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It started with a kiss

They've visited their attraction for each other once before in a steamy kiss, but now Tess and Jack have to decide whether to take things further after being caught in a life-and-death situation.

Blue Heelers' Tess (Caroline Craig) and Jack (Rupert Reid) have managed to keep their attraction for each other pretty much under wraps but this week, when the two are taken hostage, they're forced to rethink their decision to hide their true feelings.

Staring in the face of death during a life-threatening situation, the two realise that they could die together and never acknowledge the way they really feel.

"They don't know if they're going to survive or not and there's all this stuff left unsaid between the two of them," Rupert explains. "They realise that their number could be up.

"There's a lot of feeling between the two of them and a lot of emotionally loaded words. The danger of this situation really cuts through tot he emotional truth of how much they really care for each other."

While Tess and Jack might now realise their feelings are deeper than they thought, their attraction still poses a problem, especially for Tess.

"She's still attracted to Jack and likes the country boy in him. She's never had anyone care about her like he does, but she doesn't want to jeopardise her career," Caroline explains. "She's a very ambitious and to go out with a junior constable is a bad move, so her feelings for Jack do pose a problem for her.

"She's also worried that people might find out about it, and it;s not something she wants known—but Jack finds this hard to understand."

While Rupert can understand Tess's dilemma, he agrees that Jack has a much harder time understanding why Tess runs hot and cold.

"He oversteps the mark a couple of times. For Jack, the goalposts keep shifting and he wonders, ‘Who are we today?'’ And that's where he oversteps the mark a bit." Rupert says.

Though Blue Heelers' favourite couple Maggie (Lisa McCune) and PJ (Martin Sacks) faced a similar situation at the beginning of their relationship (Maggie and PJ also succumbed to their feelings during a life-and-death situation), Rupert says this storyline is very different.

"It's hard not to draw comparisons to Maggie and PJ because there are obviously some elements that are similar, particularly the fact that they're two police officers who fall in love. But in terms of the show, it's Tess and Jack, I wouldn't say we're the next Maggie and PJ, simply because those characters were very distinct personalities with different stories. Also there's an age difference between Tess and Jack, who's a few years younger, so there's a different dynamic between the two of them."

While both Rupert and Caroline are enjoying the romantic storyline, both admit that it has been extremely challenging, especially for Caroline.

"The biggest challenges on the show have been when we've had to be emotionally honest, I found the kiss scene a big challenge," she says. "I've worked in plays before and have even been nude on stage but there's always been a removed reality to it. But doing it on set makes it seem quite real. Luckily Rupert;s been a friend of mine for years. I can't imagine how difficult it would be if you had these scenes with someone you weren't comfortable with."

TV Week
Week of May 06, 2001