Something rich and strange...
Written by Luke Devenish with
Deb Cox and Andrew Knight
Directed by Paul Maloney
Guest Cast
Jeremy Callaghan as Ray
David Cotter as Carl
Trudy Hellier as Maggie
Robet Grubb as Barry
This is one of my favourite episodes of the series in which we find out that Diver Dan has layers. I mean we all guessed it, but now we know.
The comical backdrop is that Harold and Meredith have written a play in place of the usual musical performed by the Pearl Bay Thespians production. Everyone seems to be caught up in the excitement of the play - everyone except Dan, Laura and Bob Jelly.
Meanwhile, Dan has old friends in town who are visiting to sell their house. Maggie and Ray. Dan was good friends with Ray. I'm not sure how this fits into the timeline of events ie how long Dan has been in Pearl Bay etc. It sounds like Maggie and Ray grew up in Pearl Bay. That aside, at the beginning of the episode, Dan and Ray are sitting on the edge of the pier, fishing with Ray's little boy, Dan.
We discover that as Ray had lost his job in the city, they were forced to return to Pearl Bay to sell the family home. When an old sweetheart of Maggie's returns to speak with her, Ray's temper flares, leaving Ray charged with assault.
Heather, after many years of aspiring for the role will be the leading lady opposite a former sweetheart - Barry Boston. Heather looked increasingly preoccupied, making Bob become jealous as he begins to realise that he has taken his docile, doting wife for granted and that it is possible that she is in love with another man.
Laura doesn't want to be in the play but is afraid of hurting the feelings of her friends Harold and Meredith. Dan gives her lessons in bad acting to ensure that she doesn't get the role. Little does he know that it Laura doesn't really need his help and some honestly-intended advice to Harold on the play ensure that she is axed.
The play is truly awful - badly written and clownish in its melodrama but it is clearly reflecting a long-hidden secret of Harold and Meredith. Despite its farcical nature, it is clear that the play is having a deep impact on the lives of Harold and Meredith and also on Bob and Heather Jelly.
Dan has implicit faith in his friend until he discovers that circumstances have changed his friend's nature and that he has become an embittered and unhappy man who now uses violence to release his anger.
This realisation awakens very raw and painful memories from his own past including his unhappy bittersweet relationshp with his own mother and the confrontation between Ray and Dan is absolutely amazing. Ray comes bursting in, exuding fury and violence and Dan calmly pins him to the floor with his foot. There was something almost chilling about the ease with which he does this and the tranquility on Dan's face as he does so. You receive a distinct impression that beneath Dan's mild-mannered surface, there is a man with his own demons and it's possible that violence isn't alien to his disposition either.
In the end, Harold's play gives lip service to the notion that the law is there to bring justice to us all while the real life play in the courtroom leaves Dan frustrated over the law's inadequacies when it comes to extracting the truth, protecting the innocent and achieving justice. I think Dan realised that it wasn't Laura's fault and that Maggie's refusal to give evidence was the issue.
In the last scene between Dan and his friend Ray, Dan warns Ray never to hurt Maggie or their son again and it's all very turbulent without being melodramatic.
The closing scene in which Diver scatters his mother's ashes is rather beautiful with a sense of closure. I also liked how Laura came walking up to him. It seemed very right. The song playing is "The Day That You Were Born" which was written and performed by Rose Bygrave (ex-Goanna).