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“Death of a young Rafter”

Minor Spoilers. Are we really about to lose a member of the family Rafter? Seven has gone to great lengths to keep an episode under wraps.

Minor Spoilers: If we are to believe the promos, tonight’s episode of Packed to the Rafters will be one to remember.

Entitled “Perfect Bubble,” the episode is said to include “the death of a young Rafter.”

Promos for the show tell us the family’s ‘perfect bubble’ is about to pop when it is least expected. One of the Rafter family is apparently about to die. This is big stuff in TV drama, especially when it is the #1 drama in the country and only in its third season.

Seven has gone to extra lengths to keep the detail under wraps.

No Preview DVDs have been sent out.

Synopses of the show don’t even hint at a tragedy. Synopses of next week also don’t touch upon it and tactfully omit references to several key characters.

The cast list in publicity material remains unchanged. Not even a photo of the episode was to be given out, even including those that didn’t give the game away (the photo here is archival).

Seven will likely issue Amendments to media that reflect the changes after the episode has safely aired.

Yes this is top secret stuff in TV soap land….

So far the show has only farewelled one key clan member, Jessica MacNamee who played Sammy, earlier this season after her failed marriage to Nathan (Angus McLaren).

The candidates who qualify as a “young Rafter” are:

Jessica Marais (Rachel Rafter)
Angus McLaren ( Nathan Rafter)
Hugh Sheridan (Ben Rafter)
Zoe Ventoura (Melissa Rafter)
Ruby / Imogen Strong (Ruby Rafter)

But wouldn’t it also include Sammy Rafter given that the fictional character married into the family? Probably.

Media have also noted a subsequent funeral scene with key characters in attendance.

Seven sources promise a “powerful” episode tonight. Whether it will come close to the death of Molly in A Country Practice or the loss of Grace Sullivan on The Sullivans remains to be seen.

But Rafters is also known for its fantasy scenes. What if it’s all just someone’s wild imagination?

With the wording of Seven promos, there will be hell to pay if the audience is short-changed.

The episode is strategically placed on Melbourne Cup Day, one of the network’s biggest viewing days of the year. The race will deliver the show an enormous lead-in, just as it did last year when there were wedding bells in the air for Ben and Melissa.

Here is the synopsis for tonight’s episode:
This week on PACKED TO THE RAFTERS, certain perfect bubbles in the Rafter world all burst
in the most unexpected and confronting ways.

Newly unemployed Rachel is seeing the world in a new light – as her oyster. But first what she’d love more than anything is a holiday with Jake. Unbeknownst to her, Jake takes the hint and organises time off – but before he can spring the surprise, Rachel gets a phone call from former boss Paul Morgan offering her job back with better perks and more money. For Rachel, the choice is simple – but for Jake, it’s a disappointing slap in the face. The world isn’t their oyster, it’s Rachel’s. If their relationship is going to survive, she needs to start considering his future, too.

Still resisting any suggestion of depression, Dave throws himself into normality, suggesting a Rafter family dinner and offering Coby an apprenticeship, which Coby is hesitant but touched to accept.

However, when it’s revealed that the police have finally arrested a fence connected to the site robberies, Coby is forced to face the fact that his involvement will soon be disclosed and the truth and his self-hate emerge drunkenly over dinner. Dave explodes with anger, even scaring Julie with his unhinged vehemence. As Coby tries to own his guilt by turning himself into the police, Dave is forced to confront his own truth – he has a real problem, possibly the depression Julie has mentioned. But is he willing he do anything about it?

After proving his “swimmers” are perfectly sound, Ben is even more determined to start a family with beloved wife Melissa.

55 Responses

  1. A Happy marriage in TV land = death of one of the partners……. from those of us with depression … That Sucks…..reality is sad enough….. TV is supposed to give us relief from the stress of everyday life ……. not give us another reason to Cry !!!!!!!!!

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