Episode 6849

Extended Summary

Willow goes to Dean’s caravan and knocks on the door, saying she needs to talk about Colby and asking him to go for a walk with her. Dean says he will later. Next morning, Justin runs into Colby on the beach, where Colby has gone for an early morning surf. Colby asks about Ash. Justin says he’s not good and feels he should have been there. Colby says you can’t save everyone.

Ben asks Ziggy why she isn’t at work. Ziggy says she has a day off which she’s spending with Brody; Justin wants to do a full check after the equipment failure that led to Ash’s injury. Ben tells her not to tell Maggie that; Ziggy points out that keeping secrets from Maggie hasn’t gone that well recently so Ben tells her to keep quiet until that night. Maggie and Coco come through and Ben tells Coco to keep an eye on Maggie at school. Coco has to remind her to bring her marking. Once at school, they head to her office where Maggie finds the desk that she cleared the previous day is now covered in work again. Her secretary comes in and gives her some more paperwork, as well as revealing that two teachers are off sick.

Leah serves Roo at the Diner, chatting about her first day back. Roo notices a towel in Ryder’s bag and warns him and Raffy against skipping school, a viewpoint echoed by Alf and John, with Alf pointing out that the last time he was called to school because of Ryder he nearly died. Ben arrives and also reminds Roo to get to school, explaining to Marilyn that he doesn’t want Maggie stressed. He drops off some more fliers but hasn’t had any feedback so far. Then there is a buzz and crackling sound and all the electrics go off. Meanwhile, Ava is at Salt with Brody and is introduced to Ziggy when she turns up. Justin arrives to collect Ava but she is unimpressed that he intends to spend the day visiting Ash again. Ziggy suggests she stay there, since she can keep an eye on her while Brody’s busy.

Colby looks at his Blood and Sand tattoo in a mirror at his flat, then he puts his uniform on over it. He tracks down Willow near the surf club and tells her he’s not telling the police about the accident, arguing that it won’t help Dean or bring Jai back. He says it’s none of her business but Willow says she was the one who nursed Dean back to health afterwards. Colby goes to see Dean at his caravan, asking him to call Willow off. He says if they make a complaint he’ll lose his job. Dean says he’d back him up but Colby says knowing he was a River Boy would have the same result. Dean asks why his job’s so important and Colby explains he has access to records and databases and it’s the only way he can carry on searching for “them”.

Maggie is dozing in a classroom. Coco and Raffy come in and she tells them she’s not ready yet, but other students stream in past them as the girls explain the bell’s about to go, which it does. Coco asks Raffy if it’s okay if she sits next to Ryder and Raffy obliges by sitting elsewhere. Roo drops off Ryder. Maggie starts giving them instructions to take out their maths textbooks and Coco has to point out it’s a business studies class. At the Diner, Leah is writing up a notice while Marilyn tries to save as much of the freezer contents as possible. John and Ben come in, having established it’s not the fuse. Leah asks to put stuff in the fridge upstairs but the power’s off there too and also in the bait shop, meaning the bait will soon start going off too. Ben says he’ll call an electrician he knows in the city and takes Maggie’s lunch from Marilyn.

Maggie is showing her students a video, with no-one really paying attention including Maggie herself. As it ends, she asks if anyone has any questions about it but is saved by the bell for end of class, telling them she’ll see them in the afternoon for actual Maths class. Coco tries to reassure her but Maggie knows it was a disaster. The secretary hands her more work, as well as saying the substitute teachers aren’t available to cover her classes, and Maggie tries to talk with Roo about helping the HSC students catch up, although she has trouble remembering the words she wants. Ben drops her lunch off and she insists she’s coping.

Dean talks to Willow at the caravan park, asking her to lay off Colby. Willow is upset that Dean never told her what really happened when she was there for him and they were supposed to be best mates. She asks if he’d ever have told her and he says probably not. Willow says in that case they were never friends. She heads to Salt where Justin, Brody, Ziggy and Ava have just eaten: They weren’t sure if she was joining them. Justin suggests Ava go with him but she says she’s working for Brody and being paid in chips. Justin apologises to Willow for the previous week, saying she’s welcome to hang out with him and Ava and suggesting they all have dinner some time. Colby comes in and Willow tells him he’s off the hook again, adding that he doesn’t deserve Dean.

Willow goes to see Dean and apologises, but also wonders why he was more upset with her than Colby. Dean indicates it was River Boy code for him to keep quiet. He appreciates that she stuck up for him but isn’t interested in paying Colby back, saying Colby’s past will catch up with him eventually. At the school, the secretary tells Maggie that the builders have left for another job. Maggie gets a phone call about a quote that leaves her confused and the secretary reminds her about the Maths class. The unsupervised students are all messing about; Ryder tries to get Raffy to talk to them then makes an unsuccessful attempt to talk them down himself. Maggie comes in but despite Raffy pointing this out, it takes her several attempts to get them to settle.

Ziggy brings Ava back to Salt; Brody jokingly accuses Ava of shirking her job. Justin enters and asks for his kid back. Brody tells Ziggy that she’ll make a great mum, which seems to throw her. In the school office, Roo is giving a distracted Maggie an update on her Year 12 students. Ben turns up as Roo leaves. Maggie tells him the electrician rang her with the quote: The whole pier needs rewiring. She says it’s been one thing after another and she only has two weeks of leave left: She doesn’t know how they’re going to cope.