The Awful Truth – McLeod’s Daughters Episode Summary 3.15

Synopsis: Harry Ryan is back in town, and immediately has a proposal that would stir his neighbors. Harry proposes that they vote on the upgrade and reuse of an old stock route that passes through all their farms. Nick Ryan’s surprise vote in favor of Harry’s proposal surprises everybody especially his brother Alex who is still furious with the man he once called his father. However, the blow from Nick’s unexpected vote is nothing compared to learning the awful truth about Harry Ryan’s new girlfriend.

Episode Summary: Pregnant Claire McLeod (Lisa Chappell) arrives at the Gungellan Pub and immediately her mood turns sour at the sight of Alex Ryan (Aaron Jeffrey) and Sandra Kinsela (Inge Hornstra) at the bar happily chatting with each other. If Claire only knew what they are so giddy about her mood would go beyond just sour. Alex and Sandra were reminiscing about the time when they spent the night together, something that only the two of them know. Their conversation shifts to the meeting between neighbors that Harry Ryan (Marshall Napier) had scheduled. Alex unaware of neither the meeting nor Harry’s return becomes irate. He excuses himself to confront his brother who knew of their father’s return and the get-together. Nick Ryan (Myles Pollard) need not to confirm Harry’s return, since the old man is standing right behind Alex. Continue reading...

Not wanting anything to do with the man whom he once called his father, Alex decides not to attend the meeting. Having learned of his decision, Sandra drives all the way to Wilgul to persuade him to come. Alex finds her sudden interest with his and Harry’s relationship odd. Moreover that it seems that it is only she who knows what Harry is up to.

Later that night, the McLeod’s arrive at Killarney where they meet Nick and their new neighbor Vince Lavise (Peter Stefanou). Sandra arrives just in time followed by Alex who surprised them all with his sudden change of heart. The purpose of the meeting is finally revealed. Harry who had uncovered an old stock route proposes its upgrade and reuse. Truth is, Nick and Claire already knew of this old stock route ever since Harry’s cattle found their way to Drovers Run, and trampled on her newly planted Canola. The two said nothing fearing that the old man would make this very proposal. It was a plan that proves to be very costly, and mostly benefited Harry, since his land is the farthest from the yard. Moreover, Wilgul, which is an organic farm, runs the risk of contamination if this proposal is approved and non-organic stock starts passing through the farm. Although there is a solution that would prevent such contamination it proves to be both costly and wasteful, since it would take a considerable amount of land to create a buffer. So it boils down to a vote. Claire, Tess, and Alex who had voted against the proposal were all surprised by Nick’s vote that left them with a tie. The pressure now is on Vince who had asked for more time to review the expenses needed to upgrade the route.

Meanwhile at Drovers Run, Meg Fountain probably tired about her daughter’s endless moping and talk about doing something else other than farming had taken upon herself to provide her the tool that would help Jodi accomplish her goal. She thinks that going back to school would be the answer. Unfortunately, she had forgotten her daughter’s trait of dreaming and not acting. Jodi Fountain had always been a dreamer, and attending a community college is not really what she had in mind. The truth is, her sudden interest with her daughter was partly to distract her from the fact that Terry had been distancing himself from her. This worries Meg, especially since he had been spending a lot of time caring for his supposed sick aunt, which she knows does not exist.

With a 24-hour deadline set to make a consensus on the proposal, they all scramble to persuade each other to change their votes. Nick tries to talk his brother into putting aside his personal differences with Harry to see that the stock route is not a bad idea. When Tess McLeod (Bridie Carter) comes over to lecture Nick about his perplexing decision, she learns that the only reason he had voted the way he did was to give Alex and Harry something to talk about. He risks getting his organic farm certified just to bring his family back together. Clearly, Nick’s agenda makes his decision final. Therefore, there is only one possible swing vote, and that is Vince Lavise. Accepting the man’s offer of Claire training his horse, she uses that as an excuse for her visit. Unfortunately, she was not the only one who saw him as the deciding vote. Sandra had personally brought over a pair of wire strippers, and used it as her excuse for dropping by. This angers Claire, and the woman’s mention about the mystery revolving around her child’s real father made her skin crawl. Not wanting to make a scene especially in front of their new neighbor, Claire just bit her tongue and swallowed her pride. Anyway, she believes she had heard the answer she wanted to hear. Vince whose farm is closest to the yard finds no benefit for the stock route.

Tess has other things to worry about other than the stock route. Now that the alpacas have grown a full head of hair, it is time to shear them. However, shearing the mischievous alpacas prove to be more tedious than she thought it would be. The other women had decided to call on the help of an expert – his boyfriend Dave Brewer, the local veterinarian. To the women’s disbelief Tess refuses his help, and she goes on and on about eventually being too dependent on a man until one becomes so insecure that you lose the one you love. Her speech struck a chord, and Meg wastes no time to confront Terry. On her way to Killarney, Meg furiously prepares her speech where she plans to put her foot down and send Terry packing. However, her emotions got the better of her, and tears start pouring. Somehow she manages to get a hold of herself, and demand the man for an explanation. Who she thought Terry was seeing was not another woman, but a doctor. Terry Dodge is being tested for prostate cancer. Too scared to hear the awful truth, the poor man had been driving to town, but never gets the courage to step in the doctor’s office to hear the results. Despite the frightening news, Meg could not help but be relieved that she had not lost her man to another woman.

Meg returns to Drovers Run where Tess still has not sheared a single alpaca. Learning from Terry’s mistake of keeping his problem to himself, Meg scolds Tess for being stubborn as a mule, and too arrogant to ask for help. This had put some sense on the woman enough to finally ask Dave for assistance, but not without letting him know that she does not intend on always running to him for help. What seemed impossible to do was really not so. All it took for them to keep the alpaca still was a sock over its eyes. With it the shearing took no time at all. With the shearing problem solved, Meg decides to accompany Terry to the doctor’s office. The man could still not bear to find the truth about his condition, but they needed to know. Together they receive the results of the tests only to learn that Terry is not suffering from prostate cancer. Terry repays Meg’s support in kind. He accompanies her to Fisher community college where she would sign-up for an English Studies course.

Meanwhile at Wilgul, Nick finds the perfect opportunity to bring his brother and father to talk. After receiving a call from Harry asking for help with his stock, Nick decides to pass the request to his brother. Alex would not have given this a second thought if not for Sandra’s talk about how her conversation with Harry would always end up with him. Alex finds his father by the road stuck with a truckload of cattle. Current roadwork had deemed the road impassable, leaving him with no other choice but to use the old stock route to get the cattle in time for the sale. Alex puts aside his anger towards his father, and helps him with this task. Not only was Harry able to show Alex the benefit of the stock route, he too was able to start mending their strained relationship. However, this will be short-lived. Harry had always had an agenda on his mind. Leave it to Claire to find out about it. On her way back to Drovers Run, she finds the construction that blocked the road. Not having been notified about the work being done, Claire becomes furious especially at the thought of how this type of unexpected roadwork would hinder them from transporting their stock. Knowing that her fury would solve nothing, she settles with just finding out who had approved the work. It was Harry Ryan.

Claire rushes to Wilgul to inform the Ryan brothers about Harry’s new scheme. Her news wiped off the smile from the pleasant day Alex had spent with his father, and one that marked the beginning of their reconciliation. It took no time for Alex to realize how his father had once again used him. He had set up the bogus roadwork hoping that Alex would change his mind about the stock route. Furious Alex goes to Killarney to confront his father, and was surprised to find Sandra there. The sight of Sandra half-naked followed by his father had left him speechless. His shock left him with no other choice, but to leave. Given this, there is no way Alex is going to change his mind about the stock route, but Harry already has a plan.

After receiving a call from Nick about the stock route, Claire and Tess waste no time to see what it is all about. Harry had bought Vince Lavise’s vote by naming the route that passes through his farm Lavise Drive. Vince who is new in town, and is still struggling to be one of the locals had found a benefit with having his name on a sign. Out-numbered, the vote is final, and Harry got his stock route. However, that is the least of their worries. Gold-digging, power hungry Sandra Kinsela becoming Harry Ryan’s new girlfriend might prove to be a bigger problem than the stock route.

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