Episode 586

Extended Summary

Jane comes out of her caravan, with Grant following. She is upset by his ultimatum, saying police officers don’t get killed every day and she needed him to reassure her of that, not try and get her to quit her job.  She suggests he has a problem with women on the force. Grant didn’t think of himself as a chauvinist and, smiling, Jane tells him he’s not that bad.

Up at the house, Steven tells Paul and Emma that he let Marilyn throw him to give her some confidence.  He asks Pippa if he can get a snack from the fridge but she tells him to get an apple from the tree because things are tight. She apologises for snapping and he offers to help her with the accounts that night. When he does so, they find out the electricity tariffs are up and they can’t wait for Tom’s insurance money. Steven suggests they do without pocket money but Pippa says it’s just a drop in the ocean and admits she’s been buying food on credit. Steven offers to get a job but Pippa won’t let him.

Later, at the Diner, Steven tells Bobby about it. He also mentions Don asking Pippa out, saying the whole idea’s ridiculous. Bobby asks him to mind the Diner while she pops out and he serves Paul and Emma.  Vicki and Sheree come in and Vicki and Emma trade insults. Bobby finds Don in his office and tells him she knows what happened. She apologises for encouraging him with Pippa, since they both misread the signals. Don can’t blame Steven for protecting his mother. Bobby says Pippa won’t tell anyone and offers to make sure Steven doesn’t say anything either.

Steven accidentally brings a customer coffee instead of tea. Nearby, Vicki continues to taunt Emma about being expelled and says she won’t be able to hold onto a boyfriend. Paul tries to stop Emma reacting and steer her out of there but when Vicki tells her to go to Yabbie Creek and not come back, Emma pours a beaker of sugar over her head. Vicki tells Sheree she’s going to get Emma back by stealing her boyfriend.  Next morning, Grant and Jane are going for a run on the beach. Grant complains Jane is pushing herself too hard and they both collapse. Liz’s funeral is at eleven and Grant offers to go with Jane but she tells him no, since it’s a police funeral and she’s in the guard of honour.

At school, Paul is telling Steven he wants to record the song he wrote Emma for her birthday. He thinks he should get another job, since the money from his job at the store goes to his mum to pay for his piano.  Vicki approaches Paul and asks him to go to the surf club with her but he dismisses the idea. Vicki tells Sheree she hasn’t given up. Don asks for a word with Steven in private but then changes his mind and sends him on his way. Meanwhile, Pippa is doing the tour of the caravan park and collects the dirty sheets from Jane. She comments on having a break from Christopher while he’s at play school. Jane asks how she handles being a housewife, since she never thought about anything other than being a police officer but Grant wants a wife and mother. Pippa says if someone had told her twenty years ago this would be her life she’d be horrified but she doesn’t regret any of it.

Vicki approaches Paul again, saying she just wanted him to accompany her on the piano for her singing practise. Paul says it’s not practise for him just to provide background music for her. Steven notices Marilyn coming past and greets her. She goes to see Don in his office and tells him she doesn’t want to work in a store all her life and wants to join the police. Don doesn’t understand what she wants from him but she says she wants to come back to school and get her HSC. Don tries to dissuade her but Marilyn knows she has to sit an assessment test. She says she only left school because she wanted to be a manicurist and all the counsellors she spoke to in Year 10 told her to get her HSC. She also says she saw a documentary about a middle-aged woman in the same class as her daughter. Realising he’s not going to change her mind, Don agrees to give her the test.

Later, at the store, Marilyn tells Pippa and Bobby about her plans. Pippa is concerned about it, wondering how she’ll cope with a full-time job and school, but Marilyn says she’ll work at the weekend and after school. She says meeting Jane inspired her. Pippa isn’t sure that’s a good enough reason but Bobby points out that it’s okay for guys to emulate someone they admire. Meanwhile, Grant finds Jane sitting in the caravan park. She says she didn’t stay for the wake and notes Liz will be remembered for being killed in the line of duty: Most people are remembered by their families and children but Liz never had that.

At the Diner, Steven and Paul convince Bobby to let them put up a notice saying that Paul wants a job.  Nearby, Sheree tells Vicki that she’ll never get Paul away from Emma but Vicki is up for the challenge.  She sees the notice and thinks it gives her an opportunity. Meanwhile, Grant and Jane are walking on the beach. Jane wonders if Liz would have thought all the hard work to be a police officer was worth it. Grant thinks he’s crowding her and offers to step back but Jane says she’s decided to resign from the police.  Grant asks if she wants to give it more thought but Jane says she doesn’t and hugs him.