Carol Baker
Episode 4 of Spinning Out begins with a flashback as we see Carol skating gracefully on the ice and watching Kat perform in the present, brings these memories back in a big way. However, Kat tries to pay her no attention as she watches and when Justin arrives, they seem to have sorted out their lifting issues. They have a competition coming up in two weeks too and as Justin tries to encourage her to focus, Kat struggles to given her Mum’s watchful eyes from afar. While Serena’s technique improves, raising eyebrows and wowing the competition, Jenn tries to hide her injury woes and outdoes Serena’s jump. Only, she hurts herself in the process and this injury she’s carrying looks set to cause her problems in the future. However, she approaches Serena soon after, sucks up her pride and admits how much of a threat she’s become, giving her some words of encouragement in the process. It’s a classy gesture and given Serena’s on a trial period with Mitch, this is a slight welcome relief from the pressure she’s currently under. Out shopping, Carol hears a baby cry and this prompts more flashbacks to the past where we see her turning up the music and ignoring Kat’s baby cries while she skates. In the supermarket she runs into Mitch and the two head out to coffee together. Only, that coffee turns into drinks, and eventually some hot and heavy action back home while we learn more about Mitch’s past, including his wife who cheated on him. Carol rejects his advances back at hers though and he leaves. Marcus wins his skiing race during a fundraiser event and it turns out he’s been blowing off skiing coaches for a long time, despite his impressive ability on the snow. Kat and Marcus continue to connect here, before they find Jenn sorting skiing gear. Wincing as she places items back, the trio head to the bar together where they find Justin serving drinks. It’s awkward and enough for Jenn to approach him after and offer some words of wisdom for our troubled skater. Just before Marcus and Kat kiss, Justin interrupts and pulls her aside where he admits he’s out and doesn’t want them to stage together anymore. As he storms off, Mandy approaches and questions his behaviour while Kat talks to Serena about her love triangle woes. Jenn heads back home and talks to her parents, who admit that they’ve invested more money into her skating future; money that was originally for their store but now rest on her skating. Only, the injury she’s carrying threatens to throw that all away but now that her parents are fully invested in her, this looks like it’ll be easier said than done. Outside, Kat and Justin sit together and discuss their future as figure skaters. She apologises to him for lashing out and he takes her to a tranquil, quaint lake back-dropped by Christmas trees where they test their routine. It goes perfectly but unbeknownst to them, Marcus watches from afar while out with his skiing buddies. With the final scenes of the episode, it looks like this love triangle is about to get into full swing, especially with the unresolved feelings brewing between Kat and Justin. Personally, I’m not 100% sold on this drama and much prefer the dark mental health issues that lurk in the shadows of this show, popping up from time to time to add some more depth to proceedings. This is ultimately where Spinning Out feels at its strongest and this episode takes a bit of a back-seat to that in favour of more romantic melodrama. It’s not a deal-breaker but it does feel like Spinning Out is vying for time as we approach the midway point of this 10-episode drama.
