"Forsaking All Others - Part Two" is the 961st episode of Casualty and the 46th and final episode of the 29th series. The episode was directed by Julie Edwards and written by Matthew Barry. It was preceded by "Forsaking All Others - Part One" and was followed by "A Child's Heart - Part One".
This episode follows the events taking place on Zoe and Max's wedding day. This episode also aired after the series 29 special episode "Mrs Walker-To-Be" which filled in the events of the night before the wedding. Unlike all other episodes in the series, this episode was 10 minutes longer making it a full hour long episode. Despite primarily focusing on the events of Zoe and Max's wedding, Charlie was the top listed character in the episode.
Synopsis[]
It's the day of Max and Zoe's wedding, and the ED staff are preparing for their shifts and the evening reception of the wedding. Zoe wakes up alongside her one night stand from her hen night, and is left feeling guilty.
At the ED, Louise decides to meet up with Laila, a former patient she had worked with during her time as a nurse years ago who also contributed to Louise quitting being a nurse. At the bar where they meet, Laila tells Louise that she's pregnant, and believes that Louise has just come for forgiveness, and starts to leave, but in a rush she trips over on a table onto shards of broken glass. Louise calls the ambulance, and then leaves the scene before they arrive as she thinks that she will be blamed. Later at the ED, Dylan discovers that Laila isn't pregnant, and instead the lump in her stomach has been caused by heavy drinking. She later forgives Louise upon realising that losing her baby years earlier wasn't her fault. Louise was made to believe it was due to the fact that an ultrasound had taken place when in fact it hadn't and her baby was discovered to be dead. Zoe later tells Dylan that she slept with someone.
Elsewhere in the ED, Rita and Dylan are put into isolation after a patient they've been treating has a suspected dangerous disease. This means that Dylan can't walk Zoe down the aisle on time. Later, Dylan leaves the room as he notices that the symptoms are that of malaria.
At the registry office where Greta, Lofty and Robyn are there for the ceremony, Zoe tells Max that she can't marry him outside, but fails to give a reason. However, she decides to go through with it anyway. At the evening reception, Ethan, Honey, Noel, Big Mac, Charlie and Louis Fairhead arrive after their day at the ED. Soon after, Dylan arrives, and Max starts to suspect something after a look Dylan gives Zoe. After Zoe tells Max about the night before, he says he can't believe what she's done. Zoe then leaves the reception crying, and goes to Dylan's houseboat across the lake from the marquee.
Meanwhile at the wedding reception, Louis makes a comment to Max, causing Max to punch him. Charlie then steps in but Louis pushes him over, which causes Max to punch him again. During the commotion, one of the patio heaters is knocked over and starts a fire which quickly spreads. Everyone manages to get out, at which point Louis runs away. Max also attempts to contact Zoe, wondering where she is.
While this is happening, Zoe tells Dylan to drive the boat away. When he gets to the boat deck, he notices one of the embers from the fire at the wedding marquee has landed on the boat and set fire to some items near a gas canister. Seeing the danger, he says to Zoe that they must both jump into the lake. As they are about to jump, Dylan runs back into the boat to get his lucky necklace. Zoe is in the water, unable to swim very well in her dress. Just as Zoe is trying to swim away, the gas canister explodes, sending the boat into flames, while all of the wedding guests including Max watch on in horror.
Reception[]
The two part finale was generally well received judging by comments over Twitter and on the official Facebook page. A lot of viewers commented on the good use of a cliffhanger. However, many were disappointed of the fact that Zoe's relationship with Max may have been in danger. The series finale received over six million viewers, and was one of the most viewed episodes of the series.