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Clip description
After journalist Jenny Smith (Jacki Weaver) insists on venturing further inland to hunt for insurgents – and hopefully a good story – she finds herself stranded in the bush overnight with 'the Buffer’, Petty Officer Johnston (Danny Adcock). After a day of bickering, the pair have a fiery argument and the Buffer tells her what he really thinks.
Curator’s notes
This is a terrific scene, as Buffer gets to put his perspective. What stops Jenny being a caricature of a hard-nosed feminist is her willingness to listen – look at the variety of reaction shots that Jacki Weaver presents when the camera cuts away from Danny Adcock. The scene is beautifully edited, becoming more intimate as Jenny joins Buffer by the fire and he drops his aggressive tone to open up about his personal life. Danny Adcock’s monologue holds our attention as he presents his case for the ‘ordinary men’ in the navy and touches on some of Patrol Boat’s key themes.
Up to this point, Morphett has allowed both sides of an argument to be heard but here it starts to resolve in favour of the show’s ongoing characters. The Buffer touchingly talks about the impact that navy men’s absences have on their lives at home, in particular their relationships and family lives. Buffer’s reference to the loss of his wife and son touches on a story covered in another episode. Another theme is the idea of the navy as a ‘calling’ – not just a job, but an identity. We are not following characters working nine-to-five jobs simply to earn a paycheck; they are risking their lives for something they believe in. Their passion encourages us to invest in them as characters and follow their adventures.
