Janet King returns from a year's maternity leave determined to prove she still has her edge, but finds a very different Department of Public Prosecutions. Under growing political pressure, director Tony Gillies has formed an uneasy alliance with his police counterpart, Chief Superintendent Jack Rizzoli, and Janet's pre-eminence as Senior Crown Prosecutor is threatened by rising star Owen Mitchell, a former police prosecutor, willing to cut corners to win high-profile cases.