Fires (2021–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Episode #1.4 - full transcript

It's the
early morning vista

that Sydneysiders have
become accustomed to.

Thick smoke from the
bushfires enveloping the city.

3,000 fire and
emergency services personnel

are battling the fires.

Across the coast, there's
been long lines at petrol stations

as people try to get
out, however they can.

Families, their
trailers, their caravans...

On top of being cut
off from other communities,

the greatest fear
is the unknown.

What people need now
is a little bit of sympathy,



understanding and
real assistance.

They need help.

burning for weeks.

The fires continue to burn
across several states now,

with little respite in sight.

It's Christmas Eve,
and while some of us

are looking forward to
celebrating tomorrow,

many others are still under
the threat from the fires,

or have lost their homes
or been forced to evacuate.

Although... Oh, God.

Yep, come through.

This way, this way.

Yep.

Here.



Hey, just keep on
going through, yeah?

Just park over there.

Make sure they get your name and
they'll find you a place to sleep.

I can sleep in my van. No, we
need everyone in one place.

We can't protect you otherwise.
There's fires all around.

But I'm leaving first
thing... Hey, sorry.

The highway's closed. Both ways.

No-one's getting out till we
get the all-clear, alright?

But when's that gonna be?

Fuck.

Grab that
out of the boot.

Do you need some help?

Hi, I'm Anita Park and
this is Evie Novak-Park.

OK. N-O-V-A-K.

Alright, yeah.

Uh, you go in left,
head in at the back.

Uh-huh.

Find yourself a mat and, um,
try to make yourself at home.

Are we
gonna be safe here?

I think that this is the safest
place in the area, OK, Evie?

OK. Alright.

Matt and Sharon Seccombe,
two Cs and an E.

Uh, this is Roxy.

Hey, Roxy.

Michelle McCauley.

Do you know who that is?

No? You haven't
seen her on YouTube?

That is Bungan's
only claim to fame.

Rock'n'roll star.

Go to the left, get some mats.

You back for Christmas,
are ya? Yeah.

Think I stuffed up my
timing here, Mr Findlay.

Don't call me Mr
Findlay. It's Glen, yeah?

It's been a long time
since high school.

Ex... excuse me?

What are you waiting for, the
red carpet? Go inside, get a mat.

Who's this little monkey?

Do... do you know if there's a
working phone around here somewhere?

I-I need to call my son.

Get out of the way, Psycho.

Excuse me?

Not you, him.

His name's Psycho.

Come on, mate.

Roads are
now closed in both directions

as fires continue to
burn across the area.

I don't want to sleep here.
Yeah, we don't have a choice.

Can't we just call
someone to get us?

We can't call anyone, Evie. The
phones are out. The roads are closed.

We're stuck here
till the fires pass.

I want to go home.

Let's go and sit
down. It's gonna be OK.

We're not gonna
be here too long.

The power
remains out across several LGAs.

You kids want some water?

Hey. You got out OK?

Does anybody need a towel?

It was awful.

There was so much smoke, I
thought I was gonna pass out.

The phones went before I could let
my son know that Jade and I got out.

He doesn't even
know we're alive.

Residents are advised...

Ethan? MAN:
Ethan, listen, please.

Ethan? Ethan, honey?

Press the key, buddy.

Press it. The key.

Ethy? Ethy?

Eth, your sister
wants to play, mate.

Ethy?

Press the button,
Ethan! You know how to do it!

Why'd you give them to him?
He lost his fidget spinner.

Press it.

Hey, what's the problem?

Press... See? He locked
himself in there.

Maybe we can jimmy open the
window, yeah? I'll get a firey.

Mish...

Hey... Dean.

It's OK, Ethan. WOMAN:
Press the key. Come on.

What a bloody fiasco.

Baby, just... ETHAN: Aaah!

Come on.

It must be 40 degrees in there!
What do you want me to do?

Mum, let him out!

It's OK, Ethan. It's
not OK! Look at him!

Stop, Ethan, stop!

Aaah! Aagh, Mum!

There you go.

Mum! It's OK.

What happened?

I was just trying to help.

You could have hurt him, Mish.

Come on mate, we'll
get you a water.

You're OK now.

I'll be in my room
if you need me.

How are we gonna
pay for that window?

I don't know, Pen.

You've got all your
family now. Right? You OK?

Right.

There we go. Wash
your face, Phoebs.

Don't forget the
back of your neck.

It smells
funny in here.

That's just Mish.

She smelt like that when we
were in high school, too.

Usually around lunchtime.

She wasn't the only one.

Half the class got... smelly

at one stage or another.

Sorry about the window.

Will Santa be able find
us if we're not at home?

I don't know, Phoebs.

It's gonna be hard, with
everything going on.

But he can fly, can't he?

It's tough for the
reindeer in all the smoke.

They might have to bring
him in by helicopter.

Really? Yeah.

He can commando-roll out.

It'll be awesome.

Let's go, sweetie.

Hi.

Um, if it's not too weird,

um, do you think it'd be
OK if we get a selfie?

Sure.

I saw your band in
Sydney. You were so good.

Thanks.

Thank you.

ICC Operations
from Strike Team QFB02.

Go ahead, QFB02.

Sitrep on Bungan Community Hall.

23 people on location,
including crew. No injuries.

No visible fire in the vicinity.

Establishing asset protection.

Monitoring fires.

Copy that.

I found some beds
for us to sleep in.

And a couple of mats.

What about Clint? He
can find his own spot.

Come here.

Ooh! Too much.

It's nice being stuck for a bit.

Having time to just
hang.

Can you give me a lift
out to Reedbeds Road?

About 30 minutes out.

I'm sorry, Aunty,
it's too dangerous.

I need to get to my place,
see what's happened to it.

I'd love to help, but...

We're surrounded by national
park and we're still on alert.

There are fires still burning
and we just have to stay put.

It's just too dangerous
to leave, I'm sorry.

No-one in or out.

Who's your family? Mills.

Wonder how they will feel
when that they find out

that their boy couldn't help
out an old lady in need.

Shame job.

They got any
Gatorade or anything?

No.

Power's out anyway,
so nothing's cold.

Want some water?

Yeah.

Hangover from hell.

Mum and Dad evacuated ahead of me
and I ended up getting stuck here.

Your place OK?

I think so. Yours?

Gone.

Dean, I'm sorry.

Look out.

SpongeBob alert.

I forgot we called him that.

Still as square as ever. I
always felt sorry for him.

Trying to teach music to a
bunch of talentless shitheads.

Except for you, of course.

Hey, there, someone needs to
take over watching the roof

and watch out for the embers
and the approaching fires and...

You don't have to do it if
you don't want to, mate.

No, I'll do it. Just
let me tell Penny.

Alright, well, if you see anything,
blow the whistle, alright?

Remember how to play one?

Yeah? Alright.

Julian, do
what you're told.

Some people didn't even have
enough time to pack food, yeah?

I'm gonna figure something
out for them. You wanna help?

Uh, no, sorry. I'm actually
allergic to kitchens.

You know, I run into your mum
sometimes. She's real proud of you.

Talks about you
all the time. Yeah.

She bailed me up the
other day at the chemist,

telling me how to
download your album.

And I did and, uh...

..I liked it.

We had no idea
it was so close.

Ooh... Yeah.

Looked out the back, saw the
flames maybe 100, 200 metres away.

I swear, not even a minute later,
they were right at the back door.

Hmm!

Our house is in there somewhere.

I'm sorry.

I'm starving. ANITA: Me too.

Look at them. Thank you.

Yeah?

Do you know if this
margarine has milk in it?

My daughter's
allergic to dairy. Oh.

Uh...

Uh, yes, it does,
see? There you go.

Milk solids.

I can't have that either,
without gassing up the place.

Have you got any without?

Did we spread 'em all? Yeah,
well, no-one said anything.

She can just have plain bread.

I don't... I think
that we used it all.

Jesus!

Sorry, we... we just haven't
eaten since last night.

It's
Santa! It's Santa!

Mum, Santa's coming!

It's a
helicopter! It's Santa!

Santa! Santa! Santa!

You were right. He's
in a helicopter.

Told you. He's the man.

It's Santa! He found us!

He found us! Santa's gonna
bring presents tonight!

Phoebs, listen sweetheart...

Ethan! Ethan!

Serious?

What do you think's gonna happen
in the morning when they wake up

and there's fuck-all for them?

No Santa, no presents, nothing?

Phoebe? Phoebe,
honey, listen to me.

Oi, get out of it!
Get out of there, you! Shoo! Shoo!

Get it out! Oh, God, no!

Get off!

Get out of it, ya
mongrel! Get out of it!

Hey! Psycho!

Mate, come here, come here.
Get him off, get him off!

Come here. That's all
we had, you idiot!

Keep him
outside. What'd I say?

Go fuck yourself, mate.

It's OK.

Don't worry. He'll
come back tonight.

Oh, shit!

Dean!

Mish. Sorry.

Far out...

What are you doing? Nothing.

Nothing.

I just wanted
something for the kids.

They were so excited about
Santa coming, I just...

Shit. I was gonna tell 'em...

.. "Santa gave you
money this year."

I don't know what to do, Mish.

I don't know where
we're gonna live.

Got no house. No job.

We got nothing, except
for that shitbox car.

I can't even give my kids a
fuckin' Christmas present.

Hey, hey, hey!

Hey, hey, hey!

Where you going? You know the fires
are still going on out there, yeah?

It's dangerous.

Where are you going, all
dressed up like that?

I just thought I'd try it on.

I thought the kids might get
a kick out of it tomorrow.

I'm going to my place. There's
food and presents there.

It's a fucked-up Santa that
turns up without any presents.

You know, the fireys told
us just to stay here.

Well, then, you'd
better do what they say.

You don't wanna break the
rules, do you, SpongeBob?

Well, go on, before
I change my mind.

Just don't go too fast, yeah?

You know you look like a
paedo in that outfit, right?

Oh, come on, SpongeBob.

Have you ever
laughed at anything?

I laugh when things
are funny, yeah?

You were lucky.

Ugh!

We should get moving.

Most of the cold stuff's off.
We'll have to make do with this.

Hey. This one's for you.

Give it to someone else.

Why didn't you evacuate
with your folks?

I was too drunk to drive.

Ah. Oh, I know that look.

I'm not judging ya.

You are kidding me, right? Let
it go, it's ancient history.

Do you think that we
should take the tree?

That tree's a piece of crap.

I know where we can
find a good one.

SpongeBob? We should get back.

It's locked. Let's
just go, yeah?

Go on, you do it.

Take a walk on the wild side.

They left in a hurry.

Told you. It's the motherlode.

There you go,
SpongeBob. Fill that up.

They've got everything. Must
have been planning a feast.

Happy Christmas to me.

Presents and food. That's
what you said, right?

Not booze. Cheer up, Santa.

Just trying to lighten
things up a bit.

No, I know exactly
what you're doing.

You do, do you? Yeah.

I taught you for three years.
I know how you work, right?

And all this, it's not
about the kids, is it?

What's it about, then?

It's about you, just
like always, yeah?

You just need to be the
centre of attention.

You don't know what
you're talking about.

Right, don't I?

You think you're so right on.

You're the cool teacher dude,

knowing your students,
all caring and sharing,

and that is such bullshit!

I got expelled because of you!

No, you brought vodka to a school
carnival. I had to report ya.

That's just how it is, right?
You knew I was on a warning.

You knew that I would get
kicked out if you reported me.

But you did it anyway.

Jeez, why don't you
just let it go, yeah?

You did it anyway, 'cause you're
such a fucking square pants.

Why are you bringing this
up, yeah? You're a success.

You got out of here.
What's wrong with ya?

Oh, my God.

You're jealous of me.

Really? Because I
got out of here...

You got tickets on
yourself, don't ya?

And you're still hanging around
a shit-hole town school...

Yeah? Teaching
zit-faced teenagers

to play Fleur de Lis,

playing air guitar on the
weekends in your underpants.

You know everything, don't ya?

I bet the best thing in your entire
life is writing end-of-year reports.

Yeah, yeah, go on.
Here's a report for you.

Shit teacher,
self-righteous, judgemental,

think you're better than
everyone else, for no reason.

Fuck you, SpongeBob.

My name's Glen,
yeah? Fuck you, Glen.

Stop. Stop!

Just back up. There's
someone walking down there.

Hey, what are you doing?!

I'm going to my place.
Don't try and stop me.

You can't be out here,
right? It's not safe.

What are you talking
about? YOU'RE out here.

We're going back now. We're
gonna give you a lift.

Unless you're going to my
place, I don't want a lift.

Stop, stop. Get in the
car. We're going back.

Aunty, I'll take you to your
place. Thank you, my girl.

If you don't want to come
in, then get out. Walk back.

Come on, you coming
or you going?

Thought so.

I need some space.

We've got a problem.

What is it?

We've lost some of them.

What? Lost...?

Lost where?

There's a vehicle gone too, so
I'm guessing they're all together.

What, are they on
the fireground?

Well, we... we can't go,
because then, if we leave here,

everyone else is exposed

and... and we... we won't
be able to protect them.

Hey. We can't leave.

Hey.

Ah, shit.

Tash?

I don't think we
should be out here that long.

Just up here.
Turn-off to my place.

There's still fires
burning out here.

There's no fires.
It's all green. Look.

There.

Turn.

No.

Maybe we should go back now.

Wait.

That garden bed there...

Them plants that was there...

..they was all named
after my grannies.

I'm sorry about your home.

I'll build it again.

Even if I have to
live in a tent...

..and build another garden
bed for my grannies.

What were you thinking?

What if something
had happened to you?

We wouldn't have been
able to help you.

She's talking to you too, Aunty.

Talk to this, my boy.

Were you thinking about anyone
else before you took off?

Do you realise the
position you put us in?

Tash, it's alright,
they're here now.

Just... Don't leave again.

OK.

You scared us, Mish.

Santa's coming after all.

Let's get these out
before the kids wake up.

You're a bloody embarrassment,
you are, pissing everyone off.

Should serve you up for dinner.

You ready?

Hold your hands over your eyes.

That's it.

No peeking.

Phoebe, I'm watching you.

So is Psycho.

OK, come on.

Look out. CHILD: Can we look?

And... now!

Yay!

A Christmas tree!

Christmas!

This way!

Yes! Whoo! Go on,
off you go! Go!

Christmas
tree! BOY: Whoa!

That's our tree. Yeah.
Don't say anything.

Come on.

Ho, ho, ho!

Santa! Santa! Santa!

Yay!

Ho! Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!

Hey, Santa! Ho-ho!
Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Merry Christmas, boys and girls!

And parents!

Hey! Ho-ho!

Where are
your reindeer, Santa?

Rudolph and the reindeers
are fighting the fires!

Ho-ho-ho!

Oh-ho-ho!

Oh, this is a very special one.

This is for... It's
alright. It's fine.

..Phoebe. It's fine.

Phoebe.

Santa might have got the
presents a bit mixed up this year

'cause he's just been a bit
confused as to where you are.

What is it?

It's a magic wand, Phoebs.

It's a neck massager. For
your tension headaches.

I love it. Thanks, darling.

Is there an Ethan?
Ethan's here.

Where's Ethan? It's a special
one, alright? Just for you.

Ooh, Ethy!

Beautiful! You
look so handsome.

Yeah.

Thank you, Santa.

Who else?

Take them, take them. Share
them out. Share them out.

You be my little elf. You
take them. Here, I got more.

Spread the joy!
Ooh, look at that!

Spread the joy!

Thank you.

Help 'em open them.
Open 'em up. Let's go.

Rip in!

Over here. Throw it here!

Throw it here.

Are you sad?

Yeah, a little bit.

This is magic.

Can you feel it working?

Yeah, I can. That's good.

Don't stop.

Let's party.

Shit, yeah!

Whoo!

Whoa! Ooh! Whoa!

Do you ever think you ended
up with the wrong girl?

Come here, you.

No.

Never.

Not for a second.

Dessert.

It's better than
the ration packs.

You gonna tell
me what's going on?

Being here...

..just us...

I don't know.

I don't know, it just...
made me think about

what's gonna happen
when all this is over.

Hey.

I've got something for you.

I thought we were gonna
do presents later on.

It seemed like the right time.

Come on.

Let's try it on.

Something... to remember home.

It's from our beach.

Thank you.

You're never gonna
lose me, Tash.

I'm here for good.

Me too.

Thanks. What?

Thank you.

It's really special.

Well, it wasn't my idea.

What's that? I don't know.

You wanna show Mum?

Mum!

Mum, look!

Play us a song.
I don't know how.

Yes, you do.

Mish knows.

Sing for us.

Come on, sing something.

Go on. Go on.

Get someone else. SHARON:
Oh, come on, Mish.

Come on, sing something! SPIDER:
Do... do Bat out of Hell.

Yeah, you're a rock star.

No, no, no. I
wanna hear a carol.

It's Christmas.

But I... can't.

Mish...

You know, you were
right about me.

I do play air guitar
in my underpants.

Early '90s stuff.

Green Day, Weezer.

I'm not even every good at it.

And I really wish that I could
do what you do because...

..it takes some nuts to
put yourself out there.

Closest I've ever got to being
a performer on stage is, uh...

..like this.

You know why I really came home?

'Cause I'm broke.

Everyone thinks I'm
this big success,

touring and playing
and... living the life.

But I am... I'm
just scraping by.

I've been working as a
kitchenhand, just to survive.

Living in my van.

Bungan's only claim
to fame is a dishpig.

I came back to tell my parents.

But I couldn't do it.

I couldn't face them.

Especially my mum.

I don't know why I'm crying.
It's nothing to cry about.

Not with everything
else that's going on.

I'm sorry, I didn't ask.

Hmm?

If your place is OK.

I don't know.

You know, for what it's
worth, I think you're alright.

You're alright, too.

Wanna go back to the party?

In your own time, yeah?

Ethan! CLINT: Fire!

Shit.

Oh, God! Get
him back inside!

Inside! Get him inside!

Get
everyone back inside, now.

Keep 'em safe. Just get
'em back inside. Come on.

You heard him.
Let's go. Let's go.

Come on, come on. Come on.
They're doing their job.

Take this.

Water on!
Water on!

Get back inside! MOTT: I'm
gonna start a wet-down!

Come on. We gotta go.

Everyone in! Get
everyone in! Quick!

Bring him in.

Close the doors.
Come on mate, get in.

Close the doors. Yeah, get in.

Pass the towels! Let's
block it up. Block it up!

Oh...

We've got
some over there.

Hey. The roads are open.

We're escorting out in 20
minutes if you want to go.

The fires have passed.

I'm
not going anywhere.

Well, you can stay
if you want, Aunty.

They're bringing in supplies.

Turning this place into an
official evacuation centre.

This is
for you. Merry Christmas.

Hey.

We're staying.

We'll be comfortable enough here
till we figure everything out.

You?

Um...

Mum and Dad'll be home soon.

I need to talk to
them about something,

so... I'll be staying,
for a little bit anyway.

Cool.

When are WE going home?

Glen.

Mish.

I'm just gonna go and see
if my house is still there.

Do you want some
company? Yeah.

Yeah,
that would be nice.

Hell of a party, young lady.

Let's go, Psycho.

God...

Yeah...

The animals! What are you
doing?! They're gonna die!

There is no time, Zo!

Aagh!

Where are the trucks?
The roof is on fire!

We currently have no available

appliances in
responding distance.

We're on our own.

I need a truck. I've got two
people trapped in a burning house.

I can't pull trucks I
don't have out of my arse!

Re-route the Queensland team.

10 Blue Wren Road, West Curran.

Two women sheltering. Priority.
Acknowledge priority, over.

Mott, we've gotta
go.

"It's too late to leave."
That's what you said.

I'm not dying in here.

Go! Go! Go!