Voyager

Voyager is the fifth episode of season one. Content warnings: discussions of dementia, family conflict, and swearing.

The transcript can be found here.

Episode Description
In which new avenues are explored and old stories are rediscovered.

Summary
Lily comes down one morning to find Dot painting targets on the dinner plates. During an argument the previous night, Lily had made a comment about the plates being forty years old, and Dot, lying in bed later, decided she was right, and that she should donate the plates to the Sportsman’s Association. Dot sees it as making-up, Lily sees it as passive aggressive.

When Wes arrives, he asks for a private word with Lily, wanting to know if the screaming arguments will be a regular thing. Lily apologises, saying that Wes is better at being the adult than she thought he would be.

At The Golden Groove, Mount Absalom's record shop, Spikes is helping her aunt Marisol sort records - which are out of order every summer, apparently due to entropy. After Spikes changes the door chime back to the regular bell, she tells Marisol about her friend Joey, and how she tells Spikes about landmarks around town and local history and folklore.

Lily comes in looking to buy a record as an apology for the earlier fight with Dot. Marisol talks Lily through her record magic; getting back on a person's good side means tapping into the music they liked in high school, and for Dot that would be mid-1970s. Marisol picks a record by local musician Rusty Standish, and Lily thinks she recognises the music from when she was younger.

As Marisol gift-wraps the record, Lily asks about the name of the store, calling it evocative. Marisol leads Lily outside, and points up to the sky, outlining the path of the Voyager missions. She explains that both spacecrafts each had a golden 12-inch with recordings of various Earth music and sounds, with instructions on how to play it. Marisol describes it as a 'perfect time capsule', and loved the idea so much she named the record store after it.

Lily is touched by the explanation. She then tries to pay for the record, but Marisol waves it off, saying Lily can pay next time.

Back at Fenwood House, Lily offers Dot the record. Dot plays the record, recognising it but not knowing why. Dot then becomes agitated, asking if the record is a trick, and seems to think Lily is someone else for a moment. Lily asks if she wants the record returned, but Dot says no, she just wasn't ready for it. She asks Lily to play the record again, and the episodes ends with the music.

Post-Credit Fact
Rusty Standish’s 1972 folk album “Memories on the Road” was a local chart topper, and “Edge of your Bed” was the number one most requested song on WGST, Mount Absalom radio. It is unclear what label pressed the album, though LPs surface every so often in resale shops.

Trivia
The Rusty Standish song played in this episode, 'Lost', was written by Bilal Dardai and Stephen Poon, and performed by Stephen Poon. Dardai originally descripted this song as something that "sounds like Nick Drake after a few cocktails and a long walk home".

Cast

 * Clarisa Cherie Rios as Lily
 * Marsha Harman as Dot
 * Michael Turrentine as Wes
 * Amelia Bethel as Marisol
 * Isa Ramos as Spikes

Crew

 * Writer: Bilal Dardai
 * Sound design: Ryan Schile
 * Director: Jeffrey Nils Gardner
 * Music composer: Stephen Poon
 * Recording engineer: Mel Ruder
 * Lead sound designer: Ryan Schile
 * Executives Producers: Eleanor Hyde and Jeffrey Gardner
 * Theme performed by:
 * Stephen Poon
 * Lauren Kelly
 * Gunnar Jebsen
 * Travis Elfers
 * Mel Ruder
 * Betsey Palmer