As the episode begins, Nicola Gobbo (Ella Scott Lynch) says she intends to get even with Carl for killing the Hodson couple. Carl (Gyton Grantley) had a man killed in front of his kid and the killer has been locked behind bars. Nicola intends to visit Mr. Lovely and convince him to roll on Carl. She meets with Lovely and tries to convince him to squeal but Lovely isn’t willing to take the bait. As Nicola leaves, she tells Susan Reichert (Jane Harber) that he isn’t to rat on Carl just yet. Meanwhile, Nicola hangs out with Carl and Tony Mokbel (Robert Mammone) while pretending that nothing odd is going on. She tells them that Lovely isn’t saying anything about them. She believes he is going to accept the charge but Tony is worried he is going to be implicated.

Nicola promises Carl that Lovely will keep his mouth shut while speaking with Lovely and trying to convince him otherwise. While Carl is busy partying, Nicola visits Lovely and chats with him about money he was promised for pulling the trigger. She convinces Lovely to flip and tells Susan about it as she leaves. Nicola’s hand begins shaking before Simon Overland (Ian Bliss) holds a press conference and tells media that arrests will be coming soon. Nicola goes to Carl who believes police will be coming after him. Nicola says they likely won’t believe a murderer and convicted rapist. Carl believes she is encouraging him to run but he isn’t going to do that. Before the conversation ends, Carl tells Nicola to be careful because not everyone is as nice as he is.

Nicola believes this is a threat so she tells Susan about it immediately. Susan isn’t worried because she believes they’ll go after Nicola’s client and not her. Nicola pleads with her to take Carl off of the streets as soon as possible but Susan cannot help. As Nicola leaves, she collapses near the elevator and has a stroke. Carl is arrested while Nicola recovers in the hospital. She watches the news on television before Kevin ‘Juicy’ Jucirovic (Richard Davies) arrives at the hospital with flowers. She returns home and recovers for several weeks with Juicy by her side. She asks Juicy to reveal his first name and he says it is Kevin. Then, he tries to convince her to leave the city and business with him. Despite having a stroke and Juicy trying to urge her, Nicola isn’t willing to give up.

The charges are dropped against Paul Dale (Stephen Peacocke). He is sacked but reinstated after an appeal only to quit with a pension. Susan visits Nicola and says she wants her to become an official informer. Nicola is worried that a paper trail will get her killed. She is asked to squeal on Tony Mokbel but Nicola says she cannot squeal on her client. She says Carl wasn’t her actual client but Tony is and she isn’t going to rat on him. She leaves after receiving a call before meeting with Tony. Nicola is told about Alex Kipiani (Dion Williams). Nicola is asked to handle Alex’s bail application and keep Tony’s name out of it. Tony wants to make sure that Kipiani keeps his mouth shut. Nicola speaks with Alex and doesn’t offer him legal advice so he will stay quiet.

He does and Nicola doesn’t like being told what to do so she becomes informer 3838. She immediately begins working with Susan to turn in a lot of criminals but she refuses to turn on Tony Mokbel. A bit later, Nicola comes home and finds Juicy with more represents. One is an engagement ring and Nicola says yes. They go out and celebrate the news with Tony and others. During the party, Tony tells her he is worried that police are coming for him. He believes they’re going to get him for the murder of the hot dog guy. He gives Nicola a cellphone to give to Juicy. Despite the stroke, Nicola parties with Juicy and the others throughout the night. When they return home, Nicola gives Kevin the cellphone. The following day she meets with Susan and tells her that she used the phone to call herself so she could get the phone number.

She also believes Tony is planning something. Susan is worried because there is a record of Nicola on the telephone now. Meanwhile, Tony escapes Australia by boat. This angers Simon Overland who tells other officers he is going to go destroy Tony’s empire. He tells Susan that it includes his legal team too. Gary ‘Chikka’ Berich (Tim Ross) wants to know more about that but Susan won’t tell him anything. Susan tries to get Nicola to tell her where Mokbel is hiding but Susan says he knows nothing. Susan accuses her of tipping Tony off and threatens to charge her with something but Nicola promises she knows nothing. She offers to give Susan something else instead. She squeals on Juicy who is arrested alongside Tudge (Ben Knight) a short time later.

After the arrest, Nicola meets with Juicy and encourages him to take a deal. Then, she meets with Tudge and convinces him to stay quiet. She denies that but Tudge says otherwise. Juicy asks Nicola if she said anything to anyone about the job but she denies it. Juicy goes to prison before we jump forward to 2007 and see that Tony is still hanging out elsewhere. Nicola visits Carl in hopes of finding out where Tony is hiding. Carl says he doesn’t know anything and that he is keeping his head down. Carl laughs about ending up mates with a barrister but he soon finds out something that makes him suspicious. He meets with Nicola again and accuses her of being a dog. She promises on her life that she would not work for the police but Carl doesn’t believe it.

Moments later, Nicola meets with Susan who believes Carl had the contract to kill Terry Hodson. Nicola reminds her that Terry was her friend but Susan says Carl was a friend too. Susan tells Nicola that her boss might want to speed with her soon. Simon sits down with Nicola and they chat about the murder of the Hodson couple. Simon tells Nicola he wants her to meet with Paul Dale and see if he knows anything about it but she doesn’t believe he was involved. He wants her to wear a wire. Nicola says she was going to say no but her car is blown up with a bomb and that changes her mind. She tells Susan about it but Susan says they believe it was only a warning. Nicola says she needs to wait for Dale to call her or he will be suspicious. Susan says that is fine as long as she isn’t backing down from what she offered.

Then, she reveals that they’re going to be offering a million dollar reward for the conviction of those responsible for the murder of Terry and his wife. Next, Carl sits down with Susan and another investigator. He implicates Paul Dale in the murder of the Hodsons and says Rodney Collins (Jasper Bagg) can collaborate his story. He says Paul wanted him to find someone to do a job and that he met up with Rod Collins a few days later. Rod knew Terry and could easily get into the house. Carl claims he was given 150 grand and he gave the money to Rod. After that, Nicola is given a wire before meeting with Paul Dale. Paul admits that Carl’s statement is very accurate but he doesn’t say much else. Susan believes that might enough but Nicola doesn’t think so.

Simon meets with Nicola later and admits it isn’t enough to charge Dale with the Hodson murders. Simon says he has to get Paul Dale before leaving. Susan tells Nicola that they’re going to need her to testify against Paul. Nicola isn’t willing to do that. Susan accuses to charge her as an accessory so Nicola doesn’t have a choice but to cooperate. Tony is captured and brought back to Australia. Nicola hears someone at her door. Nobody is there but she finds a bullet sitting on the ground. She speaks with Susan who believes she should go into witness protection. Susan tells Nicola that she cannot represent Tony because there is a conflict of interest. Nicola doesn’t like telling Tony no but she does so a few moments later and Tony isn’t happy about it.

The police continue trying to pin the Hodson murders on Paul Dale. He is questioned by Susan and her partner but Paul denies everything. He is asked about using a burner phone. He says he used a burner phone to contact Nicola because they were having an affair and he didn’t want his wife to find out. He also says he never met with Carl Williams like he said. He says it was a one-night stand type deal but Nicola denies that. Simon wonders if they’re moving too fast because Dale doesn’t look like he is going to crack. Susan says Nicola is the key to getting him. After that, Nicola visits Juicy and tells him she was forced into it. He isn’t happy with Nicola and he lets her know about it before returning to his cell.

Nicola meets with her old friend Emma (Olympia Valance) and admits she is addicted to the life. She spots a strange man in the distance and Emma believes Nicola is worried about something. The other inmates start believing that Carl might be a rat. He denies everything. Carl tells Matthew Johnson (Kaden Hartcher) and another inmate that he has been feeding the police a bunch of lies so he can get some perks. Around this time, Rod Collins is sent to prison for two murders similar to the Hodson murders. Rodney is questioned by investigators. He denies almost everything but suggests Paul Dale might be involved and that leads to Paul’s arrest. Susan tries to convince Paul to plead guilty but he says he isn’t going to plead guilty to something he didn’t do. He says he had no reason to kill the Hodsons.

Simon calls Nicola and encourages her to go into witness protection. She has a nightmare before meeting with Juicy who has been released from prison. She acts like she was pushed around but Juicy doesn’t believe that because she enjoyed being at the center and getting things done. He doesn’t understand why she didn’t give them a chance. When their conversation ends, Nicola goes into police protection. She is moved numerous times until she lands in Bali. While hanging out and drinking, she receives a visit from Chikka. He says he was speaking to someone in Melbourne who told him some things. He wants to know if Nicola is going to be a witness against Paul Dale and if she has been informing against her clients. Nicola says Simon and a few others know about it.

Chikka returns to work and ridicules Susan and Simon for using Nicola. He doesn’t understand how they could use Gobbo as a witness but Simon thinks it is justified. Chikka says they are supposed to be better than the criminals and it could lead to many cases being thrown out. Nicola returns home and finds out that Paul has been released on bail. Now, he wants to prove he is innocent. Nicola has to go back to the hospital. She tells Susan that she will not be able to work as a lawyer anymore so she wants compensation for being an informant. She tells Simon she wants 20 million. The hearing is delayed while police try to figure out what to do. Carl is killed in prison and that prevents Nicola from having to testify.

The committal hearing is never held and Paul got his life back. As for Nicola, she meets with Simon and the others. She is given 2.9 million dollars for loss of future income. Simon says they stopped using Nicola once they realized she would need to be called as a witness. He wants that on record and he wants it clear that they broke no laws by using Gobbo as a source. Nicola says she was motivated by justice. She says more than 380 people were arrested thanks to information she provided. Nicola uses a cane to walk out of the room. Chikka asks Susan if she really thinks they’re both on the side of the angels. Susan says it doesn’t matter what she thinks. She says she thinks Nicola liked being in control and it blew up in her face. Chikka is worried that they’re going to have a shat storm if this gets out.

He says crims will be jumping up and down to get free but Susan doesn’t think it’ll ever come out. We learn that Tony is currently appealing a 30 year sentence while Paul Dale was never convicted of any offense and maintains his innocence. The murders of the Hodsons remain unsolved. The identity of Informer 3838 was revealed in March of 2019. Her current whereabouts are unknown. We see a fictional account of Nicola walking down the street and a man approaching her. He calls her name as she tries to get into a taxi.

 

Informer 3838 Review

Although a bit long-winded, I thought Informer 3838 was pretty good. It was one of the most interesting shows I have watched in a few weeks or even months. It is always a pleasure to return to the Gangland Murders although the subject matter can be gut wrenching. I don’t think this story is going to go away so quietly. It is really unfathomable to imagine a barrister being an informant but it happened. Sometimes, it feels like both sides of the Gangland killings were equally dirty.

With the recent murder of Nabil Maghnie, we can see that things aren’t over just yet. Allegedly, Nabil was trying to expose a rat who was close to Carl Williams in the months before his murder in January of this year. While some figures have died and some have been locked away, new criminals have taken over. Unfortunately, the newcomers are sometimes worse than those before them. Either way, Informer 3838 was a sad and interesting look at the gangland killers from a different angle. I enjoyed it. I think anyone who appreciated the Underbelly series will like it too. The finale scores a 7.5 out of 10. The prior recap of Informer 3838 can be found on Reel Mockery.