Episode 8200

Extended Summary

Valerie is walking along the beach on her own, looking distressed. She stops and takes a pill, which seems to calm her down.

She gets a text from Theo inviting her to see him play at Salt. At the surf club, Mali comes downstairs and encounters Xander and Harper, who have just arrived together. He tells them it’s a great night but he felt left out being there on his own. After Xander and Harper have headed upstairs, Rose arrives, having changed into a dress, and explains she learned senior constables can swap shifts. She and Mali compliment each other on their appearance.

Upstairs, Theo and Kirby are continuing their set. Kirby tries to convince Theo it’s going well because of the rehearsals. Xander and Harper arrive and he shows her to her table. He jokes it’s VIP seating and Harper jokes about him doing all this for her. They admit this feels a bit weird but seem happy to go along with it. Mali and Rose also come up and Rose notices Xander is there with Harper, wondering if Mali knew.

Xander asks Harper about her job and she says she’s seen things she wishes she hadn’t and uses her exercise to unwind. Xander recalls surfing helped when he was working as a paramedic and defers the story of why he gave it up for another time. Rose continues to watch them and Mali swaps seats so she’s sitting with her back to them. Theo and Kirby start up again as Valerie turns up and she and Theo exchange looks.

At the beach house, Dana has her feet up on the sofa as Irene arrives home, asking if she’s there on her own. Dana explains about Harper going out with Xander, which Irene didn’t see coming. Dana takes the credit for arranging it and offers to do a similar favour for Irene. Irene declines and heads up to bed.

Theo and Kirby finish off their last song. Valerie comes over, complimenting them, and offers to help them pack up. Kirby declines so Valerie offers to buy them a drink. Theo goes with her. Xander approaches Kirby to thank her and says there’s a drink on the house for them. Harper suggests Xander stay and have a drink with his staff but Xander says he’d rather walk her home. Rose remarks to Mali on the pair leaving together.

Dana hears Xander and Harper coming home and hides on the stairs. Harper says it’s a long time since anyone walked her home and they agree Dana wasn’t completely insane to push them together. After a pause, Xander suggests he call her and Harper agrees. Dana scampers upstairs unnoticed.

Next morning, Rose and Mali are walking on the beach. Rose is still obsessing about Xander’s date last night. She goes over to Xander but he won’t give her any details. Not too far away, near the coffee cart, Irene asks Harper if her date went well. Harper says it did but doesn’t say anything further. After Irene has headed off to the Diner, Dana admits to listening in on Harper and Xander last night. Harper says she likes Xander but only as a friend. Dana is disappointed but Harper thinks it’s a good thing.

Theo and Valerie are at the Morgan house, both a little worse for wear. Theo notes they should have asked Justin and Leah to bring them takeaway coffees and says he stayed up late after the gig to work on a TAFE assignment. He gets a notification of his results and learns he failed because he accidentally skipped a question. Valerie isn’t particularly sympathetic and walks out.

At the Diner, Dana complains to Irene that Harper and Xander only being friends is a waste but Irene tells her to respect Harper’s wishes. Xander comes in and Irene chats to him about the night. Dana tells him Harper just wants to be friends and Xander says he feels the same way, noting sometimes it’s good for men and women to hang out without pressure.

Theo finds Valerie sitting on the beach and checks she’s okay. He says he knows his TAFE work isn’t anything compared to what she has to cope with and Valerie apologises for not understanding his disappointment. She says sometimes she can put what happened to her brother out of her mind and sometimes she can’t. Theo says she can talk to him. Kirby has just finished a surf nearby and sees Theo put his arm round Valerie.

At the surf club, Rose wants to do something with Mali to make up for obsessing over Xander. Mali says she made up for it after Xander and Harper left but agrees to have breakfast with her. Kirby walks in on them kissing and complains about all the PDAs. Mali goes upstairs, telling Rose to join him in a bit. Kirby complains to Rose about Theo and Valerie. Rose isn’t sure who Valerie is and neither is Kirby, eventually realising it’s the girl from last night. Rose thinks Kirby feels weird seeing Theo with someone else. Kirby says she’s worried that she and Theo are trying to keep Lyrik afloat and Theo’s mind isn’t on it.

Theo and Valerie arrive home. Valerie wonders why Theo’s doing an apprenticeship when he’s talented musically. Theo tells her about Lyrik falling apart for a bit and that he wants to finish it this time. Valerie recalls her brother was into cars. Theo asks about him and Valerie says he was smart and very funny, and they drove each other mad but she loved him. They make plans to get lunch but Theo gets a text from Kirby asking to meet. Valerie says they can do it another time but Theo says they can drop by Kirby’s on the way. Meanwhile, Harper is rather worried when Xander and Dana turn up with pizza. Xander explains that, since they’re on the same page about just wanting to be friends, they should try hanging out. Harper sarcastically asks if they should get friendship bracelets and Xander suggests they start with sharing pizza.

Kirby is rather thrown when Theo turns up with Valerie, saying she hopes their meeting won’t bore her. Theo says he thought it was just a chat. Valerie looks at Kirby’s notebook and asks about the lyrics. Kirby says it’s none of her business and they can do this another time, walking away. Theo tells Valerie he’ll meet her out the front in a minute.

Theo follows Kirby inside when she tells him they’ve been offered more gigs as a duo but there’s no point if he hasn’t got time for them. She also remarks that he has time for Valerie. Theo says she’s a friend who’s been through a lot. Kirby isn’t happy when he walks away but Theo retorts that she doesn’t get to talk to him like this anymore.

Theo meets up with Valerie outside and they walk off together. Valerie tells Theo not to let Kirby get under his skin and offers him her secret for clearing her head, producing the pills and offering him one. Theo takes it from her, examines it and then swallows it.