| God's Gift to Zebras | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 3 | |
| Air date | February 21, 2011 |
| Written by | James Griffin |
| Directed by | Murray Keane |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous This Is Where Duty Starts |
Next You Gotta Love Life, Babe |
'God's Gift to Zebras is the third episode of Season 1 of The Almighty Johnsons.
Synopsis
Axl meets and woos a librarian who claims to be Frigg; Ty is infatuated with the Goddess Iðunn. Michele reveals the goddesses' plans.
Plot
Axl is starting to notice strange new stuff in his Godly world – like how woman are paying more attention to him. Oracle Olaf puts this down to what might be called the ‘zebra effect’ which, once you get through Olaf-logic, translates as these women know there is something different about Axl, but they’re not sure what. One of the women who seems to be paying attention to Olaf is a Sonja, a librarian. Axl likes it when she smiles at him – could she possibly be the Frigg?
Ty is also experiencing weird stuff when it comes to the ladies. An emergency call out to fix the beer fridge at an inner-city club leads to a passionate (but interrupted in an untimely fashion) encounter, over apple martinis, with Helen, the bar owner. In the throws of this passion Ty feels warmth he hasn’t felt since before he became a God. Olaf feels this is a lot of women-related issues for one day and he needs to ponder this.
This leaves both Axl and Ty to chart their own course through life for a while, so Axl decides to take things further with Sonja; which is when she throws a huge curve-ball his way by confirming that yes, indeed, she is Frigg. Axl never ever imagined the Quest would be quite this easy. His brothers are also suspicious, but give Axl the go-ahead to pursue Sonja. So Axl does, and gets thrown yet again when Sonja invites him to a party of Gods at her house.
Meanwhile Ty takes things further with Helen – and starts to fall in love with her, like he does so often. But when he and Helen finally consummate their lust, it starts snowing - in Ty’s living room. Out of this unusual occurrence it emerges that Helen is, in fact, the Goddess Iðunn, granter of youthfulness.
But when Ty takes this news to Olaf, the family Oracle has bad news for him, for as Odin is destined to be with Frigg, Iðunn/Helen’s destiny lies not with Hod/Ty but with Bragi/Anders. If Helen ever claps eyes on Anders, she will fall madly in love with him – and will not end well for Helen. In this moment Ty’s heart is broken (again) as he realizes that he can never be with Helen.
Axl, meanwhile, goes to the God-party and discovers that: (a) Sonja is only the Goddess Frigg in a Norse-mythology-themed online game; and that (b) the actual Goddesses, in the form of Michele, have got there before him. In the sword-fight that follows Axl learns that there is an alliance of Goddesses dedicated to stopping Axl/Odin achieving his Quest. In this way the Johnson boys learn that they are fighting a war.
Ty breaks up with Helen/Iðunn – which she seems to take in her stride much easier than he does. Olaf attempts to console him over a drink – but is of no consolation of all. Then Dawn enters the bar, fleeing a hen party gone feral. And she smiles at Ty and he smiles back.
Cast
- Emmett Skilton - Axl Johnson / Odin
- Tim Balme - Mike Johnson / Ullr
- Dean O'Gorman - Anders Johnson / Bragi
- Jared Turner - Ty Johnson / Höðr
- Ben Barrington - Olaf Johnson / Baldr
- Alison Bruce - Agnetha / Freyja
- Keisha Castle-Hughes - Gaia
- Hayden Frost - Zeb
- Eve Gordon - Stacey / Fulla
- Michelle Langstone - Michele / Sjofn
- Rachel Nash - Ingrid / Snotra
- Fern Sutherland - Dawn
- Roz Turnbull - Valerie Johnson
- Antonia Prebble - Sonja
- Sara Wiseman - Helen Larvig / Iðunn
- Karl Willets - Thor
- Ben Van Lier - Vali
- Michelle Blundell - Frigg
Crew
- Witter - James Griffin
- Director - Murray Keane
- Script Editor - James Griffin
- Storyliners - Rachel Lang & Tim Balme
- Producer - Simon Bennett
- Executive Producers - James Griffin, Rachel Lang, Chris Bailey & John Barnett
- Production Manager - Jo Tagg
- Production Accountant - Lee-Ann Hasson
- Casting Director - Annabel Lomas
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography - Kevin Riley
- Camera Operator - Oliver Jones
- A Camera Assistant - Anna Steedman
- B Camera Assistant - Alyssa Kath
- Camera Assistant - Jacob Slovath
- Lighting Assistant - Andy South
- Sound Recordist - Myk Farmer
- Boom Operator - Eoin Cox
- Sound Assistant - Steven Harris
- Editor - Nicola Smith
- Costume Designer - Katrina Hodge
- Make Up Designer - Kevin Dufty
- Gaffer - Antony Waterhouse
- Best Boy - Trent Rapana
- Gene Op - Reuben Morrison
Music
- Oh My - Performed by Gin Wigmore (Theme Music)
- Careful - Performed by Flip Grater
- Thief - Performed by Clap Clap Riot
- Flex - Performed by Pitch Black
- Queen of the Flies - Performed by Minuit
- Way Up - Performed by Sola Rosa
- What If - Performed by Sola Rosa