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Clip description
Neighbouring farmer Alex (Aaron Jeffery) arrives at Drover’s Run by helicopter. Claire (Lisa Chappell) is happy to see her friend – but not so amused when Alex catches sight of Tess (Bridie Carter) for the first time.
Curator’s notes
Like many series, McLeod’s Daughters features a combination of contained, episodic storylines and long-running serial storylines. Many of the latter revolve, soap-style, around its characters’ love lives. This scene is the first introduction to central character Alex and it’s already flagging the possibility for romantic tension to develop.
Compare the presentation of men in this clip. The two workers at the start are clearly up to no good. They mistreat the cattle, answer back to Claire, and one of them even rolls his eyes when she gives an order. Alex, however, makes an heroic entrance into the scene by helicopter and has a friendly, bantering rapport with Claire that suggests he is her equal. Although his readiness to flirt with Tess makes him look silly in Claire’s eyes, Tess responds by flirting back, so he doesn’t look a fool to the viewer. Claire’s annoyance at their flirting makes us wonder whether she also has feelings for Alex, and adds a complexity to the scene missing from the more straightforward interactions with the bad guys at the start of the clip.
