Something rich and strange...

Series 2, Episode 6, "The House That Jack Built"

written by Andrew Knight and Doug MacLeod
directed by Sue Brooks

Guest cast:
Robert Grubb as Barry Boston
Nicki Wendt as Paula McVeigh
Jim Russell as Squid Connors
Brett Swain as Griff
Christopher Christo as Constable Constantine
Stephan Freidrich as Jager
Phillip Reilley as Spurt

Koala's Spiel:

A Jack episode? oh no.

The title was a give-away, as were the promos which discussed the fact that Laura and Jack were starting to resolve their differences.

Differences? I still have a hard time coming to terms with what on earth Laura saw in Jack in the first place, but that's neither here nor there. This is not going to be an "I hate Jack" rant. That will come another day.

The episode opens in darkness with two shifty looking individuals rummaging around in crates looking for something. Whether or not they find that something, Something Else comes looking for them and they run away screaming as the contents of the crates are released into sunny climes of Pearl Bay.

Monster crabs!!!!!!! Cue to opening credits.....

Sergeant Gray and Constable Constantine (I think he's new) are investigating the disappearance of Squad's crab inventory. Most prized of all are the "Coconut Crabs" from Cape York which can split a coconut open (or a man's head for that matter) with their fearsome claws. To Sergeant Gray's chagrin, Squid informs him blithely that the claws can penetrate a policeman's solid boots as well.

It turns out that the crabs were on consignment for Paula McVeigh, an old flame of Max's. Looks like Max had a thing for mediteranean beauties as despite her Celtic name, Paula's got the look of a woman from Greek mythology.

Squid, bless his simple soul, is hilarious in this episode:

Laura is trying to look after Max - as asked by Elena. Delivering casseroles, chutneys and jams to a sardonic and decidedly ungrateful Max, Laura is floundering badly as she attempts to comfort her bereaved neighbour. Max, in his own way, no doubt appreciates the gesture but entertains himself by taking pot shots at a somewhat defenceless Laura who isn't quite sure how to handle his sarcastic wit. Nonetheless, I did notice that Max asked Laura for coffee twice, almost as if to suggest - I don't want to be the recipient of your pity, but I would like to sit down for a coffee and conversation with you.

As he's firing an acerbic taunt at Laura's departing back, Carmen comes in saying: "Meredith was right, you really don't get along with anyone, do you?". Max groans at her approach and gives her a withering glare that would wither anyone else but Carmen. She lets him have it and he deserves it.

And then later:

In the other storyline, Pearl Bay is being terrorised by monster crabs, unleashed in darkness and wreaking havoc. Crabs start to appear in the toilets of Kevin's caravan park, in the courthouse and even in the police station. In a hysterical scene with Jager, Sergeant Gray and Constable Constantine, the three are perched on top of a desk staring down at a scuttling crab:

"I thought crabs could only move sideways " says Sergeant Gray as they stare down at the menacing crab, mesmerised.

Kevin and Squid are busy trying to gather up the crabs while try Sergeant Grey and his less than brilliant Constable attempt to solve the mysteries of their origin.

Max starts giving Laura bizarre, domestic items including - a cheese grater, a butter curler, fridge magnets... I'm not entirely sure what he was trying to say, though. Was he saying that she should use those for cooking for him? Was he mocking her wifely, domestic tendancies? At any rate, it was very funny. It's kind of cute how he walks in while she's clipping her toe-nails. Normally, in shows, the guy will walk in when the woman is vulnerable - not fully clothed, her hair is down etc. Laura is prosaically clipping her toe-nails.

Then the Jack part of the title comes in. Laura visits Jack who is making a start to the house he's building
in Port Deakin. Was anyone else sighing over the beautiful Victorian coastline? It was better to look at that than Jack, anyway. The light banter, interspersed with friendly smiles between Jack and Laura indicates that there is a chance that the strong hurts between them may be starting to heal. Jack is all for a reconciliation and awfully keen on her again (although this seems a little inconsistent with last season's Jack) but for Laura there has been too much water under the bridge and she isn't able to banish the painful memory of Jack's affair with Trudi.

In another storyline, Bob is extremely alarmed over his infrequent sex-life. This further highlights the huge chasm which exists in the Bob-Heather relationship. Heather sees a problem in their marriage, Bob sees only a lack of sex and while Heather wants seek marriage counselling under Barry Boston, she is doing it an attempt to solve the problems which plague their marriage. Bob only agrees to the marriage counselling in a last ditch effort to get more sex.

The scenes with Barry are quite amusing with Bob's prejudices against homosexuals making the progress of the sessions slow. The sessions also starkly highlight the fact that Heather is a doormat who has permitted Bob to walk all over her over the years while she is accommodating of all of his preferences. In a slightly contrived scene, the two were required to fill out questionnaires and while Heather knew everything about Bob's likes and dislikes (food, favourite singer), Bob gets it all wrong. For Heather's favourite book:

Bob blanches, and rightly so. It's hard to imagine how anyone could be so incredibly insensitive, oblivious and stupid. Then again, this is Bob Jelly we're talking about.

Meanwhile, Paula McVeigh and Max are taking comfort in one another. There is a History between these two. A former couple, Paula has also lost a loved one, and Max has always admired and respected Paula who is/was ahippy chick, idealist and champion of lost (worthy) causes.

By way of contrast, Jack and Laura are sitting side by side on the sofa - civilised and talking amiably. Again, Jack is trying to persuade her to have a second go of it. They kiss. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there going: 'No no! Don't kiss him! He's revolting! Aaaiiiiieeeeeee noooooOOOOOooooooo!!!!' Nausea, choke, *gasp*. I still can't believe she let him kiss her!

Paula and Max are drinking too much and flirting but their reminiscences are interrupted by a couple of thugs. Despite his size, Max is pummelled and overcome. In the next scene, Max is being tended to by Graham:

Carmen and Max are always hilarious:

Max is then humiliated in court by Paula's descriptions of his pathetic attempts to defend himself and Karen's embarrassingly detailed description of his injuries:

I like the fact that Max is a smart guy (not completely blinded by animal lusts) and realises that Paula is not the same hippy chick he knew. The searching, penetrating look he gives her on the steps of the courthouse is very, very cool and assessing.

Crab terror is still gripping the town and Kevin has taken steps to protect his noggin, recommending that the bald-headed Sergeant Gray may wish to do the same thing. After a few artless revelations from Squid, Sergeant Grey discovers that the crabs have been eating drugs which were hidden in the crates they were travelling in. Constable Constantine and Sergeant Grey move in whisk the crabs from the jaws of the diners of the Tropical Star. Another artless revelation from Squid makes Max think a little more about his ex-lover and he has a very dramatic and rather disillusioning confrontation with Paula about the fact that she has become a drug smuggler.

See the Allusions Page for a comment on "opium for the masses".

Max's parting shot to Paula that "maybe you should have brought a casserole" in a way indicates to me that he has realised that Laura was trying to help and that he sees the value that he didn't previously see in her. Maybe that's reading way too much into it - of course bringing a casserole is better than bringing illegal drugs.

Bob, armed with massage tips from Barry is dining with Heather over opiated crabs. I don't know if anyone else had this reaction, but I find Heather-Bob kissy kissy scenes to be extremely revolting. "Your eyes, little sparkley bits in them" Part me of me laughs when he says: "I swear on every footy club merit badge I ever won, it's like I'm seeing your eyes for the first time", but part of me feels absolutely nauseated by his bulgy eyes and his really feeble attempts to be romantic. Nonetheless, each to their own - Heather and Bob head back to the bedroom. This takes me to a very ugly visual place. Please shoot me if a man ever woos me to bed by telling me: "I'm seeing right past them through to your very soul. Oh doll, it's like a 3-D picture coming right at me."

At the end, Laura approaches Jack, well on the way to forgiveness. Fortunately for my peace of mind, Jack reveals that Trudi is pregnant with his child and that he lied to Laura about the last time he saw Trudi.

Laura is devastated. She returns to her house, tripping over a pair of tongs. Assuming that they are from Max she barrels over to the boatshed and vents her anger on an unsuspecting, hapless Max who actually deserves everything she hurls at him. This scene is an absolute scream with Laura marching around the boathouse, terrifying a startled Max with the tongs. Her anger is very convincing and you could almost see him being permanently maimed by the tongs.

Max creeps up and cautiously disarms Laura - literally and figuratively. They then console each other over casseroles, jam and marmalade. They have a frank and open dialogue about Paula, Elena, love and obligations and all is right with the world. For now.

PS:
What does "you think I raced her off" mean?? Sleep with?

Visit the Allusions page for a discussion of the phrase "The house that Jack built"

Lyn's Spiel:

Given that I agree with everything Koala's said, I'll only add a few incidental thoughts. I watched this episode with ten people and a waffle iron. It may just be the waffles, but I'm prepared to say this was my favourite episode of the new series to date. It had it all: shocking revelations, danger, sex, marriage therapy, crabs . . .

A first comment: how cool is Sergeant Grey? Although he started out pretty evil, he's just getting more and more endearing with each episode. Forget Max and Angus, Graeme is the real spunk of this series.

On a slightly more analytical note, there were a few welcome returns in this episode. If you thought the dopey young police officer looked sort of familiar, he did: last and only seen in The Official Story (season one). In that episode, he looked vague, was generally ineffectual, and spent most of his time fetching coffee for a fairly irritated Graeme. Nothing much has changed since then! I particularly liked the scene in which Graeme, a suspect, and the constable were perched on a table trapped by the crabs; and the constable's hand keeps drifting towards his gun. Hope to see more of him in the future. I really like all the peripheral characters: like the other barrister who drifts in and out of cases, Barry Bostyn, Bryce, Simmo, Griff, etc. None of them have ever had a story to themselves, and in a way it would sort of wreck it if they did; it's just comfortable to have known faces who keep recurring, without ever having to carry a plot.

As for the crabs, there's one commonality between all the livestock that's featured in SeaChange. Invisibility. We never see Mitzi the cat (except on the advertisements when she went missing in A Matter of Taste), we never saw Alfonso Dominico, likewise we don't get to see the crabs, except when dead. The only exception to this rule is next episode, when the pig who is about to be sacrificed for the pork festival gets a respectable amount of screen time. I wonder if this lack is an artistic choice, a budget-related choice, a way of avoiding RSPCA enquiries, or a pandering to actor fears that a cute animal (cf: Skippy) steals the show every time. Only time will tell.

Basically, this episode was an exploration of relationship and intimacy. Who has it, who doesn't, who wants sex, and whether sex means anything anyway. I thought the intersecting discussions and relationships of Bob, Heather, Jack, Laura, Max and his old friend Paula worked really well. Bob and Heather's marriage counselling was both hilarious and depressing. Why does Heather stand it? What is there to love in that self-absorbed, pompous, homophobic idiot? Bob wants sex, Heather wants their marriage to work; and whether these ideas were mutually exclusive was kind of argued out through counselling with the patient Barry.

The friendship of Max and Paula was also really interesting. Both have partners who died, and I thought the friendship between them was really touching. 'Let's get really drunk and flirt with each other' suggests the genuinely likeable Paula, and even though you think Max could do better (ie: a certain magistrate), you can see what a relief simple intimacy would be for both of them. I also liked the moment when Paula laughingly tells Max that he can't seduce her without poetry . . . and Max's smile freezes a little. I think this made him think of Elena and Pushkin, and I sat there moping for him as he changed the subject and suggested more wine.

The portrayal of Max gets more interesting as time goes by. I've been pretty cynical about the frequency of shots involving Max in a wet suit, particularly in the last episode . . . so Carmen's derisive comments about Max's 'good body' were well timed. Let's not take him too seriously! I also liked the way that although he's assertive / clever etc, when it comes to a melee, he's pretty hopeless. Not only did he get beaten up by the two thuggish characters, all it took was Laura with a pair of tongs for him to look intimidated. A very refreshing change from the usual 'I can handle myself' blokes of television. Although I have to admit that Laura looked pretty dangerous with those tongs.

Finally, the revalation of Jack's infidelity (yet again) came as a total shock. In a way it was a relief, as I shared Koala's horror when Laura and Jack kissed. I think Trudi's pregnancy effectively counters any possibility of Laura and Jack working things out. To be cynical, anyone who thought about it could have predicted this happening. Diver's departure and Jack's arrival in Pearl Bay created a difficult situation for Laura. Given that this show is on the ABC (the family values channel!), Laura's character would look rather flippant and thoughtless if she moved straight from one affair to another without trying to patch up things with the ex-husband. I'm NOT saying that divorce is a bad thing and Laura is an immoral woman, but you can see how it could be tough to maintain sympathy for a character who didn't make the effort to rebuild a family. Jack's infidelity has thus given Laura an easy way out of the marriage, as no sane audience member would ever suggest that Laura should try and patch things up with Jack. As a result, we can all thank god that we'll never have to sit through Jack kissing Laura again (yay!) and watch how things develop with a certain ex-journalist. . . .

Lyn's Spiels © 1999 Lyn

Back to the episodes page
Back to my main Seachange page
Return to Koala's Gum Tree