Barney is rescued, but the downside is he now owes 1.2 million bucks for this rescue. He also made a dying confession on his cell phone, proclaiming his love for Scarlet (Danielle Cormack, Wentworth) and hoping she'll be happy with David Potter (Matt Day), which went viral on the internet upon his return. Sadly, his phone died as he was stating his love for Nicole (Kate Box) and baby Iain. When all of the press hits, Nicole once again feels like number 2 in Barney's life, especially since he went home to Scarlet and the kids and the interview footage on Nicole was cut. This causes a pretty bad fissure in their relationship and long story short, Bevan comes back into Nicole's life, all love and forgiveness. He is now a successful app developer and they rekindle their relationship with a beach wedding in the near future. Um, yeah.
Meanwhile, David and Scarlet's relationship is moving forward, but the kids are having none of it. They torment David every chance they get and then lie about it, and Scarlet stands by the kids, dog poop in David's slippers and all. Can their relationship make it? Does anybody's on this show? David will have his hands full anyway, when he is later charged with murder of someone close to him. Surely, he can do better than Cleaver defending him, but that's just what happens and Cleave's main defense is that David is a pu- ummm, positively boring man and couldn't have possibly done it.
Meanwhile, Cleaver is recovering from his glass window injuries and Edgar has been captured by the police. Cleaver literally knows where all of the bodies are hidden from his time as Edgar's associate and he isn't sure whether Edgar is going to have him killed or hire him as his lawyer. As it turns out, it's a bit of both and Cleaver finds himself in hiding in the boonies for four months, then as the junior counsel in Edgar's case. He also watches as the case turns and he is made to be the patsy. Only the quick wits and somewhat hoarder-like behavior of ex-wife Wendy (Caroline Brazier) can save him.
Cleave is now living with Wendy and son, Fuzz (Keegan Joyce), in her house, which makes things awkward when Wendy reconnects with old college flame Jack Claymore, the woman Cleaver stole her from. Jack is determined to get Wendy back and says all the right things, but as a high-powered political consultant, her actions (and constant work phone calls) speak louder than words. When Cleaver's sister Jane runs for a Senate seat and Cleave runs against her on a platform of only spite for his sister, he becomes an overnight sensation with hundreds and thousands of "Cleaver Believers" in support of him. It looks like a career in politics is the only sensible career path for Cleave, especially after he is permanently disbarred because he ranted about a judge to a reporter and unknowingly allowed her to catch him on film. Oops. However, Jane is not going to give up without a fight and she has Cal McGregor (Damien Garvey) helping her out. The pair have cooked up the ultimate vote-grabber for election day, but will it garner her the win? Plus, "Black Jack" Claymore has signed on to get Cleaver elected, IF he agrees to stay out of Wendy's life.
Missy (Adrienne Pickering) has been booted out of America in disgrace and, with her return, she brought a raging drug addiction. Wendy is allowing her to get clean at her house, so the place is currently jam-packed, especially since Fuzz's girlfriend Monique (Melina Vidler, 800 Words) is there, too, and she looks like a younger Missy clone. Hmmm, this should get interesting.
Suffice it to say that Cleaver's future and that of those around him should get very weird very soon. While I felt like this season really lagged in the middle, it picked up towards the end and has me anticipating what will happen next. There's some great writing on this show, but I felt like it was getting stagnant and perhaps this was going to be the final season. I am keen to see where they go with it, as they've left Cleaver in yet another impossible situation. But, he's been through worse and he always comes out of it with a laugh, a story, and a boatload of f-bombs. His life is, as he once said, "a festival of bad decisions," and it's one we get to gleefully watch unfold.
