Confession: I had no idea what they were talking about with footy. I assumed Australians played football—as in association football—but it looks like a big American football. My wife thought they were talking about rugby. But apparently there’s Aussie rules? Or footy?
The episode’s about two footy clubs and their hooligans and a dead player. We see the player hanging in the cold open, specifically his very hairy butt. Turns out he had just changed teams, which meant he had more haters than the usual player would. But even some supporters of his team—like Nathan Page—think the victim was an opportunist. Though it turns out said victim, Benjamin Rigby, switched teams because Page’s ex-wife’s cousin and lover (Daniel Frederiksen) bribed him to make the change.
It’s a fine episode with lots for all the characters—Hugo Johnstone-Burt goes from being an unthinking footy supporter to having to consider that support, Travis McMahon comes to realize Page can’t be all bad if he supports the right team, Ashleigh Cummings shows she actually listens to Johnstone-Burt’s nonsense. We get some more of Page’s ex-father-in-law boss (Neil Melville) being a snake (he likes the wrong team after all). And we finally get to see Page’s ex-wife hang out with Miss Fisher. There’s a lot of fun in the episode, but there’s never any more tension than when ex-wife Dee Smart and Essie Davis are alone. It’s nearly nerve-racking.
Though there might be more tension in the scene where Page very subtlety asks Davis to stay and watch a match with him. It’s basically their first official date. Particularly cute because Davis has a character detail about why she gave up footy supporting in her youth.
Excellent supporting performances from the team captains, Damien Garvey and Robert Morgan. It’s a complicated resolution to the mystery but well-handled and acted. Though it does feel a little like they tried to do an episode for the boys.