We're in Wonderland tonight … not Canberra. Lloyd Rankin, the former Chinese Ambassador is dead. Harriet's the last person he spoke to and the coppers want to know what sort of rabbit hole she was leading him down.
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As a kid we all knew that if you dug deep enough you'd come out in China and looks like we're headed straight there.
But first, Sabine "Burning Girl" Hobbs has gone missing. Jackie Weaver doesn't seem to care, telling Prime Minister Jim Robinson, straight from Ramsay Street to the Big House, that's she's just an over entitled attention seeker (like most ANU students perhaps). Remind me not to go missing on Jackie's watch.
Back at the Defence Signals Directorate, where the desks are unnervingly free of any clutter and the mood lighting is reminiscent of the Private Bin, Kim's got a lead on the missing SIM cards from Max Dalgetty's phone. She's out in a flash, tracking the number to some skater boys at the Kingston Powerhouse. They go inside and blow some glass and grab a meal from Brodburger and then Kim punches one of the kids in the guts and gets the SIM card back.
She tucks it down her bra, heads back to work, setting off the security alarm off. Full strip search for you, says the reluctant guard. A full strip search, really? How often does that happen at Russell? Remind me never to wear the underwire bra.
Meanwhile Mal Paxton and the Chinese Ambassador's wife meet on lake's edge. There's some serious tension, a bit of touchy feely. Something's going on here, things are getting hot but then, spotto, Mal mentions the cold.
Back at the press gallery, the story line we're having trouble following the most, the idea that Harriet has an assistant, goes into play. The girls are tracking some leads between Paxton and Rankin. Then Harriet's off to talk to Sabine's mum. What is it that you're asking, mum says to Harriet. I get that all the time too.
Mal's starting to realise how hot things are about to get, the 20-year-old photo of him is about to be leaked, his connections with China revealed. Chairman Mal, Jackie calls him and starts figuring out who the next defence minister might be.
This scene is quickly turning into a cracker as Mal's exploits come to light. "Cheating on your travel allowances is a smear," says the PM's chief of staff, (Sacha Horler has some great scenes in this ep.) "but this is criminal, you're a liar, maybe a traitor." Mal gets his back up and threatens to split the party, tells the PM what he thinks of him, but Jim mans up and tells Mal the whole thing is a catastrof**k of his own making. Favourite new word.
Another secret meeting by the lake, this time it's Harriet and Kim. Harriet's pushing the boundaries of their previous relationship, Kim's giving her a lesson about journalism, about how it's all bullshit that it's about truth and democracy. "You don't care about the story," Kim says. "Just that your name is on the front page." A tad harsh. All we care about is how good we look in our dinkus photo.
On the way back to work Kim stops on the top of Mount Ainslie to meet with Dancer. Last time these two got together there was some hanky panky and while Mount Ainslie is usually a hotbed of parked cars, today they keep their clothes on. Which is just as well because Kim's already been strip searched once this episode.
At work she slips into the loos and downloads some secret decryption code - I just usually play Candy Crush on my phone - and heads to some dodgy hotel (need help, where is this one?) to see if she can break the code (are we allowed to say the words "the code" while recapping Secret City?)
Flash to Harriet who's making some moves on the nice copper Brimmer. She lights a joint and he offers to put the handcuffs on her. She's getting all flirty and finally I've realised what I've been doing wrong all these years with my sources. No wonder I never get my name on the front page.
But then Harriet wakes up and she's in bed with Felix of the well-balanced thighs. How did that happen?
And now Chairman Mal is in the shower. Wait, so too is the PM's chief of staff. What's the rating on this show again?
Back the most ridiculous storyline in the press gallery, so many staff, so many assistants, too many notebooks. Chairman Mal is being exposed in all sorts of other ways now.
Down the corridor, Jackie's in with the PM, "Political graveyards are full of people who have been loyal to idiots". Might have to start a drinking game for every time Jackie comes up with a pearler.
Meanwhile back at dodgy hotel Kim's just about cracked the code. It's a video of something they're not letting us see but Kim looks a little ashen. She's in trouble, a fluster really. She's scared and whatever was in that video has taken them all further down the rabbit hole than first thought.
She's in a forest now, Mount Pleasant apparently, but there aren't that many pine trees there (insider note: the scene was actually shot at the Air Disaster memorial out off Pialligo Avenue, the most haunted spot in Canberra apparently.) There's a tree across the road and she can't get through and then a big black car pulls up behind her. Her and Harriet are playing phone tag. You were right about a lot of things. Looks like Kim has got this one terribly wrong. It's hard enough to drive in high heels, let alone in a Volvo. Ominous pan across the lake.
And if Mal hasn't got enough action this episode now he and his Chinese mistress are at it up against a wall.
Jackie's in her own secret meeting now with some defence guys and then the American Ambassador turns up. They all keep their clothes on but the smug looks on their faces reveal who's truly been f**cked over this episode.
And then Burning Girl turns up. Maybe she's not actually in Beijing anymore. She's not dead.
But Kim is. Bejesus.
Secret City screens on Foxtel's Showcase, 8.30pm Sundays.
