Episode 7279

Extended Summary

Roo and Martha arrive back at the house. Jade and Nikau approach them outside. Jade offers her rent which Roo accepts without comment. Jade asks for a receipt and Roo says she’ll post it under her door. Ryder appears and Jade accuses him of stalking her. Ryder replies that it’s his house and his lawyer’s told him not to engage with her. Roo and Martha usher him inside.

Alf greets them and Roo insists he can’t see the dress and can’t even be in the same room as it. Alf remarks the rules have been tightened up since the first time they did this. Ryder repeats his desire to make a wedding cocktail in addition to his best man duties. Martha comments on the expensive alcohol. Roo tells her to go and put the dress on the spare bed.

Jade and Nikau arrive at the Diner. Jade mocks Ryder for threatening her but Nikau says it didn’t sound like a threat and that he offered to take the rent up so she didn’t have to see Ryder. Jade says she’s not going to be scared of him and Nikau says she didn’t seem scared. Looking teary again, Jade says she’s sorry she’s not the victim he wants her to be. Nikau says he didn’t mean that.

Nikau heads back to the motel where he greets Gemma with a kiss on the cheek. Gemma presents him with his phone bill and he protests that they’re meant to tell him when he goes over. Ari tells him to take responsibility. Nikau is unimpressed and starts to say it’s Ari’s fault that they’re there. Gemma interrupts, saying she’s looking for a job, having sent out e-mails and is now going to drop off resumes.

Marilyn greets Gemma at the Diner and introduces her to Maggie, who tries asking where she comes from. Gemma says they came from the city for a sea change, quickly shutting down the conversation and giving Marilyn her resume. Marilyn says she’ll pass it on to Irene with a character reference. Back at the motel, Ari is unimpressed to see Nikau using his phone again, despite him protesting he’s using the free WiFi. He suggests Nikau help Gemma out by getting a job, saying he can’t work but Nikau has no excuse and they have to make their new life work. Nikau says he wants his old life back and walks out.

Jade serves a customer at Salt. Nikau turns up and sees her pocket a $20 note. He tells her he was bored but can’t afford the food there. Jade says he doesn’t have to pay; Mackenzie’s not there so she can do whatever she wants. Down on the beach, Gemma complains to Ari about people being friendly and asking questions she dodges; they both think they can’t tell people the truth. She is sorry about the way Nikau speaks to him. Ari says he still sees glimpses of the boy that used to give him homemade birthday presents. He doesn’t think Nikau can hate him forever and says they’ve been through worse in the twenty-five years they’ve known each other. Gemma questions that and Ari admits not really.

Ryder serves his cocktail to Alf, Martha and Roo. They don’t seem to be able to stop grimacing, with Martha calling it a mix of sweet and sour. Ryder worries it’s too sour. He suggests he organise Alf’s bucks party but neither Alf nor Martha wants anything. Roo declares that Alf and Martha can’t spend the night together and, since Alf needs to be there first thing to set up, she and Martha will spend the night at John and Marilyn’s. After failing to get through on the phone, she says she’ll go there. Ryder, meanwhile, gets back to cocktail making.

Gemma turns up at Salt; Nikau sees her from the bar but she apparently doesn’t notice him. She first asks Jade if she can see the manager, then offers her resume. Jade says they’re not hiring but she’ll add it to the pile. Gemma asks her to give it to the manager in person. After Gemma’s gone, Jade calls her desperate. Nikau says that’s his mum and it shouldn’t matter who she was. Jade turns on the tears again, saying she has to put on a front because of what Ryder did and it’s not her. She asks to go back to his, claiming she’s having a breakdown.

Ari is at the Diner and gets a text from Nikau asking if he’s at the motel. He texts back saying no. He asks to pay and Marilyn says heroes eat for free. She jumps when a waitress drops a fork behind her. Ari sits her down and tells her what happened at the hospital won’t happen again. Roo turns up and Ari lets her take over, leaving $5. Roo remarks on their bond and Marilyn says she wishes she could pay him back.

Down on the beach, Dean stops Ziggy holding his hand, saying he’s not five and it looks like she’s going to walk him across the street. He sees Ari and recognises him, calling out to him. Ari looks round, then walks away. Dean goes after him and wonders when he got out. Ari says he’s there for a fresh start. Dean says he is too and Ari spent ten years in prison and paid his due. Ari insists Dean tell no-one that he knows him, grabbing him by the shirt to reinforce the point.

Nikau takes Jade back to the motel and is evasive about why they’re staying there. He says he saw Jade take the money and isn’t judging her. Jade suggests they do what they came there to do, cosying up to him. Nikau says that’s not why he’s there. Jade storms off, saying she thought Ryder was bad but he’s worse. At the Diner, Dean catches up to Ziggy and says Ari is someone he knew from the old days but he didn’t find out why he’s there. At a nearby table, Marilyn is talking to a journalist, who says they’ll fast track the story as a follow-up to the hospital siege and soon everyone will know about Ari.

Ryder is continuing with his cocktail making. Alf worries they won’t have any grog left for the punters. Roo says it’s “beverages” and “guests” and refuses to slow down, saying she’ll think if she does: She promptly gets somewhat teary. Alf says his goodbyes to Martha as she leaves with Roo. Ryder gives Alf the latest version of what he calls the Stewart Sling. Alf worries that it’s too sweet but Ryder says it grows on you.

Nikau arrives at Salt in answer to a summons from Jade. She takes him into the store room where she claims Ryder stole her innocence and she wishes he could have known her before, when she wouldn’t have been stealing or being rude to his mum. She calls herself damaged goods; Nikau has seemed unimpressed but says he doesn’t see her as that. Jade asks him to hold her one last time and starts kissing him, taking her top off. Nikau asks if she remembered to press record and retrieves her phone from its hiding place, noting that she did. Jade tries to get out of it but Nikau walks off with the phone, with the half-dressed Jade unable to follow him.

Next morning, Nikau is toying with the phone. Ari tries to tell him to stop sulking and Nikau says not everything’s about Ari. Gemma turns up and asks if they’ve seen the paper: The front page is a photo of Ari with the headline “Local nominates siege hero for bravery award”. Gemma asks how they’re going to keep a lid on things now.

At the Stewart house, Alf is doing his tie in the mirror. Roo comes downstairs and says she’s happy for him. Alf notes Roo has been waiting for this for a long time. Roo says she made Alf’s life hell when she was younger but has always been glad that he’s her dad. They hug.