Spring Carnival – The episode opens with Virginia Ambrose (Miranda Otto) full of complaints for Mr. Ryder (Huw Higginson). Adam Conroy (Ngail Shaw) delivers a red rose to Fay Janosi (Jessica De Gouw). Magda Szombathelyi (Debi Mazar) watches as Fay reads the card from “M” and places the red rose in a vase of white and yellow roses. Mrs. Forsythe (Carmel Johnson) places a hat on the counter to be added to her tab and delivered to her home. Ambrose compliments Fay for how well she handled a very difficult Mrs. Forsythe. Lisa Miles (Clare Hughes) offers to write a newspaper article about women’s liberation and fashion. She insists Angela Mansour (Azizi Donnelly) illustrate her article. Magda suggests asking Mr. Ryder if they can include a 10% discount at Goodes. She turns to make eye contact with George Szombathelyi (Carlos Sanson Jr) in a tuxedo. He also catches Angela’s attention. Ambrose tells George that he is only to play classic songs. After George arranges a beach date with Lisa and Angela, a slight girl (Laila Aldridge) approaches the sales counter and asks if he is single. Lisa and Angela claim to have no idea.

Fay tells Ambrose that Rudi Janosi (Thom Green) never sent her the red rose. Ambrose says Mr. Ambrose is working at Harrods in London. Wearing new outfits, Angela and Lisa race out to meet George. Mr. Mackenzie’s name has been replaced with Magda’s on the Chief Buyer’s office door. Fay gets in the car with Ken Marlow (Hamish Michael). Adam asks Ambrose to teach him everything she knows about sales. She asks him a tricky question which he gets correct. She stresses the importance of putting on an accent and quotes a rhyme for him to practice. She promises to speak to Mr. Ryder when he masters the rhyme.

The Beat – Petra (Gemma Chua-Tran) tells Richard White (Tom Wilson) and Clive Buchanan (Jack Scott) that The Herald is going to report on their Bikini Wars article. Clive assures them that they are only interested in the “dirty picture.” Petra finds his comment insulting. After correcting himself, Clive offers to buy them a drink if they can get him Angela’s number. Lisa blurts it out. At a nearby booth, Fay informs Myra (Mary Agnes O’Loughlin) of Rudi’s affair and claims to love him but isn’t sure he feels the same about her. Angela and George are out for a walk. He removes his coat and drapes it over her shoulders. He claims to have gotten into legal trouble for possessing “Mary Jane.” She tells him about her dream to become a fashion designer in Paris. He says the French have sex like animals. She forces him to promise not to interfere with her plans before letting him kiss her.

Rudi tells Fay that Enid Marlow (Krew Boylan) invited them to dinner at The Australian Club. He says if they get the contract, it will cover what they owe Stefan Szombathelyi (Russell Dykstra) and Magda. Joining him on the bed, she says he comes home smelling of another woman’s perfume and she is losing control.

At Goodes, Ambrose asks Mr. Ryder to move Adam to the stockroom and eventually to sales. He says Adam may not be a suitable candidate for such a position. She assures him that Adam is capable, regardless of his background. Lisa finds Elias Khalil (Julian Maroun) sleeping in the stockroom. He admits to being evicted from the boarding house and asks if Dorothy Miles (Sacha Horler) is still in need of a boarder. She says their house is quite a distance from the city. He assures her that it would be good for him. Magda apologizes to Fay for blaming her for losing the lease. Fay says they should be angry at Rubi and Stefan, not each other. Magda informs Lisa of her plan to catch whoever stole Goodes’ fashion designs in the act. Mr. Eagan’s account reveals purchases of ladies-wear of different sizes. Magda calls Eagan’s office to offer him a discount.

Ambrose and Fay discuss ways to combat returns. Ambrose invites Fay to accompany her to the races. Eagan’s secretary, Sally (Amelia Bishop) arrives wearing a replica of a Goodes’ dress. Sally claims to have heard from a friend about a local dressmaker. Magda tells Angela of her plan to visit all the local dressmakers. A short time later, Angela gives her sketches of Goodes’ dresses to Farouk Mansour (Ubai Dahoud) and Dawud Mansour (Hazem Shammas). She insists they wait until Goodes’ new catalog has been released to make the dresses, so no one becomes suspicious. Farouk says they have clients who would pay nicely for the designs. Dawud promises to wait.

Rudi and Fay meet Ken and Enid for dinner. Ken makes a joke about seducing a new client. Enid compliments Fay for continuing to work after she married Rudi. Fay claims to enjoy it. Enid says Ken was her father’s clerk when they met. Elsewhere, Elias entertains Dorothy and Lisa. Dorothy finds him charming. Lisa receives a letter from her school notifying her that she failed English and another subject. Dorothy says what would her father think. Lisa reminds her of the debt that he left for them. Back at the restaurant, Enid stumbles as she retrieves her coat. While assisting Lisa with her coat, Ken whispers how much he wants her. Enid stares at them. A short time later, Fay suggests Rudi wanted her to charm Ken. He promises things will change when they get the contract.

Angela warns Dawud that Magna is on their trail. He says they will close the shop to keep Magna from seeing their designs. Elsewhere, Elias tells Dorothy that Goodes is always looking for qualified seamstresses. He gives Stefan four weeks of rent in advance to pay the loan sharks. Stefan tells Lisa that Magda refuses to talk to him.

Adam tells Elias that Ambrose got him promoted to stocker to a potential sales trainee. Elias is thrilled for him. Angela shows Magda that some of the tags are the wrong size. Elias suggests it was done intentionally to undermine her. Magda doesn’t tell Mr. Ryder about the mix-up. Elsewhere, Rudi and Fay are getting dressed for the races when he receives a call for an urgent shipment. She urges him to delay the shipment to mingle with the elite but he refuses.

Stefan surprisingly shows up as Magda and Lisa set out to visit the local dressmakers. He professes to love her and pleads with her to let him come home. He suggests borrowing money from a loan shark to set up her new boutique. She says if he loved her, he would have told her about George. He admits to being wrong. Lisa interrupts to introduce Magda to Nadia (Roxie Mohebbi). At The Australia Club, Fay and Ambrose spot a Goodes customer, Helen (Miranda Turbitt). Fay approaches and compliments her style. Ambrose compliments Forsythe’s hat. Ken denies it was him. Enid admits to loving her anniversary gift, a Goodes’ turban before walking away. Ambrose sees Ken and Fay together.

Nadia escorts Magda and Lisa to Mansour’s dress shop to find the door locked. Angela is hiding inside. Nadia unlocks the door. Magda pretends Lisa is her daughter looking for a debutante dress. Lisa sees Nadia’s gown sketches hanging on the wall. After leaving the shop, Lisa tells Magda that she is going home. At The Australia Club, Fay finds Christina Wells (Samantha Allsop) upset over her “trucker boyfriend,” Rudi canceling their date. At Mansour’s, Lisa confronts Angela who claims to have copied the Genevieve gown before she started working at Goodes. Lisa knows Angela copied Goodes’ fashion designs. Angela admits to stealing the Goodes look book but none of the gowns were copied. Lisa insists she tells Magda everything. Angela says they will terminate her.

Fay sees Christina get into Rudi’s car. She watches as they drive away together when Ken approaches. A short time later, Ken and Fay are intimate. She later returns home to find George and Christina having sex on her sofa. She breaks down sobbing. The episode ends.

 

Ladies In Black Review

Magda settles into her new role as Goodes’ Chief Buyer. She sets out to catch the dressmaker responsible for stealing Goodes’ gown designs. Angela learns they plan to visit her family’s dress shop. She warns Dawud and Farouk. Nadia meets them outside the department store and escorts them to Mansour’s. Magda looks at Mansour’s designs and is satisfied that they aren’t responsible. While there, Lisa sees Angela’s design sketches on a wall. She confronts Angela who admits to everything but swears it was before she started working at Goodes.

Fay and Rudi are playing to go to the races. Rudi is forced to cancel when an order comes in from Marlow. Ken arranged the order to detain Rudi to get Fay alone. She ignores him for the most part until she sees Christina getting into Rudi’s car. Fay and Ken have sex and when she returns home, she finds George having sex with Christina.

Ambrose arranges for Adam to be a stocker. She urges Mr. Ryder to let him train in the men’s department. The episode deserves a 5.7 out of 10.

 

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