Home and Away: Nikau gets a new admirer

Episode 7819

UK airdate: Thursday 28 July 2022 at 13:15 on Channel 5 and 18:00 on 5STAR

Australian airdate: Wednesday 15 June 2022 at 19:00 on Channel 7

In lifeguard rescue-mode, Nikau leaps into the rescue boat to search for a distressed swimmer. John keeps a woman calm on the beach, as she has frantically been looking for her missing sister in the water. Suddenly a woman's head pops up, yelping for help before disappearing underwater. Nikau dives in and pulls her out, but she's unconscious.

On the beach, Nikau and John commence CPR on the unresponsive woman. The woman's sister looks on desperately in tears as Nikau rolls her into recovery position. It was a close call, but Nikau saved the drowned woman's life. Soon afterwards, on the surf club computer, John discovers Nikau's search for flights to New York and is gobsmacked.

Back on patrol the next day, Nikau is surprised to see Naomi, the sister of the drowning woman from the rescue. Naomi asks Nikau out for a thank you lunch, which he kindly declines, but John jumps in and accepts on Nikau's behalf.

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John explains that Naomi is probably looking for closure, as she was blaming herself for her sister drowning yesterday. Nikau is worried that it could be construed as a date, but John assures him to ease up and consider it part of his duties.

Meanwhile, Theo can't bear Justin breathing down his neck as he completes his assignment. Frustrated with Theo's slow pace and the looming deadline, Justin offers to write a first draft himself. Reluctantly, Theo hands over his laptop to a gleeful Justin. Pleased with himself, Justin shows off a fully-fledged draft assignment for Theo. Theo is less than impressed. This is hardly Theo's work, so how can he in good conscience submit it?

Theo is devastated – he's going to have to redo the assignment himself, so it's back to square one. Chloe proves to be a supportive girlfriend, helping Theo realise that he knows more about mechanics than he thinks. On a roll, Theo continues rewriting his assignment in his own words. Chloe looks on with pride, finally giving him space to work.

Chuffed with himself, Justin orchestrates a celebratory night in with Leah for their brilliant mentoring. Justin suspects that Theo will get a fantastic grade for his work, failing to mention to Leah that he wrote the entire assignment. Leah is blissfully unaware of Justin's dishonesty, happy to be romanced for an evening.

Elsewhere, a forlorn Mackenzie returns home from the lawyer with Dean. Mackenzie is pleading guilty, which could mean a small fine or prison time, depending on the judge. Later, Dean and Ziggy find Mac hiding in the Salt store room, sobbing. Caught out, Mackenzie admits that she's terrified of going to prison. Facing the music, Dean admits to a fearful Mackenzie – he survived prison and so can she.

The next morning, Mackenzie wakes up refreshed with renewed purpose. If today is her last day of freedom, she's going to enjoy it.