Loveday Writing

Now that the premiere has come and gone, establishing the story arcs and tone of the season, the rest of the season can get underway.

The episode kicks off with the reveal that the bus driver of last week’s crash, Owen Tidwell, has been released on bail after being charged with causing death by dangerous driving. Anna has also spoken out, criticising the RFDS team’s response.

At Adelaide Metropolitan Hospital, Pete is bringing Taylor home where it’s revealed that she did lose her kidney in her emergency surgery as Pete thought, but she is still pregnant. When they get on the RFDS plane to go back to Broken Hill, they meet new pilot, Nigel, who tells Pete that everyone was “miffed” when he left Broken Hill without explanation.

Back at Broken Hill, Mira is in a flight simulator in order to become requalified after going on maternity leave. Graham is guiding her through it and tells her that he failed the simulation tests three times after his knee surgery. When Mira asks Wayne how he feels working with Pete again (as Pete is helping out on backfill), he tells her it’s like working with another FIFO nurse.

When Pete and Taylor return, Taylor is given a warm welcome and Pete discovers that Matty has been promoted to Senior Flight Nurse, and Wayne is icy towards him. Graham also puts his arm around Leonie, although she pushes it away. After everyone leaves, Graham tells Leonie that it seems like she doesn’t want to be seen with him, as they still haven’t gone public with their relationship, despite having been together for over a year.

Meanwhile, Wayne and Pete attend to Andy, a young woman who they know, who has recently had gastric bypass surgery. Andy is unwell, having vomited foam and in abdominal pain. When Wayne and Pete question her history, she calls them out for viewing her and treating her through a fatphobic lens, telling them that she has done everything she has been told to do, to try and lose weight. Wayne and Pete apologise, and they believe she is suffering from a post-op complication, Metabolic Alkalosis. Once they get Andy on the plane, Graham is anxious to leave, due to an incoming cold front and crosswinds, however when Andy wants her make-up so she can finish it, so it appears that she cares about herself, Pete rushes back to her house to get it.

When Pete arrives back with a minute to spare and the plane takes off, Wayne makes passive aggressive remarks towards him, and Pete tells Wayne to say what he wants to say to him. Wayne asks him why he left Broken Hill and the team with no explanation, even though he knew they were short staffed. Before Pete gets to answer, Graham turns his head to tell them to calm down, only for turbulence to hit them and knock Graham out in the process. This forces Pete to step up and land the plane, as he is the only one of them on board with incapacitated pilot training.

Pete radios Mira for help and she gets in the simulator to help him out, however she accidentally steers Pete wrong momentarily, as she was picturing the wrong side of the cockpit and giving him inverse instructions. She briefly leaves as she has a panic attack and Chaya finds her. Chaya tries to encourage her and Mira asks Chaya to slap her, Chaya does and Mira thanks her.

Pete tries to explain himself and apologise to Wayne as he tries to land the plane, but Wayne tells him if he lands the plane, they’re all good. Mira manages to guide Pete to safely land the plane, whilst Eliza, Chaya, Matty and Ryan help out on the ground.

Meanwhile, Matty and Eliza tend to Brian, who has a fallen from a horse and whose daughter, Kate, called for help. Kate recognises Eliza from the bus crash and immediately acts passive aggressive towards her. Kate tells Eliza and Matty that Brian stopped drinking a couple of years ago and lost weight, however his injuries and behaviour tell Eliza and Matty otherwise. Eliza diagnoses him with a Thiamine deficiency, and she tells Kate that he doesn’t have to go to hospital as she gave him a shot and he can get a second shot in town. Kate immediately makes a remark about leaving him behind and tells Eliza that she knew Anna’s family. When Brian’s condition worsens, and Kate makes a remark towards Eliza about missing something, Eliza snaps and tells her that Brian is still drinking and she didn’t miss anything, and to let her do her job. Due to his worsening condition, Matty and Eliza take Brian and Kate back with them on the plane, Kate admits that she felt pressure from her late mother to take care of Brian and maybe she didn’t want to see he had relapsed, and apologises to Eliza.

Towards the end of the episode, the team goes to the pub for drinks. Pete and Eliza joke about the incident, before Ryan comes up to them. When Wayne and Mira leave for the night, Wayne tells Pete that he was angry about his absence as Pete told him he’d be there for him after Timmy died and he wasn’t. Pete admits that he didn’t think about it that way and apologises. Wayne tells him that he also understands that he partly left due to his feelings for Eliza, and tells him to tell her how he feels, as her relationship with Ryan is bordering on serious.

There were some romantic and smaller subplots sprinkled throughout the episode, such as Chaya’s flirtation with Caleb, a bus crash victim and State Police officer, and Leonie struggling whether to go public with her relationship with Graham (despite the fact that everyone knows that they’re dating). Caleb and Chaya contemplate having a casual relationship at the pub, even though Caleb mistakenly offers to buy her a drink not knowing that she is sober. Leonie later admits to Graham that she was worried their relationship would become complicated if they went public. When Graham tells her that he has to go on mandatory leave and Leonie tells them that due to this, and the amount of long service leave she has, that they should go on a holiday. Leonie then gets a phone call, which ruins her good mood.

The episode ends with Leonie calling Eliza to inform her that Owen’s tox screen was positive for amphetamines, something that will be made public during his upcoming trial.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid follow up to the premiere. For one thing, it answered some of the unanswered questions from the pilot that I listed in my previous review. Whilst Pete didn’t fully explain himself, we did see how his absence affected the team and even a patient, and the fact that he didn’t give them an explanation shows why he drifted apart from them. Chaya and Pete are no longer a couple, Mira is in the process of getting requalified so she can work as a pilot again, and Leonie and Graham are very much together. I’m still waiting to see/hear how Eliza and Ryan met, and whether Taylor will tell Cameron about her pregnancy.

It seems like this season is going to have the bus crash as a story arc in the background, with this episode exploring the fallout of the crash and subsequent legal consequences being made public, and affecting how Eliza is viewed by some people in the community. I appreciate a story arc thread like this being set up for the season, and I’m looking forward to seeing how further consequences and the trial play out, especially now that the positive tox screen has been revealed, and whether Pete will face consequences for seeing Owen taking pills but not saying anything.

I appreciated the medical dramas in this episode, which were easy to follow and understand, and were well-balanced. I don’t know if I’m really that invested in the Chaya-Caleb flirtation, as I feel her character still needs further development and is again being underused. I’m also hoping that the Eliza-Ryan-Pete love triangle doesn’t go on for too long. I appreciated the writers touching on Graham and Leonie’s relationship, although I felt that it didn’t make sense that Leonie was hesitant to go public when they’ve been together for over a year, if she was really worried about complicating things at work, why date him to begin with? I’m glad that they sorted things out though.

I very much appreciated Mira getting the spotlight in this episode with her skills on display, despite her time away and subsequent doubts. I hope she’s back in the plane soon. Ash Ricardo’s and Steven Peacocke’s performances during the landing sequence were fantastic. I also appreciated that Pete mentioned that he was trained to land an RFDS plane in case Mira was incapacitated or in labour last season, and having to actually do so in this season. I appreciate that what was a throwaway line, and even a joke, eventually had a payoff.

Stray Observations:

-There have been some changes in appearances with Jack Scott’s weight loss and Rodney Afif now clean shaven.

-Pete makes a remark about the new base, is this possibly a reference to Broken Hill Airport undergoing renovations?

Best one liners and interactions:

• “You actually have to speak to people to hear them say anything.” (Taylor to Pete on everyone commenting on his absence)
• “Are we alive?” “I think so, yeah.” (Wayne-Pete on Pete’s emergency landing)