Loveday Writing

When we see Kelly looking at sunglasses at a local shop, she is subjected to racist comments by the shop assistant, only just stopping short of asking to see the contents of Kelly’s bag when Craig walks in. This leads to Kelly leaving the shop and trying to tell Craig what happened, only for him to light-heartedly dismiss her, claiming the shop assistant was trying to make a sale.

When Kelly & Craig get back in the car and are on the road, Kelly accidentally hits a kangaroo. Later, they bring a joey back to the beach holiday house, which they found in the kangaroo’s pouch. Craig calls Wildlife Rescue, who tells him that they can’t pick up the joey until tomorrow and they’ll have to take care of it until then.

Whilst they struggle at first, they manage to get the joey into an esky to both use as a pouch and a way to carry him around. As Craig has made a reservation for them, he and Kelly take the joey with them (now named Lionel) to the surf lifesaving restaurant with them. When Kelly goes to the bar to get them drinks, she returns to their table to find Craig downstairs smoking a cigarette and experiences another racial incident when a woman, Deedee, at the table behind her stares at her for having two drinks in her hands and tells her she can’t keep a joey as a pet and take it away from its mother (a not-so subtle reference to the Stolen Generation).

Whilst they are walking back to the beach holiday house, Kelly & Craig get into an argument over looking after the joey, which escalates into Kelly calling him out on not being ready for fatherhood and admitting that due to a fertility condition, she is running out of time to have children. Later in the evening whilst sitting on the holiday house balcony, Craig admits that he’s scared to have kids but he didn’t say that he didn’t want them, admitting he only wants to become a father when he’s ready. Kelly accepts this and just as she and Craig are about to be intimate, Kelly discovers that Lionel has escaped from the esky.

Kelly & Craig search for Lionel, with Craig eventually finding him lying down in the open dryer on a towel. When Craig remarks that everything is under control, Kelly counters by saying that it was dumb luck, and calls him out again on being irresponsible and not being able to trust him. The tension and conflict between them reaches its climax when Kelly passionately and heartbreakingly reveals to Craig that she can’t trust him to be a father because he refuses to acknowledge the racism that she, and any future child they have, will be subjected to, and walks away.

The next morning, Kelly is sitting on the beach and Craig comes up to her, this time using his backpack as a pouch for Lionel. He admits that she was right and he will never know what she goes through, but he can listen, learn and keep trying to be better at understanding. Kelly tells him that she thought their relationship was over, he admits he thought it was too and tells her he didn’t go after her the night before, as he couldn’t leave Lionel in the dryer. Kelly then sees Deedee walking by, Craig then calls out to her, says ‘fuck you’ to her, and gives her the finger. Kelly quickly tries to defuse the situation by telling him that she loves his passion but he needs to work on his technique.

The episode ends with a Wildlife Rescue ranger arriving to pick up the joey, with Kelly & Craig letting her know what Lionel’s preferences are for being fed and comforted. The ranger than asks Kelly if she’s thinking of having kids with Craig and she smiles in response.

Overall, I felt that this was another solid episode. I appreciated that this episode scaled it down to two main characters, and a couple at a different stage of their relationship. I appreciated the parallels between and the conflict presented of looking after a joey and the realities of having a future Indigenous child. The performances of Davies and Tapsell as the overly chill but well-meaning Craig and the future thinking Kelly were spot on.

Stray Observations:

-Much like Patrick Brammall & Harriet Dyer writing and starring in the previous episode, Miranda Tapsell wrote this episode with her real-life husband, James Comey.

-Much like the previous episode, the Bluetooth speaker also didn’t work properly in this episode, perhaps this will be a running gag throughout the season.

-Miranda Tapsell’s appearance in this episode marks the second Love Child alumni to appear in the show, following Harriet Dyer’s appearance in the pilot.

-Kelly’s last name is Delaney.

-This story is set shortly after Christmas Day.

-In the previous episode, Jonah & Steph put Molly in the master bedroom, yet we see a kid’s bedroom as Kelly is looking for Lionel, I wonder why they didn’t just put her in there?

Best one liners and interactions:

• “I remember you had them on at lunch because I thought it was a genius move. That way mum couldn’t see you rolling your eyes as she went on and on about the divorce. You could even sneak in a quick nap.” “Don’t be like that, she was alright.” “She told you my dad was dead.” “She meant dead to her, she clarified.” “Only because I overheard it.” (Craig-Kelly going back and forth about his mother and when Kelly was last wearing her sunglasses)
• “You’ll be right mate. Bambi’s mum died and he turned out alright. Craig’s dad shot through, and he’s pretty normal. He’s chill, he’s weirdly chill. Like dead-eyed psychopath calm.” (Kelly trying to reassure the joey he will be fine without his mother)
• “I’m sorry, did you want people thinking we just Wolf Creek’d a tourist?” (Craig to Kelly when she reprimands him for washing the battered car instead of helping her look after the joey)
• “What about Chandler?” “Why not Joey?” “Nah, too obvious.” (Craig-Kelly-Craig on naming the joey)
• “You’re an idiot.” “I never disputed that.” (Kelly-Craig)
• “Make sure he stays in there.” “Yeah of course he will, he’s underage.” (Waiter-Craig on the joey in the esky at the surf lifesaving club restaurant)
• “Look at this, hey?” “It’s beautiful.” “Taking credit for the sunset now?” “Yeah it was my idea. I was like, the sun should set every day. Everyone doubted me but I reckon I was on to something.” (Craig-Kelly going back and forth)
• “Is it too cold? Maybe Lionel’s freezing, maybe we should go back inside?” “No way, it’s fine, he’s got his Christmas jumper.” (Kelly-Craig on Lionel in the esky)
• “You gotta love a restaurant that lets you order by the weight. ‘What do you feel like tonight, sir?’ ‘Oh, I’ll have half a kilogram of cow thanks.’ You should be able to order by the heart surgery you’ll need after. ‘Oh yeah, give me a triple bypass, I skipped lunch.’” (Craig to Kelly on the surf lifesaving club restaurant)
• “But you’ve still got some?” “Yeah, I guess.” “Like, how many cartons?” (Craig-Kelly-Craig on how many eggs she has left in her body)
• “I don’t want to eat this anymore.” “I’ll have it then.” “Piss off, I’ll save it for later.” (Craig-Kelly-Craig on the ice-cream in his hand)
• “It’s not just what you don’t do Craig, it’s what you don’t see.” “What does that even mean?” “It means Craig, that if we have a baby, we’re going to have an Aboriginal baby.” “Yeah I kind of figured.” “But you don’t know what that means, Craig. They’re going to experience things that you never did. How can you protect them from something that you don’t even notice? You don’t see the woman follow me around in the shop. You don’t see the judgement I get from the bitch at dinner when I’m carrying two drinks. Even when it’s right in front of your face, you don’t want to acknowledge it’s there. You want everything to be cool and calm and easy, and it’s not. These things are not easy and you can’t hide from them. They may not affect you, but they’re going to affect your kid. Are you going to be there when they’re not served, spoken over, singled out?” “Kel…” “Do you know why my mum gets angry at me when I have a whole bag full of crap? Because she was there when I was 11 and the shopping centre security guard made me pour it all out in front of everyone. My white friends didn’t have to, but I did, because they thought I was stealing. Eleven years old, in this country, that’s old enough to send me to prison. That still happens to black kids now, are you going to be there to protect our kid?” (Kelly-Craig-Kelly-Craig, and then Kelly explaining why she can’t have a family with him)
• “A biscuit would be nice.” “No, he can’t have biscuits, he’s a joey.” “For me.” (Ranger-Craig-Ranger)