Loveday Writing

It’s established in the first few minutes that despite having been friends for a long time, they’ve drifted apart and haven’t spoken to each other for a while. Tensions immediately arise when Jules & Tom expect to get their turn in the house’s master bedroom, only for Jonah & Steph to ask them to stay in the small, uncomfortable back room as they’ve already put Molly in the master bedroom. Jules reassures Tom that they’ll make the best of it as they don’t want another “Bali situation”.

Throughout the episode, the tensions of Jonah & Steph’s parenting and Jules & Tom’s childlessness are brewing underneath the surface, from Molly constantly being in front of a loud iPad, to Jules having to stop herself from swearing, to Tom casually offering to give Molly a smack to teach her a lesson about hitting people.

The tensions come to a head when Jules accidentally leaves a sharp knife on the counter and Molly gets it, holding it close to her. Once Jonah gets the knife from her, they end up getting into a nasty argument about parenting, childlessness, Jonah & Steph trying to have another child, and the Bali situation (which is revealed to be where Jonah & Steph had their destination wedding which Jules & Tom couldn’t afford to attend). The argument ends with Jules saying that maybe their annual holiday isn’t working for them anymore as last year’s holiday was also tense. Steph asks whether the holiday was better with Lisa (Jonah’s previous long-term partner), Jules & Tom say no but Jonah hesitates. Jonah than asks Tom whether it’s the two of them that are the problem and Tom says they might be.

The next morning, Jonah & Steph are eating breakfast in the kitchen and offer Jules & Tom some, but they tell them they’ve booked an earlier flight and are going to leave. The four of them awkwardly apologise and say goodbye to each other, with Tom offering to text Jonah when they get home but Tom politely declines and says “it’s okay”, indicating that their friendship is coming to an end. As Jules & Tom drive away, Jules asks Tom if he’s okay and he says he actually is. Meanwhile, Jonah & Steph play with Molly as they make their way back to the house.

Overall, I felt that this was a good pilot, with an interesting dynamic played out with a childless couple and a couple with a toddler. The deterioration of their friendship was realistic, the tension throughout the episode was well paced, and the performance of all four actors during the argument was fantastic. While they are yelling and being nasty to each other, all of their points were relatable and valid. The awkward, quiet, but kind acceptance of their friendship ending was a little sad but a good way to end the episode.

I feel that a revolving cast with a constant setting will definitely make this show fresh and unique, and I’m looking forward to reviewing the rest of the season, and seeing who we meet at the beach holiday house next.

Stray Observations:

-Patrick Brammall (Tom) and Harriet Dyer (Steph) are married with a child in real life. They also wrote this episode.

-Steph is either Jonah’s second wife or at the very least, his second long-term partner.

-The show was filmed on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “They’ve just gone a bit…” “Insane?” “Anxious.” (Jules-Tom-Jules on Jonah & Steph)
• “So, you’re trying for another baby, that’s awesome!” “Yeah, we just didn’t want Molly to grow up, you know?” “Spoiled?” “Lonely.” (Jules-Steph-Tom-Steph)
• “Mate, you are as tight as a fish’s arsehole.” (Jonah to Tom on his budgeting)
• “It’s frogging ducked up and cancer’s a clunt.” (Jules to Steph on her father’s cancer diagnosis and trying not to swear in front of Molly)
• “Oh, I am so tired of the judgement! You know this is MY holiday. If I want to give her an iPad for a whole fuckin’ week, that is my choice so that I can spend time with my friends. You have no idea what it’s like to spend every day with a fuckin’ tyrant who hits you in the face and just cries at anything and won’t eat her food, and you and your needs they just disappear right into the background, you know? And you catch yourself in the mirror on the way to her music lesson where she’s gonna hit you in the face with a fuckin’ tambourine again, and you think ‘who the fuck is that sad, ugly ghost?’” (Steph to Jules and Tom on her parenting and their judgement towards her parenting)