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The Insider's Guide To Happiness

2004 - 2004

Is Happiness an Accident?

Episode 1

Julie, a thirty-something caterer, meets her husband Simon at a cafe to tell him the good news that she is pregnant, but his response is to choke on a mushroom and collapse. In the ambulance on the way to hospital Simon revives, just in time for the ambulance to swerve, lose control and smash into a parked car at a busy intersection. At the hospital, a doctor, William is ill-equipped to tell Julie that Simon died in the crash. Julie, in shock, goes home, collects all Simon's possessions and burns them in the bath. Then she returns to the cafÃ©, demanding to know how one of their mushrooms can kill a man? The waitress is sympathetic and comments that maybe accidents happen for a reason. Julie suggests that maybe Simon lives on in the baby. We are introduced to Matthew, a good Samoan boy, and our narrator. Matthew runs across the road at a busy intersection - just in time to be hit by the out of control ambulance carrying Simon and Julie. Matthew is killed.

Who Controls Your Happiness?

Episode 2

Tina rescues an old lottery ticket from under a stray cat at the accident intersection - and gets scratched in the process. Because she suffers from Von Willebrand's, a rare blood disease, she goes to hospital for treatment. She calls Sam, unknowingly disturbing him from a tryst with Kat. Sam lies and tells Kat that Tina is his sister, and is then angry with Tina at her 'neediness'. He leaves her at the hospital. On a whim, Tina checks the lottery ticket at a dairy - only to find that it's a first division winner. She has just won 6.3 million dollars! She gets a call from Julie (who we discover is her sister) to say that Simon died in an accident. Tina rushes to Julie's side and is taken aback by her sister's pragmatism regarding Simon's death. Julie has cremated Simon privately, then collected the ashes and divided them up into little boxes, sending one to each of his relations. Tina can't understand this. She thinks how she'd react if she lost Sam. Tina takes her lotto ticket.

Will the Truth Make You Happy?

Episode 3

Matthew escapes from the hospital and goes to his own funeral. He feels guilty about having cheated on his fiancee with Tess on his last day alive. But during his funeral Matthew discovers to his horror that his father is having a affair, and that his fiancee wasn't sure that she wanted to marry him anyway. Worse, his family all remember versions of Matthew that are not really true, and Matthew begins to question whether his family really knew him at all. He decides that everything he believed in was based on a lie, and that the only true thing in his life was the way he felt about Tess. When he discovers that James, a stranger in a pub, can actually see and hear and touch him, he is amazed. Despite James's wariness, Matthew convinces him to deliver a message to Tess, thanking her for 'changing his life'. Tina, grieving for the break-up of her relationship with Sam, withdraws her 6.3 million dollars from the bank and plans to give it away.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Episode 4

Lindy hates her new job and she despises Nathan, the bookshop's paraplegic owner. When she accuses him of being a loser and 'giving up' on life, he fires her. Now she has no job. Back to the wall, she convinces Alan, her TV producer to give her a shot at her own show - problem: she has to pay for the pilot. In desperation, Lindy goes to the only person she knows who might lend her the money - her old boyfriend, William. But William is angry that she has turned up only for money, and rejects her. Lindy hits rock bottom and faces her old demon, alcohol. She takes a full glass of whiskey to Nathan at the bookshop and asks him for help. Nathan and Lindy share their deepest fears, and Lindy stumbles upon a great idea for a TV show. She books the studio, puts on the show and uses Nathan as her first guest. It's a success - Lindy is back! William's worst fear comes true when he is moved from Accident and Emergency to the Oncology department.

Are you In Denial?

Episode 5

James tries to deny the surreal things that are happening to him, but becomes increasingly distressed as the monks assert that he is the reincarnation of Yu Ku'an Wu. When he time-slips again, he decides to fight whatever's happening by going to a rugby game and changing what he saw would happen in the future. But in fact his very actions in trying to change things make the prophecy come true. James gives in, and accepts the monks' explanation - the boy from Wanganui is the reincarnation of Yu Ku'an Wu. On William's day off, he agrees to do anything Phil wants. Phil's wishes include delivering a baby and flying a plane, during which he pretends the plane is about to crash. Tina and Julie's mother Annette turns up, and hits on Tina's boyfriend Corin, leading to an argument and their break-up, and it becomes obvious why Julie won't have anything to do with her mother. Tina hits the town, takes too many drugs and collapses in a nightclub, right under the DJ - Sam's - nose.

Do You Deserve To Be Happy?

Episode 6

Phil doesn't have much time left, but convinces William to do three things he's always wanted to do. First, they meet up with Lindy for an 'old times' lunch - but it's a disaster. Then they go fishing, but Phil has a relapse and William has to rush him back to hospital. As Phil nears the end, he confesses to William that he slept with Lindy when she was William's girlfriend, and feels he contributed to their break-up. As Phil dies William faces memories of his father dying when he was fishing with him as a boy - his despair in the face of death is explained by this early trauma. He seeks out James and asks him to deliver another message to Tess. James, amazed to discover that Matthew is dead and only hecan see him, considers this further proof of his new spiritual identity and agrees to help Matthew. Tess is a bit spooked, but happy to hear James deliver Matthew's message. Julie finds that Tim has drawn a picture of the ambulance crash that killed Simon, and put it on her fridge.

What If You Could Start Over?

Episode 7

Matthew, James and Tina meet and take a bungy ride together, but something happens, and they land in a street scene frozen in time. Freaked out, they gradually realise it is a split second before the ambulance crash occurs. James believes it is his doing - but why here, why now? Matthew is convinced it's because they can change what happened - stop the crash happening, and he won't die. Tina tells him that the Golden Egg ticket he's carrying is a winner. Matthew doesn't want it, he just wants to be alive. Tina thinks if the crash doesn't happen Simon won't die either, so agrees to it. Tina hopes Simon is now alive, but discovers from Julie that he still died in the ambulance, even though it never crashed. But Matthew lived. She seeks Matthew out and is relieved to find someone who knows what really happened. Matthew tells her not to try and convince people - they'll never believe her. And he wants her to keep the Golden Egg money.

Will You Be Happy Tomorrow?

Episode 8

Julie's pregnancy is making her feel fat and ugly. Tim is reassuring and pleasant to her. He even calls her 'babe'. When Julie goes for her check-up she even finds herself giving Tim's name as her partner and signs them both up for 'baby txt', an innovative scheme where parents are sent txts of their baby's development. In a vulnerable moment Julie kisses Tim. She feels terrible when Tim rejects her. He seems angry and repulsed by her coming on to him. Embarrassed, Julie goes to his work to apologise and discovers that Tim no longer works there. In fact he hasn't worked there for some time. She also learns that his behaviour at work had been odd, even, at times, sinister. James, fearing the loss of both the Old Monk and spirituality in general, seeks advice from his mate Bazza, who surprisingly seems very wise, though he refuses to take any credit for his wisdom, insisting 'its just the piss talking, mate'.

Who Taught You To Be Happy?

Episode 9

Tina's 25th birthday is coming up and she feels lost without Sam, so she moves in with Julie, despite her sister's protestations. However when Tina messes up a catering order, old family tensions erupt and Julie tells Tina she's hopeless and she's sick of having to look after her. In the heat of the argument the reason for Julie's resentment bursts out - when they were children Julie was forced to stay living with their alcoholic mother Annette because she had to look after Tina. Tina is so hurt by this that she takes off from her birthday party, only to end up on a deserted road with a flat tyre and no cellphone reception. As she tries to change the tyre, she is badly wounded by the nail that caused the puncture and starts to bleed heavily. Because Tina suffers from Von Willebrand's disorder, this is serious - she could bleed to death if she doesn't get help. During her struggle to fix the tyre and get out of there, she has flashbacks to the time Annette tried to kill herself.

Being Happy is Being Who You Are

Episode 10

James feels the need to do something more worthwhile with his life, and gets time off work to sort himself out. He makes friends with Gene, a worker with the homeless, and Gene encourages James to give up all his possessions and help others. James throws away everything (much to Bazza's surprise), then helps Gene clear out his upmarket apartment. But when Gene turns on James, binding and gagging him, James realises too late that he's been set up. Gene has just used him to help burgle an innocent person's home. Matthew is approached by Dallas, a client who wants to sue Tess for cutting his hair too short. Matthew takes the opportunity to see Tess again, and they spar over the case. However, when Tess counter-sues for harassment, Dallas confesses to Matthew that he gets sexual pleasure from the hair cutting. Matthew admits defeat, but by then the case has become a vehicle for Matthew and Tess to air their differences.

Does Happiness Grow Up?

Episode 11

William gets tested to see if he can be a sperm donor for Donna, and is shocked to find out that he is infertile. He is plunged into a depression that he can't be a father, but doesn't tell Lindy, who can't work out what is wrong. As he withdraws more from her, she finds it harder to resist the flirtations of Robert, the French Canadian executive who is wooing her to come to Toronto and take the job he is offering. When she tells William she's been offered the job, he reacts badly. He doesn't want to go to Canada to live. Eventually Lindy succumbs to Robert's advances and sleeps with him, but immediately feels guilty. She realises she's giving herself a reason to end her relationship and goes home to William, determined to fix things. William tells her about his infertility and challenges her to admit that she doesn't want kids. Lindy can't answer. She tells Robert that she doesn't think William will be coming with her to Toronto, but she will still take the job.

Can You Embrace A New Life?

5th August 2004

Episode 12

Julie is nearing the end of her pregnancy and finds herself sleepwalking for the first time in her life - right to the intersection where the ambulance crash occurred. Julie doesn't know that it's where Tina, James and Matthew went back in time and she is doubly disturbed by a text message she receives from 'Aaron', the name she has chosen for the baby. Can he communicate with her? Then she receives another message: 'You're a bad mother.' Freaked, she visits Annette who is supportive and understanding. They have a mother-daughter reconciliation. However, she also receives a visit from Tim, who upsets her and leaves her Simon's ashes. Julie finds herself in the middle of the intersection again, and it is James who rescues her. He tries to explain that she carries the reincarnation of Yu Ku'an Wu, and this is why she is experiencing strange happenings, but Julie refuses to believe him. Then, at the hospital, she meets William, and she has a vivid memory of selling him and Lindy two vases.

You Are Happy

12th August 2004

Episode 13

Tess tells Matthew that she's pregnant, but his joy is tempered by a sighting of the (dead) Old Monk. When the monk confronts Matthew in a shop, he tells him that it is time to 'come home'. Shocked and frightened that the monk is warning him of impending death, Matthew locks himself in a room, desperate to avoid this fate. But the monk appears in the room with him, and Matthew panics, thinking he's having a heart attack. Tess helps him rush to hospital. However on the way they get caught in a huge traffic snarl-up and Matthew jumps out to walk. He soon encounters the source of the traffic jam: Tim, threatening to blow himself up. Tim has decided the solar eclipse signifies that 'it is time'. He follows Sam, who is rushing Julie to hospital to have the baby, and creates a traffic jam, With plastic explosives strapped to his body.

Top Cast

Paolo Rotondo•Madeleine Sami•Loren Taylor

The Insiders Guide To Happiness is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of six previously unconnected people. Each life is connected by a bizarre car accident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the happiness in their own lives. The series was followed by a prequel, The Insider's Guide To Love, with James the only character in common.

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