Episode 7218

Extended Summary

Ziggy and Dean are walking near the beach when Mackenzie comes walking up the path, followed by Bella. Mackenzie ignores Dean’s greeting and walks on. Bella tells the others that Mackenzie’s going to break up with Colby because he spends too much time at work, which surprises them. Dean says he never talks to Mackenzie about her and Colby’s relationship. Ziggy suggests he makes an exception this time and Dean reluctantly goes after her. At Salt, Mackenzie leaves Colby a phone message. Dean comes in and comments on her ignoring him. Mackenzie asks if he ever worries about something happening to Colby on the job. Dean thinks he was in more danger when they were living in Mangrove River together. Mackenzie says the drama never ends and Dean points out she’s dating a cop.

John finds Ben moving boxes outside the bait shop and asks if he’s keeping an eye on it now. Ben says Alf just asked him to look after the delivery. John says he heard about the arrest in Indonesia and Ben says it turns out that an arrest at the other end doesn’t mean charges are dropped. Maggie waves to him from nearby but Ben only gives the barest of acknowledgements before saying he has to get back to work. Back at the farm house, Maggie tells Ziggy that Ben’s going backwards and has lost the positivity he got from the Indonesia arrest. She says they need to do something today. Ziggy suggests letting him hang at the garage but Maggie thinks that would be too obvious. Ziggy decides to ask Dean about the surf lessons, which stalled while he was helping Karen.

At the caravan park house, Justin tells Leah that both Jasmine and Tori have got in trouble because of Robbo, although he and Leah are grateful that they’re together. Irene turns up and Justin leaves them to it. Irene asks about Leah’s website. Leah says she took it down and it’s not an issue but Irene says it is to her. Back at Salt, Ziggy finds Dean and asks about the surf lessons. Dean says Ryder’s pulled back until after exams so there’s nothing until next week. Since he’s busy there, Ziggy says she’ll sort it. Mackenzie says she hasn’t got a reply from Colby. Dean says he’s probably either busy or crashed but Mackenzie says he might be dead. Dean realises she’s serious and tries to reassure her.

Dean goes back to the flat and asks Bella if Colby’s there. Bella asks him if Mackenzie’s going to dump Colby and Dean says it’s not about the long hours. Bella says people either dump Colby because he’s a River Boy and looks out for his mates or because he’s a cop and does his job. Dean says Mackenzie’s not Chelsea but Bella thinks she’s worse. Outside the surf club, Ziggy is handing out flyers for the surf lessons but the person who takes one immediately throws it away. She admits to Maggie that she’s not had much luck. John comes along and reminds them to clean up the mess. Looking at the leaflet, he suggests people aren’t going to pay top dollar for an unproven business and they need to give free lessons to reel people in.

Irene tells Leah that she can’t let Tommy win by giving up the blog. Leah claims that it’s nothing to do with that, saying she’s just finding it too time-consuming and stressful. She says she needs to find a new focus and suggests Irene does as well. At the Diner, John asks Ben how things are going at the bait shop. Ben suspects Alf asked John to check up on him and John says he just suggested he keep an eye on him. Ben walks out, only exchanging a curt greeting with Justin. John says he thinks he put his foot in it. Justin ironically notes that that’s not like him.

Ziggy sees Dean chasing after Bella and briefly chats to him about what’s going on. Ben comes along and Ziggy tells him Dean has a surf lesson booked for the afternoon that she needs him to take. Bella storms into Salt and tells Mackenzie that if she’s going to dump Colby then she should just do it instead of leading him on. Mackenzie doesn’t appreciate being shouted at and Dean also tells her she’s out of line, trying to get her to leave. After warning Mackenzie she’ll have her to deal with if she hurts Colby, Bella says she’s said everything and leaves. Dean notes he doesn’t know where she got the idea from, then realises from Mackenzie’s expression that Bella’s right.

Down on the beach, Ben is giving Blake a lesson. Blake wants to get out on the waves but Ben tells him there’s other things you need to learn first and tells him the correct stance. Ziggy and Maggie watch from a distance, pleased at the result. Back at Salt, Mackenzie tells Dean she’s not sure if she’s up to being a cop’s girlfriend and is tired of worrying about Colby all the time. Dean says Colby’s into her and can tell it’s not a casual fling for her either but Bella’s right: She needs to make her mind up about whether it’s for her or not.

Dean returns to Bella at the flat and tells her it’s not certain that Mackenzie’s going to break up with Colby. Bella thinks it’s a done deal however and is furious with her. Dean tells her to stop giving Mackenzie a hard time. Bella retorts that it won’t be a problem soon because she won’t be there. At the Diner, Irene agrees with Leah that they both need to move on, although she thanks her for her support throughout it all and notes she still has mandatory counselling and will see the support group sometimes. Leah is considering taking Justin away to an eco-retreat, saying he needs something to think about with Raffy gone and Tori not around. Justin comes in on the phone and tells Leah it’s Nina: She’s having to sell the house because of the divorce and wants Ava to stay with him for a while. He says he’s going to travel down and collect her.

Outside the Diner, Leah says her farewells to Justin, giving him a snack, and Irene gives him a coffee before he drives off. Irene checks Leah’s okay. Leah comments so much for going back to normal. That evening, Ben, Maggie, Ziggy and Dean have dinner together at Salt. The others compliment Ben on getting Blake to catch a wave so soon and Dean gives him his wages. John comes up and comments on the lesson, giving credit to his free lessons idea. Ben is annoyed, thinking it was fake work, despite the others saying they’re trying to grow the business. He gives Dean the money back and walks off, telling them to go to hell.

Next morning at the farm house, Dean and Ziggy debate how they both could have handled it better. Ziggy thinks they should have taped John’s mouth while Dean thinks he should have paid more attention to the surf lessons. Maggie tells them to stop blaming themselves, thinking Ben was the only person that did anything wrong. She tracks Ben down on the beach. Ben thought she’d be concentrating on the first day of the HSC. Maggie says Dean and Ziggy are both blaming themselves and he keeps taking everything the wrong way. Ben says he can’t help how he feels but Maggie thinks he can, saying he could choose to get help or manage to drag himself out of his van sometimes. She says he needs to see someone because she’s done.