For 30 years, Shortland Street Hospital has survived wayward ambulances, armed invaders, multiple exploding cars and dozens of legal and PR nightmares, but all it took was Waverley’s attempts to be an influencer to do the hospital in for good. Video / South Pacific Pictures
WARNING: Spoilers for the 2022 Shortland Street cliffhanger below
Well, they’ve finally done it. For 30 years, Shortland Street Hospital has survived wayward ambulances, armed invaders, multiple exploding cars and dozens of legal and PR nightmares over all those serial killers they’ve hired, but all it took was Waverley’s attempts to be an influencer to do the hospital in for good.
Yes, Shortland Street Hospital is no more. In the final moments of this year’s cliffhanger, doctors and nurses watch helplessly as their beloved hospital burns before their eyes, the latest victim in a wildfire blaze that has consumed Ferndale over the past week.
And this was not just some small-scale, obligatory December event designed to keep fans hooked over the month-long summer break before everything returns to normal in January. The hospital has been destroyed - alongside the iconic IV Bar and much of the fictional Ferndale, in the most shocking cliffhanger in years that sets the stage for a complete refresh and soft reboot in 2023.
After teasers of a heat wave last week, things truly kicked off on Monday, with the surprise return of 90s and 00s fan favourite Waverley on a camping trip with most of her many children. The typical highly strung comedy she brings turned to horror by the end of the episode, as sparks from their campfire set off a wildfire on the outer edges of Ferndale. Marty and Esther were the first to be caught in the nightmare, after becoming trapped by the flames and having to spend the night in a freezing lake to avoid the flames.
It’s a fittingly apocalyptic end to this year’s run, given the past few months have been dominated by the Brightshine Church and how it has drawn most of the characters into its potentially dark web. Youth pastor Scott has been keyed up as the year’s main villain, after he was seen seemingly drowning Meave’s son Wilder last month. Unlucky in love Dawn yesterday caught on to the darkness behind his religious goodwill and dumped him, leading Scott to suffocate ambulance officer Logan after believing Dawn was leaving for him.
Maeve (Jess Sayer), Madonna (Marianne Infante) and Villi (Theo David) watch as the hospital burns.
The episode picks up with Esther in surgery as Drew and Nicole try to restart her heart, while the rest of the hospital is packed with people suffering burns and smoke inhalation. The fire alarms are triggered by the smoke that surrounds the hospital, and as Dawn helps evacuate people, she finds Logan unconscious and barely clinging on to life.
The flames are quickly consuming Ferndale and getting ever closer to the hospital. TK is ordered to shut it down and evacuate everyone, but he and the team commit to staying open for the patients who can’t be moved. Rahu’s firefighter brother is admitted after getting caught in an exploding car, while Stanley briefly faints after being electrocuted. Meanwhile, Harper, still battling depression, leaves Drew and her children after realising she is not coping, leaving her fate for next year ambiguous.
In positive news for the staff, Logan wakes up, but quickly confirms that Scott was behind his attack. Maeve, believing that this means he could have killed Wilder as well, chases Scott down and attacks him before being dragged away. As Scott tries to escape, Rebekah, the mysterious Brightshine leader, comes across him and reveals herself to be the true villain, as she beats Scott to death with a fire extinguisher to keep him silent.
It leaves the Brightshine storyline on a big cliffhanger as to what is really going on there, but that goes by the wayside as the rooftop fire spreads through the rest of the hospital, forcing all staff and patients to evacuate. Madonna attempts to rescue her con-man ex-boyfriend Mark, whom she left in his room earlier, but an explosion prevents her from getting to him, and she is dragged out to the carpark with everyone else.
Shortland Street often gets mocked for its low budget, but you can’t level that accusation at the team this year. This is by far one of the largest sequences I’ve seen the show produce, and the scale of what they have done can’t be questioned. I commend producer Oliver Driver, the head writers and the whole crew for pulling off such an audacious, game-changing finale. This is not your average whodunnit or who will survive cliffhanger - a huge question mark now hangs over the future of this Kiwi institution.
There’s no promo this year, no return date revealed yet and, given the state of our health system, who knows how long a rebuild will take. But Shortland Street is as immortal as the phoenix - we’ve had the fire, so now comes the rebirth and, for the first time in years, I can honestly say I’m excited to see what happens next.
Shortland Street is available to watch on TVNZ+. It will return to TVNZ 2 in January.
