Episode 411

Extended Summary

Don is having a cup of tea in the kitchen when Bobby arrives home. He says he wasn’t expecting her back so soon and she explains about Danny running off when she kissed him. Don suggests that Danny wasn’t expecting her to make the first move and found her a bit forward, suggesting she gives him some time. Next morning, at the Diner, Bobby asks Ailsa about it. Ailsa doesn’t think she was being forward so Bobby thinks Danny just doesn’t find her attractive. Ailsa suggests he might have had a bad experience in the past which is causing his behaviour.

Lance is singing and feeding his fish when Martin gets up and he teases him about the bunyip. Martin is getting ready to sign on again. Lance takes his favourite fish, Jonah, out of the tank and into some fresh water, saying he’s sunbathing. He tells Martin that Jonah’s really intelligent because he’s swimming on his side. Sally arrives and realises there’s a simpler explanation for why Jonah’s floating on top of the water: He’s dead. Martin tells Lance to flush him down the toilet and leaves for the job centre. Lance can’t face taking Jonah out of the water so Sally does it for him. Later, she joins him on the step having made a cup of tea. He tells her he can’t face going into work today and asks Sally to ring them for him. Sally points out she sounds like a kid but he tells her to talk while holding her nose and say she’s his mum.

Steven finds Sally debating whether to keep Jonah in their freezer or fridge. Steven advises her against it and thinks she should put him down the toilet as well. Sally asks him if fish go to heaven and says Lance is worried the rest of the fish will die as well if Jonah was ill. Steven offers to take Jonah to his biology teacher to find out how he died. He semi-seriously suggests Lance should have a funeral for Jonah. Sally leaps on the idea and goes to see Celia at the store to ask her about heaven. Celia says she thinks it’s where everyone’s happy and surrounded by people they love. Sally asks if it’s only people that go there, saying she wouldn’t be happy without Dag Dog, and Celia reassures her. Sally explains Lance has had a death in the family and asks about funerals. Celia says she’ll sort it and goes to find Reverend Flowers, telling him a friend of Lance’s has died. Flowers agrees to give him grief counselling and organise the funeral.

Morag turns up at the Diner and tells Bobby she’s behaved badly; Danny came home upset, although he won’t give her any details. She says Danny needs someone with style and finesse, not someone like Bobby. Bobby is stung by the remarks. She goes to see Danny and asks him why he ran out on her. Danny says he likes her but he can’t get involved. Bobby asks if they can be friends and Danny agrees. After Bobby has gone, he asks why his father won’t let him forget.

Celia goes to see Lance and Sally to discuss Jonah’s funeral. Lance is surprised they’re going that far. When he’s out of earshot, Celia asks Sally about the funeral director. Sally realises she’s got the wrong idea but Celia cuts her off when she tries to explain, instead reassuring Lance that God notices the fall of every sparrow. Later, Celia returns with Flowers and introduces him to Sally. In the mobile home, Martin is telling Lance he could sell the fish tank if the other fish die. Flowers and Sally enter and Flowers begins to discuss the funeral with Lance. Martin is increasingly bewildered as Lance tells Flowers about finding the body. When Flowers asks how old Jonah was, Martin says he was a three-year-old goldfish. Flowers is annoyed and tells Lance to dispose of him via the lavatory. He storms off, passing Celia as he does so and accusing her of playing a practical joke. Celia hurries after him, confused.

Danny is alone in his room at Morag’s. He tells his father that he’s done everything he’s said and he’ll get rid of Morag soon but he needs to have a life too. He pauses, as though hearing a voice, then shouts at his father to get out of his head and smashes the photo to the ground…