At the beginning of the episode, Tom Cabbott (Matt Whelan) is shown sitting alone at night. Then, Maggie (Rachelle Lefevre) joins Hannah McGregor (Morgana O’Reilly) who is rushing to prepare breakfast for the unruly children. Maggie asks about Jack (Matt Nable) but he is at work. Hannah says she should be at work but she can’t leave Zoe (Anna-Maree Thomas) alone because she needs adult supervision. Moments later, Zoe wakes up, gets out of bed, and tries to escape the house without being noticed. On her way out, she goes through the purses hanging by the door and steals money from them. She goes into the room where Maggie has been staying and steals some of her items too.

Maggie tries to get Hannah to tell her what is going on at the factory but she isn’t eager to talk about it. Hannah tells Maggie that she shouldn’t let the fishery go under so Maggie promises that she is sorting it out with Stuart (Peter Elliott). After that, Kath Hines (Tandi Wright) chats with two fishermen who reveal that they’ve recently lost their jobs due to the fishery. Esther (Emily Piggford) spies on Stuart when he receives a phone call. She goes through the deleted files and emails on his computer until she finds a copy of the contract. Hannah’s friend arrives with a gift before they realize that Zoe has disappeared and ran off with their money. Maggie checks her purse and finds that some of her money has gone missing too.

In addition to that, Zoe has drawn on a picture of Maggie and Tom. Then, we see that Tom is in bad shape. He struggles to free himself and sees a boat in the distance. He rolls over and walks back to the house nearby while Kath and her partner decide to check it out. Kath finds a skeleton while making her way up to the building. Esther contacts Nate (Josh McKenzie) and lets him know that Tom is still missing. She also reveals that Tom was sloppy with the paperwork so there is a problem with the fishery. Frank (John Bach) interrupts to let Nate know that the meeting has started before learning about the business. Tom is injured but he continues walking away from the shack.

Maggie meets with Jack who believes Zoe will be on a bus to Christchurch. Jack isn’t going after her since he can’t keep her against her will. Zoe catches up with Karl and shows him how much money she has stolen. He agrees to let her tag along with him. Maggie visits the booking station and tries to find out if Zoe has been there. Charlene doesn’t believe Zoe will be found. Maggie recalls the man who enters and buys something. She leaves and walks the road. Zoe passes by before Maggie notices Stuart speaking with the guy from the store further up the road. Maggie hops into Stuart’s vehicle and asks about the yellow folder.

Stuart says it was the environmental report and he thought he could sort it out with the other man. Without that report, there will not be a deal. The report started out well but ended with blank papers and that made it impossible for Stuart to get a loan. Stuart claimed it was a printing glitch but it wasn’t. Tom took a shortcut and it backfired. Esther tells Nate about Tom dropping the ball but they’re not sure why he dropped the ball. Tom bribed the guy despite Stuart claiming that the farms are sustainable. Esther has been inside of the accounts and there is nothing left. As for Maggie, she cannot pay the man $200,000 but she doesn’t want to let the business collapse either.

They contemplate ways to save the business before Stuart suggests using tom’s trust fund money or asking Frank but Maggie doesn’t like those options. Esther tells Tom’s dad and brother that they could still pull it off if the report came in before the close of business day after tomorrow. Frank doesn’t want that to happen but Nate doesn’t understand that. Esther begins working on the loan situation immediately. Kath returns and tells everyone that she found something at Matai Bay. This excites Pania (Vanessa Rare). Maggie is worried when she hears it was human remains but Kath promises it isn’t time. Pania rides out toward Matai Bay while Esther tries to find out more about the human remains.

She is told about Ru’s daughter, Aroha Kelliher, who was murdered roughly 15 years ago. They believe the killer was a local kid by the name of Ryan Cottle who was Pania’s son. Dane tells Maggie about Ryan and his relationship with Pania. In a flashback, we learn that Ryan convinced Aroha to go bunking off into the bush during a school camping trip. They got into a fight. Ryan came back but Aroha didn’t. Dane admits that Matai Bay would be a long way to move a body. Tom watches the searchers from a distance before Kath shows Jack where the bones are located. Ru checks the skeletal remains for himself and finds a piece of jewelry that confirms the worst.

Jack tells Ru that the scene guard is on the way and they won’t leave her by herself. Maggie tells Dane she shouldn’t be there. As they leave, Maggie spots Zoe smoking on another boat. Pania believes the discovery confirms that her son wasn’t responsible for the murder. Maggie speaks to Pania about the murder in private. Pania believes the kids sneaked out that night and she searched Ryan’s bag for booze that night. She is confident that her son didn’t kill anyone but the boy confessed. Pania isn’t sure where her son is but she is sure he isn’t coming back. Greg and the others try to keep Ru calm but Greg almost makes matters worse.

Maggie approaches Ru and says she is sorry. She says she and Tom wanted to make a difference there. Ru reveals that his daughter would’ve been 32 now but she didn’t get the chance to grow up. Kath prepares food for herself and Esther but Esther is only interested in finding out what the discovery will do to the recovery mission for Tom. Kath offers to tell her as long as she has dinner with her. A bit later, Maggie throws together a quick meal for Jack. She apologizes for riding out to Matai Bay but says she needed to see for herself. Later that night, she asks what happens next. Jack says it will be a circus. They chat about the upcoming investigation and Pania’s son. Kath tries to strike up a conversation with Esther but she doesn’t cooperate.

Kath doesn’t believe the incident will bring the media and Esther is happy about that. Then, she tells Esther that Tom isn’t floating so he is gone. That night, Maggie recalls her conversation with Tom about having a baby in the house. Then, we see the couple giving a baby to someone else. The following day, Pania performs a ritual near Matai Bay while police search for evidence. Pilau stops Jack and asks him if her being in charge is going to be an issue for him. He says no and claims he is happy that she has risen through the ranks. She reveals that the search for Tom is over because headquarters needs to prioritize its resources.

Jack meets with Maggie and tells her about that decision. He promises to help as much as he can but Esther seems eager to stop the search immediately. When Jack leaves, Maggie and Esther discuss business. Esther says she has been tasked with sorting out the business but Maggie wants to deal with Tom’s problems. Esther doesn’t understand why Maggie cares so much but Maggie says Tom knew them and they believed in him. Maggie isn’t sure what happened to Esther now that she doesn’t have a heart. Once Maggie leaves, she calls Stuart and asks him who else knows about the deadline. She also encourages him to stop using his computer since she thinks Esther has access to it.

When that call ends, Greg passes by and asks Maggie if she is taking her million dollar yacht out for a spin. Pania approaches her and Maggie offers to take her on a boat ride. Maggie creates a memorial by the water and speaks to Pania about everything. Maggie wonders if it was Zoe on the boat with Tom but Pania says she should let that go because it’ll drive her crazy. Maggie leaves the picture of herself and Tom on the memorial as well as a pair of sunglasses. Tom watches everything with a pair of binoculars.

 

The Sounds Review

I really want to like The Sounds but it isn’t doing a whole lot for me. There just isn’t enough interesting going on to keep me excited throughout the entire episode. Plus, I think the show would’ve been better if they would’ve kept Tom’s condition and whereabouts hidden. It is impossible to feel sorry for Maggie since we know Tom is alive and hiding out for whatever reason.

The Esther character makes me cringe a lot. It is difficult to take that character seriously at all and I wince every time she appears on the screen. I always enjoy Matt Nable so he’ll receive the credit if I manage to stick this out until the end. We’ll see but things aren’t promising right now. The episode scores a 6 out of 10.

Previous recaps of The Sounds can be found on Reel Mockery.