Episode Recap: The House of Jerome

We pick up right where we left off, with Gaia being kidnapped outside Mike's bar. After Axl raises the alarm, Mike receives enough info to get the scent and yet another posse sets out on yet another rescue mission.

The trail leads Axl, Mike, Bryn and Michele to an unremarkable suburban house, where they find that Gaia is far from being in danger or even held against her will. In fact, Gaia is feeling right at home as her kidnappers - Jerome, George and Leon - are actually Maori Gods: Maui, Punga and Rongo. The Johnsons are surprised to learn they are not the only deities in town.

The Maoris have their own prophecy regarding Gaia: she will become their Papatuanuku, their Earth Mother. In this way Gaia's history of being the offspring of a Norse God and a Maori Goddess is revealed ... as is the fact that Bryn not only stole her from her parents but killed them as well. Bryn flees as the Maori Gods realize who he is.

Meanwhile, Anders is having a fun time with his new Goddess bedmate, Helen. Dawn interrupts their sexual shenanigans with a call requesting Anders to come to work, as a woman by the name of Natalie Mather has shown up at the office. Her calling card announces her as a bigwig at Lindus, a Scandinavian furniture manufacturer, and she claims she met Anders in Oslo and has come to offer them a business opportunity. Anders has no memory of the rather cold and righteous Natalie but he is willing to go with the flow and dinner is arranged.

Back with the meeting of the two sets of Gods, Axl and Jerome are getting territorial over Gaia while the Norse Goddesses, especially Michele, are getting annoyed with the old-school sexism of the Maori Gods. Eventually the senior players, Mike and George, decide it might be best to take a break and come back tomorrow for more talking - a hui, in fact.

That night at the business dinner Dawn freaks when Anders turns up with Helen, whom he introduces as his wife, as an attempt to pass off j:pr as a company that lives up to Natalie's Christian values. Apart from an awkward moment regarding the lack of wedding rings, it seems to work, with Natalie being particularly interested in Anders' family and their history.

In the fallout from the day's Godly events, Mike gives Olaf a harsh scolding for not knowing there were other Gods living in the vicinity that are now competing for their Frigg. Later, as Olaf nurses a bottle to nurse his wounded pride, he sees Kvasir enter the bar and disappear through a hidden door in Mike's office. When Olaf follows Kvasir down to a hidden room under the bar, the two old enemies commence battling.

The next day, as the Norse Gods assemble for the hui, Olaf is nowhere to be seen ... but Gaia is there early and kicks off the proceedings with a karanga - not a good omen for the Norse side of the equation. After some formalities, including Axl and Jerome both making speeches claiming possession of Gaia, it is time for Bryn to face the music. Bryn is dignified in explaining why he did what he did, but there must be utu ... and, in a deal brokered behind the scenes by Gaia, he is sent back to Waiheke Island to grow awesome hydroponic weed for Rongo. Bryn departs, estranged from his adopted daughter.

With this out of the way, the hui breaks up. The Goddesses are the first to leave, retreating to Mike's, where Michele brings the others in on the secret of The Stick ... and it turns out The Stick gives each of them unique and special powers.

The episode ends at Axl's flat, where Gaia reveales that she just wants to run away from all this madness ... and asks if Axl will come with her. He agrees, and the two of them slip out of the house and drive off into the night.