Loveday Writing

Now that the pilot has come and gone, the fun can really begin by going deeper into the season.

This episode focuses more on the reality that Lauren and Ned find themselves in, with the episode kicking off on Lauren packing up her office and Ned packing up his café.

When Lauren and Ned go back to Darwin, they, along with Trevor and Daffy, pack up Ronelle’s unit and move into Trevor and Daffy’s house. Lauren struggles to get Taya to pack up her things, only allowing her to pack her things into one suitcase and later finding her in the skip bin, struggling with the move. In an effort to lighten the mood and tension, Ned proposes making Taya “queen for a day.”

As Ned and Taya play at home, Lauren is on the phone to Victoria at the Department of Child Services. Victoria tells her that she will be conducting an inspection of the home and is trying to find out more about Taya’s father as he wasn’t listed on her birth certificate. Lauren tells her that Ronelle wanted it that way. Meanwhile, Trevor and Daffy are collecting Taya’s uniform from Ronelle’s unit, with Daffy expressing concern over Lauren and Ned’s lack of parenting skills and Trevor telling her that she needs hobbies outside of the kids.

The next day, Daffy wakes Lauren, Ned and Taya up with an air horn 15 minutes before school starts and orders them to get going. Lauren drops Taya off to school in her pyjamas and asks Dana (who is both the school’s lollipop lady and principal) if she should look for Taya’s biological father, and Dana agrees. Dana also tells her that she “knows a guy who knows a guy” that could help track him down.

Later, Lauren and Ned go for a run to blow off steam, however they don’t enjoy it. Whilst Lauren takes a work call, Ned goes into the ocean for a swim, unaware of a sign nearby warning about jellyfish in the water. Ned ends up getting stung on the balls and gets help from local, Leroy, who was fishing nearby. After Ned pours vinegar on his balls to deal with the jellyfish sting, Leroy tells him that Taya is the school’s best footy (AFL) player and Ned mentions not wanting to have kids in passing, although Leroy points out that he’s already a dad. Meanwhile, Daffy handles Victoria’s inspection of the house.

Later, Lauren and Ned attend Taya’s footy training session and witness Leroy (who coaches the team) yelling at the kids. When Ned tries to tell him to calm down, he quits and Ned ends up taking over, despite not knowing the rules of the game.

After the footy training session, Lauren, Ned and Taya meet Trevor and Daffy at a local bar, with Dana giving Lauren the contact details of ‘Cowboy,’ a man that both the Indigenous community and the local police use to track down anyone in the community that has ‘gone AWOL.’

The episode ends with Lauren receiving a call from Cowboy, telling her to meet him at the Humpty Doo Hotel for a drink.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid second episode, accurately exploring the realities of the situation that Lauren and Ned find themselves in. I also appreciated Dana providing both heart and comedic relief throughout the episode.

Stray Observations:

Episode title origin – Ned’s idea to make Taya “queen for a day” to make the move easier for her.

-Ned’s café was called “Legally Poached.” I also didn’t realise until this episode that Lauren’s office was above the café.

-Two weeks have passed since the events of the pilot episode.

-Lauren lovingly refers to Ned as a “beautiful English crumpet.”

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Aunty Lauren will see that straight away.” “Nah, she thinks I’m fat already, so don’t worry.” (Taya-Trevor on Trevor stuffing one of Taya’s pillows under his shirt)
• “You’re a ridiculous man.” “I know, I’ve been practising for a long time.” (Taya-Trevor)
• “Late again, Joey?” “I’m sorry Miss Prissypul.” (Dana-Joey at the beginning of the school day)
• “How’s the deep end, mummy learnt to swim yet?” “Properly drowning, sis.” (Dana-Lauren)
• “Jellyfish are pricks! Here’s a beer!” “It’s a bit early isn’t it?” “I don’t have any Panadol.” “Great First Aid!” (Leroy to Ned, then Lauren to Leroy, and Leroy to Lauren)
• “There’s crocs in there?” “There’s crocodiles everywhere, babe!” (Ned-Lauren on the ocean water)
• “I can’t vasectomise another fella!” (Leroy to Lauren on pouring vinegar on Ned’s jellyfish-stung balls)
• “Let me show you another closeable door, it’s right here, it’s the front door.” (Daffy to Victoria, after she finishes her inspection of the house)