Something rich and strange...
written by Deb Cox
directed by Ali Ali
Guest cast:
Alex Menglet as Krzystof Chrzanowski
Matthew Green as Lionel
Paul Higgins as TV Weatherman
Koala's Spiel:
I don't know if anyone else found this episode slightly dissatisfying. Perhaps because there was a long absence, the writers will take a little while to get back into the groove but I had such high expectations going into this season - even with the knowledge that our beloved Diver was to be leaving the show!
Port Deakin has been besieged by storms and the newly opened Pearl Bay Bridge is again closed to heavy traffic.
Kevin and Trevor have returned from their male bonding trip to discover that Phrani who was looking after the caravan park is desperately upset at the ravages of the storm upon the park. The Deluxe Continental caravan is floating in the sea and a backpacker who was in the van at the time - Krzysztof Chrzanowski - is suing Kevin for pain and suffering and the loss of his work in progrses manuscript on the nature of chaos.
We see that the relationship of Dan and Laura is still on foot as they are passionately kissing when a fish comes flying out of the air to land beside them. (Was it a mullett? Was this a weird and clever way to foreshadow the arrival of another mullett? And how does one spell mullett? I must check my dictionary!)
Not only are fish in the air, but litigation is everywhere as storm damage claims are pouring in. The Council is also having problems. Bob has gone into imbecilic seclusion, shattered by Heather's departure and the Council is calling for his resignation as Shire President.
Ripples appear in Laura and Dan's relationship as she is having problems with reconciling being a magistrate, a mother, Jack's ex-wife and Dan's lover. Dan isn't making things any easier as he doesn't seem to understand her position and is still his dreamy self, thinking about weather, tides, fish and lunar cycles. I received the impression that Diver just wasn't all there. Was he thinking about ART, was he thinking about other things?
The role of Jack is no longer played by Paul English and is now played by Patrick Dickson. I don't like this new actor. For one thing, he looks weird. On top of that, although I'm aware that it's not his fault, Jack is now bitter and mean. At the end of season 1, I received the distinct impression that Jack had come to terms with his split with Laura. He had admitted fault, there was a certain degree of closure and reconciliation. Now, due to a plot device designed to bring him back into the storyline, Jack makes bitchy, mean little remarks which seem out of character.
Thus the conflict begins. Jack makes obnoxious little remarks about Laura's new relationship (as if he somehow has the right to take the higher moral ground?), Rupert and Miranda complicate the issue as they are transparent about their joy to have their father around and their wish that their parents would get back together again. Dan feels left out, understandably so - ergo, the tension mounts.
Relationship problems appear to be abounding and Angus seems to think that his relationship with Karen might be a little boring. She's offended by his suggestion that things need to be varied up a little now and then, but obliges, imbibing in alcohol with hilarious results.
In the least interesting storyline, Meredith and Harold angst about the fact that Heather is their long-lost daughter. Oddly enough, it's Meredith who seems to want to put the whole thing behind her.
Dan rescues Kevin by coming to court and producing a mullet(t) which he found on the roof of the boatshed as proof that no one could have predicted the severity of the storm in Pearl Bay and the Deluxe Continental rolling into the sea was entirely unforeseeable. At this point, I guess I could discuss tortious notions of reasonable foreseeability in negligence actions and burdens of proof - but that would bore you to tears and bore me to death, so I won't go there.
Laura finds in favour of Kevin. Fortunately for Krzysztof, his manuscript is found and he is able to delude himself as to the circumstances of its recovery.
I'll be frank and say that I found this a weak first episode. Naturally it's going to be difficult to pick up loose ends so I'll just sit back and hope that things improve.
Finally, a new season of SeaChange! And what I loved most about this episode was the way that it made you feel like absolutely nothing had changed. Unlike all those annoying US shows set in high schools (which start off new seasons with: 'so what did you do over the summer'), only a week has passed in Pearl Bay. Sure Laura's hair grew a lot, Miranda had a haircut, Rupert's grown a few inches, and Jack's had a - makeover? - but we all know that Pearl Bay exists in a zone unto itself.
Of the different plots, I thought the silliest was the backpacker whose master work was lost in Kevin's Continental Deluxe. I found the guy's accent annoying and his personality caricatured, and it just isn't particularly imaginative to have someone wandering around saying: 'hey man, everything's, like, connected'. But if he was a necessary evil to the scenes with Karen and Angus, then so be it. Angus reacts to the backpacker's theories on the cosmos with awe, and somehow draws the conclusion that he needs to 'shake up' his relationship with Karen (did anyone else think that causal link was questionable?) So after getting advice from Diver on the best way to create a little inner chaos (and rejecting the group sex and plant use options), Angus resolves to get Karen drunk. After several double vodkas, Karen is dancing on the table and singing really bad show tunes, which wasn't particularly the reaction Angus was hoping for.
This was one of Karen's better episodes. Her barely concealed derision at the backpacker gave her a sharper edge, and her reaction to Angus's rather shallow desire to get her drunk was hilarious. The conclusion of the episode emphasised her unpredictability, and Angus's expression when she leaned over, kissed him, and walked off was hilarious.
Jack spent the episode sniping at Laura and generally just skulking around. I think there are changes in his character more profound than a different actor. Did anyone else find him a bit more caustic and intimidating? Perhaps its because during this episode he was still reeling from seeing Dan stroll out of Laura's bedroom (smirk). Anyway, he was relatively unlikable in this first episode. I don't think we were meant to sympathise with his efforts to drag information out of his children. 'Don't you play frisbee with your Mum's new friend'? he asked Rupert, who fortunately didn't get it. But Miranda, of course, did, and looked uncomfortable at her role of supplying Jack with details about Dan. Grrrr.
The extent to which Bob Jelly falls apart without Heather was also a revelation. I will be haunted by the opening scene of Bob in a singlet eating icecream and watching Playschool. I don't even want to think about the later scene of him picking lint out of his belly button. John Howard is exceptional at being repellent! Well, the penitent, vulnerable Bob only lasted a scene or two, and as soon as Heather was back cooking breakfasts, he resumed his role on the council and weaseled his way out of impeding disaster. And we all would have been disappointed with any other resolution. (Bob reforming? I can't think of anything worse . . .)
I also liked the brief moments with
Meredith and Harold who were still reeling from their discovery that Heather
is their daughter. Typically, this never got soppy, in fact Meredith initially
refuses to believe it: 'We've never bonded . . . we've hardly exchanged a polite
word to each other, now have we?' This puts a new spin on something this show
has been very interested in all along: the meaning of family. When Heather and
Meredith finally sit down to talk, little progress is made, and Heather suggests
that it would be best kept to themselves. The only shared moment they have is
when Meredith asks for her tea with lemon, and Heather replies that she takes
it the same way . . . an elusive moment which hints at more development later.
The Dan / Laura relationship was hilarious in this episode, from the opening
moment when Laura is kissing Dan, whilst a bemused Dan is watching a fish jump
off his roof ('hmmm . . . there's something you don't see every day.')
It continues the way they interacted last episode: despite the occasional romantic
moment, they seem to relate on a chaotic, frequently interrupted plane, and
are often just conceptually at odds with each other. Despite the amusement value,
for me there was also an ominous note, particularly as we all knew by this episode
that Dan would soon be leaving. Although normally, their interaction would develop
a 'differences make good sparks' feel, it felt more and more of a 'insurmountable
barriers' thing. And I agree with Koala: there were a few moments where his
expression was really enigmatic and distant.
Dan spent most of this episode advocating disorder. 'Sometimes a little inner chaos is a good thing', he advised Angus, but when turning up at the courtroom to entice Laura snorkeling, he is insulted by her embarrassment. She is worried about cavorting in front of everyone, Dan immediately interprets this as her unease at their relationship, and he's probably right, at least in part. Angst! Trauma!
The misery is cut short by the next scene of the two of them which I think is one of the most charming yet: Laura seducing Dan in the boatshed. Sigrid Thornton looked stunning in red, as she stalked in, and although Dan was initially oblivious, the startled expression on his face when he finally notices her tone is priceless. David Wenham does 'endearingly bewildered' so well. The song they play in the background is the wonderful Big Blue Above by Kavisha Mazella, and the lines: 'you threw me a smile like a fisherman's line / hooked me right then and there in no time' fit the scene, the characters, and the mood perfectly.
But the 'at odds' feeling of the episode continues: Dan drags Laura off at 4am to watch meteor showers, Laura falls asleep in court. Laura pleads exhaustion to the next outing and suggests watching a movie, but Dan finds this really dull. Rupert and Miranda arriving home early also dampens romantic potential, and when Rupert gives Laura irises 'from Dad', Dan's expression is . . . interesting.
All this builds up to a hilarious court scene, in which Dan (ostensibly giving evidence to support Kevin's contention that Pearl Bay weather is bizarre) mercilessly refers to Laura's reluctance to live dangerously:
| Dan: | This sea-mullet, which should have been north, not only headed south, but it jumped onto my roof. |
| Laura: (incredulous) | Since when do fish jump? I'd like to remind you that you're under oath, Mr Dellabosca. |
| Dan: | Oh, I swear your worship. Which part are you having trouble with, its leaping ability, or its lack of direction? |
| Harold: | It is an established fact your worship that mullet have been known to jump clear of the water. They leap into dinghies. |
| Angus: | Oh yeah, I was hit behind the shoulder-blades once. |
| Dan: | Yes, well in some societies a leaping mullet is considered such a delicacy that to cook on for a lover would be considered the most romantic gesture imaginable. Of course in other societies they'd rather watch television. |
After court, Laura tells Dan she'll eat mullet anywhere he cares to name, and the episode concludes on a hillside with the two of them gazing at the stars. Laura is still being prosaic and Dan abstract, but they have an understanding, a meeting point, so that the differences in personality seem less important.
In short, there were enough tantalising plots left hanging to make you want to watch next week, as if anyone needed a reason! A few quibbles: I thought the emphasis on Meredith as Heather's mother excluded Harold. Does he not care about his paternity? Will he ever get to have tea with Heather, or are fathers somehow less important? And Angus wandering around without a shirt for the beginning of the episode seemed a bit gratuitous (not that I mind! - what a chest). The use of the 'strange weather' as a major part of the trial was a bit sad too, as Pearl Bay's bizarre meteorology was a running in-joke for long-term viewers last series. (Did we ever find out whether it was a water spout or a cyclone that destroyed the bridge?) Like Bucket's terminal absence, it was something you only got after a few episodes. Still, this episode rocked. A great start to the new series.
Lyn's Spiels © 1999 Lyn