This Is Where Duty Starts

This Is Where Duty Starts
	Season 1, Episode 2
Air date	February 14, 2011
	Episode guide
Previous; It's Kind Of A Birthday Present	Next; God's Gift to Zebras

This Is Where Duty Starts is the second episode of Season 1 of The Almighty Johnsons.

Synopsis[]

Axl Johnson learns very quickly that when you're on a Quest to find one woman among millions, your heart is not necessarily the part of your anatomy you should be following.^[1]

Plot[]

Axl has pretty much recovered from being shot with an arrow, so Anders is very keen that Axl/Odin gets busy hunting Frigg. In Anders’ vision of how this works Axl is thrown in among the women-folk of the nation, and shags his way through them until he finds The One He Seeks. Axl isn’t as keen on this plan as Anders is.

Mike and Valerie, meanwhile, are dealing with bad news.The IVF treatment they have been undertaking has failed for a 2nd time. Mike’s secret fear is that his God sperm and Val’s human eggs can never work together to create a child. Already feeling out of sorts with the universe, Mike’s day gets worse when he and Val learn that their friend Rob, in a coma for 15 years now, has started speaking Norse gobbledegook in his sleep.

As Axl ponders the enormity of his Quest – not helped by Ty’s gloomy/logical break-down of the task ahead – things take an unexpected turn when he meet a friend of Gaia’s, Jaime, whom he feels an immediate (and apparently mutual) attraction.

Anders, meanwhile, has selected the target for Axl’s first foray into Frigg-hunting – Karla Svensson, a Goddess-like netballer/party girl. That Axl rejects his choice in favour of pursuing an actual relationship with Jaime (who is clearly not Frigg) annoys Anders, to the extent that he sabotages Axl’s first date with Jaime, sending him a reminder of the Quest he is meant to be undertaking.

Off the back of the Axl and Anders argue, in which is revealed that Axl is actually a virgin, and the thought of trying to bed the fearsome Karla scares the heck out of him. Anders proposes a plan where Axl can both score Karla and (providing she’s not the Frigg) then pursue his romance with Jaime. This plan, it transpires, involves Axl being the stand-in mascot for Karla’s netball team and, despite a few hitches along the way, it is a plan that actually works – and Axl ends up in bed with Karla, losing his virginity.

Mike, meanwhile, has found out about Anders’ plan.He, Ty and Olaf arrive at Anders’ place in time to be greeted by a panicked Axl bursting from the bedroom – he believes that he killed Karla with his lovemaking! He hasn’t – she has merely passed out – but it is not an auspicious start to the Quest. And Ty has to revive her.

As a way of warning Axl to take this Quest responsibly, Mike tells Axl the story of how Rob ended up in a coma – as a result of Mike using his powers recklessly. When he had inherited his powers at 21, he started a barfight in which Rob received a blow to the head. Mike’s message is that when you are a God, bad things happen to the mortals around you – this is why he chooses not to use his powers.

And Mike’s warnings are born out with Axl when he gets home – and discovers that Jaime saw Axl with Karla – and that all thoughts of a relationship between them is most definitely off. In this way Axl learns the downside of Godliness: bad stuff happens.

Cast[]

Crew[]

Witter - James Griffin
Director - Mark Beesley
Script Editor - James Griffin
Storyliners - Rachel Lang & Tim Balme
Producer - Simon Bennett
Executive Producers - James Griffin, Rachel Lang, Chris Bailey & John Barnett

Music[]

Oh My - Performed by Gin Wigmore (Theme Music)

Reception[]

Trivia[]

References[]

↑ http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/TheAlmightyJohnsons.aspx

[1] ttp://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/TheAlmightyJohnsons.aspx

[1]

This Is Where Duty Starts
Season 1, Episode 2
Air date	February 14, 2011
Episode guide
Previous It's Kind Of A Birthday Present	Next God's Gift to Zebras