Episode 8039

Extended Summary

Mackenzie and Mali have just finished a surf. Mackenzie thanks Mali for going with her, saying it took her mind off Gabe. John turns up and tells them Mali has a package at the surf club from Elandra. Mali tells Mackenzie it’s probably a present for his birthday tomorrow. This is the first Mackenzie has heard of it and realises that’s why he’s going to see his family tomorrow. Near the surf club, Xander is telling Felicity about an idea he has to have the bar staff look after desserts which have been pre-made. Felicity gets a text from Tane about taking Kahu back to New Zealand and inviting her to come with him.

Marilyn and Roo are discussing the voicemail at the coffee cart. Marilyn wants to call them back but Roo thinks they should go to the police. Marilyn tries to suggest it was just a prank. Seeing Alf approaching, Marilyn asks Roo not to say anything to him, since she doesn’t want him to delay his trip to see Martha. They both keep up a pretense of nothing being wrong when Alf chats to them. He goes to see John.

At the surf club, Mackenzie is waiting with the package when Mali comes back. He opens it and finds a photo of himself as a boy with his father. There is a note from Elandra congratulating him on what he’s achieved but also reminding him their mother still doesn’t know he’s moved away. Mali explains that Elandra has been covering for him by claiming she’s seen him around town. He decides to tell his mother tomorrow, theorising that she can’t be mad at him on his birthday. Up in Salt, Xander asks Felicity about New Zealand. Felicity is reluctant to drop everything on Mackenzie at the last minute. Rose chimes in, saying she’s still waiting for her coffee order. Xander notes she usually goes to the Diner for her coffees and suspects she’s there hoping to run into Mali.

Downstairs, John protests to Alf that there’s no need for a handover yet, since Alf doesn’t leave for a week. Alf replies that usually, when he goes away, John rings him every second day, so he wants to avoid that this time. Rose come down and greets Mali and, with a lot of prompting, Mackenzie. Seeing the photo, she makes a joke about Mali not looking as cute now which falls flat, with her attempts to backtrack being even more awkward until she cuts her losses and gets out of there. Mali tells Mackenzie he doesn’t want to give out the wrong signals.

Rose arrives at the police station and finds Roo and Marilyn waiting. They explain they were waiting for her. Marilyn tries to downplay things but Roo explains someone’s threatened Marilyn. Back at Salt, Mackenzie asks Xander what’s going on between Rose and Mali. Xander doesn’t feel comfortable talking about it but eventually says the pair are trying to be friends and explains that Rose didn’t want to break up. He thinks they need time and distance for things to be sorted. Mackenzie is even less convinced.

Alf and John finally finish their debrief. John mentions seeing Alf’s name in the article and Alf says Marilyn deserves all the credit. Alf wishes Mali a happy birthday, explaining he looked at the paperwork. John wishes him one as well and thinks his family will be proud of him. Up in Salt, Felicity has explained to Mackenzie about Tane and Kahu (with Mackenzie commenting on the latter leaving without saying goodbye). Mackenzie says it’s fine for Felicity go but Felicity isn’t sure she’ll be any use. On learning she’d have to go that evening, Mackenzie reveals she’s planning a pre-birthday party for Mali then. She checks Xander can come: He agrees on being assured he doesn’t have to serve drinks.

Marilyn and Roo play the voicemail to Rose, who says they did the right thing coming to the police. She says it shouldn’t be hard to trace the call although she’s surprised the caller ID wasn’t hidden. Roo suggests they thought Marilyn would be too scared to go to the police. Rose warns them to be on their guard.

At Salt, Xander brings up a large number of balloons to set up. Felicity tells Mackenzie that she’s not going with Tane but can’t make the party since she needs to take Tane’s passport to him at the airport. Mackenzie asks Xander to get some glitter. Xander suggests that’s overkill, then quickly jumps to it on Mackenzie’s look. Mackenzie tells Felicity the party’s a surprise and she’s got a plan for that.

Approaching the surf club with Roo, Marilyn is worried about how seriously Rose took the case when she was hoping she’d dismiss it as a prank. She now regrets doing the interview and involving Alf and Roo. John and Mali come out of the surf club with John telling Mali he’ll give him a free gelato on his birthday. He goes over to Marilyn and congratulates her on the article, saying she was always a champion not afraid to speak up. Marilyn snaps that he’s making things worse and she didn’t ask for his opinion.

Later, Roo approaches John in his office and tells him not to take what Marilyn said personally. John suspects there’s something he doesn’t know but Roo takes the appearance of Mackenzie as an excuse to sidestep the conversation. Mackenzie tells John about the surprise party and tells him that he’s invited so long as he makes sure Mali arrives at Salt at 7pm and not before.

At the Diner, Marilyn is plagued by memories of the voicemail message. Alf can see there’s something bothering her but assumes she’s simply worrying about the comments she got online. He says people are proud of her for speaking out. She gets a call from Rose and agrees to come in. Down on the beach, John is standing nearby on patrol as Mali finishes a class. Mali steps in front of him before indicating he’s finishing early in order to get an early night before driving home tomorrow. John tries to get him to come for a game of pool and the free gelato but not to Salt. He eventually resorts to claiming there’s someone in trouble at the other end of the beach and drags Mali with him.

Rose explains to Marilyn that they tracked down the person who the phone number belonged to but they claimed not to have heard of her or Stunning Organics and their provider confirmed they hadn’t made the call: The caller ID was faked. She promises they’re using other methods to trace the call but wants to ask Marilyn some question. She offers to call Alf but Marilyn declines.

Later, Marilyn fills Roo in at the Diner. Roo notes it must be someone from Stunning Organics, since an internet troll probably wouldn’t have access to the means to hide their ID. Alf cuts in, saying Martha wants a copy of Ryder’s latest photos. Marilyn is keen to get him to Merimbula out of harm’s way.

Rose arrives back at the flat and calls out to Xander, saying she’s making pasta. Xander emerges from his room and says he’s going to Mali’s birthday party. Things get a bit awkward when they realise Rose hasn’t been invited.