Season 3, Episode 24: "Put away childish things" (original air date: October 16, 2002)

Ken, Nicky and Louise are amongst the judges of the Radford House senior speech competition, where the topic is New Zealanders who have made a difference. In a controversial result, Nicky sways the judges to vote for Grace Stringer, who talks about herself. Kieran is unimpressed that Sascha only makes it to second, but Grace Stringer is over the moon.

Ken and Dana arrive home to find an appalling void in the lounge. Ken's entire collection of sci-fi figurines has been stolen. Dana is sympathetic, but finds Ken's distress a little too much. Ken begins to form a suspicion about the culprit - Todd. Under the pretext of searching for drugs, Ken turns over Todd's house. He's disappointed when the search only yields half a joint, but arrests Todd anyway. Todd complains to Dana and denies responsibility the theft. She's not sure whether to believe him, but when the finger prints discovered at the scene aren't on file, Dana thinks Todd can't be responsible.

Ken, meanwhile, starts finding bits of his beloved collection all over town. He feels tortured. The only person who seems to understand his obsession is Jordan. When Ken decides to have a go at Todd in the street, Dana finally loses patience. Ken is angry at her lack of support. Todd presses his advantage with Jordan and Dana, keen to go to the upcoming softball game.

Ken finds support in William, but begins to realise that in his quest for his collection, he may be losing something worth more. He turns up to softball ready to take on his nemesis. Ken doesn't win, but he behaves with honour, deciding to put away childish things in favour of a real family.

Nicky's support for Grace means she now has a firm fan. Cliff thinks this has adolescent crush written all over it, but Nicky is dismissive.

However as Nicky becomes more entangled with Grace, she finds that Grace hasn't been entirely honest with her. After a warning about inappropriate relationships from Grace's teacher, she tries to cut contact. Grace takes this badly.

Nicky finds that rather than encourage Grace, she has prompted her premature exit from school. Kieran is impatient with Nicky's hand wringing and sorrow over lost youthful passion. Nicky decides to act on her adolescent fantasy. Cliff is rather mystified, but Nicky feels extremely happy.