Episode 7044

Extended Summary

Maggie continues to ignore the scholarship offer, prompting Coco to accuse her of not caring. Maggie says she applied without asking and calls it ridiculous. Coco replies that they believe in her and it’ll improve her chances of getting into Environmental Studies. Maggie claims she needs stability. Ben walks in on the argument and Coco shows him the letter. After reading it, Ben calls it amazing and Coco notes at least someone thinks so. She heads off to bed and Maggie continues to be dismissive. Ben asks why she’s against it. Maggie says Coco’s bulimia and anxiety are concerns but Ben says she handled the anxiety over exams in the end. Maggie refuses to talk about it so Ben suggests they sleep on it.

Alf is making small talk with Martha on the phone, discussing her painting and what he’s been up to. However, when Leah and Ryder come home, he abruptly ends the call. They ask him if he’s heard about Willow being shot. Next morning, outside the bait shop, Alf asks Justin to check over an engine. Leah gets off the phone from Jasmine and says she’s keeping an eye on Willow and Dean hasn’t left her side. Ryder has been looking up the news on his phone and says the police are still looking for Ross. They reflect on the lack of noise from the flat and starting a marriage like that.

Ben has cooked a stack of pancakes but Coco is reluctant to join her parents for breakfast and says she’ll go and see her friends who actually care about what she thinks. She ignores Maggie’s greeting. Maggie also turns down the pancakes, since she’s training, and refuses to seriously discuss the matter with Ben. She goes out for a run. At the Diner, Justin greets John and Marilyn before ordering teas for himself and Alf. Leah asks how Alf is, noting he was quiet the previous night and recent events seem to have affected him. At a nearby table, Ryder and Raffy discuss what happened to Bella. Raffy suggests cheering her up with a movie and chocolate but Leah suggests waiting a bit. Justin clears his throat and Ryder hastily stops holding Raffy’s hand. Coco comes in and says Maggie won’t let her go to boarding school. Raffy and Ryder struggle to keep up.

Alf asks Justin what happened to his tea. Justin looks awkward as John and Marilyn come out, bringing his tea personally. They try to ask him how he’s feeling but Alf insists he’s fine. He suddenly looks up to find Martha standing in front of him and wonders what she’s doing there. They head back to the caravan park house together. Alf thinks his calling her was no big deal but Martha thinks it was, given the way their last conversation ended. She suggests he offer her a cup of tea and Alf retorts that she knows where the Diner is. Martha says she’ll make it herself, since he never puts enough milk in anyway.

Raffy and Ryder sympathise with Maggie not wanting Coco to leave and suggest she’d still get into her course if she stayed in Summer Bay. Coco says it’s the best school in the country for Environmental Science and she’d be able to do research there. Raffy muses that they might need to show Maggie it’s a good idea. As they head out, John and Marilyn come back in and John tells them to stick together given what’s happened recently. Meanwhile, Ben pulls alongside the running Maggie in his ute and tries to talk to her about Coco. Maggie tries to avoid the conversation by speeding up but he keeps pace and eventually she admits she’s not ready for Coco to go. Back at the Diner, Ben points out that they coped with Ziggy moving out in the end but Maggie says Ziggy always knew how to look after herself and she thinks Coco still needs them.

Ben and Maggie arrive home to find Raffy, Ryder and Coco have set up a projector with a piece of linen as a makeshift screen. Ryder narrates a set of projector slides, titled “Why Coco Should Go to Cairns”. He says that by 2050 95% of marine life has been wiped out and the beaches are polluted, meaning the ocean is unsurfable and the board shop has gone out of business (showing caption slides of first Ben and then the entire family looking sad). The family is living in a tent, surviving on rations; Coco pours plastic waste over her parents as a demonstration. Ryder says the flashpoint was 2019, when Maggie (portrayed by a photo of her made up to resemble the Joker) felt she needed Coco more than the world did. Ben starts to give a polite rebuttal but Maggie agrees Coco needs to go. Coco hugs her and thanks Ryder and Raffy for their help. Ben says Coco will need to come home if her anxiety returns or her grades slip and she agrees.

Martha is drinking her tea while Alf sits in a sulky silence. Martha attempts to make small talk about how Roo’s getting on in the Kimberleys. Alf says he talks to her as well. Martha insists she knows something’s up. Leah comes home and apologises for interrupting. Alf tells her to keep Martha company while he checks on the engine. He heads to the Diner, where he cuts Justin’s questioning short by commenting that he has an engine to fix. He asks Marilyn for a black tea. Marilyn realises he’s not happy about Martha being back and remarks not many people get a second chance. Alf asks for a couple of slices of cake to take back.

Martha asks Leah how Alf’s been, explaining about his phone call. Alf arrives back as she’s commenting on keeping things to yourself. He asks her if she still likes chocolate cake. Leah gives them space and Alf offers to talk. Meanwhile, Raffy and Ryder are walking through a park area and discuss being at school without Coco. Ryder quickly lets go of her hand as Justin passes them. Raffy notes they haven’t spent much time alone together the last couple of days and says John and Marilyn are out so she’s got a free house. Ryder agrees to go back there.

Alf and Martha walk through the caravan park. Alf fills her in on what happened with Colby, Chelsea and Willow and says it reminded him of what happened with her. He says she can go home now. Martha says it’s been twelve months and he hasn’t let go of what she did. Alf says it’s been thirty years. Martha says she’s apologised and can’t do anything else. She asks if he called to rehash things. Alf snaps that he called because he missed her. He looks awkward and walks away. Martha smiles.