Loveday Writing

This was the best and ultimately the most heartbreaking episode of the season, and once again I’ll be reviewing it character by character.

Wayne, Matty, Mira, Darren, Taylor, and Timmy – The episode kicks off with Wayne going on a run and listening to a voicemail from Timmy, informing him that he will be going camping with the boys for a few days, that he left his prayer boots in the washing machine, and asking for money, much to Wayne’s annoyance.

We then cut back to Wayne’s house on a hectic morning, where Darren has cooked them breakfast, Taylor is searching for her lost phone, and Mira is angry at finding Timmy’s prayer boots in the washing machine. Darren eventually gets frustrated and announces that he cooked them all breakfast to tell them that he’s moving to Dubbo full-time.

When Wayne arrives at the base, he finds Matty packing up stuff at his desk and discovers a nearby suitcase. Matty tells Wayne that he slept at the base as he and Ferrett had a massive fight the night before and he believes the relationship is over.

Later, Mira checks in on Darren at the base. He asks her if he’s being selfish, she says maybe but that there’s nothing wrong with that, if you’re going after what you want, as it’s how Wayne got to where he is today, both professionally and personally. Later, Darren asks Taylor to move to Dubbo with him when Cameron walks in after a session with Chaya. Darren tells Taylor that Cameron is in to her, but she tells him she is just doing her job.

Later, Wayne and Matty fly out to tend to a teenage girl, Bryony, having seizures. Wayne tells Matty that he is welcome to stay at his and Mira’s place if he needs, due to Darren moving to Dubbo. Matty tells him that he’s not surprised by Darren’s choice as he clearly wants to make his own way in the world, echoing Mira’s earlier statement to Darren. When they arrive, Bryony has a seizure in front them. When Wayne overhears clattering in the clinic, he asks the nurse, Raelene, what’s going on. She tells him that it’s just a drunk guy sleeping it off in the back, however when the clattering continues he asks to take a look at him and discovers the man is Timmy.

As Wayne treats Timmy, he questions Raelene’s skills and whether she is racially biased as she didn’t consider that the alcohol smell was the release of ketones due to high sugar levels. When Timmy eventually stabilises on the flight back, Wayne admits to Timmy that he scared him and needs him when the baby comes, but Timmy says he doesn’t need him anymore, and Mira reveals that they are having a girl. When Timmy wakes up crying for Wayne, he thanks him for everything he’s done, with Wayne discovering he is having a heart attack. When Matty looks up Timmy’s medical records, he discovers a form that Timmy filled out stating he didn’t want CPR as he didn’t want to be a burden to his family. As Wayne tries to treat him, he brings up the form and asks him if he still wants to be resuscitated. Timmy tells Wayne that he doesn’t want to leave him, but he doesn’t want to be attached to machines even more. Wayne still tries to defibrillate him but it fails.

Wayne stays in the plane with Timmy after it has landed, Mira gets off and breaks down, and Taylor goes over to Wayne’s house to tell Darren. Meanwhile, at the motel in Mildura, Graham is left to relay the news to Eliza and Pete. Later, Mira is seen putting Timmy’s prayer boots back in the washing machine, and the episode ends with Wayne on a run, with Darren this time, grieving for Timmy together.

Eliza, Pete, Graham, and Leonie – Eliza starts the critical incident review of Pete’s conduct after the White Cliffs Rodeo by interviewing Pete, Leonie, Matty, and Chaya. When Eliza asks Pete if he tried different techniques that he didn’t think to do, this creates tension between them.

When Leonie later trips over Matt’s suitcase in the base, she tears everyone a new one over safety guidelines and not being allowed to make mistakes due to the review. Later, Graham tells her that she snapped because she came back to work too soon, when she asks him to give her a break, he tells her she never took one and to stop being a martyr.

Eliza and Pete fly out with Graham in PPE to attend to a patient suspected of having multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. During the flight, Graham discovers that he lost his good luck charm (Leonie had it last). When they try to return to the base, Graham discovers that the front wheel is dry bogged and it’s going to take time to get it out. When Eliza decides to intubate the patient, she tells Pete to take a PPE break as he is clearly having an anxiety attack over treating him.

When they are done for the day and go to stay at a Mildura motel, Graham calls Leonie from his motel room to apologise for being harsh to her, but Leonie admits it was fair. They talk and flirt for a while. In Eliza’s motel room, she starts experiencing pain, which is revealed to be kidney stones due to dehydration, when Pete brings her supplies. As they hang out and wait for Eliza to pass the stones, Pete asks her why she cancelled their planned holiday in London, and she admits that she was scared of the relationship working out, and what that would mean for her life and career in the UK.

Overall, I felt that this was the best episode of the season, primarily due to the twist towards the end of the episode with Timmy’s unexpected death. Timmy’s health has been addressed in previous episodes and now things came to a head, and his death was in part the result of an incompetent, complacent and possibly racist nurse. The powerhouse performances by Rob Collins, Tim Dennis, Jack Scott, and Ash Ricardo made the scene feel realistically heartbreaking and in all honesty, made me cry. It will be interesting to see where things go from here for Wayne, Darren, and Mira now that he’s gone.

In regards to Darren’s choice to move to Dubbo, frankly this doesn’t surprise me as he’s spent most of the season there and has barely appeared onscreen. In all honesty, I would be more invested in the Darren-Taylor-Cameron love triangle if both men appeared onscreen more often. Speaking of love triangles, the Pete-Eliza-Chaya love triangle isn’t making any real progress either as Chaya has barely appeared onscreen, and Pete and Eliza haven’t worked through their issues.

Leonie and Graham’s friendship is as solid as always, with a bit of flirting thrown in. I am hoping it will blossom into a romantic relationship, but this remains to be seen.

On a smaller note, Graham’s reprimanding of Leonie addressed the continuity error of her supposedly taking a month off work, however another seems to have presented itself. Well, I don’t know if it’s really a continuity error or just slack writing, with Mira’s pregnancy progressing from 12 weeks in the previous episode to (possibly) 20 weeks in this episode. Mira is clearly showing and mentions there is 20 weeks left in her pregnancy, so she is now at the halfway point. There’s nothing wrong with a time jump, let alone a subtle one, but I don’t think the subtlety was pulled off as I find it hard to believe that a critical incident review into Pete’s conduct would be put on hold for eight weeks, but maybe that’s just me.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “What does living with women have to do with not putting muddy boots in the washing machine?” (Mira to Wayne on Timmy’s prayer boots)
• “Oh, morning Daddy.” “Alright, two things – never call me that again and that would be my desk.” (Matty-Wayne)
• “It’s insane to pick these over M&Ms.” (Pete to Eliza on her request for Maltesers)
• “I’m just going to die quietly in the bathroom from the pain or the shame, whatever comes first.” (Eliza to Pete on her kidney stone pain)