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Magic Moments > 1989 > Gail's Departure Episode 1052

Written by Unknown, Directed by Kendal Flanagan

Madge receives a call from Henry, saying that he has to speak to her urgently…

At number 26, Hilary is complaining that the painting she’s had delivered was one of Nick’s and not the Frank Darcy painting she ordered. Helen goes to get the exhibition brochure and Hilary points out the painting she ordered – number 27 – and the one she received – number 21. Helen realises that they misread her handwriting and Hilary demands a refund. Matt tells her to calm down, but Hilary continues to rant, saying that any primate could have created Nick’s painting, even suggesting that his work was only exhibited because Helen called in a favour. Hilary and Sharon begin to argue and Helen then points out that it’s hardly Nick’s fault if Hilary can’t write legibly. A furious Hilary walks out.

At number 24, Kerry walks in to find Madge in tears with Gloria comforting her. For a moment, Kerry thinks Harold’s dead, but Gloria explains that Harold and Toby have been found alive and well, and Madge is just crying out of relief. Kerry hugs Madge, who admits that she’d convinced herself that she would never see Harold again. Realising what she’s just said infront of the newly-widowed Gloria, she apologises, but Gloria insists she’s fine and should probably go and spend some time with Gail anyway.

. . .

At number 22, Beverly has just finished examining Gail and tells her she’s more stressed than she’s prepared to admit. Paul starts offering to prepare food and drink for Gail, who snaps at him that she’s fine, before going upstairs. Bev tells Paul that Gail will need time to work through her grief, but he thinks that Gail is blaming him for the accident. Bev assures him that this isn’t true and that Gail might just need to let all of her grief out during the funeral tomorrow.

The next morning, Hilary is encouraging Matt to get ready to leave for training and is impressed to see that he’s on time. As Hilary goes to get ready, Sharon appears, fresh from bed, looking the worse for wear. She tells Matt that he’s picked the right person for the job if he wants a strict coach, but Matt insists that his mum knows what she’s talking about. Hilary returns and says that she doesn’t know what she’s going to do with Nick’s terrible painting. Sharon then points out that a famous art collector, Robert Webster, bought six of Nick’s paintings, but Hilary doesn’t believe her and leaves the house, with Sharon calling out that she’s making a big mistake.

. . .

At number 22, Paul is trying to get Gail to eat some breakfast but she’s not even aware that he’s talking to her. She then starts crying and Paul struggles to get through to her.

At number 32, Toby has just returned home and is hugging Kerry. Joe and Harold follow him in, and Kerry hugs her dad, who winces in pain. He says that he took a few knocks and bumps, but they had quite an adventure. Toby then tells a shocked Joe and Kerry how he fell into the river and Harold jumped in to save him, then they couldn’t get out until they were several kilometres downstream. Kerry decides to take Toby off for some food, when Madge suddenly comes running in, hugging Harold and telling him how scared she was. She tells him never to frighten her like that again because she couldn’t stand to lose him.

. . .

Later on, Toby is on the couch, reading a comic, when Joe and Kerry come in and ask him how they managed to attract attention. Toby explains that they piled loads of leaves onto their fire to make smoke signals and Kerry is amazed at how well her dad coped.

At number 30, Sharon asks Matt if he never gets tired of having his mum around, even at swimming practice. He explains that they didn’t know each other for 17 years, so this is a good chance for them to make up for lost time. Nick comes in, with a replacement jewellery box for Helen, and admits that it feels good spending Hilary’s money, even if she doesn’t appreciate his art. Sharon then suggests that Nick should buy the painting back, then sell it later on for double the money, when it’s worth has appreciated. Nick admits that he’d like to, but there’s a principle involved.

. . .

Many Ramsay Street residents are gathered at number 26 for Rob’s wake. Gloria is chatting to Madge, saying that the service was lovely. Madge then gets up to leave and to go and see Harold, so Gloria tells her to give him a big hug for her. Meanwhile, Bev, Jim and Paul are chatting about Gail, saying that she showed no emotion during the service and they’re worried about her bottling it all up like this. Gloria is chatting to Helen, explaining that her son is coming to pick her up later, but he has a lot of work to do. Paul comes over and says that, speaking of which, he has to get back to Lassiter’s for an important meeting. Helen and Gail both look unimpressed with this and Helen notices the look on Gail’s face as Paul leaves the house.

At number 24, Harold gets up from bed, telling Madge that he should really go and pass on his condolences to Gloria. Madge explains that she’s done that already and offers to make Harold a cup of tea. She apologises to him for accusing him of cheating on her, before he went away, and says that she’ll never doubt him again. He tells her that it wasn’t her fault. Madge then gives him a letter that came from Robyn whilst he was missing. She admits that she opened it and is sorry, but she couldn’t resist. Harold reads the letter and realises how much hurt he’s caused recently. He tells Madge that he’s sorry to lose Robyn’s friendship, but it would be even worse to lose his marriage and they both promise that they’ll never argue again.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Back at the wake, Gail decides that she really should be going home. She hugs Helen, Jim, Bev and Gloria, before leaving. The others make a toast to Rob, and Jim suddenly blurts out that he needs to know where those car parts came from. Gloria admits that they were probably stolen and that Rob probably knew about it. They’re all surprised to hear that Paul was right about Rob all along, but Gloria explains that she couldn’t tell Gail, as she was grieving and it would have ruined the positive image she had of her father.

At number 30, Matt asks Nick why he doesn’t just buy the painting back, as it seemed like a pretty good suggestion from Sharon. Nick admits that he can’t afford to buy it back as he’s blown almost all of the $1000 he made at the exhibition. Sharon then emerges from her room to answer the door and it’s Helen, who has come to see Hilary. Hilary appears from the kitchen, and Helen explains that the gallery director is prepared to buy Nick’s painting back. Hilary says that won’t be necessary as she’s looked into Robert Webster’s background and she agrees with his judgement and hopes to make some money from Nick’s painting.

. . .

Harold arrives at number 32 to see Toby, who says that he can’t wait for the wedding and wants to start calling Harold ‘Grandad’ now. Harold and Joe think that it’s a wonderful idea, but aren’t so sure when Toby suggests calling Madge ‘Grandma’. Kerry then points out that Toby wants to join the scouts now and Harold asks if Joe will be helping out too. Joe isn’t too keen on the idea, but Harold thinks it might be just what he needs. Just then, Madge knocks on the door and Toby calls out ‘Come in Grandma’. Madge looks stunned while everyone else bursts out laughing.

. . .

At Lassiter’s, Jim is telling Paul how they’ll need to find a replacement for Rob at the garage. He suddenly blurts out that Rob knew the spare parts were stolen, and Paul is shocked, asking his dad how he knows this. Jim explains that it was Gloria who told them, and Paul realises that Gail needs to be told this, but is interrupted by the phone ringing.

At number 22, Gail is reading back a letter she has written to Paul:

Dear Paul,
You say you love me, and I guess that you do, but I know that business has always been and always will be the most important thing in your life. Unfortunately, it’s no longer the most important thing to me. It’s not just what you did to my father, but I can’t bear to think of our children growing up in an environment where business takes priority over their welfare. So I think it’s best for all concerned that I leave now, before our marriage reverts to a business proposition once more. I wish you and the Robinson Corporation all the best for the future.
Gail

. . .

She then packs up her bags and sheds a few tears as she walks out of number 22 one final time.

Summary by Steve