Bishops
Harold shows Claudia in and Madge comes out to greet them. Harold does the intros and Madge mentions the dinner she's cooking, hoping that she'll like it. Claudia is very nervous, not meeting Madge's eye and shuffling about a bit. Harold tells Claudia to get to know Madge a bit while he puts her bags in her room but she looks horrified at the suggestion. Madge suggests that instead they all sit down and have a cup of tea.

Madge makes polite conversation but gets short answers in responses to her questions. In the end she tells Harold that she'll leave them to catch up and she'll get on with dinner. Harold makes his excuses to follow her and Claudia starts to panic until Harold says he'll only be a minute.

In the kitchen Harold thanks Madge for letting her stay. They talk about Claudia's introverted personality and Harold admits that she's had a hard life and that's why he wants to help.

Claudia calls out to him and asks if she's causing problems. Harold reassures her that she's not, but from the look on Madge's face...

Martins
Anne points out that they'll need to take a change of clothes as they can't go in their uniforms, and if they wait until after lunch they'll have been seen in a few classes so they won't be missed. The Classroom™ only holds about ten students anyway so removing 20% of that might make it a bit noticeable...

Hannah wonders if it's worth it - Anne points out that jeans that cheap don't come along every day. Anne says that neither of them have skipped school before and it is a once-only deal.

Lou's Place
Darren says they'll start off in the country so Cath can get used to driving, then she can come home through the suburbs. Libby says that it would have been fun if he'd taught her but he says that he wouldn't have even tried; like he told Mal it ruins relationships.

DARREN: Cath and I probably won't even be talking to each other after the next lesson.
SARAH: I'd be glad if I were still alive.

Mal asks Lisa how her first day went as she says that aside from a few kids playing up most of them were really supportive. She says she's got a meeting to get to with Susan and leaves. Libby declares that she's really nice and Sarah jokes that Lisa and Cath could be the sisters as they've got more in common. It quickly descends into the sibling snipes and Darren asks what's going on.

DARREN: For sisters you don't seem to like each other very much.
CATH: Of course we do.
SARAH: Yeah, we just squabble a bit because...
DARREN: Because what?
SARAH: Because we're sisters!

Ramsay Street
The next morning Hannah meets up with Anne and asks if she's brought her change of clothes. Anne says they'll have to leave quickly after lunch otherwise all the good stuff will be gone. Lisa comes up to them and asks of they're missing the holidays already and if they're looking forward to another day of classes.

Oh my god. It's a 1997, female version of Ned. No definable characterisation and boring...

Bishops
Madge gets up to find that Harold and Claudia are finishing off breakfast; Claudia made scrambled eggs. Madge asks if there's any left? Ah, no. Sorry. That's OK, she'll get her own. Whoops, there aren't any eggs left. Madge says she bought half a dozen only yesterday and Harold gets up saying it was his fault because he went back for seconds.

HAROLD: Anyway, you're not one for scrambled eggs.
MADGE: Not unless I can smell them, it puts me in the mood.

Madge says she'll make herself some toast and Harold says he'll do it, she can sit and have a word with Claudia. Madge asks what her plans are and Claudia says she'll just hang out with Ted. After pointing out his name is Harold, Madge says that he'll be working all day, surely she won't want to drive around in a van all day?

Harold times it perfectly to say that there's no bread left either. She declares that she'll get something at the Coffee Shop on her way to the pub. Claudia's horrified at the idea of Madge going to the pub at such an early hour but she points out that she works there.

Claudia is worried that Madge doesn't like her but Harold says that she's just not a morning person. Claudia adds that Madge isn't the kind of person she would have ever imagined him being married to.

HAROLD: Not what I would have imagined either. But the heart does have its reasons they say.

Claudia says it's good to have him to talk to - she was so scared and lonely and afraid she was going to have another breakdown. Harold replies that he's there for her and she's welcome anytime.

Country
Darren tells Cath that she's doing really well. Cath giggles and declares that she loves driving... This is the woman who, not a few episodes ago, declared driving to be detrimental to the environment, dangerous, and she would never get behind the wheel?

Darren says that the limit is 80km so why doesn't she try going a little bit faster? After a bit of encouragement she does just that. As she speeds up we see a bunny rabbit sitting in the middle of the road. Awww... Cath squeals and swerves to avoid it, running the Ute off the road as she does so, terrified she could have killed it.

Darren yells at her that you never slam your breaks on for something like that, if she'd done that in the City or the suburbs then she could have caused a serious accident. Yes, because there's a real problem with them bunny rabbits being on roads all over Melbourne. Real pest issue.

CATH: Tell me I'm going to see a rabbit in the City or the suburbs!

Bwah. Darren says that it could have been a dog, the point is she doesn't put a person's life above that of an animal. Cath declares that she doesn't want to be taught by someone who advocates killing animals and she grabs her bag and walks off.

Coffee Shop
Marlene comments on Madge dining out and Madge replies there's no food left in the house thanks to Harold's guest. Madge knows that Claudia has had problems and she knows Harold wants to help, but she's not comfortable with how Claudia regards the relationship. She knows Harold would never cheat but she's not too sure about Claudia's feelings. That, and she wants his time meaning that the time Harold should be spending with Madge is being eaten away at. Marlene suggests talking to Harold but Madge says that Harold just thinks she's being awkward. Marlene suggests the more direct approach then - tell Harold that she's not happy with Claudia staying.

Country
Darren catches up with Cath and asks her to get back in the car, she can't walk all the way home. He apologises for how he spoke to her but stresses that she needs to know that in order to learn how to drive. She continues to ignore him so he tells her that he won't keep asking; if she doesn't get in the car, he's off. When she refuses he drives off, leaving her to walk.

In the middle of the country. In summer. Probably without any real water supply. And he was advocating respect for human life?

School
Hannah's waiting for Anne who got caught up. As they head off to grab their bags and get changed they're waylaid by Susan who needs Anne to come up to the office to get some details for her file. Hannah quickly jumps in saying that they're getting the overhead projector for Mr White so Susan says they can do it tomorrow. Now free the girls take off.

Lou's Place
Harold is telling Madge that Claudia needs his help; Claudia lost her husband in an accident, she had a mental breakdown and she's taken an age to recover. Madge stresses that she's not against him helping or spending her, but she says that they need help and time too. Harold points out he can't just withdraw his support and if she helped out too... Madge says she'll try but she doesn't want Claudia staying indefinitely.

Kennedys
Libby and Mal are having a go at Darren for leaving Cath in the country. Mal is all set to go out there and get her but Darren says there was a station half a kilometre away, she'll be on the train home by now.

Assuming of course she knows where the station is. Or was walking in the right direction. Or something else didn't happen to her.

Libby says that Darren should have waited until Cath calmed down but Darren reckons Cath needs to wake up to herself. He's not giving her any more driving lessons.

Mal stops drinking his coffee long enough to remember that he should be concerned about his girlfriend's wellbeing.

DARREN: She'll be fine. She had the determined look in her eye.
MAL: Yeah, I know it well. It's stubborn but cute.

Bishops
Claudia and Harold have done the shopping and Claudia is saying she'll cook scrambled eggs for Madge in the morning. In fact, she'll do lots of things around the house to make life easier for Madge - she does work after all. Harold suggests finding some work for Claudia. She did housekeeping work in Tasmania and she immediately suggests that she'll stay and keep house for him and Madge. Harold tactfully points out that he and Madge are in the process of rebuilding their relationship and they need time to be alone. Claudia thinks this means they don't want her there, Harold reassures her that they do want her there, but not indefinitely.

Bus stop
As Hannah and Anne get off the bus... Lisa's getting on. Sprung. They ask her not to tell on them but Lisa says she's got to catch the bus, she'll talk to both of them later.

Kennedys
Cath's made it back safe and sound and tells Mal that she was being stubborn and not listening to Darren when he was trying to tell her she was doing something wrong. She says there was a station up the road so it's not as if she was completely stranded.

Libby asks if she wants to wring Darren's neck but Mal jokes that Cath's sticking up for him.

CATH: And I hate to admit it but I was wrong and he was right.
LIBBY: Funny that, I think that's the way Darren sees it too.

Mal points out that if he'd left her out in the country she'd never speak to him again. Cath says she needs to learn, Darren can teach her... Hire a driving instructor! Get proper lessons! Cath says she'll just swallow her pride and hope Darren will give her a second chance.

Coffee Shop
Hannah and Anne are telling Lisa that it was only the second day, they didn't miss out on anything important, it was a big one day only sale... Lisa says she does understand but they're putting her in an awkward position by asking her not to tell. Lisa says that she owes them one (for warning her about the bike) and she'll keep her word and not say anything.

I think that counts as gross misconduct, failing in her duty of care, and is probably a dismissible offence.

Susan comes in and heads over to Lisa. She says she put some class lists on her desk to look over, just to make sure all the students are accounted for. Noticing Anne and Hannah sat at the table she goes over and says that when she looked in on Anne's class that afternoon she wasn't there. Hannah maintains the lie saying the storage room was locked, they had to get the keys, get the projector... Susan tells them next time they should go to class and leave the teacher to deal with it.

Bishops
Claudia's cooking up a storm when Madge comes home. Claudia tells her to sit down and relax, she's got everything under control. Madge says that she'll do dessert once she's had a rest but Claudia's got that under control too. Harold greets Madge and they have a hushed conversation about Claudia trying hard to please Madge. Madge says she doesn't need to but Harold stresses that Claudia just wants Madge to be able to relax.

Spa at Lou's
Darren's having a soak and enjoying a beer when Cath turns up. She tells him that she's come to apologise - he was right. She wants him to keep teaching her.

CATH: Because you are really cool and you are really ace and you're the best driving instructor in the whole world.

Darren agrees to keep teaching her and invites her to join him in the spa, she must be tired after all that walking. She jokes that over familiarity between teacher and student isn't such a good idea and leaves, but from the look on Darren's face her comment wasn't as flippant as Cath might have thought.

Bishops
Madge is woken from her nap by the sound of breaking crockery. Claudia's dropped and broken the plates and keeps muttering that despite Madge telling her it's fine and they weren't that expensive. Claudia says she's sorry before yelling at Madge when she goes to help clear up. She declares she made the mess, she'll clean it up. Claudia says she wanted everything to be perfect so Madge would like her and let her stay.

Harold comes in and asks what's going on. Madge explains what happened before taking Harold to one side and saying that Claudia needs more than support she needs professional help. Madge says she doesn't feel comfortable having Claudia in the house anymore and doesn't believe Harold's reassurances.

Meanwhile Claudia's staring at the broken plates, seemingly in a trance.