Episode 689

Extended Summary

At the Diner, Karen fills Sophie in on Blake’s plan.Both of them try to dissuade him from breaking into the school but he tells them that kids have been doing it for years but normally only Year 12s know how. Over by the counter, Ailsa chats to Bobby about the picnic with Don and Patricia.Bobby says she has a plan.Ailsa points out she told Don to stay out of her life but Bobby says that was to do with Jeff and Don needs her help.She heads home where Don is getting ready for the picnic.He is slightly nervous about it and reveals he’s bought some new bathers.He asks Bobby her opinion:The bathers are a royal shade of blue.Bobby assures him that even though they’re colourful they don’t look ridiculous.

Next day, at the beach house, Adam expresses his pleasure that Marilyn isn’t going to university. However, Marilyn is now focusing on the house, saying that now she owns it Adam can’t clean his board indoors and making numerous plans to improve and redecorate it.Adam gets tired of the string of ideas and goes to have a shower.At the Stewart house, Ailsa asks Blake and Karen to do the dishes.Blake says Karen can do it since he’s meeting someone who’s going to help him fix the bike.Alf points out Blake’s meant to be helping him at the store and Blake says Karen can do that as well.After fumbling through an explanation for why he needs to get the bike fixed that morning, Blake eventually agrees to do the dishes while Karen spends an hour helping Alf.

At the Fisher house, Don has finished the preparations for the picnic and tells Bobby he’s going to go to the school for an hour to work on the rosters.Bobby is still in her dressing gown and says she has a headache.Don hopes she gets better.After he has gone, Bobby smiles and says she can feel a migraine coming on.Blake is at the school when he hears someone coming.He ducks into the computer room and hides behind the door.Don enters the room and goes to one of the computers.He doesn’t seem very confident about operating it and keeps snapping at the onscreen instructions.

Adam is having a shower when the water suddenly turns cold.He calls out to Marilyn, thinking she has turned the taps on, but she hasn’t.Marilyn discovers there is no hot water in the tap either and realises something is wrong with the boiler.She wants Adam to fix it but he protests he’s no plumber.Marilyn decides to call someone.When the repairman comes, he tells them the hot water is bust and he can only empty it and turn the power off.He charges Marilyn $55 for the callout and says it would cost $400 for a replacement and another $100 for the installation.Marilyn wants Adam to pay half but he points out he’s just a tenant and it’s the landlord’s responsibility.He also asks for a temporary rent reduction, since there’s no hot water.

At the Diner, Ailsa serves Patricia with some food for the picnic.Nearby, Sophie and Karen are worrying about how long it’s taking Blake and wonder if he’s been locked in or caught.At the school, Blake is still hiding as Don irritably tries to get the computer to do what he wants.He finally manages to get it to start printing and leaves the room, giving Blake the opportunity to sneak out.At the Diner, Ailsa overhears part of Sophie and Karen’s conversation and wonders what’s going on.Karen manages to distract her by asking Matt for some chips.Sophie feels guilty since, if she hadn’t gone out with Haydn, Blake wouldn’t feel the need to prove himself.She also apologises for going after Haydn when Karen liked him.Karen admits she did like him but assures her it’s forgotten.

Don heads home and complains to Bobby about how long it takes him to do the roster on a computer. Bobby claims to be feeling sick.Don isn’t entirely convinced and wants to cancel the picnic but at that moment Patricia arrives.Bobby tells her she has a stomach bug.Don tries to get out of the picnic but Bobby pushes him and Patricia out of the door.They drive to the beach where Patricia suggests they get changed before unpacking the car.At the Diner, Adam tries to convince Matt to let him use the shower at his place but Matt retorts that Adam is messy and breaks things and he’s not going to let him do that in Grant’s house.They head off to the beach together.Blake arrives and rejoins Sophie and Karen;he has the gears and tells them about Don’s behaviour.

Patricia, now in her bathing costume, waits outside the Gents until Don emerges in his bathers.She compliments him on them.As they are heading down to the beach, Adam and Matt wolfwhistle them. Patricia tells Don she thinks it was addressed at him.They head to the paddling pool, where Don holds Patricia’s hands as she practises swimming with her legs.Adam and Matt shout encouragement and suggest Don would be better off supporting her midrift;Adam gets in and demonstrates.A while later, Don is sitting disgruntled by the side of the pool while Adam and Matt help Patricia to paddle along on a surfboard.Patricia invites them to join their picnic.

At the Diner, Marilyn moans to Ailsa and Bobby about the money she needs and says it’s a good thing she’s not going to university.This is news to them and Bobby is astonished that their talk convinced Marilyn that was the right thing to do;Marilyn points out Bobby told her to do what was right for her and that was staying in Summer Bay with Adam.Bobby protests that that was what Adam wanted and Marilyn agrees, so it’s worked out for the best.They are further aghast to learn Adam isn’t paying rent while the hot water’s off, with Ailsa pointing out that most tenants don’t get their cooked and cleaning done.

Later, at the Stewart house, Alf is helping Blake fix the bike, with Blake glossing over how he got the gears.He is confident that they will give him an extra 100km/h but Alf points out his bike’s still heavier than Haydn’s and he’d be better off doing some training.Blake tells Sophie and Karen not to tell Haydn about the gears and they assure him they’re keeping out of it.Ailsa comes home and isn’t impressed with the mess.Alf mollifies her slightly by kissing her and saying he’ll take her out for tea.Ailsa muses she should swap with Adam so he could share their mess.Alf is bewildered to hear Marilyn has given up uni for him.

Don arrives home in a mood and tells Bobby the trip was a disaster and berates her for setting him and Patricia up.Bobby tries to argue that it would have been all right if Matt and Adam hadn’t come along but Don tells her never to interfere again and he doesn’t need it.