Chapter Two: Stitches – Chapter 2 begins with Birdie Bell (Asher Keddie) returning to Joe Burt’s (David Wenham) cabin, alone and in her own vehicle. She makes a quick note on her phone’s GPS system before getting out to visually survey the site.
Birdie wills away the train commute to the office by going back over the whimsically, cute messages Joe had sent her days prior. Her good mood wanes the instant she steps off the elevator to learn from Virginia (Michelle Perera) that upper management will no longer be interested in Tina Torana’s (Suzi Dougherty) story now that it has been changed from ‘soup van’ to ‘familial abuse.’ After a bit of back and forth, Birdie convinces Virginia to advocate for the story under the condition that she’ll also check out the ‘Offal Guy.’
At her workstation Birdie sends a quick message to Father Trevor Lang (Peter Paltos), inquiring about contact information for Tina’s daughter, Montana (Shannon Berry). Birdie’s ensuing conversation with her colleague reveals that she and Joe have a big weekend getaway planned. Merely seconds later, Joe calls to confirm the specifics.
It isn’t until Friday evening when Joe arrives to pick Birdie up that everything spirals out of control and only gets worse as the evening progresses. Just as he is about to load her luggage, he receives word that his son, Harry slipped by the pool during swim practice and cracked his head open. Before racing to the hospital, he encourages Birdie to continue with their plans and he’ll follow as soon as things are sorted. During the commute to the getaway, Birdie learns that Harry’s accident by the pool was related to side effects of his inflamed adenoids that Mary was supposed to schedule to have removed. Since she failed to do so, they’ll need to be removed tonight. Through all of this, Mary has been AWOL but when she does finally show up, her abuse of the staff leads to her causing a scene and getting kicked out. Joe won’t be making the trip after all.
The getaway is beautiful and sufficiently stocked for a proper weekend, but it becomes clear that Birdie is stirred by its empty vastness. So much so, that she mistakes Joe’s covert arrival in the middle of the night as an intruder.
The entirety of the following day is spent on the beach and the proceeding evening lounging in bed, trading stories of horrible past relationships. After learning that Mary once purposely pushed Joe off a ladder and broke his collarbone, she shares tales of dating her journalism professor and Anton (Nicholas Brown) in her twenties. Birdie doesn’t view her relationship with Anton so as horrible but rather awkward. Much to Joe’s surprise, Birdie and Anton practically grew up together and according to her, he shared his homosexuality with Margeaux (Heather Mitchell) before his own mother. The evening ends with Birdie telling Joe about her taking medication for anxiety after he tells her how he fell in love with Tessa Rain (Freya Stafford).
Birdie wakes the following morning to find a completely transformed Joe. He appears to be working from his laptop on the couch and doesn’t even acknowledge her arrival in the kitchen. Her invitation to go prospecting for rare oysters goes unanswered and when she tries to sneakily approach him from behind, he nearly becomes violent. Despite all this, she handles it rather well and goes oyster hunting alone. He doesn’t acknowledge her departure.
After spending what must be hours on the beach, Birdie returns to find Joe transformed again. This time he is clingy and appears on the verge of panic at the thought that she left him. He not only continues to profess his love for her but makes him promise to never leave her. As their checkout time nears, Joe surprises her with the announcement of a night at the Crown Towers. He says they can even get a suite if she is willing to put it on her credit card because he refuses to own one. He does apparently have cash and as for Harry, he’s scheduled for a sleepover at a friend’s home.
Things are bad as soon as they arrive at Crown Towers and Birdie receives the call from Cookie (Dax Carnay) with the news that Tina won’t likely make it through the night and has been put on a morphine drip. Later learning that they are scheduled to meet Allan (Yuchen Wang) and the Chinese Delegation for a meeting about wind farms doesn’t help matters. As he unveils all this, he realizes that he’s overstepped and apologizes but Birdie takes it in stride. She maintains this cool and relaxed persona even after learning that he’s packed a suit and claims that Mary has drained their bank account.
Although at the time it appears that no one notices, Birdie nearly has a panic attack as she continually plays Joe’s excuses about the credit card over and over in her mind. She does have to excuse herself to the bathroom at one point. The relief is clear on her face when Joe covers the dinner bill with cash. On their way back to their suite, Joe repays her for the room and apologizes about the meeting. That night Joe has some sort of nightmare/flashback that leads to him busting Birdie’s nose and referring to her as Kirsty (Ming-Zhu Hii).
While attending Tina’s funeral Birdie learns that she lied about Montana. Montana is not a doctor and has never been out of the country. The episode ends with Birdie taking a shower and remembering Joe’s story about Tessa Rain. This inspires her to not only look her up but contact her about their mutual friend, Joe. The episode wraps with Birdie receiving the warning to RUN!
Fake Review
Not a horrible episode but I just hope the whole series doesn’t end up reading like a mental health pamphlet. It sure seems this is where it is headed. I did enjoy the central theme that no one is what they seem. If the series can continue with that, I’ll be pleased. I sure wasn’t expecting Tina to be lying about Montana, which honestly shouldn’t have been that surprising. I also wasn’t expecting her to die so early in the series. I feel that was a wise move. All in all, a much better episode. I’d give it a 6 out of 10.
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