Pärnu Shore, Season finale: We’ll always have the shore

Pärnu Shore:

• Meet the cast of Pärnu Shore
• Pärnu Shore, Episode One: A rullnokk’s work is never done
• Pärnu Shore, Episode Two: All’s fair in love and shore
• Pärnu Shore, Episode Three: Between a rullnokk and a hard place
• Pärnu Shore, Season Finale: We’ll always have the shore

Priit and Jaanika are working the early-morning shift at Rullnokk’s; they both came straight to work from a heavy night of drinking at Shüüters. Priit describes the drama of the night before to Jaanika: Priit broke things off with Heleen because Kevin told him that she and Jaanika are dating. Shocked by the ridiculous rumor, Jaanika assures Kevin that she has never been romantically involved with another woman outside of Club Hollywood in Tallinn and that even if she was attracted to Heleen, she wouldn’t make a move on her knowing how strongly Heleen feels about Priit. Priit, confused but inexplicably not embarrassed or ashamed of his behavior, tells Jaanika that he intends to make amends with Heleen that night. Jaanika in turn explains that, because Pärnu Shore filming ends the next day, she plans to confess her feelings to Kevin that night as well, despite Priit’s advice against doing so.

Back at the house, Heleen and Riina awake to the sounds of Martin

and Kevin brawling in the kitchen. The girls separate the two and ask what happened: Martin explains that he and Kevin had arrived home from Shüüters minutes earlier, and Kevin was trying to take the last beer in the refrigerator. Impressed by Kevin’s insatiable thirst for alcohol – even at 13:00 on a Saturday, following nearly 15 hours of non-stop drinking – Riina diffuses the situation by offering Martin the beer she keeps hidden in her underwear drawer. Martin’s face turns red and he confesses to drinking that beer the day before. Disgusted, Riina grabs the beer from Kevin’s hands and returns to her room.

Heleen asks Kevin if he’ll join her on the balcony for a few minutes. The two go to the balcony, and Heleen tells him about the drama from the night before with Priit. She confesses her history with Priit to Kevin and asks for advice: Kevin suggests that she go for a walk to clear her head. Preferably in the direction of a store. Preferably a store that sells beer. And preferably she would return with a six-pack of A. Le Coq premium. Kevin then falls asleep.

Priit and Jaanika return home from work and take naps: the roommates are planning a massive night out to celebrate the end of Pärnu Shore. Kevin has offered to concoct a new drink recipe to mark the occasion – he calls it the Olukord, and it is a mixture of rum, raspberries, tequila, ice, and the special Estonian ingredient, sea-buckthorn berries. Jaanika tells Kevin that she has something very important to speak with him about before everyone gets so drunk that their emotions stop working. Kevin tells her that they’ll talk when he returns from buying Olukord materials at the store.

While getting ready, Heleen asks Riina for advice on confronting Priit: the previous night changed her impression of him, she claims, and she wants to clear the air but also to let him know that she’s no longer interested in him romantically. Riina suggests that she write him a note to avoid an awkward, one-on-one confrontation. Heleen agrees and the two draft what they consider to be a firm yet empathetic rejection letter:

Tere,

Ma ei ole enam sinust huvitatud. Vabandust.

…Sa tead kes ma olen.

Helen puts the note in a place where she knows Priit will read it — the beer shelf in the refrigerator – and continues getting ready for the night. Meanwhile, Kevin comes back to the house and begins making the Olukord. He opens the refrigerator door and finds Heleen’s note for Priit, but he assumes Jaanika wrote it for him. Finding it odd that a woman he has never expressed any interest in just rejected him, he places the note in a drawer and continues making drinks.

At around 22:00, the roommates gather in the kitchen to drink Olukord and discuss their plan for the evening. Jaanika begins to say something sentimental about their time in the Pärnu Shore house but, taking stock of her roommates and their ability to process abstract notions such as “love” or “friendship”, changes course and tells a joke about nudist midgets. The roommates laugh and finalize their plans: they’ll get wasted, go to Shüüters, get more wasted, and try to hook up with people. As they finish their drinks, Martin opens the silverware to fetch a straw and finds Heleen’s note for Priit. He assumes the note was placed there for him to read by Riina, whom he saw naked days earlier. Confused as to why a woman that he has never expressed interest in would reject him, he places the note in a cupboard and rallies the roommates to leave for Shüüters.

At Shüüters, Jaanika approaches Kevin and asks to talk with him in private. Thinking

she wants to explain the note, Kevin stops her in mid-sentence, telling her that he knows how she feels about him and that he feels the same about her. Jaanika assumes that Priit told Kevin about her feelings for him and is relieved to not have to suffer through in-person, human-to-human communication. Instead, she breathes a sigh of relief and returns to the dance floor, convinced that this roundabout exchange means she and Kevin are now dating. Meanwhile, Priit approaches Heleen with the intent of revealing his feelings for her. Heleen sees Priit walking towards her: believing that he read her note and is upset about it, Heleen stops him before he can say anything and tells him that she knows how he feels about her, and that the feelings are mutual. Satisfied, Priit returns to the bar with the understanding that he and Heleen are now dating.

After multiple shots of Viru Valge, Martin decides to confront Riina about her rejection letter. Riina sees Martin approaching her from a distance; when he finally reaches her, she stops him before he can say anything and informs him that they’re leaving the club. The two go home and retreat to the mitte-magamise magamistuba. Martin never bothers to bring up the letter.

At nearly 3am in Shüüters, having drunk enough cider to put most humans into a coma, Heleen experiences a moment of introspective reflection. She considers the summer at the Pärnu Shore house: she contemplates her status as a rullnokk and the trajectory her life is on. She tries to define what success means to her. Being a good mom? Making a lot of money? Doing intellectually challenging work? She looks out upon the dance floor – occupied by zombie-like creatures who are only awake by virtue of energy drinks and the desire to drunkenly grope members of the opposite sex – and questions whether the rullnokk lifestyle can ever truly deliver happiness to her. And then, in mid-thought, she vomits. Security escorts her out of Shüüters and she walks to the beach, where she passes out. The other roommates have all moved out by the time she makes it home the next day. The only thing left in the house is her rejection note to Priit, which is sitting on the kitchen counter; she assumes Jaanika meant for her to read it. Confused as to why a woman that she’s never expressed interest in has just rejected her, she packs her things and leaves the house.