Hurricane – As the opening episode of Plum begins, Peter Lum (Brendan Cowell) is injured at Boothferry Park in Northern England in 2001. The commentator feels bad for Peter Lum and his pregnant wife Renee (Asher Keddie). Peter is given smelling salts so he can get back out there. In Cronulla, Sydney in 2018, gets up and briefly speaks to Ains. Peter immediately begins working out. Later, Renee visits him at home. They talk about their son Gavin (Vincent Miller) and whether he should finish school. Peter thinks he should learn a trade. He reminds Renee they hadn’t heard much from her since she got pregnant. Peter also says Renee booted him out. Later, Peter hangs out with Matt (Wayne McDaniel), Brick (John Tui), and others as they watch the race. Peter claims Charmayne (Maria Duplaa) doesn’t have him in the doghouse.
He just had a corporate on tonight at Sharks Leagues. Peter begins feeling odd before he notices Matt brought him a beer. Squeaky (Josh McConville) is asked why they call him squeaky. On the bus, Peter hears a guy calling his name. Once he joins Charmayne at home, he keeps thinking about the man. They discuss naming the café Plum’s Café. Peter remembers the man telling him there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. When he looked back, the man wasn’t there. Gavin speaks to Ainslee (Talijah Blackman-Corowa) about scoring a goal in front of a full stadium. Peter goes to the fundraising quiz night. Wocko says he’s going to ask him questions. He believes Peter will know the answer to most of them. During the questions, Peter sees the man in the distance again. He zones out and struggles with the next question. Peter zones out for the next question as well. Gavin answers the question for him.
Peter collapses. Gavin plays and uses his dad’s advice. During a gathering, Gavin searches for Henry. Oliver (Jemaine Clement) is there as well. Peter speaks to Kaia who talks about hurricanes. Peter zones out again. Charmayne speaks to Renee and some other women. They invite Charmayne to join the Esplanade Walking Club. Renee lets her hold Tallulah. Oliver speaks to the crowd and thanks everyone for coming to Tallulah’s christening. He congratulates Gavin on leading his team to a comfortable semifinal win. Peter speaks to Brick in private about Oliver. Renee interrupts and hangs out with Peter. She asks what happened on Wednesday and whether he fell off the stage. Peter doesn’t want to talk about it though. He goes upstairs and looks around. Oliver finds him using the bathroom. He invites Peter into the practice if he wants to have a chat. They talk about Kaia and Gavin. Oliver admits Kaia and Renee can clash.
Later, Peter walks with Charmayne, Gavin, and Ains. Charmayne says it felt weird for Renee to be so nice to her. They go in alone and start making out. After having sex, Peter says he might go into the kitchen and check on the teens. Charmayne reminds him of the rule to get off at Redfern to forget things. She admits she’s not likely to get pregnant although it’s possible. Peter notices a pain in his back. He speaks to Gavin who was thinking about going away somewhere after they win. Ains and a few of her mates are going to Bali for two weeks. Peter wants him to win before they have that conversation. They play around a bit. Peter’s back hurts so he looks for pills. He gets a call from his friends who invite him over. Peter ends up getting into the pool outside. Next, he meets Brick and they head to the beach. While they exercise, Charmayne asks Gavin if she should be worried that Peter had 17 beers. She doesn’t think everything is okay.
She can’t ask him because he’ll shut down completely. Chris Davidson (Matt Nable) speaks to Dana Hanlon (Jenni Baird). Chris says her old man was a true rugby league gentleman. Dana says Mo’s brain gave away. He goes on to say he had CTE. Dana wants Chris to pay his respects and she wants back in. Chris says it’s a nonstory and it won’t work. Dana set her dad’s brain in to get tested in Boston. Chris says Rugby League loves a good narrative. He asks her to call if she finds anything else. Peter decides to leave when he feels like people are bothering him during his run. Brick catches up with him and asks what the heck he’s doing. Once they sit down, Peter tells him about déjà vu. Brick decides to get their food to go when he sees people nearby. Peter tells Brick he had a few beers last night. Brick insists he should’ve joined them before changing his mind. He thought the hardest part would be telling the kids it’s over.
When they settle, she’s going to see what a mess it all is and how the gym chews money. Charmayne ends up going to the walking club with Renee and the others. She thanks Renee for inviting her. Renee says Gavin talks about her a lot. She believes having Tallulah has changed her. Renee says she can ask her stuff if she’s struggling to break through the wall. Charmayne does Lexi’s HIT class. Peter learns that a rule has been implemented. If a player is deemed to be concussed, an 18th player can be brought on. Peter says that’s the game. They don’t want to become American football and stop for 10 minutes every time a player takes one. Peter gets distraught while he’s driving. He calls Charmayne and seems off. He suggests going overseas again. She reminds him that they decided to focus on Plum’s Café for the next 18 months. Charmayne ends the call.
Brick’s partner tries to tell him about the idea he and Charmayne had. Brick goes to his room and doesn’t listen to him. Peter goes to work and tells Graham he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Brick does drugs. Graham warns Pete he has gone a little offline. Peter is out of it. Graham tells him he has a Dreamliner coming down on top of him. He can’t get through to him. Someone on a plane films Peter as he has a seizure. Peter is taken to a hospital. Renee arrives with the baby and checks on him. He begins crying.
Plum Review
The opening episode of Plum did a good job of setting up the core story in the latter half of the episode. By this point, viewers should be familiar with the characters and the things they’re going through at the moment. Despite some odd editing, the story is fairly easy to follow.
Almost everyone did a good job with their roles here, especially Brendan Cowell who received most of the spotlight. Some of the minor roles weren’t as strong, but they don’t matter as much to the core story. The story has a lot of potential as it reaches some emotional highs in future episodes.
However, the opening episode was really hindered by choppy storytelling and erratic editing. The first three-quarters weren’t really that enjoyable because scenes were cut so abruptly. That was likely done intentionally to try to give viewers an idea of what Plum was going through, but it really just created an unpleasant experience.
The end of the episode made up for it and should be enough to justify sticking with the series. As long as it expands on this though, Plum could be an emotionally impactful journey. The opening episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Plum can be found here.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
