Episode 8093

Extended Summary

John approaches Irene at the coffee cart: He’s already got his free coffee from the Diner but wants to ask her about the notice advertising the room. He wonders if she’s had any takers but Irene cuts him off, saying she’s busy. Nearby, Bree approaches Eden and wonders if she’s heard from Kirby. Eden says Remi was talking to her and admits she’s scared to ask how it went. Back at the Lyrik house, Remi is watching the video of Someone Like You on the makeshift cinema. He pauses on an image of Kirby as Eden and Bree arrive back, and tells them it didn’t go the way they’d hoped.

At the Morgan house, Justin thinks he messed things up with Kirby. Leah thinks he did all he could and reminds him the band’s lost a member before. Justin says things are different from when Bob left, with the album coming out and the buzz around the band. Leah convinces him he needs to guide them. Justin meets Remi and Eden at Salt. They both think it’s a bit early to be making plans but Justin says there’s two interviews tomorrow they need to either cancel or cover. He mentions Theo visiting his mum. Next up is some gigs, including one at Salt in a week’s time. Eden refuses to play without Kirby and ends up walking out.

At the Diner, Alf continues to grumble to Marilyn about the hearing aids. John sees what they’re doing. Alf snaps that he didn’t want John’s opinion although Marilyn gives him credit for what’s happening. John again tries to talk to Irene about renting out the room, saying it’s a big deal. A young woman, Harper, has been looking at the advert. She introduces herself to Irene, with John introducing himself. Irene says if Harper waits a couple of minutes she’ll show her the house. John worries about Irene taking a stranger home but Irene brushes aside his concerns.

At the house, Harper asks if John is Irene’s husband and Irene says he’s just a mouthy friend. Harper explains she’s a social worker on leave and isn’t sure how long she’d stay for. Irene suggests they give it a month’s trial. She shows Harper the downstairs bedroom and Harper declares it perfect.

Remi and Eden arrive home. Eden refuses to talk and disappears. As Bree is consoling Remi, Eden appears with an armful of Kirby’s clothes, which she throws out the door, saying she’s not welcome in the house anymore. She tries to do the same to Kirby’s keyboard but Remi stops her. Eden collapses crying into his arms.

At the beach house, Irene tells Harper about the no alcohol rule (which Harper is fine with) and says the room’s hers if her references check out. They hear a crashing noise outside and find John out the back with the remains of a plant pot. Harper quickly leaves. John claims he was there to challenge Irene to a game of Scrabble but Irene realises he was snooping. She says Harper will move in if her references are okay.

Remi is clearing away the sheet while Eden and Bree fold up the clothes. Eden admits it wasn’t her finest hour. Remi suggests Justin might be right about it not being the end of Lyrik. Eden heads off to bed, with Remi in a despondent mood as well. Next morning, Alf chats to Justin near the surf club about how he was aware of his hearing problems for a while and bit the head off anyone who mentioned it. He notes Martha was worrying. They run into Bree, who’s just finished a surf. Alf says he’s getting a hearing aid but the specialist can’t see him until next week and he has to get back to Roo. Bree says she’ll see what she can do. She and Justin discuss Remi.

At the coffee cart, Irene and Marilyn discuss Alf doing something about his hearing problems. Marilyn says they’ve got Bree to thank. John approaches as Harper appears and is introduced to Marilyn. Marilyn tries to introduce John but Harper says they’ve met. She gives Irene the list of references. John asks why she’s in Summer Bay and Harper says it’s the beach and friendly locals, inviting him to ask more questions. Later, at the Diner, Bree tells Alf the hospital can fit him in that afternoon. Alf hurries off, passing John. John again tries to tell Irene he has a bad feeling about Harper but Irene brushes him off. John notices the list of references on the counter and takes a shot of it with his phone.

Justin tells Leah he’s going to have to cancel the interviews. He worries about how people are going to react when they find out Kirby’s left. Leah suggests talking to Remi and Eden again about the interviews and wonders if they could avoid mentioning Kirby. Justin cautiously agrees they could. Meanwhile, Remi and Eden are walking on the beach. Remi says he’s decided to cover the interviews and notes he started all this by cancelling their gigs in order to do Battle of the Bands. Eden notes she let Kirby take on extra work to support them. She says that, much as she hates interviews, she’ll stand by Remi and do them with him.

Remi and Eden go to see Justin and tell him they’ve spoken to Theo and they’re going to meet him in the city and do the interviews together. They wonder what to say about Kirby. Justin suggests they just say she’s working on new material. He asks about the Salt gig. Remi says they’ve already discussed how to rearrange the songs for just the three of them.

At the surf club, John is on the phone and is surprised that the other person has nothing bad to say about “Miss Matheson”. Irene interrupts him and says she called Harper’s referees to find someone else had already spoken to them. John suggests she’s an unemployed drop-out. Irene says John obviously didn’t get as far as her work references, explaining she’s a social worker. John grudgingly agrees to back off.

Irene welcomes Harper to the house. Harper goes to put her things in the room, where she unlocks the window and experimentally opens and closes it. She goes back through and insists on going out to get something for lunch. Later, Harper is sat reading at Salt when John comes up to deliver the post. He watches her from the bar. She receives her order and starts to leave, then hurriedly sits back down again. A moment later, two police officers come up the stairs. Harper waits until they’ve gone past before leaving. John looks after her knowingly.