Evil is lurking in the Bay. A violent showdown leads Kane to make a shocking suggestion. Haunted by his past, Ric reveals his feelings for Matilda.
WARREN STEVENS (ISRAEL CANNAN)
Sixth appearance, last seen in Episode #3899. Reaffirmed his former friendship with Ric, much to Matilda’s dismay.
SONOGRAPHER (NINO ALESSI)
Informed Kane and Kirsty that their baby was a boy, imparting on them his own recent experiences of fatherhood.
> ‘The Stalker’ is seen for the third time, posting newspaper clippings on a wall surrounding the recent tragedies surrounding the Bay. The fingerprints on the letter received at the Diner are confirmed to have only 3 sets of fingerprints on it – Peter’s, Beth’s and Irene’s (all of whom handled the letter when it was found)…
Extended Summary
The anonymous letter with its threat that “Summer Bay will pay”, is causing consternation. People are starting to wonder if there’s a link between the plane crash and the letter. Peter tries to hose down any hysterical speculation, but it’s clear that someone is spying on the folk of Summer Bay. Is there a Summer Bay stalker?
Kane and Kirsty have discovered the sex of their baby thanks to the wonders of sonography and it’s a boy! But despite all the excitement, Kane’s opens up to Irene about his fear of being wrenched away from his wife and unborn son. She urges him to talk to Kirsty. When he finally does, they both agree that if he is found guilty, their love will be strong enough to pull them through. But after an altercation with Ric at the Surf Club, the whispering gossip behind his back, and being blamed for the downturn in the Blaxland business, Kane tells Kirsty he’s come to a decision: if he’s found not-guilty at the trial, he wants them to leave Summer Bay for ever.
Irene thinks Ric is one of the prime suspects behind the anonymous letter, so Peter, Flynn and Sally confront him over it. Ric’s furious they’d even suspect him! He stomps out and over to the Surf Club. Sally finds him and lovingly tells him that now he’s family, he can’t just run out on them. But Ric rejects her. He reckons he’s just a ‘temporary house guest’. In need of friends, Ric hooks back up with Wazza and the two of them are soon back to their rebellious selves. Matilda watches all of this from afar. She’s already told Beth that she’s backing off from Ric after what he did to Henry. But it appears she’s having second thoughts. When Ric and Kane get into a heated altercation, it’s Matilda who calms the situation down. Ric is so badly shaken that Matilda realizes he’s still dealing with his Dad’s physical abuse. As Ric opens up to her, she sees a radically different side to him – one she likes. When Ric makes it clear he’s also attracted to her, Matilda is hooked. The two of them are going to spend more time together, but it’s going to have to be a secret friendship.
Flynn’s tells Sally they need to lay down ground rules after Ric’s latest behavior. Sally fears Ric may run away before those rules can be used. When Ric comes home that night she shows him how his photo has been added to the mantle-piece in the same way Pippa used to display photos of her surrogate children. He’s part of an ‘extended family’ now. But just as things are on the up, Flynn’s aggression sends tensions skyrocketing, and to Sally’s frustration, the whole process looks like it’s back at square one.
Meanwhile, Peter discovers that a disgruntled employee may have tampered with the plane that went down. Police are close to charging him. However the threatening letter has thrown up no strong leads. Tracking down the sender may be near impossible. Beth thinks it must have been a joke. But in an unidentified flat, we see a sinister looking hand picking through articles about the last few weeks of drama-filled life in Summer Bay. This is definitely no joke…