We start with a swanky aerial shot of Erinsborough High, followed by a shot of the Erinsborough High School sign, and its motto ‘Invenies intelligetis perfectum mistio’, as pupils walk past.
YASHVI (voiceover): Go to school, get an education. We’re told that from the minute we’re born. But what really goes on in a place like Erinsborough High? Susan Kennedy is the principal; and it’s true, she’s in charge.
We see archive footage of Susan on the phone, and then introducing Mackenzie on her first day to Yashvi and Harlow. Then we move onto archive footage of the toilet protests and other scenes from the main show, showcasing Cherie Reyner, Marty Muggleton, and Yashvi, Harlow and Mackenzie.
YASHVI: But beneath here there’s an entire ecosystem of teachers and students. There’s Miss Reyner, vice principal and student counsellor… Mr Muggleton tries his best, but most of the time is just a bit sad. And there’s us – the students – all trying to find our way.
New footage of Hendrix fronting up to Mr Muggleton in a classroom. Among those in the class are Richie Amblin and Ollie Sudekis. This is followed by a shot of new character Jeremiah in the common room area.
YASHVI: It’s end- of- year exams, and things are particularly tense. And I don’t just mean schoolwork.
More archive footage from the main show; Ollie accuses the toilet protesters of trying to be ‘woke’, but Richie tells him to shut up, and joins the queue to support Mackenzie. They smile at one another.
We then get footage from the preceding Friday episode of Neighbours, of Yashvi clearing the air with Ned at The 82; Olivia asking Yashvi what happened to her eye, and talking about ‘that psycho Mr Kelly’; Olivia running from the school and falling, leading Finn to get out of the taxi and Olivia to run away from him; and Susan telling Elly and Finn that Olivia never turned up for her exam.
YASHVI: This is the week that will make us or break us.
New footage of a boy and girl holding hands; and a blurry shot of one character punching another. The sequence ends with Hendrix, Richie, Yashvi and Mackenzie walking and chatting outside school.
YASHVI: This is the real story of Erinsborough High.
School courtyard
Yashvi is at a picnic table, filming herself for a video diary.
YASHVI: Hi – my name is Yashvi Rebecchi. I am the daughter of Dipi and Shane Rebecchi, and the niece of the infamous Toadie Rebecchi. The date is Monday –
Yashvi quickly becomes frustrated and tells herself to relax – it’s not a court appearance!
YASHVI: Miss Reyner said the plan was to use these video diaries at our ten- year reunion, and look back and revel at how we’ve grown. No- one’s meant to watch them except for us, so – from Past Yashvi to Future Yashvi, *please* have achieved something. Anything. Fame and/or fortune would be a bonus. How’s 2029? Do we still have icebergs? Ah, that’s bleak.
She refers to a sheet of questions to answer.
YASHVI: How did you feel at the start of the school year? … Honestly? Like I’ve done it before. Because I have. So I just figured it’d be more of the same. I never thought that Olivia Lane would go missing, though.
Cue a short title sequence: Richie, Hendrix, Mackenzie and Yashvi walk down the road, talking and laughing. Briefly imposed over this are the Neighbours logo and then ‘Erinsborough High’.
School corridor
Yashvi has just finished her final exam, and boasts to Mackenzie that she is ‘finally free’. Mackenzie tells her not to rub it in; she still has a year to go.
YASHVI: Oh, boo- hoo – this is me being sympathetic and feeling your pain. Now, can I get a high- five?
MACKENZIE: Well done. Now it’s time to enjoy working, paying taxes, voting, university…
YASHVI: Oh, jeez, Mackenzie, way to bring down the mood. Let me enjoy this.
Mackenzie gets a text from Richie, who’s stressing about his practice physics exam. Mackenzie smiles and starts texting him back, oblivious to what Yashvi’s saying to her about her future plans.
YASHVI: So basically, my plan is to get on a game show, get rich, spend it all on a face and neck tattoo, and then live out an angry, bitter existence towards mankind cos I couldn’t get a job. Does that sound like a solid plan to you?
MACKENZIE: Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.
Mackenzie is distracted text- flirting with Richie and discussing a possible movie night, including the film ‘Gravity’. Harlow turns up, and she and Yashvi tease Mackenzie about ‘sexting’ and her overuse of emojis. Harlow says they’d better not be for Hendrix; Yashvi explains that it’s Richie she’s texting.
HARLOW: Mild improvement.
MACKENZIE: I’m not sexting!
Harlow asks if the girls know where Olivia has gone. She was supposed to be in Yashvi’s last exam, for business studies, but has apparently gone missing. Yashvi’s doubts that she could’ve gone far.
YASHVI: Love the girl, but she’s a drama queen.
Mackenzie nods, but Harlow looks worried.
Classroom
Richie is grinning from ear to ear as he continues to text Mackenzie. On his way to sit down, he bumps into a pupil called Jeremiah by accident and apologises.
RICHIE: Sorry, mate. I didn’t see you.
JEREMIAH: It’s cool – no- one does.
Hendrix is sitting at the teacher’s desk with his feet on it, and addresses the class, doing his best Mr Muggleton impression.
HENDRIX: Forget everything I have taught you this year, my padawans; the best way to measure the speed of light is by how fast my Tinder date wants to leave. She arrives at the restaurant, which I have a coupon for by the way, and she sees me. Next minute – she’s gone!
Mr Muggleton comes in and tells Hendrix to move. When Hendrix stays put, Mr Muggleton tells him to leave the room – but Hendrix is going nowhere.
MR MUGGLETON: You’d better hope your dad’s willing to bankroll this act of yours forever, because acting like a spoilt brat’s all you’ve got.
Muggleton asks Jeremiah to pass out the physics exam papers, then again tells Hendrix to leave, getting right in his face. Hendrix eyeballs him for a while, then walks out of the classroom. As Jeremiah passes Ollie Sudekis’ desk, Ollie bangs the table hard to intimidate him.
OLLIE: Oh, no – the Ghost got a fright? Thought it was supposed to be the other way round.
Muggleton tells Ollie to be quiet.
School courtyard
An angry Hendrix is by the outdoor lockers. He’s got a marker pen, and starts scrawling graffiti across the lockers. But at that moment, Mackenzie and Yashvi emerge from the school building and he stands in front of the lockers to cover his handiwork. Once they’ve gone, we see he’s written ‘Muggleton is a…’ But the moment’s lost, and he leaves without finishing the sentence.
Row of trees
Hendrix is walking along as he films his video diary.
HENDRIX: So, this diary is for what – ten years from now? Honestly, I’m not fussed where I’ll be. Muggleton, on the other hand – we should all be feeling sorry for that bloke. I’m worried for you, Muggo. You’ll still be here, living in the back of your mum’s old Nissan – the same loser virgin you are now. Ten years from now, the name Muggleton won’t mean anything to me. But you – oh, you’ll remember me, alright. Cos you’ll have nothing better to think about. You know, that’s the difference between us. Yeah. And you now what? You don’t know a thing about me. You don’t know Corned Beef Tin!*.
Hendrix points at the camera angrily.
Miss Reyner’s office
Miss Reyner is talking to Yashvi about whether she got her uni preferences in on time; she did, and sports sciences at Hawk is her first choice, followed by nursing at Langton, and early childhood at Eden Hills. Reyner’s surprised by the last one, as Yashvi hadn’t mentioned it before; Yashvi says it comes naturally as she spends a lot of time with her cousins (Nell and Hugo).
However, it seems Yashvi’s main reason for picking those universities are their footy teams. Miss Reyner warns her that she shouldn’t pick uni courses based on that; if she’s going to rack up a massive debt, it might as well be for a subject she’s interested in. Yashvi’s deflated by the bluntness.
MISS REYNER: I’m sorry. We’re all just a little anxious about Olivia.
YASHVI: Oh, don’t worry, Miss. Liv will turn up when she knows enough people have noticed that she’s gone.
MISS REYNER: You know, Finn Kelly was seen on school grounds earlier today.
No- one thinks Finn was responsible for her going missing except possibly Liv’s mother Angela, says Miss Reyner – but she adds that Finn has said that when Liv saw him, she ran off.
MISS REYNER: She’s missed a Year 12 exam and she’s not answering her phone; it’s very unlike her. You’re friends with her – have you heard from her?
YASHVI: No. I saw her before the exam, but that’s it.
MISS REYNER: Did she say anything strange or different?
YASHVI: What, are you saying this could be serious?
MISS REYNER: Well, a student’s missing, so… yeah.
Common room
Richie sits down next to Jeremiah on one of the sofas.
JEREMIAH: Sorry, is this your seat?
RICHIE: … Can I ask you a question?
JEREMIAH: Yep. Yes.
RICHIE: That exam was meant to be tough, yeah? The practice exam?
Jeremiah hesitates, and Richie quickly guesses that Jeremiah found it much easier than he did. Jeremiah tries to reassure him that it’s modules three and four that really matter. As Jeremiah leaves, Richie gets a text from Mackenzie, asking how the exam went. He looks worried, and doesn’t reply. Hendrix is eyeing him from across the room.
HENDRIX: You look like someone took a dump in your lunchbox.
RICHIE: I’m screwed, man. I gotta hope someone calls in a bomb threat, otherwise I’m gonna fail physics big- time.
Hendrix moves to sit next to him.
HENDRIX: What if I told you you had nothing to worry about?
RICHIE: I was joking about the bomb threat.
But Hendrix has a better plan – they’ll steal a copy of the real physics exam paper before tomorrow, and then ‘smash it’. Richie isn’t keen, saying his dad would kill him if they got caught. Plus…
RICHIE: It’s gonna look suss if you actually pass.
HENDRIX: Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, man (!)
Richie wishes Hendrix luck with stealing the paper.
Miss Reyner’s office
Miss Reyner is on the phone to Susan, saying it’s a ‘tough time’ and she can ‘only imagine what Angela’s going through’. Jeremiah knocks on the door and comes in to wait. Miss Reyner winds up the call and is about to talk to Jeremiah, but Mr Muggleton bursts in, complaining about what a petulant child Hendrix is. He keeps ranting, not even noticing Jeremiah until Reyner points him out.
MR MUGGLETON: Oh, sorry, mate – I didn’t realise you were there!
JEREMIAH: It’s cool. Teenagers are the worst.
Reyner suggests to Jeremiah that they have his careers appointment another time, and he leaves the teachers to talk. Reyner and Muggleton laugh; she says it’s lucky it was only Jeremiah who heard what he was saying.
She adds that Muggleton shouldn’t let Hendrix get to him. When Muggleton admits he may have gone too far in snapping back at Hendrix, she suggests he apologise to him; they need to make the students feel safe right now, given what’s going on.
MISS REYNER: Despite the effect it might have on your ego.
Erinsborough Greenway
Jeremiah is filming his video diary.
JEREMIAH: My name is Jeremiah Julian Annan, and I’ve lived in Erinsborough my entire life. Some people call me Ghost, which is… I can imagine worse nicknames. At least ghosts don’t have to answer to anyone. There is no way I would attend a ten- year reunion; I mean, what’s the point? To see who got fat? Or listen to Ollie whinge about how he lost custody of the kids.
He refers to the question sheet.
JEREMIAH: What are your weaknesses? Well, there’s Mexican food, nineties R&B… caring what other people think…
He looks sad.
School corridor
Mackenzie is still texting Richie. He tells her he plans to drink a lot after the exams. Mackenzie sends him vomiting emojis. He’s just replied again when Mackenzie turns a corner and walks right into Richie himself! His grin disappears and he looks nervous.
MACKENZIE: Hey!
RICHIE: … Hey.
MACKENZIE: You’re on. Post- exam drinks. Or movie night sounds good. ‘Gravity’ sounds… infinite.
RICHIE: Yeah, sure. We… we can invite whoever.
Mackenzie looks disappointed; evidently she’d assumed it would be a one- on- one. The awkward conversation continues, until it’s interrupted by Yashvi. She tells Mackenzie that the Liv situation seems serious and that they need to find her. Mackenzie doesn’t know anything about where she might be, so Yashvi asks Richie instead.
RICHIE: Nothing. Why would I know?
YASHVI: You used to date. Surprised they haven’t hauled you in for questioning. The ex- boyfriend’s always the number one suspect.
RICHIE: Shut up, I don’t know anything.
YASHVI: Chill, I’m just joking.
RICHIE: You’re always just joking, aren’t you?
Richie walks off in a mood, leaving Mackenzie looking worried.
YASHVI: Well, that was rude.
Lassiter’s Park
Mackenzie is setting up the camera for her video diary, and looks briefly at the question sheet.
MACKENZIE: I can’t answer these questions right now. I’m gonna talk about Richie. What is going on with him?! What is going on with *us*? I mean, we talk so easily over text, and then when I see him, he’s like, a completely different person. And the way he reacted about Liv – that was weird. Maybe he knows something about where she is; or maybe he’s been messaging Olivia the whole time he’s been messaging me. And that’s why we’re so awkward in person, because he’s still with her. And he doesn’t want anyone to see us talking, and tell her, and… I do this all the time. My brain goes a million miles an hour and, bleurgh! Stuff comes out. Sorry. I know where that scared part of me comes from. Life has taught me to be extremely cautious of people… When Richie found out I was trans, I was scared at first. And then he was amazing. So I thought I knew him, but… maybe I don’t. Maybe I don’t know anything about him. So the rational part of me says, ‘hold up, Mackenzie – this boy might be playing some kind of game with you. Do not approach.’ And then the other part of me… I just like him.
Common room
Mr Muggleton and Miss Reyner come in and tell Hendrix, Jeremiah, Richie and an extra that they’re closing the common room early today. If anyone has any information on Liv, however small, Miss Reyner adds, they should let someone know.
HENDRIX: Mon Cherie.
MISS REYNER: That’s Miss Reyner to you, Hendrix. But I’m glad we saw you, actually.
MR MUGGLETON: Yeah, we need to have a word.
HENDRIX: Yeah, I… I was out of line earlier. You know, you’ve only had my best interests at heart, and I completely disrespected you. As a teacher, and as a human being.
Muggleton looks almost touched by Hendrix’s apology, and thanks him, saying he’ll see him tomorrow for the exam. Once the teachers have left…
HENDRIX: What a douche.
RICHIE: You should give the guy a break.
HENDRIX: If he was competent, you wouldn’t be looking down the barrel of a fail (…) I’m not gonna steal the physics exam. I’m gonna get the whole class to tank.
RICHIE: Yeah. Good one (!)
HENDRIX: If we all fail, Muggleton gets the blame. Mrs Kennedy’ll be so ashamed, she’ll let us resit next week, and Muggleton’ll lose his job. Icing on the cake.
RICHIE: People like you well enough, sure, but… enough to tank their exams? Nah.
Hendrix says it would buy them another week to study for it, but Richie is unconvinced that anyone would go for it. Jeremiah walks out, and Richie follows.
School entrance
Yashvi is filming another video diary.
YASHVI: So, Liv is still missing. I keep trying to go over our last conversation, to think if she said anything strange or weird, but… maybe it was just Finn. I mean, I’m not scared of him, but I can imagine what it would be like for someone else. I guess you never really know what’s going on in someone’s head. Take me, for example. Everyone thinks I am so pumped to be finishing school; and granted, I made everyone think that. But the truth? … I’m terrified. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. And not even a 99.95 ATAR can change that. I’m not good enough to play professional footy, so what else is there? I’ve had all year to come up with a Plan B. What if I never do?
Emotional, Yashvi adds…
YASHVI: I guess this Liv thing just proves that maybe none of us really know what we’re doing.
Harold’s Café
Later that evening, Dipi rushes over to give an embarrassed Yashvi a hug, congratulating her on finishing her exams.
DIPI: I’m really proud of you, you know that?
YASHVI: You don’t even know my score.
DIPI: Doesn’t matter. You did something most people wouldn’t be brave enough to do. You went back to school, and you opened up more doors for yourself. And now, you can do whatever your heart desires.
Dipi gives her another hug, and Yashvi asks why she’s so touchy- feely today.
DIPI: I’m just really happy to see you. And this Olivia Lane situation – it’s horrible.
Dipi gestures over to a table, where Olivia’s mum Angela is calling everyone she knows in a bid to try and find her. Dipi says it’s ‘so sad’. At that moment, Finn walks in, and Angela confronts him.
ANGELA: You!
FINN: Sorry?
ANGELA: Where is my daughter?
FINN: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
ANGELA: My daughter. Olivia Lane. What did you do to her?!
FINN: Nothing, I didn’t do anything!
ANGELA: Can you imagine how frightened she was? Coming face to face with you, in the place where you tried to murder everyone?
DIPI: Angela, I don’t think this is gonna help.
ANGELA: Well, what will? No- one’s been able to help me all day. It’s night now, and she still hasn’t turned up (…) Where is my daughter? Where is she?!
School corridor
The following morning, an uncomfortable Richie walks out of a classroom, where he has been interviewed by police. Mackenzie asks him if there’s been any word about Liv; he says no.
MACKENZIE: What did you tell the police?
RICHIE: I… don’t know what I can tell you… I sent Liv a text. Thought she might respond.
MACKENZIE: And?
RICHIE: She hasn’t seen it.
Ollie walks up to them.
OLLIE: So, what’s the latest? Has her body turned up yet?
RICHIE: Shut up, Ollie.
OLLIE: Careful. You might be next.
MACKENZIE: Can you just go away already?
At that moment, Richie gets a sent receipt for the text he sent Liv.
MACKENZIE: That’s good, right? It means she’s okay. Wherever she is.
OLLIE: Unless someone else has her phone. Like, whoever kidnapped her.
Ollie laughs and walks off. Richie and Mackenzie look worried.
Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Yashvi is dropping off a football in one of the storerooms. She’s shocked to find Liv hiding out in there, looking fearful as she clutches some blankets.
YASHVI: Oh, my god.
