Loveday Writing

They clash immediately and find out that they’ve both booked the house for the same week. When the real estate agent tells them that the nearby caravan park is booked out, they are forced to spend at least one night together. Eddy ends up sleeping in the kid’s bedroom.

The next morning, Marion and Eddy clash again in the kitchen, as Marion makes ice-cream for her adult son, Josh, who she is expected to show up, and Eddy cooks bacon for himself. The clash starts when Marion puts the glass Eddy drank from in the dishwasher, because he thanks her and mentions how his ex-wife would get mad at him for not putting his glass and by association, dishes, in the dishwasher. Eddy believes his ex-wife overreacted, but Marion points out that his ex-wife shouldn’t have had to clean up after him or prompt him to clean up after himself. The clash ends with Marion calling Eddy a gaslighter, and he in turn, asks her whether her argument style caused her to end up alone. Marion leaves, upset, going for a walk on the beach, and Eddy gets on his bike to ride to the real estate agent.

After Marion has cooled down and returned to the house, the local volunteer fire brigade gives Eddy a lift home as he couldn’t ride his bike due to a bad hamstring cramp. The cramp forces Eddy to stay another night, much to Marion’s chagrin. Later, Eddy comes upstairs and apologises to Marion for what he said to her and admits that she may have been right about the way he treated his ex-wife. He also admits that the cycling race he signed up for was meant to distract him from the pain of not being able to see his kids for the holidays.

Just as Eddy is about to leave, he comes back into the house to retrieve his USB cord (which he used to prevent the Bluetooth speaker from cutting in and out) and overhears Marion’s conversation to her son, Josh, on the phone. Josh has told Marion he won’t be coming to visit her as he’s gone to a music festival in Darwin with his girlfriend. After the phone call ends, Marion tells Eddy that he can have the house and angrily packs up her stuff. They clash again as Eddy tries to convince her not to leave, which culminates in Marion throwing some of her ice-cream off the balcony in anger, which lands on a dog walking nearby. When the dog’s owner yells out, Eddy takes the blame.

Later, Eddy makes them cups of tea and Marion apologises for her outburst. Eddy asks her why she didn’t tell Josh she was pissed off. Marion says that she could process her disappointment on her own, but Eddy points out she’s not processing it, she’s just staying silent. This leads to Marion revealing to Eddy that she’s argued more with him than she did with her ex-husband during their 15 years of marriage. Eddy encourages her to express how she feels and she ends up going downstairs to call Josh, with him watching from the house.

When Marion returns to the house, she tells Eddy that Josh was very apologetic and offered to fly down to see her the next day, but she turned him down, telling him she made other plans. The episode ends with Marion and Eddy subtly holding hands, implying that they’re going to enter into a relationship.

Overall, I felt that this was a good but not great episode. As the episode explored two strangers having to stay together due to a double booking and no other accommodation options, with the exception of Marion’s walk to the beach and Eddy trying to ride his bike to the real estate agent, the setting was contained to the beach house. This premise was a good one as a double booking would realistically happen, and two people by themselves is the best way to explore this premise, however it meant that the episode had a slower pace, sometimes too slow. I also felt that Marion and Eddy getting together at the end was cliché.

On a smaller, positive note, I appreciated a moment within the episode that happened at night with the camera facing the front of the house, with the lighting showing that Marion was upstairs and Eddy was downstairs. It was solid lighting and camera work, and it was a view of the house we’d never seen before.

Stray Observations:

-The Bluetooth speaker doesn’t work yet again, a running gag throughout the season.

-The house’s address isn’t given, however it is on lot 23A.

-The house and its bookings are managed by a real estate agent, Jones Ocean Properties.

-Marion’s last name is Fielding.

-Eddy’s last name is Marshall.

-Both Marion and Eddy booked the house from the 2^nd to the 9^th, although the month is unknown.

-Marion is an English teacher.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Who the fuck is throwing ice-cream at my dog!” (An unseen passerby yelling out after Marion has thrown some of her homemade ice-cream off the balcony in anger)