Season two of Offspring ended on a relatively sweet note with Mick (Eddie Perfect) & Billie (Kat Stewart) eventually managing to get married, though the doubt cast over Nina (Asher Keddie) that Darcy (John Waters) wasn’t her real dad left viewers hanging. Confused? Don’t be – it’s Aussie chick drama at it’s finest, and the upcoming season three of Offspring promises more twists, turns, anxiety, joy, laughter, tears, love and surprises than ever before. And fans of the series will *love* it.

Nina’s in love with Patrick (Matthew Le Nevez) – still – though her inner monologue continues to fight her. “Can this be too much happiness for one person?” she asks herself. It’s everything Offspring fans have come to expect from their heroine. Self-doubt and mental self-sabotage. Despite this ongoing internal inner battle of wills, the coming season looks to be Nina’s year in the sun. Mostly. If you ignore the whole “Darcy isn’t my Dad” thing. Happy Nina/Sad Nina – it’s like she’s the one who was foretold to bring balance to the force: nothing is gonna be simple.

The cast have more than worn into their characters and start this season in good stride. Keddie is enveloped by Nina and she and Stewart have their sisterly rapport down to a fine art and a good script with which to bounce off each other. In fact the entire ensemble cast are clearly comfortable with their on-screen personas as it’s almost become hard to imagine each as anyone else.

John Edwards promised a big season, and the first episode more than delivers with the drama of who is Nina’s real father, a fire, Billie & Mick still recovering from their miscarriage last season, Jimmy (Richard Davies) coming to terms with being a dad… The episode also contains the most sage advice regarding making your own Thai curry and washing your hands properly before bed that it should be a public service announcement.

Nina is never happy unless she’s worked out that her life must contain equal parts happiness and drama. “Part of me is relieved. Disaster has struck. Balance is restored.” Then she realises the incident in her flat is likely her and Patrick’s fault. “Shit. We don’t tell anyone.” It’s a moment of brevity before Nina’s life unravels as she learns the truth from her mother. What we get is a characteristically strong performance from Keddie – A touching moment of real self-doubt from she-who-must-question-everything, and a poignancy and depth reflecting real talent.

“I love my father. He’s not my father.”

Season three of Offspring will likely be the best yet.

Offspring (S03 premiere) – Wed 8:30pm, Channel 10.