Loveday Writing

We’re now at the halfway point of the season and this episode offers Jordan’s and Brooke’s perspective.

The episode kicks off with Jordan washing dishes in prison, spilling water on himself, before seeing his solicitor. His solicitor shows him the viral video of Mary confronting Brooke, and tells Jordan that Mary has been stood down from work because of it, and they can use the video to their advantage and claim that Jordan punched Ash in self-defence. Whilst Jordan meets with his solicitor, we see Mary go to a hardware store and buying products to get rid of trees from hers and Hamish’s property.

In Melbourne, we see Lillian working at the reception desk and having a fight with her brother, Daniel, an orthodontist at their parents’ clinic, because she parked her car in his parking space. When Michelle breaks up their fight and reprimands them privately, it’s revealed that Lillian is working as the Practice Manager and is only helping out at reception, as the clinic is short staffed. It’s also evident that Michelle favours Lillian over Daniel, despite Michelle’s treatment towards her.

Whilst she’s at work, Lillian sees an alert about Jordan’s request for a plea change in the Ballarat Herald, with the article showing the video of Mary’s confrontation with Brooke. Lillian calls Jack in tears and asks him about claiming victim’s compensation, however Jack tells her it may be difficult for her to obtain, as they need to wait for the outcome of the case. Lillian admits to Jack that she wish Mary hadn’t made things worse with her outburst and confrontation.

Meanwhile, at Hamish and Mary’s house, Hamish informs Mary that Andrew has texted him for both his lasagne recipe and to encourage Mary not to let people get her down. Mary barely speaks to him and Hamish calls her out on it, and she tells him that her life has been upended, as Fiona arrives to speak with them.

Fiona informs them that Brooke’s mother, Naomi, wants to press charges against Mary for attacking Brooke, as Brooke hasn’t been back to school since, is depressed, and self-harming. Fiona tells them that she has organised a mediation session for them to clear the air and for Mary to apologise. Mary angrily points out that they wouldn’t be in this situation, if Brooke hadn’t gotten high with Jordan in the first place.

When Lillian finishes work, she goes to her car and breaks down. Michelle then approaches her, as it’s Lillians turn to cook tonight and tells her to be kinder to Daniel. Lillian then looks at the lung transplant recipient’s (Taylor) social media feed again. She then goes to the supermarket to buy groceries, only to sneak in the back to sit down. She looks at Taylor’s social media feed again and notices that her husband has the Melton Pools logo on one of his shirts. She then travels to Melton and follows him home.

After watching Taylor at her home for a while, Lillian gets a text from Michelle asking if she has been to the shops yet, and she quickly goes to the supermarket to get salmon and a pre-made salad for dinner, which her parents love. Michelle and Phillip then tell her that they are opening a new branch of their clinic. Lillian tells Michelle that she will be working in Ballarat over the weekend, and Michelle tries to force Lillian to be a part of her book club.

Meanwhile, Mary has her mediation with Brooke and Naomi, with Fiona in attendance. Naomi provides details of the affects the incident has had on Brooke, and that Brooke has stopped seeing Jordan. The mediator, Sarah, asks Brooke if she has anything to say to Mary. Brooke apologises to Mary for what she’s done and echoes the sentiment Mary had about her, saying that if she hadn’t hurt her arm when she was high, Ash wouldn’t have died. Sarah points out that it was Jordan that took more drugs and punched Ash, not her. Mary tells Brooke it wasn’t her fault and apologises for attacking her, an apology which Naomi and Brooke accept.

When Mary comes home, she finds Jack and Hamish waiting for her. Mary believes Hamish has sought out Jack for legal advice, however Jack has visited to celebrate winning a big case and mentions Jordan’s plea change. After Jack leaves, he calls Lillian and tells her that things aren’t good between Hamish and Mary. Meanwhile, Brooke goes to see Jordan in prison and tells him that she doesn’t want him using the video as part of his defence. She also calls him out on his behaviour that night and that she’s not going to lie for him. He tells her that he should have let her bleed to death.

Later, Lillian invites Mary and her children to Sovereign Hill to see her. Whilst Lillian tries to make amends with Mary, Mary makes a remark to Lillian about her lack of support during her time of need, which Lillian counters with the fact that the video was being used to make up shit about Ash and she had the right to be upset. Mary asks Lillian if she has heard from Andrew, but Lillian says she’s only received a few messages from him that she has been too busy to respond to. Mary then tells Lillian about her mediation, and Lillian asks her what triggered her confrontation. Mary tells her that she lost her temper. Lillian then asks how things are between her and Hamish. Mary tells her that she wants Jordan to pay for what he did, and tells her she doesn’t speak to Hamish about it, because he’s soft. Lillian then tells Mary that Hamish is not weak and asks what is happening to her, Mary refuses to answer and leaves with the kids. When Mary goes home, she gets Andrew’s contact details from Hamish’s phone.

Later, Lillian goes back to her parents’ house where she finds Daniel’s husband, Tom, has come over, and Michelle asks her to dress nice. It’s then revealed that Tom will be helping with the set up of a new clinic, and that her parents are also trying to set Lillian up with a new man, which causes her to leave the room. Michelle and Lillian fight in the kitchen, with the fight culminating in Michelle telling Lillian to get over Ash’s death, as it’s been over a year. Lillian leaves, driving back to the lung Taylor’s house to watch her again.

The next day, it’s revealed that Lillian fell asleep and spent the night in her car and didn’t show up for work. Meanwhile, Mary meets with Andrew at Ballarat Airport, and they walk together. Andrew supports Mary, reaffirming her belief that the justice system is too soft, whilst she confides in him that she wants Jordan to suffer more than before, and worries that a jury will be convinced that Ash’s death was their (hers and Ash’s) fault. Andrew tells her that she needs the public on her side and this will apply pressure to the hospital to give her, her job back. He tells her that he’s worked with a PR firm that can help her and asks if she’d like him to call them. She agrees, and he calls them.

The episode ends with Lillian realising she needs to eat and starting to drive to the nearest McDonalds she can find. As she starts to leave, she notices Taylor lying unconscious in her driveway.

Overall, I felt that this was more of a transitionary episode, due to it being the halfway point of the season. We see the transition from the main cast’s perspective of the incident to the perpetrators’ perspective, as well as a transition from the past and Ash’s murder, to what the future and fallout from the incident and subsequent events looks like. I appreciated the writing of Jordan and Brooke, and the contrast between Jordan’s lack of remorse and borderline sociopathy, to Brooke’s clear remorse and regret.

It will be interesting to see where we go from here, now that Lillian has no choice but to help the lung transplant recipient, opening the door to a relationship of some kind starting between them.