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Rescue puts heart into the action

THERE'S a new discovery on Rescue: Special Ops this season: beneath all that cool, steely professionalism, Lara (Gigi Edgley) has a heart.

For two seasons the rescue paramedic with the smart mouth and stunt moves, a long-term partner in the wings, and a "will-they-or-won't-they" relationship with rescue paramedic sidekick Dean (Les Hill) has managed to guard that heart under a veneer of work.

But just three episodes into season three, viewers will see the new Lara shaken from her customary cool, unable to keep all her cards close to her chest.

This week, we see Lara conflicted but trying to get on with the job - until an accident in which a shaken husband professes his love for his "soulmate" wife sees Lara's doubts and secrets bubble up to the surface.

"This is the season we see the more personal Lara," says Edgley, who is enjoying exploring her character's private side. "She's more feminine, she's harbouring a few secrets."

And it doesn't hurt that at the moment she's subconsciously juggling three men in her life, and trying to make sense of all of it.

Husband Hamish (Wil Traval) is absent working overseas and new face on the rival rescue team, Cam (Todd Lasance), is flirting outrageously with her.

But butting heads with Cam is Dean (Les Hill), her professional partner and confidante with whom she's always had chemistry.

Just beyond his reach, Lara seems at the centre of an uneasy emotional triangle. It makes her day job of scaling cliffs and saving lives seem positively easy by comparison.

Easier than, as viewers discover this week, harbouring a secret about her relationship with Hamish.

Dean isn't fooled. He's noticed the unreturned messages from Hamish. Cam isn't fazed. Cocky and flirtatious, he's making no secret of his attraction to her.

It's Lara who is clearly struggling with something.

Suffice to say with three complicated personal relationships on the boil.

"Lara is going to be forced to unveil her heart", Edgley says. And ultimately, she laughs, that means her character could ultimately end up getting some action that doesn't include abseiling down cliffs.

The complicated scenario seems set to amp up the already adrenalin-charged series.

"Lara has married Hamish, but she's questioning her marriage and her role in Hamish's life," Edgley says.

"There are times she talks to Dean about that marriage, about trying hard enough and whether she's the best wife.

"She does that because Dean has such a beautiful way of looking at things, and he's pretty much the biggest light she has in her life, though she'd hate to admit it."

And then there's Cam.

"He's more cowboy-esque, a really exciting character. He eats challenges for breakfast," Edgley says.

"He's a complete risk-taker and a complete thrill-seeker and that's something she adores because within her profession every day she's looking at life and death.

"She knows it could all end in an instant, so why not live in the here and now, and Cameron really brings that out in her.

"You can see her unravelling a bit, trying to cope with this new energy."

The Cam/Dean dynamic adds extra spice to Rescue: Special Ops this season: it's all adrenalin and alpha males.

Their blokey professional rivalry is sharpened by the realisation that both could care for Lara. It's a recipe for some spicy stand-offs, sometimes humorous blokey posturing, big brother-style warning-offs, uneasy, unspoken truces, and, occasionally, grudging respect.

All are on show in this week's double episode. Rescue: Special Ops characters deal daily with life-and-death situations.

For Lara this season, the casualties could well include her own, or someone else's, heart.

By Debbie Schipp
June 04, 2011
Sunday Mail (SA)