Lou sticks his neck out to try and help Adam, who develops a serious drinking problem. However, when Adam's drinking problems gets worse and he expects Lou to keep covering for him, Lou regrets getting involved.

Checkbook journalism - payment for a new story- becomes an issue when a source wants money to document a dangerous motorbike scandal. Cold financial facts are also brought home to the staff when Hume takes a talented editor to task for padding his expense accounts.