Hosted by Harry, Manju is already somewhat sullen at her seventieth birthday gathering, when an errant comment subsequently leads to that sullenness turning to belligerence specifically toward Harry. Manju, being her manipulative self, makes a pronouncement intended to make Harry feel guilty enough to apologize, that pronouncement which Harry doesn't believe she will carry out to its end, Harry in turn calling her bluff. Feeling like he has perhaps gone too far, he is convinced by Heather to double down on that bluff or else have her know that she will always be able to manipulate him. With those plays going into night leading to both Harry and Manju having little to no sleep, something happens in the morning to change the face of their standoff. Meanwhile, Stuart is on his way back to Melbourne on a business trip, Liz who, on their last telephone call, stating that they need to talk in Stuart's belief that she had an affair. Liz has to decide exactly how she is going to broach the topic of the "issue" with him. And Ben is finally going on a date about which Ainsley discovers. It isn't so much that he has this date, which he doesn't see as such, but who the date is with. Regardless, Ainsley in particular has to decide if or what to tell Heather.

With the exception of if she doesn't survive the surgery, there is much pressure for Harry to move back in with Manju following her radical hysterectomy to provide her with her necessary care. However, Liz, without even telling Harry, takes it upon herself to convince the somewhat reluctant housemates for Manju to move in temporarily with them, Liz's motives solely to ease her conscience about throwing Harry under the bus with regard to Stuart and deflect attention away from having not being totally forthright with Stuart about her marital indiscretion. In addition to discovering a secret Manju has been hiding, Liz will discover whether her self-directed penance is something to which she can adhere, while Harry has to deal with what ends up being Manju's martyrdom to inflict more guilt on him. Meanwhile, Mel does whatever she can to move her and Ben's "mates only" relationship into the sexual realm. Mel's presence in the house as that predator not only has an effect on Heather, but on Ainsley as well.

Ainsley receives news from a more distraught than usual Cheryl that Des has passed away. In Ainsley's priority of being the nurturer and despite her feelings about Cheryl, Ainsley decides to invite her to stay in the house for however long she needs while she is in town to deal with Des' affairs, and in support for "family". Ainsley also issues the directive that no one is to tell Manju about Des in Ainsley not wanting to burden her with more bad news considering her health, hiding it from her which may be difficult especially due to Cheryl's boisterousness. Of everyone in the house, Ainsley seems the least emotionally affected by Des' death, outwardly due to that nurturing taking priority, but inwardly due to her confusing relationship with her father, that confusion especially since Cheryl came into the picture intimately which was even before Ainsley's mother's passing. The situation gets even more confusing for Ainsley shortly after Cheryl's arrival, the specific stressor which Ainsley will have to deal with both emotionally and legally. Meanwhile, Ainsley's decisions have an unexpected negative effect on Liz and Stuart's already crumbling marriage. And Cheryl's arrival leads to a game of musical bedrooms, Heather the most obvious person to relinquish hers in having Ed's as a place to stay where she is most nights anyway. However due to a family situation with Ed, Heather decides to stay in Colin's granny flat. As the one now geographically closest to Heather, Colin discovers that Heather's outward reason for not staying with Ed was a lie which he figures indicates problems between Heather and Ed, such news which he has to share with his fellow "Heather spurnee" Ben.

Heather had no intention of celebrating the fact of her graduating let alone tell anyone of graduating itself, except for those in her life that would know out of circumstance, namely fellow graduate Timmy, and of course Ed as the department head and her current bedmate. But both of those issues go out the window when Ed tells her, immediately after she telling him these two items, that he has already invited among others Timmy, Colin, her housemates and their natural plus ones to a celebratory party at his house immediately before the actual graduation ceremony, he unable to rescind the invitations now that the cat is out of the bag. In addition to affecting Heather and Ed's relationship, it also has unexpected repercussions on Ainsley with regard to work, and on Ben who wants to invite Mia in having Heather as inspiration in Mia having issues with school herself, and as he has yet to tell Mia of a new woman in his life regardless of what Mel actually means to him emotionally. One person unable to attend is Liz, who has a counseling session with Stuart at the time, that session which is illuminating in many different ways. Elsewhere, Harry, in filling in for another dermatologist, has an unexpected patient, which leads to him questioning their relationship as he did the first time they met.

Ben is turning forty, and his life could not be going any better in his estimation considering his past. He is especially surprised at how well things are going with Mel, who he finds is so easy going about their relationship, and in she breaking usually reserved Mia out of her shell. In part from Mel's suggestion, Ben decides instead of his guy mates only camp out as is routine for their birthdays, that he will extend the gathering to among others Mel, Mia, and his roommates, with Heather and especially Liz reluctant acceptees, that reluctance purely in the abhorrent notion of needing to do one's business in the great outdoors. Ben will find that his great life will turn on a dime with this camp out. Meanwhile, Ainsley voices openly for the first time what she wants to do with her inheritance, that plan which gets spun out of control in being out in the open. Heather slowly divulges to her roommates one-by-one that she is planning on moving out to live with Ed, her fear in telling the others in only coming across as a hypocrite as she has criticized the others whenever they have done or expressed the same. And a last minute no show at the camp out is Harry, who has to stay home to care for Manju in what he believes is her usual manipulation of him. In what starts as he needing to care for Manju ends up being trying to find some secret alone time with sexually voracious Anton.

Ainsley's desire to hold some sort of farewell party for Heather who in turn resists any such measure as she is literally out the door is put aside when Harry announces his legal problems in being caught by his secretary Cynthia having sex with Anton, technically a patient, in the workplace, that act which could result in his medical career ending. He wants to withhold this problem from Manju, who has just moved home. Liz, Manju's dedicated caregiver in this situation much to Manju's chagrin, knows that her new first priority is to help Harry with those legal problems especially as Manju seems to be doing so well on her own. While Harry continues to beat himself up as he has done his entire life, Liz believes they have a free and clear out in the form of testimony from Anton, they needing him to bend the truth. Manju unwittingly exacerbates the problem in Harry trying to keep what's happening from her. Meanwhile, Simmo is taking time for himself upon Ainsley telling him that she doesn't want him involved in her business idea. With Ben and Heather as intervenors, Ainsley will only discover the full nature of what Simmo is feeling straight from the horse's mouth. And Ben and Mel have a heart to heart about their relationship partly in light of what happened with Mia.

Two issues have overtaken the house. One is Simmo's departure without a word to Ainsley about where he has gone. Ben, as his best friend, and Colin as a fellow "spurnee", have come to collect Simmo's possessions in knowing where he has gone in hiding to lick his wounds, Ben unwilling to give up his friend in knowing that hiding is Simmo's way of dealing with pain. Ainsley in turn feels she needs to speak directly to Simmo about them as a couple, she uncertain however whether she will bring a yet undisclosed item into the equation in wanting him back home with her. And two is Manju's passing and the negative effect it has had on Harry and Liz's friendship, hurtful for Liz in feeling her caring for Manju was the most selfless thing she had done in her entire life. As such, Liz, while wanting to help Harry in any way with the funeral arrangements, leads the charge in trying to find Manju's missing $35,000, Liz uncertain if Manju had already given it to Cynthia, and something she can't just go up to Cynthia and ask in that money having been meant to be a bribe. Failing finding the money, Liz contemplates taking what for her would be extreme measures to ensure that Harry gets Manju's money. At the funeral service itself, Mel being there brings up another issue of profound importance as to the interrelationships between the house members.

While everyone in the house is frantically preparing the house to be sold, Heather pulls after finding out two housemates are moving in with her ex-Husband. Harry scatters his mum's ashes with Liz, Simmo finds out about Ainz's pregnancy.