Famed author Ian Fleming’s premature death denied him a real-life Australian interpretation of his work. The embryonic SMERSH and its successor SPECTRE, you’ll recall, were fiendish criminal syndicates invested in, among other things, the international narcotics trade. Run like Fortune 500 businesses, mastermind Ernst Blofeld understood ruthless management was a fundamental discipline. He also understood human nature, including that opportunity more often succeeds with the help of a useful idiot.

Australia’s reprisal of Fleming’s tales involves commercial and civil leaders who failed to spot the Blofelds in the shadows. Act One starts with James Packer’s ill-judged decision to turbocharge Crown Casino’s reliance on junkets in the aftermath of China’s corruption crackdown, his business quickly thereafter enmeshed in criminality. Taking leave of its collective senses, Star chased Crown down the same dead-end road. The consequences of those colossally stupid choices continue to play out in commissions and courtrooms.