Episode 448

Extended Summary

Tom, Pippa, Carly, Steven and Zac are having breakfast at the Fletcher house. Zac reflects on only having 48 hours to catch the shark but is confident he’ll do it that day. Steven is tired as a result of being up all night. Although Tom is friendly towards Zac, Carly in particular makes it clear she’ll be glad to see the back of him.

Andrew, Steven and Viv go up to the cliff top where they find tyre tracks. Andrew decides to set up a lookout nearby and sets up a camera. Steven jokingly suggests Viv should have brought some food, since that’s the woman’s job. Viv is disgruntled since neither of them had much sleep. Later, Andrew and Steven are playing cards when Viv says she can hear a truck coming. They see the truck back up to the cliff and dump more bags of rubbish in the sea. Andrew photographs both the driver and the company logo on the truck.

Drew is setting up a makeshift filming area near the hot dog stand. He gives Marilyn her script and gets her to rehearse her introduction. When Marilyn sees the questions she’ll have to ask Lance and Martin, she is upset that they’ll be made fools of. She protests that they’re her friends but Drew says she’ll have to either find new friends or find a new job. Later, Marilyn helps the boys in make-up. She tells Lance he can back out, saying it’s not just an interview but “entertainment”, but he’s determined to keep his promise.

At the Diner, Bobby serves Carly and Adam and they briefly chat about Zac. Carly tells Adam that he’s having an affair with Pippa. Adam is incredulous and doesn’t think Carly should tell Tom, since Zac’s not worth ruining a marriage over. Carly goes back home where Tom is using the exercise bike. He invites her to have a go and asks about her and Adam. Carly mentions him going off with Millicent but Tom says he made mistakes and ruined relationships in the past and he’s grateful he did it all before he met Pippa, since they’re both serious about making the marriage work. Pippa enters and, when Tom says they were talking about marriage, jokes that Carly shouldn’t listen to Tom, marriage is wonderful.

Gordon is having a meal at the Sands when Tom, Alf and Andrew arrive. They show him the photographs of the rubbish dumping and say they know the driver only does work for him. Gordon says the man is a sub-contractor and what he does with the rubbish after it leaves Macklins property isn’t Gordon’s responsibility, as any court would tell them. They reply that the locals and tourists might feel differently and, if Gordon doesn’t stop the advertising campaign and the rubbish dumping, they’ll show the photos to everyone so they won’t want anything to do with his resort. Gordon reluctantly agrees.

Lance and Martin have joined Marilyn on the stage and, after briefly chatting to them about the hot dog stand, she says she has some questions to ask them. The first is how many hot dogs have been eaten that year. Martin suggests 10,000 but the answer is over six billion. When Drew attempts to make fun of Martin’s answer, Martin says they’re not real hot dogs like the ones they sell and Drew ends up backing down. The second question is what ruins a hot dog. Martin says being past their use by date and, although the answer is overboiling, again holds his own against Drew, offering to show him where the cat’s buried. Drew says Lance has to answer the last question: to taste some sauce and say what it is and what the ingredients are. As he’s about to taste it, Marilyn shouts at him not to and throws the bucket of sauce over Drew.

At the Diner, Alf tells Ailsa, Bobby, Carly and Adam about getting one over on Gordon. Steven rushes in and tells them Zac has caught the shark. Alf, Adam, Steven and Carly head to the surf club, where Zac has a fairly small shark laid out on the floor. He says he’s arranged a vet to do an autopsy to see whether or not it’s the one that killed Rory but insists none of them can be there since the vet likes privacy. Both Alf and Adam suspect it’s a con.

Marilyn turns up at the mobile home where she tells Lance she’s going back to the city because no-one in town wants to know her after what she did. She says she did try and stop Drew making fools of them and she’s going to wait to be rediscovered. Hesitantly, Lance says there’s a party at the surf club to celebrate Zac catching the shark and Marilyn says she’d love to go with him. At the party, Martin complains to Marilyn that she should have thrown the sauce over Lance. Viv asks Steven to dance but, when he plays dumb, she complains that he spent ages chasing after her and storms out. Alf is telling Tom he’s glad to see the back of Zac and reminds him he has to go and pick Pippa up. Andrew suggests Alf make a speech. Alf briefly address a crowd including Bobby, Emma, Lance, Martin and Marilyn and tells them the town’s rough trot is behind them, proposing a toast to the death of the shark and the reopening of a safer beach.

Zac turns up at the Fletchers’ house, where Pippa tells him Tom’s coming to pick her up. Zac says he caught what he was after, grabbing Pippa and kissing her. Tom enters the house at that moment and leaves without either of them noticing him. He doesn’t see Pippa slap Zac and tells him he makes her sick. Back at the party, Marilyn tells Lance she made a mistake going to the city and Lance says he made a mistake breaking up with her. He asks her to marry him again and she hugs him. Tom arrives back and tells Alf and Andrew that Pippa couldn’t get a babysitter. At that moment, Pippa enters the club but doesn’t seem to see them. Tom downs a large vodka, saying at the moment he’d welcome another stroke.

Gordon visits Zac in his caravan and pays him $2,000, protesting he already gave him the $5,000 he promised. Zac says he might be tempted to blow the whistle on their arrangement otherwise. He also reveals that he bought the dead shark he presented from a guy down the coast for $100. Gordon asks for the money back, saying he might blow the whistle on Zac, but Zac replies that Gordon’s got more to lose than him.

Steven tracks Viv down on the beach and admits he was acting dumb and wanted to go out with her the whole time. Viv says it’s too late but Steven says better late than never and kisses her. He asks if it was all right and they kiss again.

And, in the ocean nearby, the shark still lurks…