Loveday Writing

The job of a season finale is to wrap up the season’s story arcs and subplots, and to provide new story arcs and subplots for the second season (if there is one). I felt this finale did its job perfectly.

The episode kicks off with Lauren, Daffy and Trev seeing Taya off to the Tiwi Islands, with Taya giving Lauren her letter to Santa to be mailed. Lauren reads the letter and becomes emotional. Later, Lauren goes for a swim in the National Park and hears a storm brewing above her. When she gets home, she finds the campervan in the driveway and Ned decorating the Christmas tree for Daffy, Trev and Lauren. Ned tells her that he is going to Adelaide to spend Christmas with his mother. Ned and Lauren start to have another argument, only for Daffy to tell them to listen to the news, which tells them that a cyclone is about to hit Darwin.

As they prepare the house for the impending cyclone, Ned and Trev make sure the campervan is kept safe, and during this time Trev points out to Ned that whilst Lauren didn’t think things with Taya through, she has helped Taya connect with her biological father and her Tiwi Island heritage, which is part of Lauren becoming a good mother. Meanwhile, Lauren admits to Daffy that she’s worried she pushed him too far away from her. Daffy points out to her that she’s found a good man who isn’t afraid of their family or culture, but he needs to know that they both want the same things for Taya. Whilst Ned and Trev tie down the truck, Trev asks Ned when he’s going to convert the campervan back to an actual campervan, pointing out that most of it is kitchen.

When Ned and Lauren make their way to the cyclone shelter within their home to tidy it up, they finally talk. Lauren gives Taya’s letter to Santa to Ned, as it’s revealed that she’s asked Santa for Ned to come home. Lauren admits to him that he was right about finding Jarad to get them out of the responsibility of caring for Taya, however when she found out that Jarad is a Tiwi man, she knew connecting Taya with him and her heritage was more important than anything they wanted. She also admits that she should have told him the truth, but it was an opportunity to give Taya the childhood that her own mother couldn’t give her. Ned also apologises and knows how important it is for Taya to be connected to her heritage, but is still getting used to the way decisions are made within the family and is jealous/threatened by Jarad, as he can give her things that he himself can’t. Lauren tells Ned that he gives Taya other things like feeling safe and seen, and that they can both be a part of the Tiwi community.

When Ned and Lauren go back into the house with Daffy and Trevor, they see a news report advising Tiwi Island residents find the nearest shelter, as the cyclone has been upgraded to category four. When the power goes out, Trev brings up converting the campervan back to a camper, and an argument ensues. Daffy stops the argument by admitting to Trev that she wanted to go travelling overseas for their retirement, not around Australia in the old campervan, and that giving Ned the campervan and letting him convert into a food truck was the least they could do for him, after all he has done for them. Lauren then vomits and leaves the room, with Ned following her.  

In the bathroom, Ned admits that he loves being a dad and he thought that he didn’t want to be one because she didn’t, but Taya has changed his views. He’s not trying to pressure her to be a parent, but he can’t keep pretending that he doesn’t want kids.

The next morning, after the cyclone has passed, Lauren tells Trev and Ned that Leroy told her a barge is bringing supplies to the Tiwi Islands, as they’ve got no food due to the shops there being flooded. Ned then suggests they take the food truck to the Tiwi Islands. They stop by Jarad’s house to find Taya but no-one is there.

The family goes to the church (the one Lauren and Ned got married in) after speaking with Lauren’s pop, and find Taya. Taya wants to help Ned distribute food with the food truck, and Ned quietly thanks Jarad on his way out, and he tells him it wasn’t a problem. Taya later asks Ned to come back to Darwin, and Ned tells Jarad he is happy to share father duties with him.

As Lauren is serving food to the Tiwi elder women, she notices Ned holding a Tiwi baby, and the elder women put their hands on her belly, and inform her that she’s pregnant. The episode and season ends with Lauren saying “oh crap!” and cutting to black.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid season finale as Ned and Lauren resolve their conflict, Ned makes peace with being Taya’s father figure and his relationship with Jarad, and Lauren’s pregnancy provides a story arc for a second season, if there is one, although I did find her becoming pregnant to be a predictable (but not unwelcome) outcome.

As for the season as a whole, it was a solid first season with the pilot providing a smooth transition from its predecessor film, and providing more depth to the characters and their relationships than the film ever could. The season did lose some momentum in the middle, but ultimately regained it where and when it was needed. There were some minor continuity errors here and there, but that comes with all productions, and it didn’t ruin the experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching and reviewing the first season of Top End Bub and I hope it’s renewed for a second season.

Stray Observations:

Episode title origin – Daffy, jokingly, to Lauren about Ned briefly coming back.

-Ned falls asleep holding Taya’s letter to Santa in his hand.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “Move that, while you absorb my profound wisdom.” “Righto, Gandhi.” (Daffy-Lauren)
• “Nothing left to do but get hammered in the dark until the storm passes.” “Old family tradition.” (Trevor-Daffy)
• “When in Darwin.” “We’ll make a Darwin lad out of you, yet.” (Ned-Trev on drinking until the storm passes)
• “Well, Mrs Eiffel Tower, you want me to go out in the cyclone and get you some frog legs?” “Go on then, bush tucker man.” (Trev-Daffy after the argument about the campervan and her revealing her desire to travel overseas)
• “I love you so much, I’m not going to kiss you with my gross vomit mouth.” “That’s the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me. But you do need to brush your teeth.” (Lauren-Ned)