King of Cronulla – As this episode of Plum begins, Spud yells at Peter Lum (Brendan Cowell) to come on while he waits for family. Once they see him, Renee (Asher Keddie) goes inside without him. Peter goes over to speak to his dad. Albert Lum (Nicholas Cassim), who is drunk, asks Peter to buy him a truck so he can get back to work. Peter tells his dad bye before walking away. After the intro, Peter is checked out at the Sutherland Hospital in 2018. As they go home, Renee urges Peter to go inside and tell Charmayne what happened. She keeps urging him to tell his girlfriend and son what has happened. Renee reminds him that he can’t drive for six months. If he doesn’t change how he lives, he could potentially experience dementia or death. They gave him a referral to a specialist named Liz Lombardo. Renee tells him to call her.

Peter yells at her to shut up. Renee blames him for making her the next of kin. When he goes inside, Peter finds Gavin (Vincent Miller) with Ainslee (Talijah Blackman-Corowa). Charmayne (Maria Duplaa) asks Peter if he had a bender. Peter tries to make excuses for everything. He goes to his bedroom and goes to sleep. Charmayne finds him with sunglasses on and tells him he’s been asleep for twelve hours. The next day, Peter exercises with Gavin. When they return, Gavin asks about the car. Peter has to make an excuse about it too. Gavin wants his dad to take him to the grand final game in a few days. Peter promises it’s coming. Later, Charmayne says she’s okay not doing Plum’s Café and she’ll do it herself. Peter asks if she wants to go for a swim tomorrow. He hopes she wouldn’t think he’d cheated on her. Charmayne and Ainslee exercise at the gym. Brick (John Tui) tries to get Gavin ready for the big game.

At home, Peter ends up drinking while cooking. Charmayne, Gavin, and Ainslee return moments later. Peter talks to Ainslee and Gavin about his relationship with Renee. During dinner, Charmayne reminds Peter that she doesn’t eat gluten. She insists it’s okay. Peter sets the alarm for himself and Charmayne. She asks him to show her behind the wall. The alarm goes off. Peter gets upset and throws it against the wall. He gets upset and punches the wall. Charmayne packs her bag to leave. Gavin asks his dad whether he did something. Peter walks down to the water by himself. A swimmer sees him standing on the edge and decides to confront him. Renee finds Charmayne sleeping in her car. She wakes her so she can join them on their walk. Peter wakes up on a couch before Tatiana (Janet Anderson) joins him. He learns The Old Bike Shed is Tatiana’s bar. Tatiana admits her father was ashamed of her, but she inherited a lot of money when he died.

She explains that everyone is welcome there. Renee checks on Charmayne who is distant. She tries to find out whether Peter told her. Renee asks Charmayne if she’s driving them out to Gavin’s final tonight. Peter realizes that he doesn’t have his phone. He tells Tatiana that he lost his job. She says she’s looking for a security guy. Peter insists he wasn’t going to jump. Hugh picks him up moments later. Tatiana tells Peter that poetry is on Tuesday night and it starts at 7. Peter tells Hugh what they said about not driving for six months. They also want him to see a head doctor. Hugh suspects he should go as well. Peter asks if he could drive them out to Gavin’s game tonight. Hugh can’t. Peter explains he doesn’t want to keep hearing that he’s in trouble. Charmayne pulls up and refuses to speak to Peter. Ainslee ends up driving everyone to the game. Peter gives his son a pep talk, but it doesn’t go well. Brick, Renee, and the others arrive too. Ainslee asks Peter to drive back home.

Charmayne takes the keys since she suspects Peter will have a few beers. Peter asks Gavin if he wants to listen to his pump-up speech. Gavin believes he’s already heard it. Peter catches up with him and tells him to never take a backwards step. Charmayne tells Brick she’s wondering why Ainslee is driving. They agree it’s not good for Gavin. Peter seems to be forgetting things. Meanwhile, Gavin tries to get ready for the game. He’s asked if Peter or Brick would still do the presentation. Gavin doesn’t know. Renee catches Peter alone and asks if he’s told Charmayne about the seizure. She threatens to call Liz Lombardo and get him an appointment. Renee warns him to tell Charmayne before she goes. Dana Hanlon (Jenni Baird) stops Peter who says he’s sorry to hear about Mo. Brick wonders what she’s doing there. He tells Charmayne not to talk to her because she’s a snake in the grass. Dana tells Peter she’s sent her dad’s brain to Boston to get checked for CTE.

She’s looking for players who might list themselves. Peter gets away quickly. The game begins. Peter remembers his days and thinks about everything that has happened. He gets up and walks away from the game just as Gavin is hurt. Dana takes pictures of Peter as he leaves. Peter goes to the bar to get drunk. Charles Bukowski (Matthew Sunderland) speaks to him and says he’s a king. Gavin and his team celebrate. Bobby D (Andrew Ryan) has Brick hand out the Barry Russell Medal. Dana speaks to Ainslee and Charmayne. Gavin receives the player of the match award. Peter keeps talking to Bukowski about his old man. Bukowski tells him he should read Ham On Rye which is a book about his life. Then, he might be able to write his own tale. Bukowski believes they’re rocketing towards the final song. Gavin is the last to leave the locker room. Peter dances alone in the pub. He walks away in the darkness. Peter tries to get into the stadium only to learn the game ended hours ago.

He’s told he needs to get home. The man won’t tell him who won. Brick gets a drink alone. Charmayne brings his hoodie back. In the morning, Gavin finds Peter sleeping on the front lawn. He wakes him up and gives him something to drink. Gavin learns that his son scored and won man of the match. Gavin leaves with the girls after telling Peter to get himself cleaned up. Brick is told the gym will open in 15 minutes. Charmayne is still there. She admits she hasn’t done that in years. Charmayne says she normally doesn’t do that stuff. She believes she overshared all the business she told him about. Charmayne insists Peter is great most of the time. She asks him to forget it all. Brick asks if they’re still going to do Gym and Trim though. When Peter calls her phone, he hears a recording about Gym and Trim and Brick with Charmayne. Peter questions whether they can talk. He walks outside and finds Bukowski.

Charles tells him it’s the little things that send a man to the madhouse. Peter gets mad and charges at him only to hit the ground. Charles threatens to call in Sylvia. Sarah Lum (Susie Porter) calls Peter to ask if he’s coming to their mom’s 75th. Peter finds a note from Charmayne who tells him she’ll say when she’s ready to talk again. He ends the call with Sarah. Gavin offers to wait for Peter if he wants to go to the beach. Peter tells him to just go. He gets upset and yells at him to just go. After Gavin leaves, Peter begins breaking down.

 

Plum Review

The potential is here for Plum to become a very emotionally impactful series, but it hasn’t really reached that level yet. It seems to be slowly building up to that though. The performances are mostly good here, but Brendan Cowell is great and that’s what matters the most.

Asher Keddie and Vincent Miller have been good as well. At this point, the story is only skimming the surface probably because Peter is trying to fight reality. As a result, there are side stories that likely aren’t that important in the big scheme of things. Once the door is opened and Peter confronts the truth, this thing could really take off.

It’s better for that to happen sooner rather than later. Otherwise, it’s just going to be a downward spiral until the finale when the truth finally spills out. After all, there’s only so much we’ll be able to accept before the whole thing becomes frustrating. We’ll have to see how it plays out and when Peter tells the truth.

This episode was good although not as impactful as it could’ve been. It scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Plum can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.