At the start of the episode, we’re introduced to Les Norton (Alexander Bertrand). He is settling into a new job. Billy Dunne (Hunter Page-Lochard) is being beaten up by several bikers. Les is forced to get involved and put a stop to the fight. Once the bikers are dealt with, Office Ray Burrell (Steve Le Marquand) arrives. He speaks with Les for a bit before joking around with Billy. Les tries to help Constable Emily Gold (Syd Zygier) get the men into the van but she refuses his help. Once the fuss has died down, Les goes into and is introduced to Georgie Burman (Pallavi Sharda). Les doesn’t believe that working at the pub will be that hard.

After all, it is very small. He soon finds out that there is a hidden down and gambling is gone on behind it. Les is introduced to Price Galese (David Wenham) who is the boss. After a little back and forth, Price agrees to buy Les a suit. Before the night is finished, Georgie invites Les to stay with her friend Lozza (Kate Box). He turns down the offer for the time being. Billy shows Les around town before they head back to Les’ place. He goes in alone and finds a note informing him to call his brother. He tries to but the phone doesn’t work so he goes to bed.

He is awoken abruptly by Eddie Salita (Justin Rosniak). At first, Les is worried that he with the Bender Boys but he isn’t. Both are working for Price. Eddie drives to Doreen Bognor’s place. They go inside and attempt to free three girls from Doreen’s care. They’ve been forced to work as prostitutes. Doreen (Rebel Wilson) emerges with a shotgun and holds Les at gunpoint. Eddie sneaks up behind her with a gun and forces her to give up the passports. Les removes the bullets from her shotgun. Once they leave, Eddie tells Les about the girls and gives him instructions for dealing with the girls. He needs to get them on the plane to Bangkok.

Doreen calls a friend at the airport and extorts him into helping her prevent the girls from leaving. Les cannot keep the girls at his current place. He has no choice but to move in with Lozza. She is wacky but Les doesn’t seem to mind. As long as he doesn’t touch her weed stash, everything will be just fine. Once Lozza leaves, Les decides to go to the movie store to get a movie for the girls. He picks out The Karate Kid for them. When he returns, he finds the girls trying to escape. They manage to get away before he can stop them. Les grabs a taxi and follows the girls back to Doreen’s place. He knocks on the door and speaks with her about getting service.

Les watches as the girls leave and he does the same. He meets with them in the car and finds out that they stole money from Doreen. She emerges and fires a bullet through the back windshield. Les hits the pedal and they escape without being hurt. Les calls Eddie and lets him know what happened. We see that Eddie with Ray. They’re roughing up a biker. Les finds out that the girls have smoked Lozza’s weed. He gives the money back to the girls and tells one of them about the Bender Boys. Next, the girls are taken to the airport. Doreen arrives and speaks with her friend. He shows her a shortcut which should help her stop the girls from leaving.

The girls prepare to leave. One of the girls starts speaking English. She thanks Les and tells him that things will be fine with the Bender Boys. Eddie meets up with Les and offers to buy him a drink that night. Later, Les leaves money to make up for Lozza’s weed and leaves to meet up with Eddie. He is forced to perform more work before he can have a beer. Les works through the night shoveling. Eddie finally arrives with the beers. Then, we skip forward a few days. Les finally gets his suit from Price. He dresses up and heads to work. He tells Georgie about staying with Lozza. She tells him to make sure that Lozza doesn’t find out what is really going on at the pub.

Ray and Emily arrive with the intention of speaking with Price. Price learns that Doreen has vanished in thin air. Price doesn’t seem too worried about it. Emily listens as Eddie, Price, and Georgie pretend to have nothing to do with Doreen’s disappearance or the missing money. Georgie escorts Emily to the van outside. Les tries to strike up a conversation with Les outside. He tries to get her name. Meanwhile, Ray tells Price that he is worried Doreen might have been killed and that isn’t going to go unnoticed. Emily speaks with Les about Doreen but he pretends he knows nothing about her. Les becomes concerned that he might have buried Doreen when he was doing the shoveling work.

Ray emerges and tries to pull Emily away. She gives him her name before rushing off. Price asks Les about the suit. Les asks him about Doreen. Price says he believes in karma and it has everyone’s address. He insists that Doreen being away is a good result since she can’t harm any more kids. He says that it was only possible because of Les before welcoming him to the family. Next, Les finally contacts his brother Muzza (Stephen Peacocke). Murray tells Les that he is preparing for a bare knuckle boxing match despite troubles with his arm. Les learns that Bevan Bender is in bad shape. He might not pull through. Les learns that he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Les Norton Review

I never read the Les Norton books. Therefore, I am coming in as a virgin. With that being said, I liked the opening episode. The cast is spectacular. I didn’t even mind Rebel Wilson as Doreen. I will say that the show is a little silly but it works with the humor. I enjoyed it. I am eager to see where things go from here. I will keep watching. It is one of the best shows I have started in recent weeks. The opener scores a 7.5 out of 10.