Dalby causes a scandal at his Dad’s funeral. Sally faces a life-changing decision for her and Flynn. Scott turns nasty on Hayley. Colleen finds the answer to Scott’s problem.
MORAG BELLINGHAM (CORNELIA FRANCES)
Final episode.
KATHERINE ‘KIT’ HUNTER (AMY MIZZI)
Return episode, last seen in Episode #3839. Visited the Bay after learning of Scott’s taking to alcohol following his break-up with Dani.
BARRY HYDE (IVAR KANTS)
Return appearance, last seen in Episode #3862. Affirmed his standing with Kim after attending Owen Dalby’s funeral.
PRIEST (CHRISTOPHER GALLETTI)
Presided over Owen Dalby’s funeral.
> Eric’s dad’s full name was Owen Arthur Dalby.
Extended Summary
Today is the funeral of Dalby’s Dad. Flynn has dressed up in case Dalby wants company. Dalby is against the idea. He can do it all on his own. He launches a tirade against the people who will be at the funeral. They think he killed his Dad. They don’t know his Dad used to beat him up. And half of them will be afraid Dalby wants to come and live with them. But if he doesn’t turn up, it’s an admission of guilt. He’s going to show them all! Flynn decides if Dalby doesn’t want him there as his friend, he’ll go as his doctor. He’s not fit to be released on his own.
Alf is aghast to be at his second funeral in two weeks; first the mother and then the son. Alf feels empty – all he will ever know of his son is a photograph. The irony is that no-one turned up to the good woman’s funeral. Dalby’s arrival causes a huge stir. He walks into the middle of the crematorium in defiance of the glares. When the cremation is over, Morag warns Alf not to offer Dalby a home based on sentimentality. Dalby sees Alf and it looks like he’s going to attack him. Instead he stalks past him. Hyde tries to talk to him, but he pushes him out of the way.
Colleen and Irene both try to comfort a moping Scott, but he rejects their help. He heads home to start drinking again. When Hayley tries to persuade him to give it up, a frustrated Scott tells her she doesn’t understand “loss”. Hayley can’t believe he’d say that after she’s only just lost Noah! Scott’s “loss” is not so much Dani, but the years he spent with her. How does he get them back? How does he fill the hole? He tells Hayley if she has a problem with his behaviour, she can look at alternative accommodation.
Colleen tells Hayley and Irene she knows who can solve Scott’s problem. As Scott lies in a stupor on the couch, water is dropped all over him. He splutters awake to find Kit has come back. She reckons he’s pathetic; it’s time he sorted himself out.
The funeral has a big effect on Hyde. He visits Kim at the gym and said he felt the scenario could very well have been he and Kim not long ago. He wants Kim to know that he cares about him very much and he’s glad they’ve settled their differences.
Dalby tells Flynn he hates Alf because he and Morag were only there to ‘gaze at the car-crash’ so to speak. They didn’t really know his Dad or him. Dalby corrects himself. There is someone he hates more than Alf; his own Dad. Morag visits Dalby later that day and informs him she’s still prepared to represent him. She thinks she can get him off. Dalby launches a bitter attack on her. She tells him to think about her offer overnight – it won’t come again.
Flynn tells Sally he wants to take Dalby into the house. If they don’t do it, the boy will be lost. If Sally wanted to recreate what Tom and Pippa had at Summer Bay House, this is the opportunity to do it. Sally is dumbfounded. She puts up a whole series of objections but finally she says yes. A happy Flynn heads back to the hospital to tell Dalby the good news, only to find that the boy is gone. Dalby is on the run.