Loveday Writing

Roz tells Helen and George that she is leaving the firm to open her own mediation business, which leads to Ray having Helen look after their most prestigious client – Nikolai Bennett, the son of playwright, Sergei Bennett, who was famous for not allowing women to star in his plays. As Nikolai has inherited the copyright to Sergei’s most famous play, Death of Man, he wants to shut down a suburban clown theatre company, who want to perform the play but change the genders.

Helen tells Nikolai to ignore the theatre company and their version of the play as taking legal action would give them free publicity. Helen suggests that he remove his father’s ban on women performing his plays, but Nikolai refuses. Helen tries to read the play and ends up going to the clown theatre company and tells them to perform the play, but not to change the genders and she won’t get an injunction, on the condition that they don’t tell anyone it was her idea.

Helen takes Nikolai to see the play, where Nikolai reveals to her (and the audience) that there is a nude scene in the third act. To get around this, the actress wears a skin-coloured body suit with a fake penis, only for it to fall off during her monologue. After it ends, the actresses ask Nikolai what he thought and he tells them that he’ll be pursuing legal action against the theatre.

Helen’s second client is Mareena, an influencer who wants to do a video will, only for Helen to bore her to tears (literally) when she has to explain that a video will isn’t legal and why it needs to be done on paper. When Mareena tells her she won’t bother as she’ll live a long time, Helen points out that life is random and she could die tomorrow. Later, when George is getting rid of his gaming chair (I’ll get to this) Mareena is doing a live video post in Blendology, only for George’s chair to fall off the back of a ute and explode, damaging Blendology’s front windows and nearly hurting her. This motivates Mareena to do a proper will and tag Gruber & Associates in her post about it.

Meanwhile, George gets sent a gaming chair as his Rubble Runner following has grown so much, Luxolab Gaming Chairs wants to sponsor him. Ray ends up testing out the chair, however Roz tells him to get rid of it as she heard that gaming chairs can explode, which it does later in the episode as he tries to do so (as mentioned above).

The episode ends with Gruber & Associates losing Nikolai as a client, but possibly gaining 30 more as Mareena’s video post on making a will and tagging the firm has led to millennials being interested in having their own wills done. Roz ends up staying in her office (to Helen’s chagrin) after asking Ray if she can operate her new business out of it, offering to stay on as the office manager for both companies.

Overall, I felt that this was a better episode than the previous one, to the point that I felt it should have been the season premiere episode. I feel this way due to Roz’s career change from probate to mediation, which provides more writing and comedic opportunities for the season, as well as the running gag potential that could come from millennials having their wills done. I also feel this way as the writing of this episode was better than the previous one.

On a smaller note, I appreciated that Helen had more than one client in this episode and that the writers inverted the millennial stereotype by revealing that Mareena has a science degree and used to be a medical researcher before becoming an influencer.

Stray Observations:

Running gag – Helen asking Ray if she can have Roz’s office after she leaves.

-Ray calls Roz ‘Rozzie’.

-When Helen is in Blendology and Melcome asks for her name, she says it’s ‘Still Helen’, he ends up writing Still Helen on her cup.

-After Helen tells the clown theatre company to perform Death of Man without changes, the poster at the front entrance has the words ‘WO’ blacked out.

-Gruber & Associates’ social media handle is “@grubsandass”.

-Apparently George always has couch privileges for the couch in Ray’s office but Helen doesn’t.

-Ray asks George about getting an air fryer for the office and George tells him that Roz wouldn’t like it, as Roz is leaving, Ray buys one, which can be seen at the end of the episode.  

-Roz tells Helen that she marched for Hilary (Hilary Clinton) and wore a ‘pink pussy hat’, revealing that she participated in the Women’s March in 2017.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “They’re a small, suburban, clown theatre company.” “Ah yes, but what type of clown are they?” “Unfunny I imagine.” (Helen-Nikolai-Helen on the clown theatre company doing a revised version of Sergei’s play)
• “So you wouldn’t respect your dead father’s wishes?” “Oh mate, I barely respect my living father’s wishes, I’m a constant disappointment.” (Nikolai-Helen-Nikolai)
• “Well, because banning women from doing stuff feels a little bit Talibanny.” (Helen to Nikolai when he asks her why he’d lift the ban Sergei placed on women acting in his plays)
• “I love your brown suit, it’s very coastal grandma.” (Mareena to Helen)
• “Responsible fun, like ordering two entrees instead of a main, or popping an ice cube into your rose’, or sprinkling a little bit of salt on your bread and butter, wearing a sensible block-heeled shoe, so you’re comfortable all day.” (Helen to Mareena on how will making can be responsible fun)
• “It’s not going to explode is it?” “Only with comfort.” (Ray-George on George’s gaming chair)
• “What is it with you and that couch? You’re like a disobedient Labrador.” (Ray to Helen on finding her asleep on his office couch)
• “It’s the sulking I can’t stand.” (Roz to Helen on Ray being sad over her departure)
• “Well I loved it.” “I want to stab myself in the face.” (Helen-Nikolai on the revised play)