Episode SPECIAL: An Eye for an Eye

Extended Summary

Part 1

Ricky is the picture of a woman in extreme distress, pacing and only taking comfort in holding her baby son Casey as she tries to wrap her head around the shocking news that Brax is still alive. Phoebe and Ash have hovered, waiting to see whether she’s going to cope with the news, wanting to make sure she’s okay, but of course she’s not. Ricky questions Ash, unable to comprehend how he could stand by and watch her grieve Brax’s death without telling her that he wasn’t dead. Ash explains that it was all to keep her and Casey safe from Gunno’s wish for revenge. As they talk, we see that unbeknownst to them there’s a bug under the table, and that Bob, one of Gunno’s cronies, is outside in a car listening to their every word. Once it’s confirmed that Brax is alive he makes a call.

In prison, Gunno is given the news and immediately actions a pre-planned plot to escape. When he returns to his cell someone is waiting for him, and viciously stabs him in the back. He’s rushed to the prison medical room where he’s treated by Nurse Virginia, who makes the order for him to be put in an ambulance and taken to hospital. Virginia forcefully tells a guard that she needs space, stopping him from riding in the back of the ambulance with her and Gunno. As soon as they are alone, it becomes clear that Virginia and Gunno are a couple and that she is breaking him out…

Phoebe and Ash tell Kyle that his brother Brax is alive and he wants to take action to find him. He feels betrayed that Brax didn’t confide in him and doesn’t understand why Ricky doesn’t want to search for him, but her confusion and anger are overwhelming, and she feels incapable of deciding what to do. Oblivious to the turmoil his fiancée is in, Nate prepares to take champagne over to celebrate their engagement. Irene comes home and he tells her the happy news, too distracted to notice that Irene’s a little disheveled. Irene congratulates him and moves off as he makes a phone call to let Ricky know he’s on his way but she puts him off, telling him she’s ill and just wants to rest. Ricky hates herself for lying to Nate, but isn’t ready to tell him what’s really going on.

Heath and Bianca arrive with a bang, Heath marching over and punching Ash for keeping Brax’s survival a secret from them. Bianca tries to calm Heath, reiterating that it was Brax’s decision to keep it quiet. Heath is angry and wants to find Brax, Ricky tells him that she called because they should know, she doesn’t need him putting pressure on her. Heath, Bianca, Phoebe and Ash are all taken aback when Ricky expresses being unsure about even wanting to search for Brax. She feels overwhelmed again and asks whether they can leave talking about it until the morning. Bianca follows Ricky to the flat and gives what comfort she can. She offers to take Casey for the night, but Ricky declines, needing to feel him near. Back at the house Bianca tries to get Heath to open up about how he’s feeling, but he evades her attempts, and says they should get some rest.

Outisde watching them all, Gunno sits in a car with a confused Virginia, who’s only just starting to realise that Gunno has no intention of just running away with her as promised. As the lights go off in the house Gunno tenses – what does he have planned for Brax’s family?

The next morning Heath goes for a surf, and Bianca tries again to get him to open up, but he’s closed off, and when they bump into Ash, Heath’s still angry at him. Ash tells them that they were just trying to keep Ricky and Casey safe, but Heath isn’t forgiving Ash anytime soon. Nate runs into Phoebe at the diner and asks if she knows how Ricky’s feeling. Phoebe awkwardly covers the truth behind Ricky’s fictitious illness, hating lying.

Ricky wakes, hit once again by her altered reality, still feeling as though she’s caught in a nightmare. Realising she’s slept in late, she goes straight to pick up Casey, but he’s not in his cot. After Bianca’s offer to take him the night before, she assumes that she or Heath came to get him in the morning, but when she goes next door to thank them, it soon becomes clear that no-one knows where Casey is…

Part 2

Ricky is beside herself with fear for her missing baby, as she stumbles out of the house into the front yard. Kyle, Heath and Bianca follow her out, but she barely registers their presence. Phoebe and Ash arrive, and the others fill them in. No-one knows what to do, and Ricky’s virtually dry-wretching with fear as the ringing of her phone cuts into her consciousness. She answers to find it’s Gunno, and he’s got Casey. Ignoring Ricky’s panic, he calming explains that Brax owes him money, after he reported Gunno’s drug trade in prison. Ricky tries to tell him that Brax is dead, but he just laughs at her, and she desperately tells him that they don’t know where Brax is. As Ricky begs Gunno not to hurt Casey, he tells her to get him the money that Brax owes him – fifty grand, by 5pm that day, no cops or she’ll never see Casey again…

After Gunno hangs up on Ricky, everyone goes inside, trying to work out how they can get the money together. Heath suggests that while the women work on getting all the cash that they can, the men go out and search for Casey. After Heath pressures Ash to think about anything he knows about Gunno, he recalls something about a place in the Blue Mountains, so they jump in Heath’s car and get on the road. Phoebe and Ricky unsuccessfully check out loan options, and as Bianca joins them, they work out how much they can scrape together, but it’s only about $10,000. As Ricky gets more and more worked up, the other two calm her – Phoebe says she’ll contact her dad despite being on bad terms, while Bianca decides to go and pay Irene a surprise visit. Bianca manages to keep up the pretense of needing a deposit for a house, and borrows $10,000 from Irene, while Ricky goes and gets cash from the work safe.

Meanwhile, Kat has received a call, informing her that Gunno has escaped. When she runs into Ricky, she tells her that Gunno has got out of prison, thinking she needs to warn her. She notices that Ricky’s on edge, but is oblivious to the bag of money she’s holding, and where she’s taking it. When Ricky reaches home, she sits with the money that they’ve managed to gather, staring at a framed photo of Brax, puffy eyed from crying. Suddenly she smashes it against the bench, full of anger and helpless rage. No sooner than she clears it up, there’s a knock a the door. After quickly hiding the money, she answers it to find Nate there, who refuses to leave her alone, despite her protestations that she just needs to rest to get well. At first Ricky tries to keep up the lie, but eventually tells Nate that she isn’t sick, and that she needs a large sum of money asap. She asks him if he can lend her anything he has, but won’t tell him why. When he enquires further she shuts down, telling him she’ll deal with it, and that she wants him to leave. He does, feeling confused and worried, leaving Ricky to sag against the closed door, distraught.

In a remote shack Virginia tends to Gunno’s wound. We can hear Casey grizzling, sounding unwell. Gunno wants to know why the baby won’t be quiet, and Virginia tells him that the baby has a temperature, and needs a doctor. Gunno refuses to let her take him to one, but she persuades Gunno that it’s serious, so he lets her go and buy some medicine, after threateningly telling her not to speak to anyone. While at the pharmacy, Virginia asks where the nearest hospital is, and tells him where she would be traveling from.

As Heath, Kyle and Ash travel in the car towards the Mountains, they hear about Gunno’s escape on the news. Ash realises that he knows Virginia from his time in prison. Upon their arrival at a small town the boys split up and start asking in shops if anyone has seen Gunno or Virginia, using the photos posted online in the news. As Ash moves down the street, he catches sight of someone who looks like Virginia, and follows her. He gets a good look just as she drives off – it’s her. He races off to find the others and they give chase in the car, trying to work out which way Virginia went. Just as they think they may have gone the wrong way, they catch sight of her car driving two cars ahead of them. They follow, but don’t realise until too late that Virginia has turned off, as their view is obscured by the car in between them.

Away from all the chaos, Irene comes home to find Nate brooding after his encounter with Ricky. They quickly realise that both Ricky and Bianca needing a large loan in the same day is too much of a coincidence. As Phoebe and Bianca go to collect the money from the safe at Angelo’s, Phoebe has a moment of doubt, asking whether the police should be dealing with this problem? Bianca reassures her that they are doing the right thing, that it’s what Ricky has decided. As they move off, Irene appears and asks to speak to Bianca. As Phoebe goes to get the money from the safe, Bianca admits to Irene that they are in some trouble, but asks Irene to trust her.

In the shack Virginia is realising, from the news, just how much trouble they are in and tries to leave, wanting to take Casey with her. Gunno pins her up against the wall, and calmly threatens to kill her if she disobeys him…

Part 3

Kat stops Phoebe and Bianca and we see Phoebe waver, considering asking Kat for help, but she decides to cover. Kat’s suspicions are raised by her odd behaviour, especially after Ricky was also a bit strange earlier.

Heath, Kyle and Ash call Ricky from the car to update her, Phoebe and Bianca. After the call the girls check the money and find they still only have $21,000, nearly half of what they need. There’s a knock at the door, and Nate asks to talk to Ricky. In the flat he gives her $11,000, saying it’s all he has. Ricky is full of conflict, feeling awful for keeping everything from him, and huge love after this gesture. He asks her to tell him what’s going on, hurt by her mistrust of him, but she tells him she can’t, it’s not that simple. After he leaves, Ricky dissolves into tears.

Heath, Kyle and Ash speak to the pharmacist, who tells them that Virginia came in, and that she asked how long it would take to get from Grenfell Road to the hospital… Bingo! The information that they’ve been looking for at last. Having driven to the shack, the boys spot the car they followed earlier. Parking in the bushes, they quickly move to the shack, and burst in the front and back doors simultaneously… To find it empty. The only evidence they need is there though, a baby bottle and the empty port-a-cot.

Ricky gets a call from Gunno, bringing the ransom drop time forward. Bianca calls Heath, telling them that they only have an hour. As they move to leave, Ash suggests one of them stay behind – Gunno doesn’t know they know about the shack. Heath abruptly agrees and drives off, leaving Ash there alone.

As Ricky prepares for getting Casey back, her panic escalates. Bianca tries to calm her, but she’s imagining all the worst case scenarios, and can’t be talked down. Then Phoebe tells the other two that she has an idea…

At the drop site, Phoebe and Bianca sit in the car, as Ricky waits nervously for Gunno to arrive. His car pulls up with squealing tyres, and he shouts out of the window for her friends to go. Ricky gestures for them to leave, and Phoebe drives off. Gunno tells Ricky to throw the bag of money in the car and she does so, despite him ignoring her asking him to hand Casey over first. As Gunno realises it’s not the full amount, Ricky sees Virginia in the back with Casey, and dives for the back door. It’s locked, and Gunno floors the accelerator, almost dragging Ricky with him, as she screams Casey’s name after them… But they’re gone.

Back at the flat, Phoebe’s plan is revealed – they’re tracking Phoebe’s phone, which they put in the bag with the money. They call the boys, and tell them that Gunno’s heading back up to the mountains. Heath turns the car around, and they try to call Ash and let him know, but they can’t get through. Heath puts his foot down, time is of the essence.

At the shack Ash, hides in the bushes, but Gunno’s spotted him and takes him by surprise, putting a gun to his back and forcing him inside. Ash tries to fight Gunno, but he is overpowered, and Gunno knocks him out and ties him up. For a moment Gunno softens, seeing that Virginia is terrified and takes her in his arms, reassuring her. Virginia plays along, as Gunno says there’s enough money for them to get started, but then he finds the phone, and realises they’ve been tracked. He smashes the phone in anger ad rushes outside, yelling at Virginia to bring the baby. While they’re distracted, Ash has regained consciousness and is quietly trying to free himself, rubbing his hands raw against the restraints. As Virginia heads out, Ash shouts after her. She slows, but she’s too scared to disobey Gunno.

Outside, Gunno fails to start the car, and then sees Heath’s car coming. He shouts at Virginia to take Casey and run, saying they’ll meet where they agreed to. Gunno races off in a different direction, having accidentally left his gun in the car. By the time Heath pulls up, Gunno’s made some ground, and Heath dashes after him, shouting at Kyle to check the shack. Kyle finds Ash lying on the floor, having knocked the chair over. Ash urges Kyle to untie him, he saw which direction Virginia went with Casey.

Two simultaneous chases ensue, Heath bounding after Gunno, while Kyle and Ash try to catch up with Virginia. We catch a glimpse of Virginia, and Kyle grabs her from behind, while Ash takes Casey in his arms. The two are filled with relief, they have Casey back. Meanwhile, Heath continues to chase Gunno – until they reach a cliff edge.

Gunno has nowhere to go now… Gunno taunts Heath, guessing which brother he is, and makes suggestive comments about the fun he could have with Heath’s family. Heath is about to launch himself at Gunno when his phone rings. Once Kyle tells Heath that they have Casey safe and sound, Gunno knows he has lost his leverage, and tries to make a run for it. A struggle between the two men ends in Gunno slipping over the edge, and given the chance to save him, Heath lets him go…

Ricky’s exhausted and relieved as she’s reunited with Casey. It’s finally over. But at the bottom of the cliff, Gunno’s finger moves. Is he still alive?