At the beginning of the episode, Sammy (Sarah Kendall) rushes to the hospital. Once she arrives, she speaks with Dr. Wilkinson (Rufus Jones) about her husband. Sammy finds out that her husband had taken a lot of drugs and had a cellphone crammed up his backside when he passed away from a heart attack. When she tries to leave, she spots the woman her husband was with in the hallway. Sammy sits with the woman and chats with her briefly. She suspects Nick was saying something before he passed and she tried to help him by calling an ambulance.

After that, Sammy goes to the school so she can speak with her children Lenny (Frazer Hadfield) and Tess (Maggie Ireland-Jones). After saying a few words during the assembly, Sammy is allowed to speak to her children in private. The kids learn about their father’s death before they trade insults. Sammy pretends to cry for her husband but Lenny doesn’t believe it. Before all is said and done, Tess throws a stapler and injures Lenny. As they leave the school, they’re stopped by Eleanor (Chantelle Jamieson) and Julius. Eleanor has learned about the death from Wilko.

She apologizes before Sammy pretends to cry so they can leave in a hurry. That night, Sammy gets drunk and finds a lighter she had hidden away. It has a D on one side and an S on the other. After that, Sammy speaks with an attorney about the funeral and the expense of hiring the Thompson Twins. They begin talking about Nick’s estate. Sammy learns that it is insolvent. There is nothing left since Nick had many debts. Sammy is convinced that the family will be fine as long as they sell everything. Nevertheless, Rufus (Robert Webb) tells her that selling everything may not help.

The following day, items are hauled away from the house as Sammy calls Rufus about getting a call from an estate agent who is going to look at the house without her permission. Then, she gets a call from Mr. Fletcher about the kids. Sammy goes to the school and finds out that Lenny got into a fight with Julis. Tess shows her a toy with a cellphone in the butt. The other kids have been making fun of the kids because of the way their father passed. Sammy gets out and punched Eleanor in the face. After that, the family lands in Australia. Sammy’s mother Jean (Kerry Armstrong) arrives in a driving school vehicle to pick them up.

Sammy tells her mother that all of her luggage was lost. Jean wants Sammy to stop lying to the kids since they’re not in Sydney. They’re in Newcastle. When they arrive at Jean’s place, the kids learn they have an uncle named Jim. The kids will be staying in Jim’s old room and they’ll have to share. Sammy promises them that they won’t be there forever. Jean brings Sammy some sheets and pillows. Sammy lets her know that there are complications with Nick’s estate so she doesn’t know how long they’ll be around. Jean doesn’t believe it and she doesn’t think she’ll ever be forgiven. That night, Tess and Lenny chat about their mother being a liar and the way their father died.

Sammy gets up in the morning to go for a cigarette. She finds a pack and a lighter where she hid them a long time ago. She turns around and finds a homeless man using the bathroom on the street. In the morning, Lenny and Tess are introduced to Jim (Ben Mingay) and Bev (Doris Younane). Sammy tells everyone that she is going to find a job. Jim makes out with Bev before she leaves. She is the judge and Jean is going to take her to the courthouse. Sammy looks for a job while the kids get clothes for school. While shopping, the kids run into Deanne and her family. Lenny is particularly interested in Abby (Alexandra Jensen) who is going to be his new neighbor.

Sammy finds out that Dean Farrell took one of the last jobs. She used to babysit him and he loved setting fires. Dean tells her about his family member overdosing cause she couldn’t handle her heroin. That means there is a job opening with an MP. The kids return home and Lenny learns that his grandpa didn’t die in a crash. He got drunk and drowned. He plays Jim’s guitar for a moment until Jim gets angry and takes it away. Meanwhile, Sammy waits for an interview. The receptionist offers her various treats.

Chris George (George Houvardas) tells Sammy he is ready. We learn that Chris changed his last name so he could win the election. They have a history together as well. Sammy tells Chris about Nick’s death and the issues with the estate. The receptionist gives Sammy encouragement. Chris offers to give Sammy a ride home but she wants to walk. In the end, she accepts the ride. They go to their old school and Chris explains he has big plans for the school. The coach pulls Wade (Challito Browne) aside and tells him he needs an attitude adjustment. Chris tells Sammy that Dan is a PE teacher now since the professional surfer thing didn’t work out.

Wade joins them as Sammy tries to hide from Dan but he spots her. They speak briefly before Chris drives away and asks his son what the coach was talking about. Chris tells his son that Dan used to be the coolest guy in school. Sammy arrives back at home a few moments later. Wade insults Lenny almost immediately. Chris tells her that the office opens at 9. He wants her to be there by 8:15. Sammy tells her family about the job. Sammy argues with Jim before heading inside for dinner.

 

Frayed Review

I wasn’t sure what to think about Frayed going in. While I found some of the humor to be hit and miss, I still enjoyed the opening episode. It was a bit dull, funny at times, and interesting. At the very least, you can say that Frayed is different. I didn’t mind it at all and I am eager to see where things are going to go. I’d imagine they’ll get bad for the kids at school and Sammy at work.

I’ll stick with it for now. The opening episode scores a 7 out of 10.