Episode 5007

Extended Summary

The Australia Day race riot profoundly shocked Alf, and dented his belief in the people and spirit of Summer Bay. Since then he’s lost interest in his businesses and has been constantly grumpy and depressed. Everyone is concerned for him, but no one seems to be able to get through to him and get him back on track. Martha’s especially worried as she’s never seen her Grandad like this before. She talks to Rachel and Tony about this and Tony suggests that he ask Alf out for a spot of fishing. Rachel and Martha agree that its a good idea. As Rachel helps Martha out on the farm, they discuss how things have changed so dramatically in the bay over the space of a few weeks. Rachel comments on how amazing a person Martha is, dealing with all the stuff she’s been through with Hugo, but Martha states that she just has to deal with things and move on in the best way she can – just like Alf used to.

Tony asks Alf out fishing, but is shocked when Alf turns him down. It’s Irene who finally starts to break down the wall Alf has surrounded himself with. She agrees that a lot of bad things have happened around them lately, but she tries to get him to see that there is still a lot of good things happening too – she tells him that he needs to have hope and points out how well Aden and Martha have coped with their personal tragedies. Alf starts to look around. He talks to Aden and Nicole and sees what Irene was talking about. When he catches up with Tony and tells him he’s changed his mind and does want to go fishing with him. As they fish and watch the sunrise the next morning – it seems like the old Alf is back.

Nicole shocked Aden, and herself, when she told him she loved him and he’s had trouble working out what it means for their relationship. Normally reticent about talking about his feelings, Aden seeks advice from Tony and even Liam, while Nicole opens up to Alf. Nicole, feeling terrible that she let slip that she loved him, and worried that she’s scared him off, tries to talk to Aden, but nothing seems to come out right. It’s after a chat to Alf that Aden asks Nicole to pay him a visit. He tells her that while he can’t tell her that he loves her yet, her telling him she loved him was very important to him. Aden assures her that he won’t be running away – far from it. Liam still doesn’t have many friends around the Bay and is pleased when Martha’s friendly to him. He confides in her how hard it is living in the same house as Aden when Aden’s going out with his ex – Nicole. He sees them together a lot and it makes all of them uncomfortable. He feels really weird when Aden asks his advice about Nicole’s declaration of love. Martha thinks the situation is intolerable and that Liam needs to sort it out. It’s that advice that leads to Liam telling Aden and Nicole that he’s decided to move out.