The bride wore white

Before anything else, sending safe thoughts to anyone affected by the Seddon quake.

Each week, I keep expecting the “bad episode”, like the 2nd (Axl and the Netball team) and 4th (Olaf’s girlfriend) in Series 1. Or the 6th (Zeb and Stacy) and 9th (Eggther kidnaps Zeb and BRYN just isn’t BRYN anymore) in Series 2. Instead, every single episode keeps delivering home runs (in Canada baseball terms).

I thought this was going to be the loser episode, the hokey one, the joke/comic relief ep.  It wasn’t.

Instead, I doubt too many viewers made it through Ep 7 with a dry eye and an untouched heart. I mean, after all, it was a DERRICK! episode. But it was a DERRICK! episode with a difference, one that was full of emotional growth, pain, and change.

Unlike last week, there were only two stories to tell: Axl’s and Ty’s. Everything else fell to the sidelines and yet the show seemed as full and rich as ever.

Let’s start with Ty. Determined to move on with his life, he asked young pretty messenger-girl out on an actual date. This being the Johnsons, the chances of a solo quiet event were near zero. Instead, it became a convergence of characters: (if you forgive the metaphor) a cauldron, perhaps the ice version of a cauldron, of change.

Oh Hod, how happy I am to see that you’re back, that you survived as the ice version of a ember, ice version smoldering away, ready to burst into ice version flames at any time.

And like *snap* that, circumstances changed. Lance blew his chances. Dawn is starting to regain her memory and a chance for a true happy ending (okay, yes, the ice version of a true happy ending, this is Ty after all we’re talking about) is appearing. All Ty has to do is to break the 1st rule, bring Dawn into the loop, and sleep in separate beds.

It looks pretty simple, so I’m hoping it isn’t, and yet, who doesn’t want Ty to have an occasional moment of pure, sweet happiness. I loved this plot, even if it came at the price of Hod — who better learn to behave if he doesn’t want to have the door hit him on the way out a second time.

Axl was involved in the second of the four major romances this episode.  (Okay, really only three, because the two contrived character gay neighbors really don’t count. They were tropes not people, but no less welcome for moving the story along.)

I just loved Suzy, as did Axl. Why shouldn’t he ditch the whole quest thing and settle down with his best friend-as-chick. I bet she’d get along splendidly with Zeb and they’d live happily ever after. Not only that, but you know, barmaids have a steady income. There’s Mrs Kwan to think about and all.

I know, I know, it’s a QUEST (or to non-NZ ears, a QUIST) and it would be hard for him to settle for just happiness when he has his brothers’ lives in general and Anders’ regodding ambitions to think about. But still… It wouldn’t have been that awful.

The final major romance was, of course, DERRICK!’s. Despite death, despite distance, the love for his wife and child — however odd, unseemly, and just strange odd — formed the backbone of the episode. The writing team managed to make him vulnerable, sweet, and dear without losing him in sentimental morass. DERRICK! remained obnoxious, messed up, and and slightly scary.

What was particularly great about this hour was the DERRICK!/Axl relationship. Totally awed in the presence of his lord the All Father, DERRICK! forces Axl to step up to the Odin plate and be that Odin he needs to become. With his brothers far enough away, Axl got to face many of the truths he was taking for granted and see them in a new light. Suzy especially helped him see himself as more than a damaged, hopeless case. It was both uplifting and delightful to witness.

By the end, DERRICK! sang, Suzy and Dawn both kissed, and Mike stopped by for a bit of golf putting and money as Martin once again brought everyone to where they needed to be, not where they thought they were going.

Brilliant.