Episode 394

Extended Summary

Alf is showing Celia around the new store, which is more of a modern mini-market with turnstiles and electric tills. Celia thinks the groceries should be near the door since that’s what most people will want but Alf points out that if they have to walk past the fishing tackle, videos and alcohol to get to them they might buy them as well. He picks up a newspaper and is annoyed to see another headline about the bunyip, explaining about how Marilyn and Sally thought they saw it and the whole town’s obsessed.

At the caravan park house, Bobby is brushing Sally’s hair as she asks questions about Tom. Bobby and Steven think that Tom will have to give up his job at Macklins. Danny arrives to pay off his caravan bill, saying he’s found somewhere else to stay, and admits he’s moving in with Morag. Bobby is annoyed and, once Danny has gone, says she always thought he was weird before Sally turns the conversation back to Tom. Later, at the Diner, Bobby tells Stacey how helpless she feels. Stacey is optimistic and thinks Tom will soon be back at work but Bobby doesn’t think Pippa will let him. Stacey says one of the regional managers is filling in for him; Gordon asked her but she turned him down, since they’re getting on for once and she doesn’t want to ruin it by working together. Adam and Viv arrive, with Viv having brought some drums for the raft. Adam wants some coffee and snacks so Bobby tells him to get them himself while she and Viv go through to the back to start work on the raft. They quickly realise, however, that neither of them really knows how to start. They don’t think Steven will help but Bobby suggests Matt would if Viv asks him.

Matt is working on the surf club raft in the storeroom when Adam arrives with the coffee and snacks. He checks out the paper for accommodation. Matt reminds him he could stay with him but Adam says he’ll stay on the yacht for now. Matt observes he could use a few more bunyip sightings to boost his tours. Celia has roped Don into helping her and Alf stack shelves at the store; she bought him a miniature Eiffel Tower on her holidays and is going on about seeing the real thing. Adam arrives, offering Alf 10% commission if he books his tours at the store. Alf refuses, both he and Don think Summer Bay can do without being plagued with “yahoos” looking for non-existent creatures.

At the city hospital, the nurse tells Pippa that there’s been no change to Tom and Pippa tells her she knows all about how nurses are supposed to reassure relatives. Her mother, Coral, enters and tries to persuade her to go home and rest but Pippa is thinking about the stroke patients she looked after and how long it took them to recover. Coral tells her she’s going to go to Summer Bay to look after the kids, while Pippa’s father looks after her and the house. Pippa says Alf and Ailsa are keeping an eye on them but Coral wants to feel useful. She thinks everything will be back to normal soon but Pippa thinks it will take a long time.

Morag has shown Danny his room and remarks she’s been short of conversation since Roo left. She explains about how Roo threw everything away for love and she didn’t entirely approve of Frank but he’s made her happy. She asks Danny what his parents wanted him to be but Danny says his father just wanted him to be his son; they were always there for each other. Morag thinks he resents his father for dying and leaving him but Danny, getting annoyed, says that isn’t the case at all. Morag apologises for the amateur psychology and agrees to change the subject.

Viv finds Matt at the surf club and, seeing the plan he’s using, says Steven told her they were using drums. Matt says they were going to at first and is about to explain why they changed their mind when Adam arrives back and reveals she’s on Bobby’s team. Later, Bobby and Viv look over their plan; neither of them can work out why it won’t work. Bobby wonders if Matt and Adam were lying to put them off and suggests Steven might tell them if Viv asked him.

Adam is prowling in the bushes, dressed up as the bunyip. Celia hears him and calls out, asking who’s there. Adam growls and Celia runs to the Diner, telling Alf and Don she’s seen the bunyip. Alf doesn’t believe her, suggesting she’s just tired because of jet lag, and Don acknowledges that’s a more logical explanation.

Steven and Sally welcome Coral to the caravan park. She has given Sally permission to call her Grandma now she’s officially adopted. The two head upstairs, leaving Steven to follow with the case. At the hospital, Pippa sits tearfully by the still unconscious Tom.

Morag tells Danny she thinks the country should bring back the death penalty but Danny points out it could result in innocent people being executed. Morag says the statistics show the number of wrongful convictions are very low but Danny suggests that the innocent man’s family would see it differently. Morag says she’s proud that in every case she tried justice was done, the guilty punished and the innocent set free. Annoyed, Danny walks up behind her with a poker but stops when Morag, looking out the window, says Marilyn is home.

The next morning, Celia is at the store, still trying to convince Alf and Don that she saw the bunyip, or at least heard it. Alf thinks it was probably just a wombat and Don quotes Alice Through the Looking Glass to show he doesn’t believe in the bunyip either. However, he does agree to check the scene with Celia for evidence. Searching the bushes, they find a giant footprint.

Pippa is slumped against the wall in Tom’s hospital room, having a flashback of Tom playing with Sally. Suddenly, Tom mumbles something, beginning to regain consciousness, and Pippa rushes gratefully to his side.