Loveday Writing

Heather also reveals that Ben is being clingier than ever and she has a major exam coming up. She decides to lock herself up in Col’s granny flat so she can study without distractions, only to find Timmy there for the same reason, and imposes strict rules on her, which include not talking to him.

Meanwhile Ainsley tells Liz that Simmo told her Ben is going to propose, which also leads to them telling Harry. Harry asks if Heather is legally divorced from Col. This leads to Liz showing up at the granny flat with a basket of food and gin, and her and Heather having drinks, which leads to Heather revealing that she and Col are not legally divorced, and Liz letting the cat out of the bag. To Liz’s surprise, Heather doesn’t know why Ben would propose to her but likes the idea.

When Heather is thinking the idea of marrying Ben over, she reveals in her narration that she never wanted to get married, and her and Col only got married because she got pregnant with their first child and his mother threatened to cut him out of her will. She also reveals that they had no honeymoon or honeymoon period. Eventually Simmo tells Ben about the rumour of him proposing, and Ben reveals that he’d marry Heather tomorrow if she wanted to. They go ring shopping and Ben buys her a $9,000 engagement ring.

When Heather comes home and Ben does propose (albeit between coughs, why he was coughing wasn’t made clear), she asks him whether the proposal was real and how much the ring was. Despite being happy with the proposal, she doesn’t say yes but doesn’t say no either, believing that Ben is proposing because she has been distant lately due to her impending major exam. She also asks him if something else has happened, he denies it but she doesn’t believe him, which ultimately leads to him confessing to cheating on her.

Heather leaves and goes back to Col’s granny flat, choosing to study and focus on the exam. However she ends up stepping outside and calling Ben, upset, telling him that she sang Bec’s praises to her as a mother the morning after, and this explains why Bec couldn’t look at her. She hangs up and lies down on the bench outside. Meanwhile, Ainsley, Liz and Simmo come home, and Ben tells them about cheating on Heather. Liz and Ainsley leave to comfort Heather, while Simmo takes Ben out for a drive to get away from the house for a while.

When Liz and Ainsley arrive to comfort Heather, she confides in them that she thought this would happen, however she didn’t think it would be this soon or with his ex. Timmy comes out and asks her if Ben cheated on her, having overheard most of their conversation. Meanwhile Simmo suggests to Ben that he give Heather a free pass with Col to even things out, but they both admit it’s not the solution. Ben gets a phone call with Timmy, who chastises him for cheating on his mother. Timmy is calling from the house, which results in Mia overhearing their conversation, just as upset about it, and leaving.

Heather ends up staying the night in the granny flat and Timmy arrives the next morning refusing to let her give up on studying for the major exam. They spend the remaining 20 hours they have cramming and go to campus the next day and take their exam. Although we don’t hear how Heather goes with it, based on her narration, it went better than she expected. When she comes home, she tells Ben that she doesn’t want him to leave the house but there’s no coming back for them.

Harry, Sam and Geri – Harry spends most of the episode preparing a BBQ for Sam and Geri so they can get to know him and the housemates better. A little friction arises between Harry and Sam as Sam believes that he would eventually get his own place. However Sam immediately grows to love Harry after overhearing him reassure Mia when she’s upset at her parents for hurting Heather. Sam and Geri tell him that they want to move forward with making arrangements for him to be their sperm donor.

Liz and Ainsley – Not much going on with Liz and Ainsley in this episode other than supporting Heather, which I appreciated.

Overall I felt that this was a solid episode with fantastic performances by Younane and Peacocke, especially during the reveal scene. I appreciated that this story arc wasn’t dragged out with the reveal coming two episodes after the event. What happens now with Heather and Ben’s relationship over but Heather not kicking him out will be interesting, perhaps Heather will stay in the self-contained room. I also appreciated the appearance of Timmy and his character development in standing up for Heather and dishing out tough love to her about the major exam, showing that they are more alike than he’d like to admit. I also appreciated the progression of Harry’s story arc.

Stray Observations:

-Ben is considerate enough to remind Harry to ask Geri (when Harry is on the phone with her) whether she or Sam have any dietary requirements or allergies before the BBQ. When Harry tells Ben that both Sam and Gerri are vegan, he’s so shocked that he has to sit down.

-Simmo has had his haircut, a continuation of a gag from the previous episode where he used getting a bad haircut as an excuse not to visit Ainsley.

-Liz comes over to see Heather at the granny flat with a basket of food, ADHD medication (low dose) and gin.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Simmo told me Ben is planning to propose.” “To Heather? What?” “Yes, to Heather!” “Is he insane?” (Ainsley-Liz going back-and-forth)
• “I should just caution though that when I try to be normal it has a quite drastic counter-effect. But I’ll do my best impersonation of normality.” (Harry to Geri)
• “I know my mother better than most kids ever want to know their mothers, and I know she’s hard work, but she didn’t deserve this…she’s been pushing shit uphill her entire life, putting everyone else first, and she finally does one thing for herself, one terrifying thing, she doesn’t even know how to use an iPad, and you cheat on her! I really thought you were going to be the first man to add to her life without taking anything away.” (Timmy on the phone to Ben)