Cleaver's lover/friend/confident Missy, a high class call girl, has left without a trace, and tax lawyer David Potter is in hot pursuit, Scarlet, his best friend Barney's wife, confides in him that she wants to leave home, and his 15-year-old son Fuzz draws him into a conspiracy to cover up his activities with his new girlfriend. But on the work front, Cleaver is presented with a case he can't resist... to defend a cannibal.

Cleaver's gambling debts are mounting, but on the upside, and much to the chagrin of tax lawyer David Potter (Matt Day) who's been in constant pursuit, Cleaver has managed to get the case against him adjourned once again.

Consumed by remorse after sleeping with his best friend's wife Scarlet, and facing his ninth appearance before the Bar Association, Cleaver gets a needed distraction defending a famous chef charged with bigamy. And to add insult to injury, as he and Barney commiserate at a favorite bar, Missy arrives once more with David Potter. The bigamy case is going well... that is until Cleaver discovers his client had left out some very important details. As Cleaver receives another late night phone call from Missy, they're both left wondering what it is they can't let go of.

Cleaver takes on a case defending a once famous but now homeless artist who is accused of cuddleing a 15-year old male prostitute. Cleaver's guilt about Barney and Scarlet sees him make a drunken spectacle of himself in front of Missy and David. But Missy is struggling to keep up her charade with David as he considers running for public office. To add to Cleaver's woes, he and Wendy discover that Fuzz is dating his very young and attractive English teacher. At Barney's insistence Scarlet relents and makes up a name for the man she slept with... a name

Cleaver prepares to defend family friend Dr. Bruce Chandler, when a very incriminating DVD finds its way to the local police. Meanwhile, Barney won't speak to him, and ex-wife Wendy blames him for Fuzz's predicament, so Cleaver turns to gambling and cocaine, scoring another beating from Mick Corella's stand-over man. Then a homeless Scarlet arrives on his doorstep, followed closely by Missy railing at the realities of partner David's new political life. And when Wendy arrives looking for Fuzz, Cleaver is left reeling. A call from Joe Sandilands has Missy scurrying back to dependable David, while Cleaver seeks solace in another line of coke.

Radio shock jock Eddie Langhorn (Rachel Griffiths) is charged with inciting racial hatred, and turns to old flame Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh) to defend her.

Meanwhile, Cleaver needs some defending himself when his tax case goes off the rails and he's placed on remand.

Feeling lost without good mate and colleague Barney (Russell Dykstra) by his side, a visit from Missy (Adrienne Pickering), in prison brings him to the realisation that he has hit rock bottom. As he tries recover his position with Missy, she is experiencing the 'joys' of political life with David (Matt Day) as they sit through a session of Ukrainian folk dancing at a local council hall.

Cleaver arrives at work to find Eddie Langhorn waiting for him, and knows immediately that he's in for trouble as he's never been able to resist her charms. As they share a caustic but predictably sexually charged lunch, Cleaver discovers he has a willing participant in his revisited coke habit.

Cleaver then learns his father has had a stroke, and hoping to repair their relationship, takes Fuzz (Keegan Joyce) to the country to visit his ailing father. It doesn't go well. There is a family fight, Fuzz will not forgive him, and the car he borrowed from ex-wife Wendy is side-swiped.

As prosecutor on the Langhorn case, Scarlet (Danielle Cormack) is relishing the thought of seeing Eddie - a woman she dislikes intensely - locked up, but her confidence is shattered when she is surrounded by a gang of hoods in a park. As Scarlet flounders in court, Barney gives her some information that could change the nature of the case, and he also confesses that the woman Scarlet saw at their home was a nanny.

While David, enjoying his embryonic political career and ever more intimate relationship with Missy, proposes.

Cleaver manages to win the case but is disheartened to learn that Eddie Langhorn has conned him once again. And then Missy arrives to tell him that she and David are getting married. Alone, and flicking though an old photo album, Cleaver ponders whether his fractious relationship with his family is probably all his fault.

As Barney (Russell Dykstra) starts to rebound from his recent marriage woes, Joe Sandilands (Geoff Morrell) is publicly outed as one of the MPs who patronise brothel Club Jules. Meanwhile, seeking relief for a hang-over, Cleaver (Richard Roxburgh) gets hit over the head during a botched robbery at a local pharmacy. So too does one of the hapless robbers when his accomplice takes a wild swing at a CCTV camera and misses, badly injuring his mate.

Feeling sorry for himself Cleaver calls Barney to the hospital, hoping Barney will see his injuries as punishment for his betrayal. But Barney sees this as just as another of Cleaver's manipulations To add insult to injury, a small piece about the attack on Cleaver in the newspaper is overshadowed by a story of an assault on a woman in Glebe. So Cleaver is delighted when he's presented with handling the defence of the woman's assailant, Travis Tanner - a case which came to him via Missy (Adrienne Pickering) , who says she saw the accused elsewhere at the time of the assault.

When the injured robber dies, his mate is charged with manslaughter, and Cleaver is asked to defend him. Meanwhile, Joe Sandilands, having lost everything - including his wife and children, looks to Missy for solace but realises it's Cleaver who has her heart. Barney and Scarlet (Danielle Cormack) visit a marriage counsellor, where Barney makes it clear that their marriage is over - leaving Scarlet reeling.

When Joe commits sleeping, everyone is devastated: after the funeral Barney uncharacteristically visits a pole-dancing club; a maudlin Cleaver, yearning for the good old days, kisses ex-wife Wendy (Caroline Brazier); and Missy, the last to see Joe alive, turns to Cleaver, only later having to confront an angry David (Matt Day) who wants to know why she's always going missing.

A family dinner for Fuzz's (Keegan Joyce) birthday turns ugly when Fiona tells Fuzz she's leaving him for a younger boy.

Meanwhile Missy arrives at the Tanner trial to give evidence for the defence, but is instead confronted with something from her past that could change her relationship with Cleaver forever.

Cleaver is forced to defend his loan shark Mick Corella on cuddle charges, and it means working with Barney again. But hope of dodging his back taxes is fading fast. Meanwhile, a dejected David sees his career go up in flames when the party he's been elected to loses government. Missy tries to commiserate, but finally crumbles, blurting out the truth about who she is. Meanwhile, as Barney and Scarlet make up, and Missy tells Cleaver it's over with David, she is taken aback by his reluctance to commit. When Corella is convicted, Cleaver sees an end to his debt problems, but a surprise is in store. Cleaver and Barney are friends again ... and life is good