Overall Progress: 6.33%

14 out of 221 episodes watched as of 18 May 2014

(1.03) Hot Enough for You

1.03 Hot Enough for You by Vince Moran

Summary: There's a heatwave, which Chris finds difficult to cope with, as she's not used to the heat of the Outback. A Scottish couple with three children who seem to want to stay clear of the police show up in town, asks Ray the mechanic if he knows of any jobs available, and he recommends a place, but the family gets lost on the way. The father goes off to try and find help and is found unconscious and injured and taken to hospital, while his family remains by the car. When he finally comes to, he says his family is still out there, so they arrange a search party. The mother and baby are found in the car, but the boys aren't there, they've wandered off, so the search continues until they're found: one brother sitting with the other one lying dead in his lap. The couple had a dream of living in Australia, but have over-stayed and their visas have expired. The mother doesn't want to stay in the country where one of her children met his end. At the Majestic Hotel (where the rooms are anything but majestic!), Gibbo has been keeping Zeppelin in secret, with Sharon taking him out during the day. Vic isn't pleased (he thinks flirty Gibbo is trying to seduce innocent Sharon) and evicts him when he finds out.

Recurring characters: Chris, Ray, Tom, Gibbo, Kate, Jack, Joe, Vic & Nancy, Sharon, Frank, Violet, George.

The Outback can get very hot, and when Tom says he'll do the clinic run instead of Chris (who's still eager to prove herself), she gets offended. Think she can't handle the heat? Perhaps gallant of him to volunteer and keep her from the heat, but at the same time, I agree that it's patronising.

The thing that doesn't make much sense to me in this episode is the Scottish family. (Or "Scottish" as their accents seem iffy to say the least. Not to mention the acting.) Yes, they're trying to keep away from the police because their visas have expired, but there's trying to outrun the law, and then there's being bloody stupid.

If someone has stayed long enough in the country for their visas to expire, doesn't that mean you know what country you're in, and what the climate is like? The Outback is deadly. Yet the father's still naive enough to think "yeah, I'll probably be gone an hour or so, no worries". It's the OUTBACK! It's huge, it's vast, and it isn't exactly densely populated. To set off into it, without so much as a flask of water, is suicide unless you're really skilled in survival techniques. And he just wanders off as well, not following any roads or any other thing that would be reasonable to do if you want to find someone that can help you.

"But he's trying to run from the law!" you could argue, but that just brings me to another point: they have three children in that car. At this point, you have to decide whether to run from the police and risk your kids dying of dehydration, or risk being found by the police and save your family. There is a right and a wrong answer here, as if they got deported, it's not as if they'd be facing certain death because they're persecuted in their home country.

Then there's the mother not seeking shade in the trees that are clearly visible in the background and would be easy to get to. Have you ever been in a car on a hot summer day anywhere in the world? It's hot as hell. Why stay in the broken-down car instead of somewhere you can be in the shade and still have the car within eyeshot?

The mother then sends the two boys off with the small (and only) canteen of water, which the boys get into a fight about - like siblings inevitably will - and spill. So there's no water. And what does the mother do? Shout (fair enough) and tells them to get out of her sight. You're in the OUTBACK! You stick together! Yes, it was a bloody stupid thing to spill the water, but what's done is done. You can't send your kids into the wilderness on their own! They're KIDS and YOU'RE supposed to protect them!

And what happens? Of course, the mother and the toddler are eventually found. Had the boys been there too, they would all have been fine. But no. The kids - instead of staying close by but out of sight - do what they're told and wander off, and because there's no water, the younger one doesn't make it. Fantastic.

At the end, the mother breaks down and doesn't want to stay, and says "don't make my profession be the reason we stay" ... because it's not as if you were the indirect reason for losing the child in the first place.

So, no. Even if they're trying to hide from the police and get by, they're still parents, and parents have a responsibility.

The positives of this episode, though, we found out more about Sharon: she went to school at a mission, was offered a job at the Base, and gets to stay for free with Vic and Nance, who treat her like their own daughter. They're just rather old-fashioned, and doesn't trust the newbie to be able to keep his hands to himself. I think Sharon is more than capable of looking after herself, though.

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