Episode 8319
UK airdate: Thursday 19 September 2024 at 13:45 on Channel 5 and 18:00 on 5STAR
Australian airdate: Thursday 01 August 2024 at 19:30 on Channel 7
With John having stormed off, Justin, Leah and Marilyn are well into Irene’s dinner party – and getting increasingly uncomfortable. Leah and Justin, unable to bear it any longer, excuse themselves and leave. By this point Irene is several glasses deep in wine, and her mood is clearly turning sour. She even turns her attention to Harper, making snide remarks about her declining to drink when offered a glass.
John, Leah and Justin reconvene the next day feeling grim, their plans having failed one by one. They’re about to start bickering with each other about what failed and why, when Justin stops them in their tracks. Having been through addiction himself with his painkillers stint, he gives them some tough advice: you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.
John refuses to give up. He confronts Irene after seeing her throw away a bunch of empty whiskey bottles outside. Irene is furious. She snaps at John, telling him their friendship is over and kicking him out of her home.
Meanwhile, Perri arrives home late, so a concerned Tane asks where he’s been. However, Perri is in no mood for lectures. Tane becomes even more frustrated when he sees Perri show up late to his shift the next day and act so nonchalantly about it. What’s worse, he finds out that the kid tried to order a beer – right before his shift.
Tane’s about to follow Perri and give him a piece of his mind, when Mackenzie stops him. She tells him to go easy on him: after all, it turns out that today is his 18th birthday.
Embarrassed, Tane finds Perri later and apologises – he didn’t know today was his special day. Perri just wanted to celebrate a little, and he’s been finding it hard being out here in the Bay.
Feeling for him, Mackenzie and Levi take it upon themselves to surprise Perri with an expensive birthday present. Perri’s reaction is unexpected: he thanks them awkwardly for the gift. Perri later tells Mackenzie that he’s grateful for the gesture, but at the end of the day, they’re strangers to him and that’s it. Mackenzie is disappointed. When will this kid feel like he’s at home?
