In Bad Debts, Jack misses several voicemails from an old client, only to discover the man was shot dead by a policeman in the very parking lot he called Irish from, where he had asked to meet. Something smells fishy and Irish starts digging, discovering that Danny McKillop had turned his life around since getting out of prison for the hit-and-run where Irish defended him. Unfortunately, that was shortly after the death of Irish's wife and he wasn't up to snuff, hence the prison sentence. In uncovering the mystery, Jack meets a lovely reporter by the name of Linda Hilliard (Marta Dusseldorp, A Place to Call Home, Janet King) and the two begin to see one another. However, Linda's professional drive and lack of commitment often find the two drifting apart, so their relationship is always on again/off again.
Irish begins to suspect that McKillop was actually set up for the death of the anti-housing activist he supposedly ran over, and in trying to determine the truth, he discovers layer upon layer of police, governmental and big business corruption. This sets up a recurring theme for Jack Irish - corruption, corruption, corruption.
Black Tide finds Jack getting a job from an old friend and teammate of his father's and he jumps at the chance to get to know a bit more about the father who died when he was a small boy. Des Connors just needs to make a will, but as Jack is trying to help him, he discovers that Des' son Gary has bilked him out of $60,000 and is now missing. He's also gotten himself involved in a network of corporate and governmental evil that leaves many bodies in its wake. Since Gary is missing, could he be one of those corpses out there?
Dead Point brings some of Jack's past back to haunt him when his father-in-law, a prominent judge, is about to blow the lid off of - you guessed it - a boatload of corruption down at the docks. Unfortunately for him, someone's blackmailing him for an indiscretion and Judge Loder has asked Jack to locate a missing man who could be the key to his freedom. In trying to help his father-in-law, Jack will uncover a secret sex club for high-ranking government officials and super-wealthy patrons, drug dealing, a dirty blackmailing ring, and people not afraid to kill for their own benefit.
Special features include two making-of featurettes that give some background to the making of these movies, and also a photo gallery.
Jack Irish: The Movies does a nice job of providing the viewer with interesting mysteries that connect a series of fun recurring cast members like Harry Strang and Cam, Linda Hillier, good cop/bad cop Barry Tregear (Shane Jacobson), Jack's former law partner Drew Greer (Damien Richardson), Jack's techie go-to girl Simone (Kate Atkinson), and, of course, carpenter Charlie and the Fitzroy Youth Club. I will say that I preferred the smaller, more compact movies to Jack Irish: Season 1, which has one single story play out across six hour-long episodes, but if you enjoy a compelling mystery with a great cast, you'll enjoy Jack Irish: The Movies.
