Episode 379

Extended Summary

Louise and Sally are playing a simple duet on the piano, with Louise noting that Sally’s doing well.Ross tells her it’s time for bed and Louise tells her to get into her new pyjamas and she’ll come and tuck her in. After Sally has gone, Ross tells Louise that it’s obvious she and Sally adore each other.Back in Summer Bay, Tom tells Carly that he’s got her an interview with the PR agency that Macklins uses in the morning. Carly realises she has to work at the Diner but Pippa says she’ll do her shift for her.Tom tells Carly to call Steven down for dinner and Carly wonders where Sally is, being surprised to learn she’s still at the Keatings’.Louise is tucking Sally into bed, with Sally looking forward to telling her friend Kim about everything she’s done, and offers to leave the light on for a while.Sally looks round at the room full of cuddly toys, seeming somewhat overawed.

Lance and Martin are playing cards in the mobile home and Lance seems to be coming off best.Stacey arrives and tells them Nina wants to take them and Marilyn to dinner at an expensive restaurant in the city the next day to celebrate the release of the single and will fly them out by seaplane.Lance points out he’s doing his interview but Stacey promises they’ll get him back in time.

Next morning, Pippa and Ailsa arrive for work at the Diner with Christopher and Duncan in tow.Ailsa asks how Sally’s visit went and Pippa admits she isn’t back yet.Ailsa thinks she’s just impressed by the fancy house but Pippa is worried she’ll make a decision before the novelty wears off.They are interrupted when Marilyn comes in, wanting an early breakfast before her trip.At the Keatings’, Sally is feeding Blossom when Ross reminds her they need to leave.Sally wants to come again but says they need to invite her, which Louise is happy to do.With a bit of prompting from Ross, Sally hugs Louise goodbye.

Martin has got dressed up smart for the meal in the city but Lance has dressed as he normally does, saying he wants people to see him as he really is.They meet Stacey and Nina at the wharf but Marilyn hasn’t turned up.Lance doesn’t want to go without her but Stacey says she’ll find her and follow them down on the ferry.Once the others are out of earshot, Nina pays the pilot to develop “engine trouble” so he won’t be able to fly them back.

At the Diner, Marilyn is engrossed in her book, telling Ailsa about the “sad ending” where the horseman rides off into the sunset and the woman who loved him has to marry a handsome prince.Carly arrives and announces she’s got the job, although it’ll mean leaving the Diner.Ailsa understands since it’ll be easier for her to find someone else than for Carly to find another PR job.Pippa gets Carly to take over so she can go home and see Sally.However, she’s soon wishing she hadn’t bothered as Sally talks enthusiastically about Auntie Louise, the pony, the swimming pool and the piano, clearly having had the time of her life.

Stacey finds Marilyn at the Diner and Marilyn realises she has lost track of time and is an hour late, despite getting up early.Stacey recognises Brad Munroe, the journalist who was meant to meet Lance, at the counter and tries to usher Marilyn away but he recognises Marilyn as “Ember from Image” and persuades her to do an interview.He asks her questions about the Greenhouse Effect, the rapport between the band and the effect of fame but Stacey answers them all for her, even giving him an approved photo of the band.At the restaurant, Nina tells Lance that journalists only print what they want to, showing him an article on her that claims she clawed her way up from poverty, and that if they want to portray them as wild rock stars they will.Lance accepts he won’t be able to tell his side of the story that way.The pilot approaches, telling the engine trouble story, but when Nina tips him the wink he says it’ll only be a delay of a few minutes.

Sally asks Tom if they can have a pony but he points out ponies need a lot of looking after and Sally wouldn’t be willing to get up every morning to feed one.Sally asks for a piano instead but Tom says they can’t afford one.Pippa listens in to the conversation, clearly unhappy about Sally’s change in attitude.

Marilyn tells Martin about the interview and how Stacey did all the talking, further enraging Lance about how phoney the whole thing is and prompting him to ring Stacey to quit.Stacey tells Nina they should get someone else but Nina replies the whole point is taking the three most unlikely people and turning them into rock stars.Stacey points out the media might try and expose them but Nina thinks that would be even better, so everyone will know what she’s done.Stacey is worried the boys will be humiliated and makes Nina promise not to expose them.Martin is suffering the after effects of the seafood when Nina comes round.She tries to get Lance to change his mind but he won’t budge, so she reminds him they have a contract before leaving.Martin comes back in, having changed out of his nightshirt into smarter clothes, but Lance tells him Nina had a hot date.

In the house, Carly is telling everyone about her job while Sally, setting the table, comments on how the cutlery is bent and how shiny Auntie Louise’s cutlery is.Tom gets a phone call that leaves him annoyed: Head office have sacked the PR agency Carly was going to work for without telling him, meaning her job has gone too.Carly suggests she could get a job with the new people instead but Tom doesn’t think that’s likely:It’s her father’s agency.