To celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) in 2022, five episodes of Shortland Street intermingled te reo Māori and English. In the week's first episode, rocky romances rule. The relationship between teens Tillie Samuels (Tinihuia Lee-Lemon) and Arepa (Paku Fernandez) irks protective Dad TK (Ben Mitchell), but fiancée Cece (Nicole Whippy) calls him out on his "hypocrisy". A drunken fling means curtains for lovers Marty (Scott Smart) and Monique (Courtenay Louise) and staff members enjoy Māori lessons with charismatic Māori health consultant Ihaka Herewini (Xavier Horan).