Trying – The Send-Off

By: Gladys Luna

With a six-year time jump and a revealing truth, we see someone has died and at this point it could be anyone. As the episode unravels, we are fooled with different clues that leads us into thinking that any of our beloved characters could be gone, but it is not until we see the memorial service announcement that we realize that it is Bev (Clare Higgins) who has left this earth. The family starts gathering at Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason’s (Rafe Spall) house so they can go to the memorial together. Once they get to the church, the family is surprised to see how many people have shown up to say their farewells to Bev. Before the service starts Nikki tells Jason that she is afraid that Princess (Scarlett Rayner) and Tyler’s (Cooper Turner) biological mother Kat will show up at any minute since this is her mother’s memorial after all, but Jason tries to calm her down saying that there’s no reason for that to happen. The woman hasn’t been in the picture for years and he believes this won’t change anything. The service starts and Bev’s coffin is carried through the isle by some of her friends, including her grandson, Tyler. Princess gives a moving speech about her grandmother while the Vicar (Aidan Cheng) tells stories about the adventurous life that Bev led, making everyone laugh. And to top that off, he plays a video of the woman in which she thanks them for everything and tells them that she has a gift card of her favorite bar, so she urges them to celebrate on her behalf. But before they go, the Vicar asks them to sing “Angels” by Robbie Williams for her and they do it.

When the memorial ends, Nikki approaches Tyler and he confesses that he already misses Bev, so the woman suggests him to take something from the memorial with him to remember her by. He goes for the natural size picture of his grandmother. Everyone arrives at the bar that Bev suggested except for Scott (Darren Boyd), who gets distracted by a phone company call offering him a new phone plan making him miss the others. The family arrives at the bar and they are surprised to see that it is already packed. The bartender, Lenny (Paul Kaye), introduces himself to the family and encourages them to have fun. Everyone appears to be having the time of their life just like Bev would want them to. Later on, Princess has a conversation with Jason in which she confesses to him that she didn’t get the chance to tell Bev that she loved her, and she regrets it but the man says that even when she didn’t, Bev knew it. Given the situation and knowing that he and his father Vic (Phil Davis) are not exactly affectionate toward one another, she persuades him to go and express his love for him. He does this but, unfortunately, he is not capable of saying it and ends up talking about football instead. It appears this is the only love language they know.

Sometime later, Nikki and Jason are talking when they see Lenny suspiciously taking some boxes to the back of the bar and being followed by a group of people. The couple decides to go after him and are surprised to see that the room is filled with all sorts of things and gadgets that Bev had bought for everyone before she passed away and now it’s for them to take. Nikki feels that taking anything from the other woman is disrespectful until she spots an air fryer and changes her mind.

In the meantime, Scott is still on a call with the phone company and has been so distracted that hasn’t even realized that he has arrived at the wrong bar. He enters the place and orders some champagne to celebrate Bev’s passing from this earth. Back at the other bar Princess watches Jason looking sad and assumes that he couldn’t tell his father what he truly wanted to say so she encourages him to give it another try. The man goes for one more attempt in which, surprisingly, manages to communicate what he wanted but not in the language he expected as he uses football to express his feelings to Vic and is happy to find out that he is reciprocated.

Everyone is singing, cheering and drinking except for Nikki who is at the door still thinking that Kat will arrive at any given moment. Princess watches her and asks her if she is looking for someone, so the woman lies saying that she is waiting for Scott who is still at another bar while his wife Karen (Sian Brooke) is also looking for him and calling him with no response. Later, Lenny shows up carrying the gifts that Bev left for her grandchildren; an old computer for Tyler and an envelope for Princess that contains the keys to a car. After a while, the family is already tired and wanting to leave but Lenny stops them and closes the bar so they can keep celebrating so, the family decides to escape through the window and go to pick up the car that Bev left for Princess. As soon as the young girl sets her eyes on the vehicle, she falls immediately in love with it. She goes through the glove compartment and finds some old CDs and a butterfly necklace next to a handbook and warranty of the car that say that it belongs to Kat Reid, her biological mother. Nikki approaches her daughter, and she immediately hides the handbook keeping her mother in the dark in front of such a revelation.

The day is coming to an end and Nikki’s head is still very much concerned about Kat. Once again, Jason tries his best to convince her that she won’t be an obstacle in their lives. In the room next door Tyler sleeps peacefully with the picture of Bev by his side. On the other hand, Scott wakes up from his sleep at the realization that he went to the wrong bar and finally there’s Princess who is wearing the butterfly necklace and ready to start the search for Kat Reid.