Episode 6640

Extended Summary

Olivia tentatively admits to Irene she wants to invite VJ and Leah to her birthday lunch. Irene insists it will not be a problem but Olivia senses Irene’s discomfort. They see James showering at the beach and Olivia explains he’s Roo’s new boyfriend. Olivia invites Roo to the lunch and cheekily suggests bringing a plus one.

Olivia visits VJ, with the intention of inviting him and Leah too. He is apathetic, hurting over the custody battle. She allows him to vent but chickens out of inviting him at the last.

Hunter is surprised by her logic – she feels VJ has too much heavy stuff going and is concerned about the tension between Irene and VJ/Leah. Hunter thinks she is overthinking it and quietly invites VJ and Leah behind her back.

Meanwhile, Roo is being supportive of Marilyn, who doesn’t know if she can visit John in prison again, especially after the other prisoner (Deacon) attacked her. She is daunted by the thought this could be the next fifteen years of her life. The Coastal News is delivered…John is plastered unflatteringly over the front page. Roo encourages Marilyn to find some normality, so they head for a coffee. Unfortunately, Marilyn is confronted by the Coastal News seemingly everywhere and has a mini-meltdown in the Diner, until Roo orders to rest up in her apartment. Roo later checks in on her, dismayed to find Marilyn reading the horrible article about John. Roo encourages her to attend Olivia’s lunch. James arrives home and is formally introduced to Marilyn. He is charming, despite a hint of unease towards Maz. Marilyn is happy for Roo, who decides to invite James along. They acknowledge it is a big step but he welcomes the chance to get to know her friends better.

Marilyn arrives early for the lunch, keen to be around friends. VJ shows up. There’s a hint of tension with Irene. VJ chides Olivia – of course he wants to celebrate her birthday! She apologises for overthinking it but everything is quickly smoothed over. The lunch begins with a heartfelt speech from Irene, which Olivia is touched by.

Roo and James hurry in late and Roo makes quick introductions. There is some teasing at James’ expense when everyone learns he is not too far past 30. Marilyn and Irene begin to pry, despite Roo’s embarrassment. James eventually stuns them by revealing his last engagement didn’t work out because his fiancée cheated on him with his father. Cue awkward silence.

Irene finds VJ in the nursery room. She knows how much he is hurting and is sorry for how things turned out. VJ is aware this is hard on her too. She suggests Luc will always be in his life because it is what Billie wanted. He quietly lashes out – since when has Irene cared about Billie’s wishes? If she did, she wouldn’t have screwed them over. Irene is left shaken.

The teenagers and James have fun playing a video game after lunch. James is skilful at it, admitting he sometimes has time on his hands with his job. Marilyn and Irene begin to pry again, intrigued to learn he is a photographer. Roo plays him up, explaining he takes photos for all the newspapers.

Marilyn slowly joins the dots and realises he took that awful photo of John for the Coastal News. Roo can’t believe James did that to her friends and angrily leaves. Everyone stares at him. At the beach, Roo and James argue. He claims he didn’t know Jhon and Maz were her friends when he took the job, and it was too late once he realised. Roo is momentarily taken by another dizzy spell but insists she’s fine, leaving James at the beach alone.

Irene consoles an upset Marilyn, pointing out James was only doing his job and didn’t know Maz until today. Marilyn knows that, admitting she doesn’t know if she can keep putting on a brave face. She hopes Morag can win the appeal because fifteen years is a really long time. Irene encourages her to speak with John about how she’s feeling.

Olivia, Hunter and VJ continue the birthday celebrations at Salt, looking to the future, whilst also acknowledging how tough VJ has had it this past year. Some friends from Olivia’s uni arrive, invited by Hunter. VJ’s keen to get drunk, depressed about Luc.

Marilyn talks to John on the phone, admitting how worn she feels. He is disappointed she won’t be visiting as much but understands. They sweetly hang up, though he is left devastated.

Roo receives her test results over the phone from her doctor, but is stunned by what she is told. She hangs up and reveals to Irene that she is pregnant.