in the glove box of Craig’s rescue car. Alexa goes to see Soraya at her apartment again, where she admits that her and Craig are having an affair, and that he may be the father of her baby, and that Rory texted her while she was at the hospital, saying that he had something important he needed to tell her. Afterwards, Madison tells Alexa that a hotel room key app that was on Rory’s watch was deleted, and the app was last used on Valentine’s Day.

Alexa goes to the motel and poses as an employee to get the security footage from Valentine’s Day, where it’s revealed that Rory and Eden hooked up. When Alexa goes to see Eden, Eden asks her not to tell Soraya as it was a mistake and that she believes Rory was so drunk that he didn’t notice it was her. Alexa suggests that Soraya knew about their hook up but Eden dismisses her.

Later, Harry comes to Alexa’s apartment to find Madison there. He’s come over to give Alexa the files on Eden she requested. Meanwhile Alexa meets up with Craig, where he reveals that he has pulled out of the surfing titles due to a shoulder injury, and he doesn’t think that Soraya loved Rory. He also points out to Alexa that if he wanted Rory dead that he wouldn’t risk his own life to try and save him, when he could have just let him drown.

When Alexa returns to the apartment, she comes across papers Eden has written as part of her veterinary studies, which ultimately leads to her solving the case.

Later Alexa goes to see Eden at the beach, just as she is closing her coffee cart. Alexa tells Eden (and the audience) that Rory was planning on telling Soraya about the hook up as he was so consumed with guilt, but Eden couldn’t let that happen. Using her veterinary knowledge, she poisoned Rory by putting deadly nightshade, a toxic plant, in his morning smoothie. The effects of deadly nightshade are virtually identical to a sudden arrhythmic death. However the watch would have led the police back to her, so she had to put it in Craig’s car to throw him under the bus.

On a smaller note, throughout the episode, Alexa expresses her disdain for beaches, finding them overrated. She eventually reveals to Madison that her father used to take her to a seaside cottage, which she loved, however he stole the key and they were squatting while the owners were out, and were eventually caught by the police. At the end of the episode, she stops by the cottage, admiring it.

Overall I didn’t feel that this was the strongest episode. Much like last week’s episode, I pretty much realised that Eden was the killer about halfway through, specifically when Craig and Soraya made it clear that they knew nothing about the watch. I also felt that Craig being upfront with Alexa towards the end about his shoulder injury and pulling out of the surfing titles came completely out of nowhere. On another note, I feel that Harry’s character development is a little all over the place at the moment. I like him and his interactions with Alexa where he easily teases her (in a light hearted manner) and they provide some necessary humour, but I don’t feel that his character has earned this ‘right’ as he was only introduced in the previous episode. Alexa and Harry are still getting to know each other, and I feel that his awkwardness around Madison due to never having met her proves my point.

On another note, I was a little concerned when I read the synopsis of the episode that it would completely undermine the events of the season 1 episode, Old School. However when I re-read that review, I found that Alexa growing up during her primary school years in Auckland and rebelling in a Melbourne high school five years later, especially when we discover that her father was essentially a con artist, would be plausible.

On a smaller note, I did enjoy the running gags revolving around the heat and Alexa fishing for compliments on her bread.

Stray Observations:

Running gags:

• Alexa’s hatred of people (including Reuben) leaving the sliding door to Reuben’s café open while the air conditioner is running.
• Alexa wanting to know how many compliments she’s receiving about her bread.

-Alexa is a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand.

-Alexa was the 1980 Junior Lifeguard champion.

-When Harry and Alexa are eating gelato, Harry’s is a combination of lemon and chocolate, while Alexa’s is pistachio.

-Harry and his younger brother used to jump the fence of their neighbour’s orchard and steal pistachios.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “I thought you Aussies could handle the heat?” “By the way I’m a dual citizen and I think the word you’re looking for is ‘suffocating tropical blanket’.” (Harry-Alexa)
• “You shouldn’t make it a habit to go to kids’ water parks in your spare time, you’re a grown up now!” “If you’d even consider getting an air conditioner then I wouldn’t be riding hydro slides with kids who think it’s fun to block the exit when going down at 50 miles an hour!” (Alexa-Madison on Madison’s sprained ankle)
• “Lots of compliments on your bread today.” “How many?” “You want me to start counting?” “Yeah, that’d be good.” (Reuben-Alexa going back-and-forth)
• “Two.” “Hm?” “Compliments.” “Well that’s not many!” “It’s early. How do you like the sourdough?” “It’s okay.” “Two and a half.” (Reuben-Alexa-Reuben-Alexa-Reuben-Harry-Reuben on the number of compliments Alexa is getting about her bread)
• “She was part of a Save the Whales protest a couple of years ago, but I don’t know if standing in front of a police van dressed as an orca can be considered anti-social.” “I don’t know, I don’t trust orcas, they look shifty.” (Harry-Madison on Eden)