Episode 8167

Extended Summary

Mali approaches Roo outside the surf club, saying he’s updated the tide times and charged the batteries on the radios. He heads off to meet Rose. John and Dana come along; John is shouting Dana a dinner to thank her for talking to Banjo, although he stresses that means one course and one drink, with no entrée or dessert. Roo says she wants to show him something but John says he’s busy. He pauses for a moment to look wistfully at the surf club sign. Meanwhile, at the Diner, Justin is trying to talk Leah down and convince her Vita Nova are gone. Theo turns up but Leah repeats that Justin is Vita Nova and so is Rose. Justin tells Theo to keep the police out of it. Theo starts texting someone behind Leah’s back.

Irene runs into Bree at Salt. Bree gets a text and has to leave, giving Irene her pizza. Irene joins John and Dana on the balcony and, like John earlier, jokingly refers to Dana meeting Banjo as a date. She also refers to John’s politically incorrect style of communicating. Dana says John might have been cranky but he taught them a lot. John comments that the committee will soon regret getting rid of him. Irene says he’s no right to feel smug if he’s not prepared to do anything about it.

Bree joins Theo outside the Diner where Justin continues to fail to get through to Leah. She tells Theo to get ready to dial 000 if this doesn’t work. They go into the Diner where Bree says they’re not going to let Justin take Leah and he’ll stay somewhere else tonight. Justin agrees. Leah still doesn’t trust him so Bree says Theo will make sure he stays away. Justin joins Theo, out of reach of Leah, and they leave. Leah breaks down in tears and gives Bree the knife.

Justin and Theo pull up at the Lyrik house, planning to stay there for the night. Justin can’t believe that Leah did all that. Theo tries to convince him it wasn’t really her. He gets a text from Rose asking what’s going on. Justin says to just tell her that everything’s all right. Meanwhile, Leah walks around the Morgan house in a daze. She is confused to find Bree there and no sign of Justin. Bree tries to convince her not to worry and to go to sleep. Leah has flashes of barricading herself in the Diner, brandishing a knife and Bree talking her down. She worries that she hurt Justin and demands that Bree tell her what she did.

Next morning, Roo approaches John outside his house and produces the surf club bible, saying it shows he’s got a talent and passion for surf lifesaving. She shows him the list of his old students and John picks out Lynne Timms, who went on to head up the surf life-saving club at Wattle Bay, and Lee Bradley, who was runner-up at the Ironman competition in Cairns this year. However, he dismisses it as words on a page, but then looks back at Roo as she walks away.

Later, he is with Irene and Dana at the coffee cart and tells them he’s had an idea: He can’t run a bronze medallion course without a surf club but he can run a surf awareness class on the beach, preparing people for their bronze medallion when the surf club appoint a replacement for him. Dana is delighted and asks to be his first enrollment. Irene is less so, saying this wasn’t what she meant when she told him to do something.

Justin and Theo have joined Bree at the Morgan house. They tell her they’ve arranged a locksmith and cleaned up the Diner. Bree tells them Leah had a psychotic episode, as a result of both the trauma and the sleep deprivation. She reveals Leah doesn’t remember much but she insisted she tell her what happened. Justin goes to the bedroom where Leah apologises to him. Justin tries to tell her she wasn’t responsible for what happened. Leah accepts that she needs help.

Bree, Justin and Theo accompany Leah to the hospital. Bree tells the others to wait outside, stressing to Justin that it includes him. Bree tells Leah she’ll give her an initial assessment before referring her to a psychiatrist or psychologist but Leah says she needs to make sure last night doesn’t happen again. Later, they exit the cubicle and tell Justin and Theo that they didn’t do the assessment: Leah has chosen to be checked into a mental health clinic for intensive treatment. She won’t be allowed visitors or a phone. Justin and Theo are left in shock as a patient transport vehicle is assigned to take her away.

Near the surf club, Rose checks on Mali, having heard about Leah going to hospital. She suggests they go away together for a while and Mali agrees. Nearby, Roo comes across John and Dana handing out flyers for JP’s Triple S: The Surf Safety School. Dana goes to hand them out to the rest of her class and Roo confirms John has her support as he starts offering the flyers to those nearby.

Later, Alf and Roo arrive at the Diner. Irene asks Alf what he thinks of John’s “harebrained scheme”, then beats a hasty retreat as she realises he doesn’t know. Roo explains about the surf awareness course. She doesn’t think it’s the worst idea John’s ever had but Alf calls it rdiculous and storms out.

Justin and Theo ask Bree how long Leah’s likely to be away. Bree says a few weeks, maybe more. Justin doubts Leah will ever get back to normal. Bree replies that she did. Justin thanks her for what she’s done. After Justin and Theo have gone, Bree calls Remi, tearfully saying she needs to talk.