Knocked off his pedestal and onto the Impaired Registrants Program, Hugh, returns to his childhood home of Whyhope, where he unwittingly gatecrashes the 40th anniversary party of his parents, Meryl and Jim. This awkwardly reunites Hugh with his ex-girlfriend Charlie and his brother - now her husband - Matt. Reporting for work at Whyhope Hospital, Hugh makes numerous enemies of the staff.

Hugh wakes up in a house he doesn’t recognise, littered with the remnants of a big night. Upon seeing his hungover state, Penny orders him to provide yet another urine sample. Hugh extracts one from a young patient in return for a doctor’s note - but unfortunately, it tests positive for cannabis.

Hugh is concerned about Jim’s health but as per usual, Jim doesn’t want to talk about it. Trevor, a colleague and co-pioneer in artificial heart research, turns up to show Hugh their new prototype. They trial the product on a pig stolen on a hunting trip. Fueled by alcohol and impulse, Hugh makes moves on Charlie.

When Hugh is sued for malpractice, he must travel back to Sydney to defend himself. He drags Matt along with him in an attempt to bond with his brother but it backfires when Matt is found in a compromising position with another woman. Charlie is pushed to the limit by Meryl and takes revenge with a goat.

Hugh becomes the town hero after footage goes viral of him saving a promising young footballer from a booby trapped paddock-turned-minefield. Matt, Charlie, Hugh, Aoife, Joey, and Tugger all blow off some steam and get back to basics - a country style lock in with plenty of booz

When a brawl at the local pub turns fatal, Hugh learns that they can’t save them all. But things only get worse when the transplant team arrives from Sydney, and it’s led by Hugh’s ex-colleague and long term rival, Daniel. Charlie and Matt deal with the aftermath of Charlie’s ectopic pregnancy, and Meryl begins on a series of well meaning, but misguided attempts to comfort her.

Hugh gets a running start to his day, when a worker named Jazz goes on a meth-fuelled psychotic break outside the hospital, and ends up chopping off part of his penis. And that’s not the only thing thrown his way - Aoife tells him she loves him... and gives him 24 hours to say it back.

When Hugh gets permission to perform minor surgeries, he’s desperate to find a patient who needs to go under the knife. At a family dinner, Meryl announces that she’s going to run for Mayor, but no one is too thrilled about the idea. Hugh decides he wants to tell Ajax that he’s his father, but his family doesn’t think it’s the best idea.

Hugh faces a dilemma when his best friend Joey makes a dying wish. The Knight family rallies to support Ajax and Meryl as they each confront a major crisis.

Hugh is shocked when he finds out Penny accepts a job in the city and the hospital is thrown into chaos. Charlie develops an unhealthy obsession over Hugh's relationship with Penny.