Set among the turquoise waters and lethal wildlife of Australias Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait, The Straits is an exotic, darkly humorous drama about the Montebello Crime Family. Henry the Patriarch, his wife Kitty, and their children. Noel, the eldest and right-hand man to his father, Marou the obedient middle child and ruby-celebrity, Sissi the eager but naive daddy's little girl, and Gary the baby / lovable screw-up of the family. When Harry decides to test his children in order to establish who is capable of running the family business rather than following the 'Island Way' (eldest son-succession) sets his family into pure chaos. While under attack from the Demon Cheaters Motorcycle Club (D.C.'s)and Raskol Gang of Papa New Guinea the family must hold together through torture, assassination, and imprisonment.
Harry's announcement fills Noel with righteous anger and with the support of his mother Kitty, Noel decides to expand the familys operations, without his fathers knowledge, by setting up a methamphetamine lab in PNG. Of course, this pisses off someone, namely the D.C.'s (the familys drug customers on the mainland). When things get out of hand, Harry is forced to take charge. To make matters worse, a Raskol dies when Noels failed meth lab explodes. Intent on revenge, the dead Raskols brother (Freddy) goes to the familys home on Zey Island to kill Gary (who runs the island operation there). Rattled, Gary flees home to Cairns. Then Harry, Marou and Noel go to PNG to square things with the Raskols and their leader, Quay Lin, the expatriate Chinese trader who works with them. Meanwhile, Sissi, under the terms of Harrys succession plan, starts work with the familys accountant Paddy, one of Harrys oldest friends only to find out that he has been skimming 3.5 million dollars of the family's money. Harry eventually lures Paddy out to sea for an afternoon of 'sleeping with the fishes'. Harry hints to knowing about the money and Paddy reluctantly comes clean. Knowing what was coming next, Paddy tried reminding Harry of his proven loyalty to the family to which Harry validated that he, in fact, IS family. Paddy remind him of the pressures and risks that he takes for him and his family on a daily bases. Harry explains that if he wanted more money that he would have given more. He pretends that all is well and then kills while his guard is down. When Sissi learns what has happened on the boat, she has a fallout with her father.
And as if Gary wasn't already in enough crap, Marous wife Lola blackmails him into supporting his brother. How? She overhears that he's at a bar drunk and she offers to get him home safely. Gary naively believes that she just wants to hang out and drink coffee while they wait for Marou to return from PNG. Still drunk and obviously not thinking, Gary tells Lola that he stinks and needs to shower (TOTALLY INNOCENT and dumb). She responses that she will heat up some milk for the coffee, but of course she mystically ends up in the shower behind him… nude. Afterwards, she confess that she believes that Marou, not Noel, should lead the business and that the blackmail was put in place to secure Marou as the future head of the business (meaning she'll tell Marou about how Gary 'smacked it up, filled it, and rubbed it down… OH NO' if he refuses to support Marou).
Believe or not this is not even the worst of the family's problems. Apparently, Harry has a contract on his head, because a hitman with a high-powered rifle is looking for him.
After Harry clears up everything with Quay Lin, Kitty decides that Gary needs to return to Zey Island and resume operations least the family lose turf via an abandon post. She sets-up a community get-together to re-establish the familys claim on the island and to quietly confront extended family on letting outsiders (Freddy) on the island without warning Gary. Upon shutting down for the day, Gary agrees to help a new friend (Joseph / a dentist from Sri Lanka) to the mainland. Upon doing so he has a freak car accident and his truck slams into a tree breaking several of his ribs and his leg. Joseph quickly get out of the truck and help Gary out. The two began walking through woods to get to the air strip and Gary is bite by a poisonous snake as the two freaked out. Gary believes hes going to die, makes a confession to his father over the phone. While at his Anniversary Party with Kitty, Harry threatens kill Lola if she does not leave immediately. Before he has time to follow up on this, however, Vlad shoots Harry twice leaving him unconscious but alive.
AND THIS IS JUST THE FIRST THREE EPISODES!!!
Stars
Brian Cox
Rena Owen
Aaron Fa'aoso
Jimi Bani
Firass Dirani
Suzannah Bayes-Morton
Emma Lung
Andy Anderson
Peter Andrikidis