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Packed to the Rafters Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 2011 - 2012
Episode 1
What Lies Beneath
42 mins
Ben returns from the road trip alone. Still unable to sleep in Mel's room, he's found in his car, so Rachel moves out of his home room to Jake's, in fact forcing poor house-mate Coby into the garage and nearly driving both boys crazy. Carbo's panic ultimately spills to Retta in anticipation of his domineering mother Rita's arrival for the engagement party. She's surprisingly easy and even claims to like Retta, but during the Greek party she admits that her own marriage has been wrecked.
Episode 2
In with the New
42 mins
Nathan is finally back, and he and Ben can't hide long that they parted in utter confusion, actually after Ben's mindless cliff dive landed him in hospital. The annual garage cleaning and municipal collection renders Dave and Julie nostalgic, but Rita can't decide whether everything in the house her husband gave should be thrown out or not, driving the helpful residents crazy. Jake takes Coby along on a rugby team bonding trip. Jake insists on "saving" drunk, slutty waitress Jodi from mates' rough after-party, only to be the only name she remembers.
Episode 3
Careful What You Wish For
41 mins
Jake is the object of a police investigation after Jodi files an abuse complaint, ignoring the names of Camel's gang. A party finally gets Ben back in the mood to live his life post-Mel. Having seen an original painting while nosing in Coby's garage, Rachel makes it the key piece of an advertising campaign, but Coby refuses to show it to anyone, even in private. Grandpa Ted takes an interest in Chinese things after meeting shadow dancer Mai Wong.
Episode 4
Other People's Eyes
44 mins
Ben is spirited enough to return to Carbo's home and join in a ruthless prank war. Nathan's itching powder makes Ben's application for a bar job with the club's new owner awkward, but he still gets it. Jake is deeply hurt that Rachel fails to believe in and support him unconditionally now that his rugby mates give Jodi's complaint some credibility. Coby ultimately agrees to sell the painting, as he explains a hobby secret as a result of childhood abuse, just before its unavailability deservedly costs lying home-spy Rachel's job. Julie makes up with now-divorced Hamish, who is working part-time and facing a nightmare custody battle.
Episode 5
The Taste of Freedom
43 mins
Thanks to Dave's glowing testimony in court, Coby, who feared a jail term, gets off with a suspended sentence. Even Carbo gets a bit jealous when Retta smothers embarrassed Nathan with excessive kindness. Ben finally scores another date, but leaves Emma in the middle of the night, only to discover that she's the new club owner's daughter. Jake is depressed by his upcoming trial, yet Rachel considers behind his back to accept to promotion to New York. Nathan wants a new job, but rather than applying, he decides to start some novel Internet shopping site, counting on his housemates to help develop the concept.
Episode 6
The Dollshouse
43 mins
Ben can't resist watching without warning when the flyer Nathan has spread for his spare parts web site contains a saucy ambiguity. Jake gets his court date and asks Rachel to stand by him, ignoring her New York dream job offer. Carbo has his first conflict with Retta when she first refuses a "sanctiminious" orthodox wedding, as he reunited parents demand, then insists he can only have it if he regularly attends Sunday Mass with her. Jake is turned away by her friend when he tries to explain his innocence to Jodi, but it gets her thinking and her return visit results in withdrawing the charge. Jake finds out about Rachel's dilemma and insists that she shouldn't stay out of guilt or duty.
Episode 7
Sweet Sorrow
43 mins
Even Coby is surprised when Tom turns up, paroled early and promising to keep out of trouble. Jake leaves it 'til the last minute to give Rachel her goodbye present, unlike Coby. She hesitates to even invite Jake to her send-off family dinner, getting conflicting advice from her brothers, who rival to pose as her favorite, and their parents, who ponder whether to be strong or openly emotional.
Episode 8
The Male Communication Handbook
42 mins
Alex is back from New Zealand early, having cheated on his girlfriend, and overdoes the Sydney nightlife to compensate for near-nonexistent prospects of a steady relationship. Coby moves back into the garage. Carbo, insulted not to be asked in the first place, needs some convincing to Nathan's Internet car parts firm, crucially bringing know-how and the garage. Tom pretends to be overstretched trying to start over, actually manipulating Dave to offer his and the boys' help with cleaning up the old country home where Coby grew up, to be sold, then invite Tom into the Rafter home, where only fellow grandpa Ted still thoroughly mistrusts Tom.
Episode 9
From Little Things
43 mins
Ben is finally his cheerful self again, yet his job seems in peril due to the crazy, rules-obsessed novice owner and Julie confronting her, yet that ends well. The Rafters make desperate Hamish see sense and reconsider running from custody court with baby Jack. Nathan's business is finally taking off. Tom still manages to pull the wool over everyone's eyes and discredit Ted's suspicions. Jake soldiers on.
Episode 10
Big Kids
42 mins
Ben's friendship with Emma blossoms, but he denies being in love. Nathan's Internet business starts generating income. After Nathan discovers that Tom spends his "busy job application" and "working" days in a pub, Coby verifies, yet admits his loyalty remains with the grandpa who took him in when he was an abandoned child. Dave gets suspicious about Julie's mystery hobby and purchases a pole-dance act at the burlesque class which Ben's boss Donna Mackey lured her to, so Dave snaps at "suspect outsider" Hamish. Retta gets her first interior-design job, but needs Carbo to calm her nerves.
Episode 11
Swimming in the Gene Pool
42 mins
Even Jake couldn't make Coby keep his promise to Tom to attend a family dinner with the girl who popped up at hospital: Coby's hated sister Bree Jennings, who was raised by their mother, who left him with Tom. She keeps bothering Coby at Jake's, where Alex takes to her. To marry Doug, Jake and Alex's mother must finally divorce their father, who left them after Alex's birth and now wants to meet his sons. Alex won't even hear of it; Jake doubts and consults Dave. Tom stands by her version that his daughter was no picnic. Carbo and Retta practice parenting skills on pet goldfish, but even that proves too hard.
Episode 12
You've Got to Have Friends
43 mins
Coby still can't convince anyone that sister Bree is bad news. Jake soon allows Alex to ask her over for dinner and even to sleep over. Ben kindly offers to help Tom get back in shape, but he cruelly cheats. Ben also offers Tom a menial club job, initially turned down, but Ted makes clear that the ex-con's resume' offers far bleaker perspectives. Julie discovers Donna's neurotic obsession but overdoes helpfulness. With Emma as secret weapon, Ben, Nathan, Carbo, and Retta win Nick Stephen Jones's 1980s trivia quiz.
Episode 13
Tipping Point
44 mins
Alex lives to please Bree, despite Coby's warnings, and even Jake dares to kiss her. Envious of former employee Warney's success, Dave bids for an urgent, too-large job, for which Ben and Nathan grudgingly turn up all weekend, but the only three laborers who accepted all bail out, so he must hand back the contract and hope to "start an empire." Carbo's Greek family sends Rita's huge wedding dress and his cousin Voula to help prepare a Barnum production, but Nick ends up giving her the sneaky private ceremony she prefers.
Episode 14
Trust Issues
43 mins
Ben considers investing Mel's life insurance in Tom's mate's nightclub, but hesitates even after Dave turns down using it to upscale his electrician firm. Nathan finally agrees to help with Dave's firm marketing, for 6 months. After Jake makes Alex face that Bree isn't really interested in him, she finally moves out, to Coby's great relief. CarboRetta plans to tell their house-mates about their low-key wedding but chicken out and decide to have the great show after all, for their unsuspecting families. Dave can't help making fun of Donna's equally neurotic boyfriend, Phil Armstrong, who constantly worries about his home.
Episode 15
Risky Business
42 mins
Ben still denies his obvious, probably requited, feelings for Emma. Tom gets him to take the boys out clubbing at his so-called mate's popular nightclub, suggesting they should both invest their capital in his next project. Nathan, who feels praised too much by Dave for the six months marketing deal, is hurt that Ben listens to Emma rather than his business-smart brother, but ends up approving Chris Papas as potential investment partner. The still-undisclosed newlyweds are embarrassingly active in bed. The boys suggest that Julie should stop overprotecting Ruby. Tom, who is openly dissatisfied with his menial job and city-life in general, seems to have absconded with Ben's investment cash as Chris demanded.
Episode 16
Second Chance
42 mins
Ben stubbornly insists on giving Tom, who obviously stole his insurance fortune, the benefit of the doubt, and refuses to "break Dave's heart," so the boys agree to search the thief themselves for 24 hours. That requires embarrassing excuses, notably at Nathan's expense, while CarboRetta assume they're planning a stag party. Even after Coby thinks of checking Tom's "working" girlfriend Brenda since his boyhood, leading to the cash being returned, Ben offers Tom a way out, even with the cash. After Coby confess Tom masterminded 'his' construction sites thefts, the police isn't informed and all the good boys feel guilty in their way. Jake tells Bree they can't be a couple because of Alex, but kid brother still finds out and treats Jake like a yellow traitor.
Episode 17
Small World
42 mins
Ted's jocular remarks about professional electricians' events inspires Julie to book a table for six at the impending annual awards ceremony. Coby is delighted when she even has new business cards printed, so he hands them out everywhere. Dave hates being dragged along, but Nathan grabs any excuse to avoid a dinner Retta insists on hosting, now just with poor Ben and Emma, for her sole colleague and "friend" Tina, who must cancel after another of her countless accidents. The friendly taxi driver whom Julie bumped into is discovered by Coby to be the very brother about whose existence he just informed Dave. Dave hated bumping into Warney, who even won an award, but the networking Dave felt not be be suited for actually wins him the major contract which Warney had wanted.
Episode 18
Sign of the Times
44 mins
Dave is determined to finish his first-ever really big job even if it kills him, but the boys feel that there are limits to loyal toil. Only when they remind exhausted, constantly-oversleeping Dave that he actually forgot his wedding anniversary--a first--and give him a weekend in a resort, conjuring his recurring dream, a reprieve seems won. Dave refused to meet Matt during the job, but now the boys call him in, desperate for another pair of hands, and bond with the aspiring musician, like Dave once was. Hearing Ben plan his bachelor party, Carbo owns that he already eloped but keeps the phone off the hook to avoid having to tell his mother in Greece. When Julie finally helps her get tough, the news of financial disaster makes Retta reconsider coming clean and think about a small "wedding" party.
Episode 19
Leap of Faith
42 mins
Dave still won't meet Matt, but the boys drag him along to a concert, where a sort of musicians' bond is established. Ben quickly regrets agreeing to join CarboRetta in using up Tina's expiring movie-theatre subscription, fearing that it could be construed as going steady with Emma "too soon", especially as that was how he got with Mel. Jake tells Bree that they can't be a couple, even now that Alex as moved on with a new girlfriend elsewhere. Ted looks for a new challenge, but can't get a job except from Dave out of pity, and the skydiving introduction Julie buys for him turns into a nightmare without actually trying it.
Episode 20
Butterfly's Wings
43 mins
Besides brewing his own beer "Ted's Tap" and despite the bottle all around, Ted is approved for the Great Mates program, as substitute father figure for super-shy preteen Cooper. The wedding comedy gets a hairdresser extension. A serious of impromptu arrangements forces Dave to take Ruby along to the huge construction site, where the pressure to avoid a hefty delay fine is unbearable, so he grumpily scolds Matt's presumed excuses for arriving late. Involuntary babysitter Coby is distracted and Ruby wanders off; Matt's heroism saves her from falling to her death and lands him in hospital with a dislocated shoulder.
Episode 21
Sleepwalking
43 mins
The Rafter brothers can't help gloating when CarboRetta's secrecy blows up in their face as anxiously sleepwalking Carbo's parents arrive early, so it's too late to tell them about the elopement. During the bachelor party, Carbo tells his father Theo, who makes him swear secrecy to mother Rita. After an equally-drunk hen night and an heirloom gift, Retta tells Rita. Ben smooths everything out by explaining Nick's dilemma and afterwards admits to Emma that it's time to give their own love a chance. Dave starts planning expanding his business, yet turns down Ben's insurance capital, even as a loan. Ted gets Donna's suspiciously generous sympathy and support with his protégé Cooper.
Episode 22
Endings and Beginnings
43 mins
Ben plans a romantic dinner with "dessert" while CarboRetta are on honeymoon, but a misunderstanding cuts it short and the "happy couple" returns rowing. The boys are delighted with a visit from Dave's one-hit bandmate Steve Wilson, who became a professional and assures Nathan not to hold a grudge about their common ex--who, by the way, died of an overdose. Coby makes an entry remote control for Dave's new HQ just in time for the opening, but feels a failure just because of a battery failure. Coby's misery peaks when Nathan, who already decided to cut his six months' firm participation short, announces a world tour. Coby despairs about preparing for his apprenticeship exams, but Nathan agrees to take him along on tour. Ted has a successful date with insecure Donna. Julie quickly swallows her objections and fails to find a publisher for her first-ever romantic novel, a dare from Dave.
