Episode 5037

Australian Air Date: 23rd March 2010
UK Air Date: 30th March 2010

Neither Gina nor Xavier will back down on their stand-off over John Palmer. Justin and Aden start to get to know each other again. Nicole plans to confront Britt, but is side-tracked.

JOHN PALMER (SHANE WITHINGTON)
JUSTIN JEFFERIES (MATTHEW WALKER)
BRITT HOBART (DIANA GLENN)

Written by Sandy Webster
Directed by Karl Zwicky

Extended Summary

Martha helps move a subdued Xavier and his belongings out to the Farm, after Gina threw him out of home when he refused to accept her relationship with John Palmer. Both mother and son feel bad about what’s happened and are hurting, but neither is prepared to back down. Martha, Ruby and Tony try to talk them around, hoping for some sort of reconciliation, but none is forthcoming. As Xavier tries to settle into the Farm he can’t help but see that Martha still cares a lot for Liam and correctly guesses that she doesn’t really want him to move out. Gina, left at home alone and with no one to put on a brave face for, looks at a happy family photo of her three boys and dissolves into tears. Has she now lost all of them?

Aden introduces Justin to Nicole and it’s instantly clear that Justin is quite taken by his brother’s girlfriend. The two brothers slowly start to reacquaint themselves with each other’s lives, having had little contact for a number of years which Justin apologises for. Aden still finds it hard to believe that Justin is in the army and can’t help seeing the changes in him. Justin no longer drinks or swears and seems to have planned out his future. Justin believes he owes his turnaround in life to the army lifestyle and recommends it to Aden, but Aden tells him he’s quite content with his life. Justin only shows the odd glimpse of the temper Aden remembers he had, but it surfaces when the boys mention their father and grandad. It seems both boys share a similar disgust with their family patriarchs.

So far, Nicole’s internship with Britt has been a letdown. Nicole has largely been utilised as another pair of hands to do the menial work around the studio. There’s been no real design learning here. Nicole, feeling very dissatisfied, no longer even looks forward to going to the studio and decides to sort the issue out with Britt once and for all. But on going to see her, she’s shocked to learn that a buyer has rejected Britt’s new swimwear line. Britt, in a spot of bother, is keen to see Nicole’s swimwear designs and deems them to be very good. She and Nicole decide to work on the designs over night with a view to presenting them to the buyer in the morning. But when Nicole goes out to buy dinner, Britt phones her client to say she has some new ideas to show them, and proceeds to signs her own name across a Nicole design.

Marilyn has moved in with Alf and Miles, and she rings in the changes from morning one. Gone are the coffee, bacon, eggs and milk and in come healthy alternatives. No one in the household is very impressed, but it’s all done in good humour and they let it pass. Miles arrives home that evening to find Marilyn cooking a vegetarian bake for them all. She goes on to suggest that the house could do with a bit of feng shui, along with some aromatherapy candles and incense, to bring more positive energy into it – which she volunteers herself for. Miles comments to Alf that whilst he likes having her around, Marilyn may be going a bit too far. Alf simply states that she will grow on him. However we can’t help but feel that trouble is just around the corner for these house-mates.

Scene cut from episode:
Justin is discharged from hospital and is feeling physically better, but he still has only selective memory of his car accident. Aden offers to put him up and Justin is happy to accept the invitation.