Loveday Writing

Now that the pilot has established the show’s premise and characters, the show can really get underway.

This episode kicks off with Angela getting ready to face the day, with the reveal that she is not a Mansour of the department store Mansours, and her family are dressmakers, and she got the job at Goodes to get an inside look at their choices, which will help their own boutique.

We then cut to Lisa waking up in her underwear in Richard’s dorm room bed, with him half-dressed and bringing her a glass of water. He tells her that he needs to leave for the regiment, revealing he’s in the army as it was his dad’s condition for paying his uni tuition.

At Magda’s house, Stefan tells Magda, George (and the audience) that his first wife, Teresa, returned home to Cuba with George. He was supposed to join her but couldn’t because of the war and when he got to Cuba, Teresa told him to stay away and she remarried. Magda orders Stefan and George to leave before she gets home from work.

Meanwhile, Angela excitedly arrives at Goodes for her first day and wanders around the store, before taking out a pair of pink gloves and replacing them with emerald ones. Magda introduces herself and notices the glove change, with Angela telling her that she made it as the pink makes the emerald pop, and Magda agrees. When Lisa arrives, she is shocked to discover Angela working with Fay.

When Dorothy arrives at Goodes to talk to Lisa, concerned that she didn’t come home, Mrs. Ambrose allows Lisa to leave the floor to talk. Angela then tells Dorothy that she got drunk and Lisa took her home but she doesn’t have a phone, and apologises, covering for Lisa.

Later, a mother and daughter arrive at Goodes, with the mother wanting her daughter to wear a specific white dress at her brother’s wedding. Magda tries to suggest a colourful, youthful dress that will highlight the daughter’s shoulders, but Mrs. Ambrose takes the mother and daughter away to try on the white dress and heels. However, Magda shows up at the fitting room with both the white dress and the one she suggested, so they can try both. However, Mrs. Ambrose hands the dress she suggested back to Magda. We then see the daughter in the dress, which she clearly doesn’t like. Meanwhile, locking dock employee, Adam, gives Elias a cheap hat, telling him it was Italian. When Elias tells Adam he’s a born salesman, Adam asks him to tell Mr. MacKenzie this, so he can have a job on the floor. However, Elias tells him that Mr. MacKenzie will only sexually harass him, not hire him.

Meanwhile, Fay goes to her doctor on her lunch break to ask for the Pill, only for him to refuse. Back at Goodes; Lisa and Angela work together on the cocktail counter. Lisa asks Angela why she lied to her mother, Angela tells her that she wanted to help, and that Richard is a creep and practically blackmailed her to get a drink with him. Moments later, a customer arrives wanting something rare and expensive as she is picking her husband’s anniversary gift to her for him, something where he’ll be complimented for good tastes, before he actually comes into the store, and Fay leads her away.

Another few moments later, an angry customer walks in and throws a dress she purchased at Angela, as she was told her Genevieve dress was one-of-a-kind but is furious to see it on another woman in the newspaper’s society pages, the imitation that Angela’s family made and sold. Meanwhile, Fay’s customer is revealed to be Mrs. Marlow, which shocks Fay.

Whilst Angela runs away to the lady’s bathroom in a panic, she runs into Elias on the stairwell and they mumble apologies in Arabic to each other, leading to him following her, where it’s revealed they are Lebanese, know each other, and that Angela’s family make imitations of Goodes’ dresses. Angela tells him that she wants a career in fashion. It’s also revealed that the Lebanese community believes he has an office job. They both agree to keep the imitations and Elias working at Goodes a secret.

Later, Mr. Ryder speaks with Mr. MacKenzie, Mrs. Ambrose and Magda about the Genevieve dress being imitated. Mrs. Ambrose tells him that the model gowns should be elegant and timeless, and not attract imitators. She also tells him that the she believes cocktail has too many staff members. When Magda points out that Lisa will return to her studies soon and Fay is keen to start a family, Mrs. Ambrose tells him that Magda is undermining her authority. Meanwhile, Angela tells her father and brother that they have to stop making imitations and return Goodes’ Look Book, and she can’t just quit as it will look suspicious.

When Lisa returns home, she finds Stefan and George with Dorothy. Stefan tells her that her father owes loan sharks money and that he will negotiate a payment plan with them and deliver their money. When Dorothy brings up the bank manager’s suggestion to find a boarder, Stefan suggests George, but George refuses, believe Stefan is trying to pawn him off to them, as he has just arrived in Australia.

Meanwhile, Fay tells Rudi she is taking the Pill as they can’t afford to start a family right now. Stefan and George arrive, with George staying in their spare room. Stefan asks Rudi to give George a job, Fay gives him the secretary role.

Back at Lisa’s, whilst she is studying, Dorothy tells her that she always wanted to be a teacher, but that would have meant doing the Leaving Certificate, which her own father would not allow. When Lisa tells her that she’s thinking of dropping out of uni to work at Goodes full-time, Dorothy forbids it after all Lisa went through to get into uni. Dorothy then asks her about getting drunk and meeting boys with Angela, concerned about her having sex with one, saying that Angela is a nice girl, but the nice girls get caught.

The next day, Angela tries to return the Look Book to Mr. Ryder’s office, only to run into Magda, who tells her not to see him as the sales staff aren’t allowed up there and he is in a bad mood. Down at cocktail, Fay tells Lisa to try with Angela, and Mr. Marlow shows up, revealing that he and Fay had an affair in the past.

Later, Magda asks Fay if she has her money, but Fay tells her she was in the dark about Rudi’s shenanigans. Fay tells Magda that George is staying with them and Magda coldly wishes them all the best. Meanwhile, George goes to Goodes and starts playing the piano (he said he was a musician earlier in the episode).

Later, Angela apologises to Lisa for calling Richard a creep, saying that if she likes him, she’s sure he’s nice. Angela then sneaks the Look Book back in Mr. MacKenzie’s office and goes downstairs to find George playing the piano. When he spots her, he starts playing an Arabic song. When she tells him he doesn’t look Arabic, he starts playing a Hungarian song. Just as he introduces himself, Magda arrives and tells him to leave. George tells her that he is supposed to be meeting Stefan, who shows up moments later. Magda and Stefan talk in the back, where he reveals he was ashamed that he left behind his first wife and child, which why he didn’t tell her about them. He wants to return home so they can work things out, but Magda says she no longer trusts him and can’t be with a man that she doesn’t trust.

Towards the end of the episode, Lisa thanks Angela for covering for her, and they bond over Lisa’s lack of knowledge of what happened with Richard a few nights earlier. When Lisa meets with Richard, it’s revealed nothing happened, and while he finds her smart and beautiful, nothing can happen between them, but he still wants her to work for the uni newspaper.

The episode ends with the reveal that Nadia traced the bridal gown designs from the Look Book. Mr. MacKenzie notices that the Look Book has been traced and reveals this to both Mr. Ryder and Mrs. Ambrose.

Overall, this was a solid second episode with Stefan getting a back story, George and Angela being set up as possible love interests, and the reveal of Fay’s past affair with Mr. Marlow. I also appreciated seeing Lisa and Angela slowly bond, and the tension of whether Angela would return the Look Book without detection, only for it to be for nothing as Farouk and Nadia traced the designs anyway.

However, one thing that did bring the episode down a little was the inclusion of a ‘90s No Doubt song at the beginning as Angela was making her way to work on her first day at Goodes. It was jarring to see such an unnecessary anachronism included. Surely, a late ‘50s to an early ‘60s song of a similar nature would have suited the excitable vibe the writers were going for in those scenes.