Episode 1217

Extended Summary

It starts off at the beach house, where Greg comes rushing in with the local paper and tells Bobby that the Sands Resort has gone into liquidation and that could mean bad news for his job with Michael. Tug seems indifferent to the news and Greg has to spell it out for him that it could result in him having to look for other work. He takes the car to go and see Michael and Bobby tells him to meet her at the Diner later, to let her know what’s going on. Just as he’s about to leave, Damian arrives to tell him that he wants to join the soccer team, which stirs Tug from his seat, to make a joke about his skinny legs. Greg tells him to come down The Oval in the afternoon for practice, to see if he’s suited and then dashes off, followed by Damian and Tug shouting after him, to remember to take his knitting with him. The two of them go straight to the Ross house where Pippa is ironing and Fin and Sally are doing chores. Whilst waiting for Michael to come downstairs, the topic of conversation turns to the real reason Damian wants to join the soccer team and Greg’s not pleased about it because it’s the wrong attitude. Michael comes in and before Greg can say anything, he tells him he’s off to see the Bank Manager in Yabbie Creek about getting an extension on his overdraft. He tells Greg that things could be slow for the moment but he’s hopeful everything will be okay. He dashes off and Damian goes off with him, so he can buy a pair of football boots, leaving Greg thankful he’s not on the dole queue. He’s oblivious to the concern Pippa shows, though.
At the Stewarts, Roxy and Imogen are getting the food together, whilst Alf is giving Luke and Nick instructions on setting up a Barbeque. Down on the beach, Imogen wastes no time in giving Luke false information about how Roxy likes a man to behave! Roxy and Nick arrive with the Barbeque and Imogen borrows Roxy camera, to take photos of the three of them. Later on, the boys hoist the girls on their shoulders and they have a water fight but when Roxy falls into the water, Imogen jumps from Nick’s shoulders and deliberately lands on her. When Roxy surfaces, choking, Imogen apologises for getting carried away and gives her a cold stare, as Luke takes her back to the shore.

Greg goes to the Diner and tells Bobby that everything’s okay with the Boat Shed and she’s as relieved, as he is. Tug comes in and on seeing Damian with his new boots, starts taking the mickey out of him. Shane arrives and tells Tug to butt out, but Damian has a go at him because he was standing to Tug. As Shane and Damian start arguing, Greg breaks them up and drags them off, with the other players, for practice. At The Oval, Tug and ? continue to taunt Damian and Greg has to intervene. He orders them to do a run but Damian gets annoyed when Greg tells him to take it easy because it’s his first training session. As Damian goes to join the others, Shane tells Greg that he’s going to be ‘creamed’ because they don’t want him in the team but as Greg points out, it’s Damian right to be included.

As Pippa checks on baby Dale, Michael comes in with bad news that the Bank can’t help because they feel he’ll be over-committing himself. Realising that money’s going to be tight, Pippa says that the dishwasher can be returned and he agrees but the kids can keep their presents. They break the news to Sally and Fin, who agree to help where they can.

Things get tense down on the beach, as Imogen’s plan to split Luke and Roxy up, appears to be on course, as the two argue about who forgot to bring the rolls. Nick intervenes and tells them that he and Imogen will go down to the Diner to get some but she’s not happy about leaving the two of them alone.

At the Diner, Pippa talks to Bobby about doing the baking again and breaks the news about Michael being refused an overdraft. Alf arrives with the groceries and on learning about Pippa and Michael’s strife, he persuades her to have a cup of coffee before dashing off home. Nick and Imogen come in and Alf jokes about always forgetting something when having a barbeque. When Nick suggests taking her round the Bay in his car, she quickly changes the subject to how unsuited Roxy and Luke seem to be, which surprises him. As they walk back to join Roxy and Luke, Imogen tells him they have nothing in common and she’s not pleased to see how well they’re getting on!

Back on the football pitch, Damian’s finding it hard to cope and it doesn’t help when he winded by the ball, kicked by Tug. Shane complains to Greg about Tug not wanting Damian on the team, which he denies, and Damian, now having recovered, wants to get on with it. So Greg gets the match going again. After the training session finishes, Damian stays back to get some practice in and Shane joins him, to give him some advice.

After the barbeque, Roxy, Luke and Imogen go to the Diner, to decide what to do next. When Roxy and Luke decide to go off together, Imogen very cleverly, makes them feel bad about leaving her on her own. Luke tells Roxy she should spend time with Imogen, so the two sisters leave. Greg and Tug arrive, with Tug complaining about Damian being in the team but as Luke passes him, he stops to ask when the next auditions for play are going to be. Bobby breaks the bad news to Greg about his job and he’s worried about Michael being forced to let him go.

As Pippa and Michael try to work out their budget, the delivery man arrives to take the dishwasher back. Sally and Fin are doing their bit but when Damian comes in, with his clothes in a mess, Pippa flips.

It ends with Pippa accusing Michael of getting them into their current financial mess and he walks out, leaving her wishing, she hadn’t said, what she said…

Avril M Harrison