The Melbourne gangland wars start the night the gangster Alphonse Gangitano, "The Black Prince of Lygon Street", and one of the legendary Carlton Crew gang, murders a low-life crim named Greg Workman at a St Kilda party for the sheer hell of it. The charming gangster Alphonse gets away with the murder by convincing two witnesses not to testify but the killing sets the tone for the mayhem that will follow, and sets Alphonse himself on a path to self-destruction.

Convinced that Jason Moran was also involved in the nightclub assault, Steve Owens tricks Jason's driver Carl Williams into revealing that he did indeed ferry Jason to and from the scene. Carl Williams takes the first steps towards building his own empire. The police are determined to crack the "Carlton Crew" crime gang.

Brothers Jason and Mark Moran decide that the Carlton Crew needs to be pulled into the 21st Century. The Moran brothers do a deadly deal to expand their empire while Carl Williams starts his illegal dealings - in direct competition with Jason Moran. As tensions increase, the police convince a young mother to testify in a murder trial - with tragic results. Carl Williams meets the love of his life, Roberta.

Carl Williams is caught red-handed whilst double-crossing the fearsome Moran brothers; the underworld is in an uproar over the mystery source of cheap drugs; a kidnap goes terribly wrong, from farce to disaster, when nobody wants to pay the victim's ransom, which only adds to the tension.

Carl Williams begins his deadly revenge on the crime-controlling Carlton Crew, and tries to increase his ever-expanding grip over the Melbourne crime world; whilst Jason Moran is in jail, his brother Mark takes control of the family business; Detective Steve Owen is determined to prove an underworld murder.