Episode 6763

Extended Summary

Ben pulls up outside the farmhouse as, inside, Olivia and Ziggy get slightly frantic at Mick’s presence, despite his protestations of innocence. Maggie appears and Olivia tells her Mick’s a rapist. Maggie tells Mick to get out. Ben appears and throws Mick out, holding him down on the ground. Mick runs off and Maggie stops Ben going after him. Olivia explains he is Irene’s son and says she has to let her know he’s back. At the caravan park house, VJ and Hunter are heading off for their first exam and banter about Hunter becoming one of Olivia’s models if he fails. Leah wishes them both luck. After they’ve gone, she gets a call from Olivia looking for Irene.

Ash comes from the bedroom with Luc to find Tori making a coffee which Ash takes a big gulp of. Tori says he has a missed call from Olivia but Ash dismisses it. Justin and Mason return from buying the suit. Mason goes to his room, saying he’s not hungry. Justin tells Tori he barely spoke. Tori tells him Scarlett will be discharged soon; Justin has stayed away from her because Caleb’s there. In his room, Mason’s trying on his suit and sees a bird land on the window sill. Justin comes in; Mason thinks it’s time for the funeral but he’s just offering him some food. Raffy gives him some flowers she picked for Beth; Mason thanks her but tells her to get back to school.

At the Diner, Ben is on the phone to Coco, telling her not to leave school on her own. Maggie berates herself for inviting a strange man into the house but is dismissive of Ziggy’s offer of coffee. Olivia fills Leah in on what’s happened. She rings Irene’s mobile and they hear it ringing in the kitchen: Irene has left her bag in there. Olivia worries that Mick has done something to her.

Ash and Tori, with Luc, meet up with Alf, Leah and Olivia near the Diner, having been clued in. They suddenly see Irene on the beach and all rush over to her. Olivia tells her Mick was at the Astonis’. Irene admits it’s her fault: She brought him there. Leah, Ash and Olivia are all furious with Ash in particular thinking she should have left Mick to his fate after what he did to Billie. Alf decides to go look for Mick; Ash wants to go too but Tori tells him to look after Luc. Leah says they’ll take her back to hers, since Mick knows where Irene lives. Olivia makes it clear to Irene that she understands but disagrees. Back at the house, Leah tries to settle Ash down. Tori says she has to get off to the funeral. VJ returns from his exam and wonders what’s going on.

Irene and Olivia are still on the beach when Mick approaches. Irene tells him to pack his bags: He broke their arrangement by leaving the motel. Mick refuses to go, saying Irene’s all he has. Irene says she won’t pay for the motel anyone so Mick says he’ll pay for it with his Centrelink because he’s not giving up on her, seemingly oblivious to how horrified Irene is.

Ben, Maggie and Ziggy arrive home. Maggie is worried about Ben attacking Mick when he’s on an assault charge. She sees the spilt tree and Ziggy explains it’s an olive tree, since she’s bound to mess up again so a branch isn’t enough. Maggie is touched and Ben suggests they plant it outside. While Ben goes to get the filler, Maggie tells Ziggy it’s a lot to process: She’s forgiven her but is finding it hard to forget. They hug. Ben complains the tree’s lopsided and they claim they meant to do it.

Mason is in his room when he sees the bird again. He tells Justin and Tori he can’t go to the funeral. Tori thinks he needs closure but Mason says that would make it real and walks out of the house. Tori sends Justin after him, saying she’ll represent them at the funeral. Justin finds Mason on the headland; he asks if he’s OK, then acknowledges it’s a silly question. He says they can still make the funeral but Mason isn’t ready to say goodbye yet. Back at the caravan park house, Alf returns and says he couldn’t find Mick. Ash wants to look for him but Alf tells him to leave it to Irene. VJ is with Luc on the couch, telling her it’s going to be okay. Irene and Olivia return and Irene says Mick won’t go, which worries Ash and VJ in particular. Irene says she felt responsible for him but now she just wants him gone.

That evening, Alf, Irene, Leah and Olivia make a plan to set Mick up somewhere else. VJ and Ash agree that getting him away from Luc is the priority. Alf says he’s got a friend who can speed things along. Irene prepares to go and see Mick to explain things but Alf says he’ll do it. He goes to Mick’s motel room, introducing himself as a friend of Irene’s. He says Mick can stay there for now but they’re going to give him a home and job in Western Australia, as far away as possible: He’s a problem and this is the solution. Mick wants to see Irene but Alf says she doesn’t want to see him. He adds that if Mick gives Irene any more grief he’ll answer to him.

Justin and Raffy play pool at the surf club, with Raffy winning. She tries to get Mason, who is sitting nearby, to join in but he is distracted. Tori returns, saying she passed on Mason’s apologies and gave them Raffy’s flowers. She gives Mason the service booklet and he notes they played Beth’s favourite song. He heads home alone and goes to bed, playing the song, and has flashbacks to his time with Beth including the night they went skinny dipping, when they were meant to be going to the casino, their first kiss, their last dinner on the beach, getting the tattoos and Beth posing as a nurse. Suddenly, Beth is in the room with him (wearing the same outfit as when she died) and asks if he can’t sleep.