Series 3

Ep 27: Crash

When young lawyer Tim (Daniel Gillies) resigns from Wyeth and Associates, citing lack of direction from David (Jay Laga’aia) and Joni (Katherine Kennard), Peter Wyeth (Carl Bland) blames them for poor leadership and tells them he’s unwilling to sell the company to them.

David cannot believe Tim’s reasons and goes to see him at his new job with a major law firm. They argue. David accuses Tim of sabotaging his and Joni’s buyout attempt and precipitates a shocking revelation from Tim which leaves David reeling.

Joni visits her best friend Adie (Louise Wallace) in hospital, recovering from a gunshot wound, and is stunned to find Adie in flagrante delicto with ex-husband Peter. What does this mean for the future?

Meanwhile, David is acting for a surprising client - Robbie (Jared Blakely), the 10-year-old son of his friend Maddy McGuire (Ingrid Park), who’s being sued for defamation by a car dealer.  David calls in his panel-beater brother Samson (Ben Baker) to check out the dodgy dealer. Samson finds the dealer is flogging off flood-damaged cars which are time-bombs.

With the help of Detective Senior Sergeant (DSS) Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure), David and Maddy track the dangerous vehicle down and put the dodgy dealer out of business.

In the process, Maddy, who is about to graduate from law school, impresses David and he urges Joni to offer Maddy Tim’s job. Joni turns the idea down flat – the firm is not a haven for David Silesi’s exes. However, they are both taken aback when Maddy gets another offer from a surprising source - Rory Melville (Greg Johnson), the dodgy lawyer who acted for the dodgy car dealer.

Ep 28: The Good Son

Joni (Katherine Kennard) and Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure) decide on a quick wedding. Joni stresses to David (Jay Laga’aia) that he be there, and both Adie (Louise Wallace) and Maddy (Ingrid Park) see David’s attendance at the wedding as his chance to prove he’s over Joni…

But David finds it easy to side-step the issue when Samson (Ben Baker) needs his help against a gang of car thieves who threaten to ruin Samson’s panel-beating business.

The gang is stealing muscle cars repaired and restored at Samson’s panel shop, and it becomes obvious to David and Samson that the gang must have an insider at Samson’s supplying addresses and keys. But when they stake out the gang, David and Samson end up caught in their own trap when the police arrive.

David and Samson realise the accomplice is Samson’s book-keeper, Paddy (Mac Jeffrey Ong), but when they try to confront him, they come face to face with Paddy’s tragic circumstances – and the reason he’s forced to work for the gang.

Joni gets ready for the wedding, forcing David to interview the long line of job applicants for Tim’s job. He’s interrupted by news that Paddy’s been captured by the gang, and when he goes to rescue Paddy, David takes a typically unconventional approach and invites one of the applicants, James Peabody (Dwayne Cameron) along for an interview on the hoof. 

They both get caught up with Samson and Kees Van Dam in a dangerous chase through a crowded mall and car-park. David’s so impressed with James, he offers him the job there and then, unbeknownst to Joni…

 . . .who is taking her vows with Kees in front of Adie … and looking out the corner of her eye for David, hoping he’ll come. He does eventually turn up (with James in tow) and tries to appear pleased but his smile is a dismal failure.

Ep 29: Sea of Troubles

The Cup yachties are in town and it’s party time down at the wharf, with a lot of money being thrown around. David (Jay Laga’aia) defends Brendan, (Henry McKenzie), an angry young man accused of vandalising an America’s Cup yacht.

But what seems to be a case of industrial sabotage quickly escalates to assault and murder, when Brendan and his mate Darren (Antony Starr) attack some yachties, or “gold card wankers” and Darren’s girlfriend Debbie (Debbie Newby) is found next morning floating in the harbour.

Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure) and Joni (Katherine Kennard) are discussing when to fit their honeymoon into their schedules, when Debbie’s body is discovered and Kees is called down to the wharf.

Joni gets to the office to find David has employed James (Dwayne Cameron) without consulting her. Joni, angry at David, attempts to re-interview James, who walks out. When Joni reads James’ cv, she realises she’s made a terrible mistake and has to eat humble pie to get him back.

Meanwhile, David interviews Debbie’s sister Maureen (Katrina Devine), and discovers Maureen’s having an affair with a Cup yachtie and is terrified of someone. David begins to suspect that Maureen, not Debbie, was the real target for the murderer, and when he and James visit Darren, his suspicions are confirmed.

Darren realises the noose is closing and tries a last desperate act, as Kees and David reach the same conclusion at the same time and race to save Maureen from the murderer.

In a tense and dramatic climax, Darren takes Maureen and her Cup yachtie boyfriend hostage in an apartment.  In a rage he stabs the boyfriend and then admits that he was the one who killed Debbie.

Kees & David burst in just in time to tell him that Debbie died of drowning - not from the beating but it's small consolation to Darren who's lost the woman he loves.  He dives off the apartment balcony.

James, standing below the apartment, hears a sickening thud and ends his first day on the job staring death in the face.

Ep 30: The Only Way Is Up

Adie (Louise Wallace) and Peter (Carl Bland) are planning a future together and Joni (Katherine Kennard) suspects that Peter will sell the firm to them, if they can prove they can act responsibly.

When James (Dwayne Cameron) doesn’t turn up for work after witnessing a suicide while working with David (Jay Laga’aia), Joni is furious with David for exposing him to such trauma.

Meanwhile, David opposes Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure) and wins parole for Johnny Watts (Scott Wills), a reformed drug dealer who has served five years. Johnny wants to be a father to his seven-year-old daughter, Nicole (Ashley Wallace), but his wife, Kathleen (Katrina Browne) serves a protection order on him, preventing access to her or the child.

David goes to negotiate with Kathleen’s lawyer, Rory Melville (Greg Johnson) and is surprised to find Maddy (Ingrid Park) acting, putting David and Maddy on opposite sides. David asks Joni for help, since family law is her specialist area. Kathleen swears Johnny is not Nicole’s father, so Joni arranges for a DNA test and interim access to the child.

The District Commander (George Henare) tells Kees he can have his honeymoon after he’s settled in a new detective, Matt Urlich (Manu Bennett), who is on the “fast track” to police seniority. Kees wonders which “track” he’s on.

Acting on an anonymous tip-off, Kees re-arrests Johnny Watts the day before he’s due to see his daughter. Johnny is so desperate to see her that he offers, against David’s advice, to set up a drug dealer for the cops in exchange for his freedom. Matt also argues against the cops using Johnny, but Kees has seen the misery Johnny caused as a dealer and has no qualms about using him any way he can.

The undercover operation goes dramatically wrong when the villains outsmart the cops and by the time Kees gets to the scene, there is a smoking gun and a body on the ground.

 (To be continued)

Ep 31: No Silver Bullet

Continued from last week…

David (Jay Laga’aia) urges James (Dwayne Cameron) to drive at breakneck speed to get wounded Johnny Watts (Scott Wills) to hospital. When they get there, Kees Charles Mesure) and Matt (Many Bennett)  are unloading Raymond Compton (John Glass), mortally wounded by Johnny.  Kees suspects a drug war and accuses Johnny of shooting Raymond. David tells Kees to back off as the doctors try to resuscitate Raymond.

When David arrives downcast at Samson’s (Ben Baker), Janine (Elizabeth Skeen) looks after him. David praises their marriage and admits it’s hard sometimes to go home alone.

Kathleen (Katrina Browne) gives Maddy (Ingrid Park), who is her lawyer, a confidential box for safe-keeping and tells her Johnny’s access to daughter Nicole (Ashley Wallace) is a dead issue. Kathleen seems to know more than she should.

Raymond dies and Johnny fears the cops will pin the murder on him. David and James prepare a case for self-defence, but are puzzled when it emerges that the bullet which killed Raymond doesn’t match the gun the cops found at the scene. Kees persuades Matt to go undercover to freak out Mr Big, whom he believes is connected to Johnny.

Adie (Louise Wallace) tells Peter (Carl Bland) she doesn’t want to go back to being a Judge and asks him to join her on a rural estate. He agrees and they announce the good news to Joni and David, who are delighted that Peter has finally decided to sell the firm to them. Everything seems set up for happy continuity at Wyeth & Associates.

But the villains are freaked, one in particular, and Kees’ plan to “shake the tree and see what falls out” works - to devastating and disastrous effect for Wyeth & Associates and everyone involved.

Katrina decides that David's getting too involved in her husband's affairs and orders him to be taken out.  The gunman turns up at Wyeth and Associates and fires at the figure in David's office.  Only it's not David working there - it's Peter and he's now in very very bad shape.

Ep 32: Death In the Family - Part I

Peter Wyeth (Carl Bland) has been shot. The doctor gives a distraught David (Jay Laga’aia), Joni (Katherine Kennard), Adie (Louise Wallace) and daughter Melanie (Kate Elliot) a grim prognosis.

Maddy (Ingrid Park) takes David home and comforts him. Their relationship becomes closer.

Matt Urlich (Manu Bennett) tells Kees (Charles Mesure) that his strategy of putting pressure on the villains has worked. Kees is angry that Matt seems to be blaming him for Peter’s death, but privately, he tearfully confides in Joni that he feels the guilt – he clearly pushed Mr Big too hard and Mr Big tried to take out David but got Peter.

Kathleen (Katrina Browne) gives a package to  Rory Melville (Greg Johnson) for safe-keeping, telling Maddy she doesn’t expect to see David again. She is extremely surprised when David arrives on her doorstep, asking her to allow Johnny (Scott Wills) access to his daughter.

Peter’s blood pressure drops and he’s taken back into theatre, as  Adie pleads with him to fight.

When Kees proposes to turn the heat up on Mr Big by sending Johnny Watts undercover again, Matt accuses Kees of running a personal vendetta against Johnny, who gets run down by Mr Big’s hitman, Parry (Marek Sumich).

Parry thinks he’s got away sweet and reports back to Mr Big who in fact turnd out to be Mrs Big, Kathleen. She reassures Parry and confirms a rendezvous, where she betrays him with a kiss and a bullet from a 45. 

Ep 33: Death In the Family - Part II

Kees (Charles Mesure) traces Parry (Marek Sumich), the man who shot Peter, to an address, but arrives too late – Parry’s been shot through the head. Kees is upset – he was counting on Parry being able to lead him to Mr Big.

Matt (Manu Bennett) tells David (Jay Laga’aia) he’s resigned from the police and David, who knows Matt was put through law school by the cops, asks Matt to help them out at Wyeth & Associates while Peter’s still in hospital.

David accepts Kees’ theory about a drug war, but can’t figure out why Mr Big would try to kill him.  Maddy (Ingrid Park) starts to put the clues together and when she does, faces an ethical dilemma over client confidentiality. She confides in David and he takes it anonymously to Kees. As a result of Maddy’s information, Kathleen (Katrina Browne) is caught delivering the pistol back to safe-keeping with Rory Melville (Greg Johnson) and is arrested. David is able to tell Johnny the good news  – his daughter Nicole (Ashley Wallace) will be living with him.

Peter’s operation is unsuccessful. He dies. Everyone is shattered and very distressed. David delivers a moving graveside eulogy at Peter’s funeral.

Kees is summoned from the funeral to the District Commander’s (George Henare) office, where Rory Melville does a deal for Kathleen’s freedom. Kees is furious, but powerless, since there is insufficient evidence to hold her. He returns to the wake, desolate and riddled with guilt.

There’s a dramatic confrontation between Kees and David, which tests to the limit the negotiating skills of Maddy and Joni (Katherine Kennard).  Eventually everyone accepts that trying to find someone to blame is a useless exercise and an uneasy truce is declared.  

Ep 34: The Jeweller

DSS Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure) is called to a jeweller’s shop burglary, which seems to be a perfect job, no mess, clean getaway, big haul. Kees suspects an inside job and targets the shop assistant Tracey (Jay Saussey), whose brother, Gary (Kelson Henderson) is a former drug addict – and client of David’s (Jay Laga’aia).

David and Joni (Katherine Kennard) are trying to deal with the emotional and legal fallout from Peter’s death. David wants to be close to family and puts his brother Samson (Ben Baker) in a difficult position with his wife Janine (Elizabeth Skeen) by asking to move into the spare room. Then David and Joni are both shocked to learn that the beneficiary of Peter’s estate is his not his ex-wife, Adie (Louise Wallace), but his daughter, Melanie (Kate Elliott). It is Melanie they will have to negotiate with if they want to buy Peter’s share of the firm.

Matt (Manu Bennett) gets his first brief as a lawyer and has to front Kees on behalf of Tracey, the jewellery robbery suspect. Kees is scathing, accusing Matt of leaving the police for the money. Later, when Matt finds some critical new information, Kees refuses to give it any value, forcing Matt to try to bluff the person he believes is the real perpetrator into making a mistake.

David and Joni see an opportunity to benefit from Melanie’s youth and naivete and decide not to volunteer to her some critical information about the financial viability of the firm.

Janine finally gives in to Samson and says David can come to live with them, providing David passes a test.

Matt is devastated when his bluff misfires – and he appears to be the cause of a suicide.  But further investigation shows that it was the store owner himself who was behind the burglary and his suicide was just a smokescreen.

He's arrested at the airport fleeing the country with his mistress - the jewellery store's manager.  

Ep 35: Forget Me Not

Negotiations for the purchase of the firm are put on hold when Joni (Katherine Kennard) wakes naked in a strange bed and suspects she’s been raped. She has no memory of what happened after her second glass of wine the night before at a legal seminar attended by senior members of the legal and forensic communities.

Joni  struggles on with a case in the High Court where she is junioring for a Queen’s Counsel (Stuart Devenie) – whom she suspects of being the man who raped her. As fragments of her memory return, other suspects manifest themselves – the manager of the club (Jon Brazier) where she woke up, the judge of the trial she’s involved in, and the expert witness for the Crown.

Joni confides in David (Jay Laga’aia) who tries to investigate discreetly but comes up against a club members’ code of silence. David urges Joni to tell her husband, Kees (Charles Mesure), but Joni can’t remember whether she might have consented to whatever happened, and feels too guilty to tell him.

When Joni’s doctor tells her there’s no sign she’s been raped, but finds traces of the date-rape drug rohypnol in her blood, Joni plucks up courage to tell Kees. Kees is fired up and starts beating down walls to get at the truth.

But it’s Joni who gets there first. The old boys’ network closes rank and Joni knows that she’ll be the loser if she tries to take it any further. She tries to tell Kees to back off, but Kees follows his own trail to the perpetrator and dishes up some rough justice after first extracting some critical information - Joni wasn't raped, her would be attacker lost his nerve and fled teh scene.

The helplessness of her position convinces Joni that if she wants to be a player, she needs power. She tells David they’ll do the deal to buy the firm.

Ep 36: Game of Hack

Melanie Wyeth (Kate Elliott) seduces James (Dwayne Cameron) to get into the law office late at night. While he’s making coffee, she runs a computer disc which hacks into the firm’s bank accounts. As they leave the office, two men who look like burglars pick the lock and enter the building.

Next morning, David (Jay Laga’aia) and Joni (Katherine Kennard) discover that the firm’s trust account funds have been wiped out. James rushes off to find Melanie, who admits she hacked the bank, but absolutely denies removing any money. She just wanted to check the account balances, since she knows David and Joni tried to conceal unbilled files to reduce the purchase price of the firm. Adie (Louise Wallace), facing liability, is furious with her daughter and with David and Joni’s dishonesty.

Joni calls in DSS Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure) but David insists they cannot file a complaint because they would also have to report it to the Law Society, which would effectively be admitting publicly the firm is broke. The bank says the money has been transferred to a Cayman Islands account, denies liability and denies that it has been hacked.

It seems the perfect case of computer fraud, where the real thief has completely covered his tracks . . . until Melanie gets James and Matt (Manu Bennett) to help trick the hacker.

David has serious second thoughts about continuing with the buyout of the firm, and Adie gives them the chance to walk away from the deal, but Joni is clear in her loyalties. She’s determined to save the company.

Melanie, Matt and James work together to uncover vital clues, but get more than they bargained for when they try to flush the hacker out.

As James & Matt stake out the Bank, Melanie does another hack.  The bank's security team traces Melanie's location and dispatches a couple of thugs to deal with her.  Matt wants to stay at the bank to catch the real thief but James' heart wins over Matt's head and they race off to rescue Melanie.

In the meantime, Melanie has called Kees and told him she's putting herself out there as bait.  He too rushes to her assistance.  He arrives just as the heavies are wrestling Mel into a car. James and Matt are just a heartbeat behind. Kees stays long enough to make sure Sadie has the situation under control then races off to the bank to catch the perp - the bank's security chief -in the act.

James checks that Melanie is ok then deals with her plea to make things up to him by telling her maybe he'll see her around.  Maybe ... Maybe not.

Ep 37: No Man Put Asunder

David (Jay Laga’aia) and Matt (Manu Bennett) defend a beautiful Russian, Natasha (Cherie Bray-Taylor) for bribing a homeless man into a fraudulent marriage in order to gain citizenship. Natasha is terrified by the presence of a man in the back of the courtroom, Yaakov (Vadim Ledogrov), and escapes from custody.

David and Joni (Katherine Kennard) sign the deal to buy the firm from Adie (Louise Wallace) and Melanie (Kate Elliott) and the financial pressures start weighing heavily on Joni.

When Natasha is refused Legal Aid , Joni asks David and Matt to step back from the case.  David pretends to do so, but covertly encourages Matt to continue.

When Matt tracks Natasha down, he discovers she has a terrible secret and is being hunted by the Russian mafia. He also discovers that he’s falling for her. Matt asks Kees (Charles Mesure) to arrange witness protection for Natasha – but Kees lets slip to Joni that Matt is still actively pursuing the case.

Joni berates David for not accepting his share of their new responsibilities for the firm. David challenges her to keep her nerve and remember why they’re in business together.

Joni reconsiders her priorities and attempts to persuade Kees to support Natasha’s application for refugee status. Kees can’t, because there’s no evidence that Natasha’s life is in danger…  until Yaakov uses Natasha’s friend Tamary (Eva Evguenieva) to get to Natasha, and Matt becomes involved in a desperate race to save them.

After a running battle with Yaakov, Natasha and Tamary appear to be safe, but the case has one more tragic twist, which Matt, now in love with Natasha, cannot forsee. In the police cells to keep her safe from Yaakov (still at large), Natasha has an asthma attack and spends her last few minutes of life pounding uselessly on her cell door.

Ep 38: Charter

A phone call from Joni (Katherine Kennard) interrupts David (Jay Laga’aia) just as he’s refusing to act for Mr Chang (Grant McFarland), who wants him to deliver money to a blackmailer. She tells him the bank will not extend their loan and they are technically insolvent. It’s serious.

This dire news forces David to accept the large cash fee Chang offers, calling it a down-payment from the Devil.

Joni confesses to David that she’s not seeing enough of her husband, Kees Van Dam (Charles Mesure), because he works all the time. His sidekick, Sadie (Kama Brown), seems to be keeping Joni away from Kees.

David and Matt (Manu Bennett) trace the operator of the boat where the blackmail sex video was made. It’s a floating illegal gambling den and they go on the next trip. In a bizarre coincidence, Van Dam and Sadie are also undercover on the boat, also looking for a camera. Are they on the same case? Can they all work together to solve it?

Van Dam finds himself in a compromising position with Sadie in front of the video camera. Now not only does he need to find the blackmailer - he needs to find the incriminating tape.

David beats him to it after comment from James puts him on the trail of the blackmailer.  Going through the stacks of tapes in the Balckmailers den, David discovers the one with Kees & Sadie on it.  He pockets it just before the police arrive.

Surprisingly, he turns the tape over to Kees.  Some things are just too hot to handle.

Ep 39: Ladykiller

Johnny Watts (Scott Wills) is once again David’s client. His ex-wife, Kathleen (Katrina Browne), the woman who ordered Peter’s murder, is coming back from Queensland to fight for custody of her daughter Nicole (Ashley Wallace).

A betting shop is robbed and the evidence points to an inside job, but Kees (Charles Mesure) is preoccupied by his knowledge that David (Jay Laga’aia) has seen the tape of him in bed with Sadie (Kama Brown). Sadie doesn’t make it any easier by pressuring him and telling him she wants an affair with him.

Joni (Katherine Kennard) senses distance between herself and Kees, and when Sadie is rude to her, Joni suspects that Kees is having an affair with her. Joni confides in David, putting him in an awkward position – given that he’s seen the tape of Kees and Sadie.

Meanwhile, when Maddy McGuire (Ingrid Park) asks Rory Melville (Greg Johnson) for a pay rise, she precipitates a different offer  - of sexual harassment. She resigns, but almost immediately picks up her first client – Kathleen. David is upset with Maddy – she’s  representing the woman who ordered the hit on Peter.

New evidence from the armed robbery points to Johnny, so Kees reluctantly arrests him. Kathleen seizes the opportunity to abduct Nicole.

David and Joni are thrown back on each other – Joni thinks Kees is having an affair with Sadie and David feels that Maddy’s turned her back on him by acting for Kathleen.

Meanwhile, Sadie tearfully accepts that her hopes of anything happening with Kees are futile – and tells Kees she’s arranged for a transfer.

When news comes through that Kathleen is making a run for the airport with Nicole, Kees and Sadie and David and Johnny are involved in a desperate chase and a horrific shoot-out, in which Sadie is shot and killed.

Instead of comforting him for the loss of his partner, Joni stays at the office where David fills her in on events.  They reconnect and as the series ends they lean forward for a kiss.