Loveday Writing

The episode kicks off with Harry meeting with John Rossi, the hospital administrator. Harry tries to explain and defend himself, only for John to tell him that his accreditation has been suspended pending interviews with Anton and Cynthia, and then the Australian Medical Standards Authority’s recommendations. Harry then goes home and tells Ainsley, Heather and Ben what has happened.

Meanwhile, Liz is putting stuff away for Manju, who has returned to her house. Manju tells Liz that she doesn’t need her anymore and tells Liz that she thinks she is overcompensating for something by the way she has cared for her. Liz starts to open up and tell Manju that she does in fact have issues with her mother, only for Manju to cut her off and ask for her afternoon pills. Ainsley then calls her and tells her to come home.

Once Harry tells her what happened at work, Liz gets into “solicitor mode” and goes straight to work. The next morning, Harry gets an email summons informing him that the Australian Medical Standards Authority want to meet with him at 10am the next morning. He tells Liz and she tells him that he needs to make it clear to them that he and Anton had a relationship before he became a patient.

Later when Liz goes to see Manju, she asks what is wrong with Harry as he’s not answering her calls. Liz tells her that he’s dealing with work complications. Meanwhile, Harry and Anton meet at the pub, where Harry asks him to tell the Authority about their previous hook up. Anton offers to make out that they’ve had a long-term fling-like relationship, but Harry says they should stick to the truth. Anton sends him the screenshot of their old texts and tells Harry that he’s meeting with the Authority at 9.45am sharp, before Harry will.

Harry goes back to Manju’s and Liz warns him that Manju knows something is up. Manju then asks Harry for more info as she called his work and Cynthia is no longer there. Harry tells her that Cynthia is dealing with personal issues and Manju assumes it’s about her daughter. Later, Manju calls Cynthia and brings up her assumption, Cynthia then tells her everything.

After Harry meets with the Authority, in which he finds out Anton lied about their relationship, he and Liz run into Cynthia. Cynthia tells him that he’s not the man she thought he was and calls him out for lying to Manju. He then goes home and tells Manju the truth, she tells him that she’s ashamed of him. Just as he is about to lose it, Liz tells him to wait outside. Later, Manju and Liz come out, Manju is leaving to withdraw thousands of dollars to bribe Cynthia, money she was saving for him for when she is gone, telling him that he needs to be a doctor. He tells her that he never wanted to be a doctor and if the Authority plans on striking him off, he’ll accept.

Towards the end of the episode, Harry is told that the Authority is letting the complaint go, Liz tells him to tell Manju. Harry goes to Manju’s house to tell her, only to find that she has passed away in her sleep. Harry calls an ambulance and then asks Liz to come by. Ainsley calls Ed to tell Heather, Heather then goes over to Manju’s house. As Harry is making phone calls to his relatives to give them the news, Liz tells Heather that Manju withdrew $35,000 to bribe Cynthia and that she was going to write a letter to put down her thoughts, but she can’t find the letter or the money.

The episode ends with everyone back at the house, with the housemates trying to cheer Harry up, however this doesn’t work and he takes his grief out on Liz, as he believes Manju died thinking he didn’t care about her.

Ainsley – Ainsley was more in the background in this episode, but she had her own problems to deal with. She wakes up one morning to see Simmo packing his stuff up. He tells her that he’s going to his block of land for a few nights to sort things out. Ainsley tries to tell him that they need to talk about what happened at the block of land the previous week, but he tells her he doesn’t have the words for it yet.

Later, Heather and Ainsley talk to Ben about it, Ben tries to tell Ainsley that she should have Simmo as part of the business, however Heather stands up for Ainsley, saying that she’s allowed to run her business her way.

Later, Ainsley and Simmo meet at the pub, Simmo admits it wasn’t the business that was upsetting him, but the fact that he loves her more than she loves him and that he wasn’t good enough for her to marry, move out for, and go into business with. Ainsley tries to tell him that he’s the love of her life, but this doesn’t work.

Heather – Heather was in the background for most of the episode, spending most of her time at Ed’s trying to avoid phone calls from the housemates without success, and defending Ainsley to Ben when it came to her business and Simmo.

Ben – He was also in the background for most of the episode, meeting up with Mel at a restaurant where they break up amicably, and Mel informs him that he and Heather are still in love with each other. Ben doesn’t believe Heather is still in love with him, but he doesn’t deny Mel’s claim that he’s still in love with Heather.

Overall, this was a solid episode with the exploration of the fallout of Harry’s hook up with Anton at work. While the outcome was predictable, Harry was never going to lose his job, the twist of Manju’s death was a good one. Her death was foreshadowed throughout the season with her cancer diagnosis, but even more so in this episode, with the reveal of her saving money for Harry for when she’s gone, her increased energy levels, and her determination to help him out, albeit in a misguided and illegal way. Although Manju annoyed me a lot, I loved her overconfidence in this episode, especially with Liz, and I am going to miss her. It will be interesting to see where Harry’s character goes from here now that she is gone.

There were also two break-ups in this episode, Ben and Mel, and Ainsley and Simmo. Ben and Mel’s breakup was long overdue and I’m hoping this means this is the last we see of Mel as her character has run its course. Ainsley and Simmo’s breakup was more unexpected and a little sad, but Simmo isn’t completely wrong. It will be interesting to see where Ben goes from here with Mel pointing out that he and Heather are still in love with each other, and where Ainsley goes, now that Simmo has broken up with her and she has a new business to start. She really has been through a lot this season.

Stray Observations:

-According to Cynthia, her daughter, Carly, did overindulge on a Contiki Tour and has never denied it, implying that Manju’s assessment of Cynthia and her parenting of Carly wasn’t completely wrong.

-According to Manju, Cynthia’s husband had no financial sense whatsoever.

-Manju initially plans on withdrawing $25,000 to bribe Cynthia, she then increases it to $30,000 as she waits for her Uber.

-Manju’s address is 6 Gladstone Street, Altona. This isn’t a real Melbourne address from what I can tell from a Google search.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “You have been a mostly adequate carer, Elizabeth.” (Manju to Liz)
• “I know you feel close to me, it happens a lot. People feel drawn to me. It is my natural charisma and my conversation, and uh, the cooking, and…many, many things.” (Manju to Liz)
• “And there’s no ambiguity about what your receptionist saw? It couldn’t have been an examination?” “Not unless I was performing a rectal exam, vigorously, with my um…” “Penis.” (Liz-Harry-Heather)
• “Who hasn’t had a shag at work?” “You’re a builder!” “Yep” “When are you having sex at work? Who with?” “Invite people on site. Once you get the trusses in, you’re normally good to go, or in the back of the ute, if you’ve got a tonneau.” (Ben-Heather going back-and-forth)
• “He can take some hits, he’s tough as nails, but do not question his commitment to the tools. It’s how he communicates with the world; he literally told her that he loved her with a renno.” (Ben to Heather and Ainsley on Simmo)
• “I’ve worked with that bloke for 20 years, not many people can find poetry in the wood but he can, he loves it.” (Ben to Heather and Ainsley on Simmo)