Episode 5203

Australian Air Date: 10th November 2010
UK Air Date: 19th January 2011

Roo thinks Alf is holding back about Penn’s death. Gina and John are back on and public. Ruby passes her driving exam.

JOHN PALMER (SHANE WITHINGTON)
ROBERT ROBERTSON (SOCRATIS OTTO)
DETECTIVE GRAVES (ERYN-JEAN NORVILL )
EXAMINER (DONALD SWORD)

Written by Kate Bradley
Directed by Scott Hartford Davis

Extended Summary

Dex is still pining over Graves and worried he will bump into her in public. Sid tells him to get over it and move on – she’ll be in the Bay for a while investigating Penn’s murder so he better get used to it. Meanwhile, Roo is worried that Alf is holding back what he knows about Penn’s death. Alf denies this, but we get the feeling something isn’t right. Sid is questioned over Alf’s relationship with Penn and then again regarding Penn’s medical condition before he died.

What should be a simple interview is complicated by Dex who is mortified that Graves has shown up at the farm house, more so after answering the door in his pyjamas. Sid tells him to play it cool – act as though he doesn’t even know Graves is alive, but Dex misinterprets this advice and hits on Charlie instead. When Graves tells him to get over his subconscious need to replace his mother with an older woman, Dex is horrified and immediately over his crush on Graves.

Gina talks to Xavier about her relationship status with John. Xavier is concerned that she is meeting up with him secretly in hotel rooms – she’s not that kind of girl. Gina agrees, but admits that she doesn’t know where she stands with John. Xavier thinks they should have a serious discussion about what they want and be completely honest with one another about how they feel. Gina takes this advice, completely unaware that John has bought an engagement ring for her. Gina lays her heart on the table, telling John she wants to get back together with him and make it public. He can move back in with her too, but on one condition – they don’t discuss marriage in the immediate future – that’s what threw them off course in the first place. John dies a little inside, but happily agrees to the terms. Later, he tells Xavier what happened and Xavier thinks he shouldn’t tell Gina about the ring. John doesn’t have much choice – he wants to be with Gina so much and he’ll do that any way he can.

Ruby is down about life and feeling like a bit of a failure and she is booked to sit her driving test. Things get off to a rocky start and Ruby arrives home saddened and despondent. Charlie has made her a comfort dinner to make her feel better but Ruby reveals that she actually passed her test. She was just pretending to be sad so she could surprise Charlie with the good news. Charlie is surprised but happy and Ruby takes offence at the ‘failure meal’ Charlie has prepared. Ruby can’t believe Charlie had no faith in her whatsoever. She moves off to her room and Charlie is left defeated.

Following the phone call from the US, Alf offers to loan Roo the money to pay off her debt. Roo is insistent that she isn’t going to borrow money off him and that he should trust her – everything is going to be fine. Late the following night, Roo finds Alf burning something in the incinerator. She’s suspicious and questions him over his actions, but Alf assures her it’s just rubbish he won’t have time to get rid of in he morning. Roo goes off to bed, sceptical and we see that Alf is disposing of a knife sheath – the same brand of knife used to kill Penn Graham.