As episode 6 opens, Julina Hartswood (Ben Miller) learns from Monica (Zahra Newman) and Phillipe (Iggy Wong) that Stone and Crow have not only canceled his contract but they are moving to have all Big Bear copies pulled from the shelves and readied for immediate incineration. Even worse, he can’t buy them back because they contain the publisher’s logo.

While Mel (Gia Carides) and Bill Hogan (Roy Billing) arrive in London, Julian asks Ingrid Hartswood (Sally Phillips) why she didn’t ask him to be her ghostwriter. This eventually leads to an argument that Austin Hogan (Micheal Theo) eavesdrops on. By this time, Mel and Bill have covertly made it to Julian’s flat. Little do they know Austin and Julian are inside plotting to save the remaining copies of Big Bear. Although it’s not revealed at the time, Austin appears to have a plan.

Their plan is revealed the minute they enter the warehouse dressed as forklift drivers. Austin’s conversation with another Driver (Lloyd Langford) reveals that he couldn’t have chosen a better ID. Julian is nowhere near as acknowledgeable and nearly blows their cover when the driver not only refers to him as a racist but mistakes his identity as a female author. Austin’s plan to steal the books is revealed when they finally make their way to the books. It takes some convincing, but Julian relents and goes along with the plan. He phones Ingrid for assistance, who is at the time just meeting Sean (Fayssal  Bazzi).

Ingrid’s meeting with Sean gets more and more awkward by the minute. He not only appears to put a huge emphasis on his appearance, but he begins suggesting topics for her book that have already been best-selling premises. She is eventually relieved from the awkwardness by a call from Austin, apologizing for her and Julian’s rough patch. He hints at returning home and doesn’t give her a chance to debate. She immediately cancels her meeting with Sean to race over to the warehouse.

By the time Ingrid arrives, the warehouse is past closing, despite Austin and Julian still being inside. Bill and Mel also happen to be monitoring the situation from the parking lot. After locating Julian, he and Ingrid decide to use the warehouse’s intercom system to plead with Austin. While Ingrid and Julian plead with Austin over the intercom, Mel asks Bill what his old mates refer to him as ‘Cobra Eyes.’ This basically has something to do with being able to look into one’s soul, a skill that is clearly more inherent in Mel.

While waiting for Austin to join them at the loading dock, Ingrid and Julian realize that they both agree that a cuckoo could make an excellent protagonist for her next book. Austin is still yet to make an appearance but after Ingrid announces that they love him over the intercom system, he joins them on a forklift with all of the Big Bear books. Mel and Bill watch all this go down from afar.

The episode ends with Julian, Austin, and Ingrid sitting in the living with all the stolen Big Bear paraphernalia.

 

Austin Review

I really like the premises of this episode and it was nice to get to see Austin ply his wisdom to help Julian, although I am not a huge fan of Michael Theo’s portrayal. To be quite honest, I’m not really much of a fan of anyone on the show, except for Bill. And, I am not that fond of him. Despite this, I’d give the episode a 5.3 out of 10.

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