Loveday Writing

The penultimate episode of a season is usually used to provide a springboard for the finale, this episode definitely did its job.

Wayne and Mira

The episode kicks off with Wayne, Mira, and Darren attending a ceremony to spread Timmy’s ashes. When they are back at work, Wayne gets a call from Naomi asking for help with a patient, a young Indigenous girl, Leighton, who is diabetic. Leighton responds to glucose but is losing consciousness. When Wayne asks further questions, he eventually deduces that the girl accidentally drank ethylene glycol based coolant for a car, thinking it was cordial. Wayne tells Naomi and Mira that he needs alcohol to help Leighton metabolise the ethylene glycol safely, and they are forced to search the quarters of a former alcoholic nurse, as they are in a dry community. During their search, Naomi beats herself up for letting the situation happen, but Mira reassures her it was an accident and that the local community programme wouldn’t exist without her. They eventually find a bottle of vodka that Wayne uses for her treatment, which is successful.

Throughout the episode, Mira is shown to be irritated by the mention of Naomi, and towards the end of the episode, Mira asks Wayne if she should be worried about her, due to their shared careers and culture. Wayne tells her she has nothing to worry about and proposes to her, and she happily accepts.

Eliza, Matty and Chaya

Eliza, Matty and Chaya spend a good chunk of the episode attending to Alex, a Downs syndrome patient with medical anxiety, who has fallen off her dirt bike, and injured her pelvis and leg. During their treatment of Alex; Matty and Chaya let their personal issues over Caleb get to them, to the point that they argue and Eliza has to tell them to focus on the job.

Whilst they initially have trouble treating and moving Alex, due to being unable to give her ketamine, they eventually get her and her dirt bike on the plane and off to hospital for surgery.

Towards the end of the episode, Matty is restocking supplies and notices that a vial of fentanyl is missing. He brings this to Leonie’s attention and mentions that Chaya dropped Taylor’s painkillers the previous week.

When Leonie asks Chaya about Taylor’s painkillers, she admits to taking them, and when Leonie tells her that there are a lot of eyes on RFDS due to the tender and she has to suspend her until they find the fentanyl, Chaya quits.

Towards the end of the episode, Matty goes to Chaya’s house to see her and finds her drunk on the couch.

Chaya, Taylor, Anna, and Poppy

As well as the medical emergency involving Alex, Chaya is also trying to deal with a mediation between Anna and Poppy, however due to the emergency, she asks Taylor to stall. When Chaya doesn’t return on time, Taylor steps in.

During the mediation session, Poppy tells Anna that rehab is going well and that she is about to move on to a new prosthetic, whilst Anna tells Poppy that she is going to AA and wants to pack up the farm and sell it, but wants her permission. Poppy supports her and they make up. However, Taylor calls Anna out for not being honest, and the truth about Poppy’s conception comes out, and by extension, the fact that Anna’s lie could have prevented Poppy’s leg from being saved. Poppy storms out in anger. When Chaya returns and finds out what has happened, Taylor says she overheard Eliza talking about Anna and Poppy’s mismatched blood types, Anna then leaves in anger.

Towards the end of the episode, Eliza receives a phone call from Dr. Rajinder, a nephrologist, about Taylor’s recent blood tests. Eliza talks to Taylor and it’s revealed that her kidney function has decreased. She then makes the decision, with Darren’s support, to not continue with her pregnancy. Taylor later tells Pete, and Pete is later seen storing baby stuff he bought for her at the RFDS base.

Leonie and Graham

They were more in the background in the episode. Leonie receives a medical certificate that shows Graham passed his medical exam and has been ruled as fit for work. However, Leonie ends up grounding Graham, due to him still experiencing symptoms from his head injury (which were seen in previous episodes), as well as additional ones; memory lapses and a migraine, offscreen.

Eliza, Pete and Anna

Eliza and Pete are seen tending to Yvette and Owen, and giving them the equipment and information they need to tend to Yvette’s end of life caring needs. It’s also revealed that due to Eliza giving evidence to the police that Owen was taking a weight loss drug and not speed, that his charges will be downgraded from DUI to reckless driving, although this is yet to be made official.

Eliza later tells Ryan that she gave evidence for Owen and the charges are being downgraded, and he is dismissive of her. When she calls him out for making her feel bad and “not getting her”, he tells her that the holiday wasn’t his idea, but Leonie’s.

Towards the end of the episode, Anna is seen in tears leaving Poppy a voicemail. She then gets a news notification of Owen’s charges being downgraded, and sees Eliza walking nearby. The episode ends with Anna sneaking into Eliza’s office, closing and locking the door behind her, and Eliza discovering her.

Overall, this was a solid penultimate episode as it provided plenty of springboards for the finale, such as Anna’s confrontation of Eliza, Graham being grounded, Chaya fully relapsing, and Taylor’s health issues. Interestingly, this episode was more about personal drama and not so much the medical dramas.

It will be interesting to see how the next episode, the finale, brings the season to a close.

Stray Observations:

• Kalthi’s name came from Timmy.
• Mira makes a blue light with her phone by placing clear sticky tape over its torch, and colouring the sticky tape in with a blue Sharpie.