CBC original Pretty Hard Cases is back with our two most adored detective besties, Samantha and Kelly. In 2021, Pretty Hard Cases aired its first season and subsequently dropped season 2, where we were introduced to Samantha and Kelly’s budding friendship and the issues they were dealing with in their personal lives. Now, as the series has returned for its third season, we have seen Sam and Kelly’s friendship deepen, making them inseparable souls. Kelly and Sam are still grappling with their choices to be with the love of their lives, but by the end of the season, Kelly’s relationship with Nathan has a new dimension, making it a satisfactory ending.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in Season 3?
Pretty Hard Cases Season 3 kicked off with Kelly in a secret op working as an undercover agent to bust a drug dealer. She befriended the dealer’s fiancée and became her bridesmaid, aiming to bust the gang on the dealer’s wedding day. Meanwhile, Sam, whom we had seen demoted in the previous season, was working as a uniformed cop. Her partners were now Detective Swallows and her assistant. Sam was not happy at all. She was not getting that adrenaline rush that she used to experience in the guns and gangs department. Moreover, she even missed her best friend Kelly’s company. We saw Kelly’s sister, Karina, in the lead for the secret operation Kelly was on. Karina decided to recruit Sam as another undercover agent, posing as a wedding planner for the drug dealer. Kelly and Sam arrived on the day of the wedding and intended to get a confession out of the dealer. To achieve that, Kelly used her earrings, which were bugged, but the dealer caught her in the act and threatened to kill her. However, Sam managed to rescue Kelly and also arrest the dealer.
Sam had moved back in with her ex-husband Steve, who was working on himself to be a better husband, but he’s still a mansplainer who never lets her wife discuss her work. Naz, on the other hand, was dating two women at the same time. One of them was Sarah, and the other one was Sara. Kelly and Nathan were finally in a relationship, and they were happy, but Kelly was torn between prioritizing her career or starting her family right away. She was once given the responsibility of babysitting her niece, which annoyed her a lot. Since then, she has been uncertain whether or not she wants to be a mother. However, Nathan decided to make their reunion official and asked Kelly to marry him, to which Kelly said yes.
Who was Jenn Diemante?
In the midst of all this, Pretty Hard Cases season 3 has brought one exciting case after another involving the new drug called purple rain. A new criminal gang named “The Replicant” emerged, with connections with the Russian mob. After successfully busting the drug dealer at his wedding, Sam was rehired as a detective in her previous department. So now Sam and Kelly were all set to investigate the drug gang to finally bring them to justice. Purple rain was some kind of substance that was destroying teenagers’ lives. Sam and Kelly found one of their initial leads, Jake Mardy, and arrested him. Instead of giving him a lengthy sentence, the detectives thought of using him as an informant. Not only Jake but Jodi, Tuesday, and many other leads emerged. But Sam and Kelly were missing the bigger picture which was so close to them all along, yet so far.
Steve’s friend, Ro, was a lawyer and a very good friend to Sam. Sam even trusted Ro more than she trusted her husband. But little did Sam know that Ro was a corrupted lawyer. Ro had a close bond with a mafia queen, Jenn Diamante, who was her childhood friend. Jenn was the mastermind behind the purple rain operation. As Jenn came to know that Sam and Kelly were investigating the purple rain dealing, she took Ro’s assistance to snitch on Sam. One day, when Ro was sneakily looking into Sam’s laptop, Steve caught her in the act and told Samantha. Sam initially didn’t pay much attention, but she thought of testing her to have solid proof. One day, at a house party at Kelly’s place, Jenn and Ro were invited by Sam. She deliberately brought up their case file in front of Jenn and Ro, to prompt them to look for the file. Jenn and Ro sneaked into a room, and secretly read the file, without having any idea that they were being recorded on a CCTV camera. Realizing that Sam couldn’t trust Ro anymore broke her heart. Finally, Sam confronted Ro and told her about Jenn’s affiliation with the Russian mob. Ro acted all innocent and even told Sam that she didn’t have any idea about it, but she was faking this.
What Happened to Naz?
Jake Mardy, who was initially working as an informant for the detectives, was threatened by the mobs with death. So, he decided to switch sides, to evade his death. He posted a video online claiming that he didn’t help any police and took the entire blame for drug selling on himself. To persuade Jake, Naz went to his house. But Jake drugged him with purple rain. Naz lost his senses and became extremely dizzy. As he passed out on the ground, he didn’t have any recollection of what happened in the room, but as he woke up, he found Jake was killed. The police arrived at the spot and arrested Naz on murder charges.
Who killed Jake Mardy?
Meanwhile, Sam, Kelly, and Nathan finally got their final lead, a Russian mobster, who had joined hands with Jenn. The detectives followed them to their drug lab, where purple rain was made. Grabbing an opportunity, the detectives managed to capture Jenn and her other accomplices and arrested them. However, the reason behind Jake Mardy’s death was a mystery, but Sam and Kelly managed to figure it out. From the GPS tracker, it was revealed that on the night Jake was killed, Ro was there too. As Jenn’s fingertips didn’t match with those found on Jake’s body, it must have been Ro who killed him. By the time, Sam and Kelly arrived at Ro’s place, she was already trying to leave with her luggage. But Kelly and Sam arrested her for killing Jake Mardy. As soon as Jake’s murderer was captured, Naz got bailed out of prison. Sam and Naz became very close friends by the end of Pretty Hard Cases season 3, but it’s yet to be seen if either of them will try to make a move and begin dating each other in the upcoming season.
Did Kelly and Nathan End Up Together?
Kelly and Nathan saw many obstacles in their relationship, but overcoming them all, they remained together by each other’s side. Kelly used to be frustrated when she had to babysit her niece, but she began to adapt to the situation and prepared herself for her baby. Nathan became a completely devoted person, who loved Kelly, but Nathan’s daughter with her ex-girlfriend came to stay at his place for a while, which created an issue. Kelly didn’t know that Nathan had a great attachment with his ex-girlfriend. When she learned about it from Nathan’s daughter, she developed some trust issues towards Nathan. She even came to know that when Kelly was out of town, Nathan had met his ex-girlfriend. However, as they had a daughter together, they had to maintain the connection, which initially angered Kelly, but she later came to understand it. She forgave Nathan, who proposed to her. But Kelly backed off from the wedding several times due to work pressure. Finally, after the purple rain dealers were busted, Sam surprised Kelly with a wedding plan. Kelly and Nathan tied the knot, while Sam was still contemplating her decision to choose between Steve and Naz.
In the concluding moments of the third season, we saw Nathan tell Kelly that he had booked their tickets to their honeymoon, but unfortunately he couldn’t go, as his friend Naz, who’d just got out of such a traumatic incident, needed someone to be there for him. So, he asked Kelly to go on her honeymoon taking her friend along with her. The honeymoon destination was Saint Vincent, Virgin Islands, where Adeline from the previous season was hiding, so Kelly agreed to go there for a vacation as well as to find Adeline. Season 3 of Pretty Hard Cases ended with Sam and Kelly getting extremely excited about their vacation on Saint Vincent Island and enjoying the wedding party. Probably in the next season, we may expect Kelly and Sam in a whole new environment at Saint Vincent, where they’d enjoy their vacation as well as look for Adeline to bring her back to custody.
