TV Pick of the week: Shortland Street

Hunter McKay has flipped from good boy to mad, bad lad. Photo / Supplied

Who would've thought that Shortland Street CEO Callum McKay's son, Hunter, would prove to be so much trouble? He had so much potential. A good-looking young man, a qualified paramedic determined to make his way through med school and follow in his father's footsteps as a doctor.

But the stress got to him, (along with the trauma of watching his father hook up with his ex-girlfriend, of course) and over the last months we've watched Hunter's addictions spiral from ADHD medication to much harder drugs, and now P.

His actions have become increasingly more desperate and, somehow, few people have seemed to notice his erratic behaviour, violent outbursts and constant sweatiness - except for his old mate, Daniel, and the ex-girlfriend, Jill.

Tomorrow night, of course, it all comes to a head in the final episode for the year as a pharmacy burglary goes badly wrong.

It's been quite a year for Shortland Street, with writers ramping up the drama on several occasions and tackling topical issues. Apart from getting a few All Blacks along during the World Cup, they worked on a couple of recession storylines, with the Cooper family struggling to make ends meet earlier in the year, and constant struggles between various departments for funding at the hospital.

Jill got to demonstrate the plight of many a young working woman as she struggled to balance her bills, rent, food and credit card payments. Fortunately, Callum came to the rescue and got her spending sorted out.

And they lightly touched on the "brain drain", with conniving Aussie doctor, Bethany, trying to lure Maxwell across the ditch for a better life. She didn't succeed, though.

Maxwell felt his family obligations too strongly. Can he work things out with Nicole after being unfaithful?

Brooke had her fair share of drama (and the most convoluted plot lines of the year) - first with Chris Warner's devious younger brother, Isaac, drawing her into several crazy get-rich schemes (and manipulating poor Luke Durville and his taxidermy skills), and then with her oddly reverent assistant/stalker Winston going to some extreme lengths to protect her from her own bad behaviour.

And, now, her long-lost sister has turned up. But is Brooke a changed woman, and will it be happily ever after with her and funny-man-with-a-soft-centre, Vinnie?

Of course, we've had the requisite birth (Sarah brought Tilly into the world in a ditch) and wedding (TK and Roimata got there eventually), and teenager Jasmine had a near-death experience.

There have also been more love triangles than you'd need to build the pyramids. Chris and Rachel got back together and have been playing happy families, but surely that won't last - especially now that resident genius with Aspergers, Gabrielle, has declared she's still in love with him.

While there are no explosions, car crashes, or serial killers on the loose this year, it's a typically tense Shorty cliffhanger and, along with Hunter's exploits, there's a few new plot twists (a certain teenage couple are about to get a lot of attention) to keep fans guessing until the show returns on January 16.

When: Friday, 7pm
Where: TV2
What: The annual cliffhanger

-TimeOut