Latest news with #OutrageousWeek
The Spinoff
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The Weekend: I can't stop thinking about this ad
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. It's either a sign I'm scraping the bottom of the vibes barrel or a sign that I'm choosing to find joy in unexpected places but last weekend I found myself utterly captivated, impressed and moved(?!) by a billboard. To be clear, I have high standards for creative consumerism. I hate that we all just have to accept we'll be surrounded by ads all the time, and therefore feel personally insulted when it feels like that privilege – the privilege corporations have in demanding our attention – is taken for granted. When I see a grotesque and lazy Grimace ad, I will complain about it. Yesterday I saw someone opt, at the last minute, to wait for another bus because their one had the garish police wrap on it. I applauded that stranger. Nothing signals a recession like advertising agencies phoning it in or pitching (likely out of necessity) the most low-effort campaigns imaginable. Digital billboards mean I see six meh ads at the traffic lights instead of one. My expectations for some creative flair on a sign are nil. And then last week, as I waited at the Newton Road offramp lights, I saw this: That's it. Just an ad for a medicinal cannabis clinic. I have no need for medicinal cannabis and won't be buying any now but I laughed out loud when I saw this and then yelled 'good ad!' in the car like a child. It's a grabby billboard that takes a quietly understood visual and makes a point with it. And it looks cool. Technically the campaign is about destigmatising cannabis use for medicinal purposes but ultimately it's an ad and an effective one at that. But what moved me was the real-life presence of it. It's tangible and has to have been man-made. If I have to look at a big ad, it's mildly comforting to know that someone actually put it there. People all over the world still talk about the New Zealand ads for Kill Bill from 20 years ago. AI is unavoidable at this point, and so many creative outputs (read: ads but also art, music, literature) feel either written by AI, designed with AI or at least deployed with little human touch. Giant screens that can be edited with the push of a button are cost-effective but never make me think about real people – even though there are very real people putting ads out in the world. I looked at those giant Chucks and wondered how they were made, what they were made of, how they were transported and how they were installed. For the first time in years I saw an ad and immediately thought fondly of the real human effort behind it. Is that inspiring or depressing? I'm still not sure. The stories Spinoff readers spent the most time with this week Outrageous Week's wonderful opener, The birth of the Wests: How Outrageous Fortune came to be by Tara Ward Hayden Donnell's open letter to Jacinda Ardern on open letters to Jacinda Ardern Local Liam Rātana returns to the far north to visit the country's new supreme cafe and sees a half-frozen pie It's once again time to ignore our crumbling infrastructure and pass the rates bills on to the next generation. Hayden Donnell on things that make people mad Auckland councillor Julie Fairey has always advocated for improved road safety – then she got hit by a car Feedback of the week 'Could we all please collectively take a moment to pause and appreciate the guy rocking the marijuana shirt in the back row of the fourth/bottom photo?' On What it's like to go blind at 25 'Bloody wonderful article, Oscar. My dads blind- started in his 30's, like his mum. It's always been far away future for me until it wasn't – on the cusp on 30 and suddenly I can't see shit. Weird, lonely experience – thanks for making it less so.'
The Spinoff
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
‘Even after all these years': Siobhan Marshall on forever being called Pascalle West
As we wrap up Outrageous Week, actor Siobhan Marshall takes us through her life in television. It's been 20 years since Outrageous Fortune first stormed onto New Zealand television screens, but Siobhan Marshall still meets a 'terrifying' number of people who think she's Pascalle West. Whether they're from overseas viewers who have only recently discovered the iconic New Zealand series, or locals who have loved it for decades, Marshall still gets messages about Pascalle almost every day. 'It's such a funny one, because it just hasn't gone anywhere after all these years,' she says. 'It's so nice to see.' The role of Pascalle, the wide-eyed amateur model hellbent on being the next Rachel Hunter, was only Marshall's third acting role since drama school, having previously played Chris Warner's nanny in a brief stint on Shortland Street, and a centaur on the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The 21-year-old got a lucky spray tan ahead of her audition, and remembers another auspicious sign that the role was hers. 'When I walked out of the audition, this girl walked in wearing a jacket with 'Siobhan' written in diamantes on the back',' she says. 'I got in my friend's car and said, 'I got that'.' Marshall had nerves about working alongside experienced actors like Robyn Malcolm and Grant Bowler, but she was fully committed to the role of the West's eldest daughter. Her boyfriend at the time was from West Auckland, and she remembers his advice on how to swear like a Westie ('just let it out: fuck!'). Swears aside, Pascalle was always a joy to play. 'She was the comic relief for ages, but then she got into some more gritty stuff,' she says. 'Seeing what she got up to was always fun. It was like, 'what's in the next script? What happens in this one?'' While Pascalle's legacy remains, Marshall does have one regret: 'I would have loved to have kept the Pascalle necklace, but I didn't.' And as for where she thinks the character would have ended up? 'I reckon she's probably still with Judd somewhere, and she's probably got some kids.' Since Outrageous, Marshall has starred in everything from The Blue Rose to Find Me a Māori Bride, and dipped her toes into reality series Celebrity Treasure Island. As we continue to celebrate all things Outrageous Week, we asked her to take us through her life in television. My earliest TV memory is… My sister and I watched a lot of TV growing up. A lot of Play School, and all sorts of cartoons, I loved Friends and Fresh Prince of Bel Air, too. All the greats. My earliest TV crush was… Martin Henderson from Shortland Street. I auditioned for Shortland Street when I was about 11, and I went out to do the audition and saw him in the flesh. It was very exciting. It was a real moment for me. I didn't get cast, but it was my first audition ever. I don't even know how I got that audition – I didn't have an agent. The TV ad I can't stop thinking about is… That Cadbury ad with the gorilla. That's still one of the best ones. So good, so simple, and it's chocolate. My first time on screen was… Shortland Street, straight after drama school. I played Chris Warner's child's nanny turned love interest. The role was a bit racy for Shortland Street and there were bed scenes with Chris Warner. I remember people were like 'oh, you played that slut on Shorty Street'. That's how it started, and then it continued [on Outrageous]. My TV guilty pleasure is… My current obsession is Peaky Blinders, and before that I rewatched Taboo with Tom Hardy. I also just finished Weak Hero on Netflix, which is a Korean series. It's about a bunch of teenage boys who basically fight all the time. It doesn't sound good, but you can't stop watching it. Even though it's a bit silly, I like it. The on-screen moment that haunts me to this day is… The Blair Witch Project. I watched it at the movies with my friend, and she was sitting on my right side. Something happened on screen and I got scared. I went to hug her, but I went the wrong way, and I hugged this random guy. My favourite TV character of all time is… Can't go past Chandler Bing and all the Friends characters. My favourite TV project is… Outrageous Fortune. I got to do so many different things, and work with such great actors. I didn't know at the time, because I was so fresh, but they really just let us go as actors. You just made up whatever you wanted to do and they filmed it, whereas normally, it's very 'stand here, do this, stand there'. Quite often you'd do the scene and then you'd just keep going until they called cut. The TV show I wish I was involved with is… It changes depending on what I'm watching, but I'd love to go way back in time in some sort of period piece. Watching shows set in the 1800s and 1900s and seeing how they lived just fascinates me. My controversial TV opinion is… I didn't get through Adolescence. It was great, I enjoyed it, and then I just didn't want to watch anymore. I also didn't like Breaking Bad. I had to watch it because I was doing this course in New York, and part of it was I had to watch Breaking Bad. I don't know if I watched the last season, because I think I had enough. The last thing I watched on television was… After the Party. I feel so bad that it's taken me this long. I've been meaning to watch it. I wanted to see Robbie [Marshall's Outrageous co-star Robyn Malcolm], and it's amazing. They did such a good job.
The Spinoff
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
How the West was worn: The fashion of Outrageous Fortune
For Outrageous Week, fashion writer Emma Gleason unpacks the unmatched style of New Zealand's favourite westies. The Wests burst into our consciousness in a flurry of leather and leopard print, canonising the style of West Auckland with an attention to detail not often seen on screens. Sharkies, black hoodies and leather jackets were rendered faithfully, and so too was the distinctive fashion of the Westie woman – a brash bricolage of animal prints, gleaming adornments and tight, tight denim. Seasoning all the flavours of this distinctive wardrobe were the fashions of the mid-aughts Aotearoa — skirts were short and cleavage out, T-shirts emblazoned with logos, and it was all very, very 2005. Costume designer Katrina Hodge was tasked with outfitting Outrageous Fortune's rogues' gallery. 'I can't recall the exact brief I was given at the time, but the tone was clear: real, broken-in, lived-in, and iconic,' she says. 'Each character had a backstory, and that's where the work really began. To build an authentic look for each one, we'd deep-dive into their world and ask: Where do they work? What music do they love? What are their hobbies? Do they walk, drive, or ride a motorcycle? Who do they aspire to be?' Understanding and reflecting a subculture faithfully requires research, and Hodge's took her to the West Auckland shopping mecca of Henderson Mall. 'It was gold. There were so many real-life Cheryls and Pascalle-types – women out on the town at the mall, sunglasses pushed up on their heads, hipster bootcut jeans just a bit too tight,' she recalls. 'There was a clear recipe these West Auckland women embraced: strong, overtly proud, bold, no matter your body type. It was a visual feast and an absolute gift in terms of sourcing and inspiration.' Malls were where she built out Robyn Malcolm's wardrobe, sourcing a lot of her signature tight, lacy and low-cut tops from places like Hartleys and Max. Wealth markers mattered, of course, so there were designer brands in the mix too – Muse, Yvonne Bennetti, Sass & Bide, Miss Crabb – and Hodge even went shopping across the ditch (the height of sophistication at the time) to tap into loud Aussie glamour. 'I actually hopped on a plane to Sydney a couple of times and shopped at David Jones specifically for Cheryl. We didn't have David Jones in New Zealand, and their offering was quite different – more variety, and just the right kind of pieces that Cheryl could own.' Cheryl's look was distinctive, regimented: shield sunnies, V-necks, tight bootcut jeans, high heels. In her interview for The Spinoff's Cover Story, Robyn Malcolm describes it as a form of armour. 'She was un apologetic, aggressive and very sexy about the way she dressed, and that immediately put me in a certain headspace,' she says. Though Cheryl's famously associated with leopard print, she didn't actually wear it until the end of season one. 'I'd sourced that leopard print dress specifically for the cast photoshoot, and from the moment I saw her in it, I was determined to get it into the season finale,' Hodge says. 'It wasn't intentional symbolism at the time, but in hindsight, it does feel fitting.' Placing the costumes within the Auckland of 2005 and reflecting the material aspirations of the family saw Hodge sourcing local fashion labels to 'ground the show in a recognisable New Zealand aesthetic'. It's a roll-call that includes Zambesi, Lucie Boshier, Deadly Ponies, Lonely Hearts, Kathryn Wilson and, for Van and Munter, Huffer. Designers saw their pieces on telly each week and got behind the show. 'We bought quite a few pieces from Karen Walker for the show; she was incredibly supportive, and her designs often struck the right tone between fashion-forward and character-specific,' Hodge remembers. Local designs most often appeared on aspiring model Pascalle (Siobhan Marshall), the most overtly trendy West. She was eclipsed only by the show's resident sophisticate Tracy Hong (Michelle Ang) who, thanks to her father's money, had the most obviously high-end, fashion-forward outfits of the series, all avant-garde (for Auckland) knitwear and edgy tailoring that communicated sexual power and business savvy. Brevity was the essence of Pascalle's wardrobe. 'I used to call my skirts my belts, because they were basically belts,' says Marshall. Jackets were abbreviated too, so were tight pastel tracksuits and tiny handbags. With her white-framed shield sunnies and salon hair, she looked like a Hilton sister from Henderson, one who wore brands like Miss Crabb and Mala Brajkovic, both of which were big news in Auckland at the time. So was Karen Walker, who had released her 'Liberal and Miserable' collection in 2004. Hodge had several pieces from that range, and would frequently dress Antonia Prebble in that iconic T-shirt. 'It just felt so apt for Loretta. The slogan captured her sharp wit, cynicism, and that early-era teenage defiance perfectly,' she explains. 'It said everything Loretta would, without her having to open her mouth.' That top, and others like the D.A.R.E T-shirt, reappeared in the series constantly. Hodge says it helped to add authenticity, depth and continuity to each character. 'Clothes weren't just costumes – they were part of the world, part of the story. The scuffs, the stretch, the history in each piece made the characters feel more real,' she says. 'It was really important to me that their clothes felt lived-in.' Many garments were secondhand, sourced from op shops or vintage boutiques like Fast & Loose or Scotties Recycle. Slogan T-shirts were integral for characterisation. 'Graphic tees played a big part in character storytelling, and I used them with real intention throughout the series. The slogans and imagery often carried symbolism or subtle narrative cues,' explains Hodge. Their very appearance was rebellious. 'Outrageous Fortune was one of the few shows where the producers and directors really embraced that level of subliminal messaging. On most productions, you're encouraged to avoid obvious slogans or text — but here, it became part of the visual language of the show.' Van (Antony Starr) wore T-shirt that read 'Guilty' in gothic font, but his twin Jethro (also Antony Starr) used fashion to send a different message. A newly-minted lawyer, his blousy shirts sharpened up by season two, where he goes shopping for trendy striped shirts and leather jackets on Ponsonby Road with Hayden (Shane Cortese with blonde highlights). Many of the suits were from Fifth Ave, Smith & Caugheys and Crane Brothers, with Murray Crane himself custom-making the baby blue suit (kitsch!) worn by Ted West for his wedding in season four. That look was an outlier though, as most of the series saw Frank Whitten dressed in his signature tracksuits (usually Adidas or Carhartt) and a cheesecutter. 'Frank could look just as dapper in a tracksuit and worn grey trainers as he did when dressed in his Sunday best. He had this quiet charisma,' says Hodge, adding that the late actor was a pleasure to dress. 'Effortless, grounded, and full of character. Always quiet in his fittings, but I knew when he liked something, as he would get a sparkle in his eye.' She adds that Ted was her quiet nod to The Sopranos. There were other parallels between the television crime families. Singlets are beloved by bogans as much as made men, and Wolf (Grant Bowler) had a lot of them. He also wore swaggering jackets, matched only by his rival in love and leather, Wayne (Kirk Torrance), who got to wear what's possibly the best suede jacket ever seen on New Zealand screens. Another jacket, by Australian streetwear brand Tsubi – SO cool in the early 2000s – was such a uniform for Munter that Tammy Davis ended up keeping it after the show. While a tool for building consistency, costuming also reflected narrative shifts and personal growth. 'As each character's journey deepened or changed course, their wardrobe evolved to reflect that growth,' says Hodge. Loretta was introduced to us with a definitive look: men's jeans, baggy T-shirts (very Lorde 2025) and Converse sneakers or, like Ted, Adidas tracksuits. 'But as she discovered her wily power and began to embrace her sexuality, her style shifted with her. She started to dress with more intention and confidence, revealing a new identity through her clothing.' Speaking of revealing, even the underwear was critical to the world-building. 'Every costume started with the base layers and built out from there. Lingerie wasn't just functional but foundational to the look, the mood, and the character,' Hodge says. Particularly for Cheryl, it was a way of scaffolding her confidence and deportment. 'I often intentionally clashed the bra with the outfit, so it became part of the look – not something to be hidden. A red lace bra under a leopard print dress… a purple one under something equally loud. The girls, as we called them, were always front and proud.' Twenty years on, it's the subtext of the show's styling – and its real-world counterparts – that still speak the kind of volumes that would warrant a noise control call out. All those nuanced fashion conventions in Outrageous Fortune communicated the way women wielded the social capital they had (usually sexual) and how a 40-something matriarch uses accessories to assert dominance. The costuming explored the hierarchies of masculinity, the uniforms adopted for differing vocations of criminality (bank robbers, bikie gangs et al) and the class tensions that still plague Aotearoa to this day. The clashing, brazen style of Outrageous Fortune made an impact at the time, and formed part of a wider cultural shift in the mid-2000s towards bold, brash fashion and the reappraisal of class conventions. It's ripe for revival, with 2000s fashion tropes finding favour with Generation Z and older cohorts (like mine) returning to old favourites. Baggy jeans and graphic T-shirts are the uniform du jour of mall-dwelling adolescents, and low-cut tops and even lower jeans can be seen today on young women across the country. Flashy fashion is back, along with a rebellious attitude, proving that – even two decades on – the Wests are still holding the bag.
The Spinoff
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
‘Fuckity, fuckity, fuck': The many riches of the Outrageous Fortune swear jar
Outrageous Week continues as Alex Casey celebrates Aotearoa's sweariest show. Content note: This article contains many, many, many swear words. You have been warned. When co-creator of Outrageous Fortune James Griffin stood up to address the cast and crew at the series wrap of the beloved show in 2010, he had some crucial numbers to present to the crowd. It wasn't the stratospheric ratings of the final season, nor the extraordinary amount of TV awards they had received in their tenure, but a tally of how many times the word 'fuck' (and variations on the word 'fuck') had been uttered on the show over its six seasons. The grand total? 2,039 fucks. The main culprit? One Cheryl 'cheer the fuck up' West. The first 'fuck' in Outrageous Fortune happens quickly – so to speak – just 39 seconds into the series. Cheryl and Wolf are in bed together, and he is listing off things to get done for the day. 'Would you shut up and fuck me?' she whispers. Where Cheryl kicks things off with a literal bang, the final 'fuck' goes to Hayden who, in the throes of West house party jubilation, says 'fuck it, let's dance' in the closing moments of the series finale. Between those two bookends are all manner of dipshits and slutty pants, cocks and dickwads, bitches, bastards and buggers. Co-creator James Griffin says that bad language was always going to be an important part of the Outrageous Fortune DNA. 'It would have been weird to do a show set in West Auckland without any swearing,' he laughs. 'It was such a big part of that world.' While writing the series, he made a habit of going for lunch at the WestCity Mall foodcourt in Henderson and parking himself up next to the biggest and rowdiest group to eavesdrop. 'Honestly, the level of swearing that we had on the show was actually nothing compared to real life.' But data linguist Dr Andreea Calude says that the swearing on Outrageous Fortune feels pretty representative of everyday conversation in New Zealand. 'It's not sanitised, but it's not overdone or exaggerated,' she says. As in real life, she says swearing on the show is often used as a way of coping ('It's all shit, Munt. It's a big bitch, and then you die' – Van), venting ('If you're that offended why don't you fuck off home?' – Cheryl), humour ('I wouldn't fuck him for practice' – Pascalle) and bonding ('I'm only trying to help you, you dumb bitch' – Loretta). To get that authenticity just right, Griffin and co-creator Rachel Lang gave themselves limits when it came to naughty words. 'Right before the scripts went off to publish, one of us would go through and do a cull of the unnecessary swear words, because we knew the actors were going to add more anyway,' he explains. 'There was one episode in the later seasons where we actually forgot to do this job, and it had about two and a half minutes of swearing in it. It's fine for effect and it's fine to make a point, but too much and it just gets boring.' There was another limitation in place that restricted their florid language use. Outrageous Fortune began its life airing at 9.30pm on TV3, but its success saw it brought forward to the 8.30pm time slot in the later seasons. 'There was a quite a lot of discussion about what would that time slot shift would mean to the earthy language of the West family,' says Griffin. 'We were basically told that if we were going to swear, to try and put it in the back end of the episode after nine o'clock. I don't know how rigorously anyone actually policed that, mind you.' But just like the Wests themselves, it wasn't long before Outrageous Fortune itself ended up on the wrong side of the rules. Despite local audiences not blinking an eye at Pascalle's catchphrase 'fuckity, fuckity, fuck' or Grandpa Ted's beloved 'slutty pants', it was an utterance in season five that garnered 21 separate complaints made to the Broadcasting Standards Authority and made up 10% of their total complaints for the year. The offending sentence? 'You are not giving that cunt a cent', said Cheryl West sometime around 8.40pm on October 12, 2010. Up until that point, Griffin says the writers had been sparing with how they deployed their cunts. 'The c-word was very contentious,' he explains, delicately avoiding saying the word in full. 'The first time we tried to use it was in season one, when Pascalle was outlining her plan to Loretta about how she was going to go about bagging this rich guy. As a part of the plan, she was going to say 'he'll be so c-struck that he won't be able to say no'. Well, that didn't fly.' Instead, the first utterance later went to Munter's mum while she was yelling at Van and Munter. While that c-bomb was scripted, Cheryl's soon-to-be controversial use of the word in season six was actually completely improvised by Robyn Malcolm in the scene. 'She totally ad-libbed it,' says Griffin. 'I remember because in the edit, Rachel and I talked for quite a while about whether we should cut it out, but we decided to let Robyn have it – she deserved to join the party.' As Malcolm herself described recently on the Between Two Beers podcast: 'I added that word and I looked at Murray [Keane, director] and said 'can I do that?' and he went 'yeah, why not?'' The problem is that this c-bomb was also preceded by a flurry of other foul language in the first 10 minutes of the episode, including but not limited to 'shit' (twice), 'retard' (five times), 'fucking' (six times) and a character asking 'do you want to lick my clit?' It's the sheer volume, and the earlier time slot, that led to the complaints being upheld, says BSA CEO Stacey Woods. 'Even though Outrageous Fortune was correctly classified as adults only and came with a language warning, it was decided that it was still unleashing too much, too soon after the watershed.' For those 10 minutes of profanity, the network was ordered to broadcast a statement about the upheld complaints and pay $3,000 to the crown. It remains one of the most complained-about sequences in New Zealand TV history, but was also the only complaint upheld in Outrageous Fortune history – not bad for 107 episodes of sex, swears and general salaciousness. 'My favourite BSA ruling was the one where they basically said to the complainant: 'look, it's Outrageous Fortune, what were you expecting?'' laughs Griffin. 'The show became its own defence, which I was very proud of.' And would the language of Outrageous cause the same level of pearl clutching now? Woods at the BSA expects yes, but for quite different reasons. 'Our research shows that people tend to be less offended now by your fucks and your shits,' she explains. 'People tend now to care more about words that have a bad, malicious intent behind them, like slurs and things that attack people's identity.' For example, Griffin recently rewatched an episode of Outrageous where Wolf used the term 'coconut' in relation to his best friend, Falani. 'I don't think that'd fly these days,' he says. While some of the language used on the show might not have aged well over the last two decades, Griffin says the swearing on Outrageous Fortune represented a maturing of New Zealand language on screen. 'I think the country grew up a lot in the early 2000s, and we just kind of rode in on that wave,' he says. 'Shows like The Sopranos had come along and established that if you're going to write a proper adult show, then you can use adult words. It also reflected how the world was changing and growing up, and we how had more things to worry about than than a few linguistic flaws.' And, 20 years on, Griffin reckons it would probably take more than a few swear words to rattle most audience members. 'I mean, hell. Look at what's happening in our own parliament these days.' he says. 'Everyone's dropping swear words everywhere – it's not cool anymore.'
The Spinoff
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Crime, chaos, and Christmas: the 20 moments that defined Outrageous Fortune
Outrageous Week continues as Liam Rātana journeys through the 20 moments that defined the series. Note: This article contains plot spoilers for a series that ended over a decade ago. You have been warned. I was 10 years old when Outrageous Fortune debuted on our screens, but my bed time was strictly when Shortland Street finished. I caught glimpses of the West family's escapades here and there, but it wasn't until over a decade later that I got to watch the series properly. At the time, my ex-girlfriend and I were staying in a state house in Mount Roskill, both young, broke, and bored, and we found solace in the relatable comedy-drama. The first couple of episodes were equal parts entertaining, funny, and ridiculous. We were hooked, finishing the entire series in just a couple of weeks. There were many reasons why I appreciated watching the show so much in my 20s: the offensive humour, the west Auckland setting (I lived in west Auckland for five years as a teenager) and the multiple subplots – Ted's history as an expert safecracker, Loretta's cunning entrepreneurial skills, and Munter and Van's bromance. The show so aptly captures the culture of New Zealand and the era it was made, from the cars, to the music, to the boganism and the multiculturalism. As the iconic show celebrates turning 20 years old this week, here are 20 outrageous moments that defined the series. 1. Wolf's four-year sentence (S01, E01) Wolf's arrest is the inciting incident for the entire series, forcing Cheryl to take control and the rest of the family to reevaluate their lives. As the archetypal criminal patriarch, Wolf's removal from the West household sets off a domino effect. It is both a plot device and a thematic statement: what happens when the kingpin is dethroned? 2. 'It all stops. From now on, we play it straight.' (S01, E01) The entire premise of Outrageous Fortune hinges on this one bold decision. When Wolf is sent to prison, Cheryl declares that the family will abandon their criminal ways and live life on the straight and narrow. It's a turning point that sets the tone for the entire series: a chaotic, blackly comic journey of a crime family trying (and frequently failing) to reform. The irony is that going straight often proves more difficult than a life of crime, creating endless narrative tension and character growth. 3. Judd gives Cheryl the Hoochie Mama money (S01, E10) Detective Wayne Judd plays an unusual role in the Wests' lives – a symbol of the law, but also someone drawn into their chaos. When he calls Cheryl honest, it's a surprising moment of tenderness and validation. His funding of Hoochie Mama with dirty money from a bust isn't just a romantic gesture; it's a vote of confidence in Cheryl's legitimacy and integrity. 4. Judd and Cheryl hook up (S01, E11) When Cheryl finally sleeps with Judd after his persistent advances, it's a massive shift in the narrative. It marks her departure from the loyal wife and blurs the line between law and lawlessness. Judd becomes emotionally and professionally compromised, declaring his love for Cheryl, who finds herself in an even murkier moral territory. This moment reshapes both characters, deepening the emotional stakes of the show. 5. Van and Aurora's relationship (S02, E06-S03, E04) Van West is often portrayed as the dumb twin and village idiot but his relationship with Aurora shows Van's emotional depth. Their romance is passionate, tumultuous, and ultimately doomed. Aurora challenges Van to grow but also reminds us that tragedy is never far from the Wests. Her sudden death – struck by a bus while trying to hide Tyson's drugs – is among the most devastating moments in the series. It's the kind of jarring tragedy that Outrageous Fortune does so well, reminding viewers that actions have consequences. For Van, it's a descent into grief that reshapes his outlook forever. 6. Loretta's erotic film debut and hookup with Hayden (S02, E11) After running a series of semi-successful illegal business ventures, Loretta seemingly finds her true calling. Hayden demands Loretta film a porn video he has scripted, which Loretta trashes and rewrites. She ends up enjoying the director role and her and Hayden end up sleeping together. It's one of the show's most shocking yet surprisingly authentic relationships – a pairing is as twisted as it is fascinating. It shows us that Loretta does indeed have feelings and sets off a series of morally ambiguous decisions – parenthood, arson, revenge. Their dynamic mirrors the show's recurring tension between intellect and impulse, control and chaos. It showcases her defiance, intelligence, and refusal to conform to societal expectations. This subplot underlines the show's unapologetic embrace of sexuality and questions of autonomy. 7. The Wests visit Tutaekuri Bay (S02, E17/Christmas Special) It's Christmas, and the Wests are gearing up for their annual chaos at Tutaekuri Bay – despite Cheryl's emotional spiral over Judd's imprisonment, a surprise visit from her estranged sister Jeanette, and Pascalle's dilemma over staying with Bruce. While Jethro opts out, the rest of the clan – including a rejuvenated Ted, lovestruck Van, and Loretta (abandoned by Hayden) – pile into Eric's bus and crash the DOC campsite under a fake name, ignoring yet another ban. However, their usual spot has been claimed by the rival Doslic family, sparking a classic West-style turf war. 8. Pascalle's porn disaster (S03, E05) Pascalle's quest for glamour and validation often led her down misguided paths, but none more painfully than her involvement in Loretta's adult film. Hoping to raise money for hymen reconstruction surgery before marrying Bruce, Pascalle agreed to appear on camera – only for Bruce to discover the footage and end their engagement. For all her bravado and beauty queen dreams, this moment lays bare Pascalle's vulnerability, exposing the emotional cost of chasing perfection. It's a turning point that peels back the glossy exterior and reveals a far more complex, broken-hearted young woman beneath. 9. The launch of The Tool Guys (S03, E16) When Van and Munter decide to 'go straight' by launching The Tool Guys – a 24/7 handyman service – it's a hilarious and oddly heartfelt milestone. Their earnest attempt at legitimacy, complete with homemade flyers, T-shirts, and vague branding, leads to them being mistaken for male sex workers. While this could've been a one-off gag, the storyline grows into a genuine business venture, complete with clients, staff (including The Gooch and Aaron Spiller), management drama (cue Loretta), and even romantic chaos. The Tool Guys becomes a recurring symbol of the Wests' tug-of-war between crime and respectability. It also deepens the bond between Van and Munter, offering some of the series' most endearing and comedic moments – including a disastrous bathroom hookup that somehow ends in a marriage proposal. Ultimately, The Tool Guys captures the show's core: well-meaning Westies trying to better themselves while being gloriously incapable of leaving the chaos behind. 10. Milt's sudden death (S04, E2) Pascalle's whirlwind romance with the ultra-rich Milt ends abruptly when he dies of a heart attack. The death transforms Pascalle into a wealthy widow and disrupts the family dynamic. Suddenly, she holds the financial power – but it comes at a personal cost. The show balances absurdity with grief in a way that only Outrageous Fortune can. 11. Cheryl says goodbye (S05, E17) In one of the series' most heartbreaking episodes, Cheryl loses her baby with Judd and retreats to Tutaekuri Bay – the place where she and Wolf scattered the ashes of their first child. Consumed by guilt and grief, Cheryl struggles to carry the weight of another devastating loss. But, driven by her deep sense of duty to her family, she summons the strength to return home and say a final goodbye, marking a moment of raw vulnerability and quiet resilience. 12. Drug container drama and Jethro on the run (S04, E03) Jethro steals a container full of illegal steroids from Wolf on behalf of his mother. Van and Munter accidentally destroy the steroids and Wolf finds out, forcing Jethro into hiding. The botched job is symbolic of his arrogance and marks a turning point in his downward spiral. It's one of the show's tensest arcs, combining crime drama with family fallout. 13. Jethro's return (S04, E18) Whenever Jethro resurfaces after one of his morally bankrupt absences, it creates an immediate shakeup. His slick, ambitious persona is the perfect foil to Van's sincerity. His returns usually mean trouble, but they also provide some of the show's sharpest insights into family loyalty, greed, and redemption. One of Jethro's most outrageous moments is when he returns dressed as Van to orchestrate a bank robbery, successfully framing Wolf. He also gets Sheree pregnant while impersonating Van and later returns with Wolf to disrupt Ted and Ngaire's wedding, leading to a complex series of events involving Nicky and Pascalle. 14. Sheree and Nicky conspire (S05, E11) This unlikely and toxic alliance nearly destroys the Wests from the inside. Sheree, manipulative and cunning, aligns with the even more dangerous Nicky Greegan. Their schemes push the West family into chaos, sparking betrayal, paranoia, and violence. It's one of the show's darkest and most suspenseful chapters. 15. Loretta chooses Jane (S05, E19) After the stillborn death of Cheryl and Judd's son, Hayden and Loretta get back together. They want more control over their daughter Jane from Cheryl, who agrees to allow them full custody of Jane if they get married. Loretta's arc from cynical teen to reluctant mother culminates in her choosing to keep her daughter Jane. It's a moment of surprising softness that reveals the depth beneath her icy exterior. Cheryl's support during this time also rebuilds their fractured relationship, underscoring the central theme of maternal love. 16. Cheryl stabs Zane Gerard and Pascalle is shot (S5, E19) A raid led by detective Gerard erupts into violence and ends with Cheryl stabbing him in self-defence. It's a moment of high-stakes drama that pushes Cheryl into a legal and emotional crisis. Gerard's corruption is finally exposed, but Cheryl's hands aren't clean either. Pascalle is caught in the crossfire and shot. The chaos of the Wests' lives reaches a literal breaking point, and the near-death of one of their own brings a rare moment of vulnerability. It's a reminder of how their actions endanger everyone around them. Gerard succumbs to the injuries from Cheryl's stabbing, setting off a murder investigation that implicates the entire family. The fallout is massive – testing loyalties, reshaping relationships, and forcing the Wests into hiding or exile. It's one of the show's most suspenseful and morally complex plotlines. 17. Cheryl pleads guilty to murder – and the family spirals (S06, E1) The final season opens with a shockwave: Pascalle is recovering in hospital, Cheryl is facing a murder charge after stabbing Detective Gerard, and Van steals and vandalises a police car in a fit of rage. But the real gut punch comes in court when Cheryl, wracked with guilt, unexpectedly pleads guilty to murder. Her stunned family can't make sense of it, and Loretta is left to clean up Van's mess by torching the evidence. It's a chaotic, emotionally loaded opening that rips the safety net from under the Wests and sets the stakes for the show's final run – what happens when Cheryl is no longer there to hold them together? 18. Judd and Pascalle have an affair (S06, E10) One of the show's most outrageous moments comes not from a criminal act, but from yet another unlikely romance: when Judd, Cheryl's partner and the family's unlikely moral compass, begins an affair with Pascalle. It's a bombshell twist that fractures the Wests from within, derails Cheryl and Judd's already strained relationship, and upends Pascalle's arc entirely. For a show built on blurred moral lines, this moment pushes things into treacherous new territory. It's not just betrayal – it's taboo. And yet, true to form, Outrageous Fortune doesn't play it for shock value alone. The fallout is raw and devastating, particularly for Cheryl, who is left reeling in prison. It's a moment that redefines loyalties, relationships, and what the show is willing to risk in the name of character drama. Simply put, this is the point where no one is safe anymore – from each other. 19. Jethro redeems himself (S06, E17) After years of scheming and selfishness, Jethro finally steps up for his family in the penultimate episode of the series. In a rare moment of moral clarity, Jethro plays peacemaker, persuading Cheryl to reconcile with Pascalle and redirect blame toward Judd to protect the family's legal case. When Judd later brings him the damning police report on Detective Gerard, Jethro discovers that Bailey had withheld it for her own gain. Disgusted, he forms a temporary alliance with his longtime rival Judd to ensure the report is used strategically. Leveraging this new power, Jethro forces Bailey to follow his lead in court, ultimately helping to clear Cheryl of her charges and restoring her at the heart of the West family. 20. The final farewell (S06, E18) The series ends with emotional goodbyes and new beginnings. Cheryl remains the heart of the family, Van finds love and stability, Pascalle leaves with Judd with one last piss off the deck from Ted. Loretta, Hayden and Jane settle into their own messy version of family. It's an ending that's imperfect – like the Wests themselves – but deeply satisfying.
