Season 3

Complete listed story — includes the ending

1. Knock with Me - Rock with Me

Two years after Hurricane Katrina life in New Orleans is returning to normal. Antoine Batiste and some other musicians are arrested when police try to shut down the unauthorized street concert because of noise complaints. DJ Davis is trying to get a new music project off the ground and to raise money he offers music history tours for tourists, without much success. Delmond and his father, Big Chief Albert Lambreaux, enjoy the critical success of their new hybrid jazz and Mardi Gras Indian record but Albert has developed an ominous cough. Toni Bernette meets with L.P. Everett, an out-of-town reporter investigating suspected police killings after Katrina. LaDonna and her family have returned to New Orleans and Annie's musical career is taking off. Chef Janette Desautel is finding success as a New York chef under the tutelage of David Chang.

2. Saints

Antoine begins to blossom as a teacher and his students start to show interest. LaDonna becomes fed up living with her in-laws while her rape case is grinding its way slowly through the justice system. She struggles with trying to find a way forward with her life. Delmond is settling back in New Orleans and worried about his father’s mysterious cough which is diagnosed as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) contracted from decades of plastering without a mask. Detective Terry Colson moves back into Toni's orbit after her long-time friend and hairdresser is found bludgeoned to death, when both suspect the investigation has been inadequate. Nelson Hidalgo is still trying make some money by doing good and wrests some contracts from the New Orleans Affordable Homeownership (NOAH) program. Davis is chasing his dream of a New Orleans R&B opera but finding few supporters.

3. Me Donkey Want Water

Janette moves back to New Orleans after being convinced by Tim, a restaurant tycoon, that she will have full creative control and free hand with food costs, although Jacques expresses misgivings about the plan. Annie also finds some potential success with her newly retained agent who asks her to sign a "standard contract". Meanwhile, Nelson expands his NOAH project work, but at the same time begins to doubt whether it is of any real value. Finally, after an extended courtship, Sonny wins over Linh's ultra-protective father, who finally leaves Linh and Sonny alone providing an opportunity for them to consummate their relationship. Antoine goes on tour with Tab Benoit who is well known for his version of "Me Donkey Want Water". Toni places an ad in a local paper asking other victims of Officer Billy Wilson to come forward, realizing that this makes her and her daughter even more the target of corrupt police. Albert is diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and given a 50 percent chance of survival.

4. The Greatest Love

Albert grapples with his diagnosis and tells Delmond that he has cancer. Albert decides to make the most of whatever time he has left and he strikes a deal with LaDonna, enabling the Indians hold their weekly practice at her bar. Janette begins setting up her new restaurant venture with her partner Tim but she begins to find that attitudinal differences are starting to appear. Delmond is approached by a developer interested in building a major jazz performance center but is skeptical about the project. Annie goes on tour leaving a gap in Davis’s life that he did not expect. Nelson starts to become frustrated at being shut out of big money projects because he is still seen as an outsider. Toni and Everett have started collaborating and trading information, causing the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to turn up the pressure on them both and harass Sofia.

5. I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say

Tension is mounting between the residents and the City Council over the four housing projects. Desiree arrives in time to see her mother's house demolished, although it was also listed for remediation. Albert and Delmond are pepper-sprayed while at a demonstration outside the City Council building, the council having managed to keep anti-demolition protesters out of the public meeting. Nelson realizes that he has been excluded from large contracts by his erstwhile partner, C. J. Liguori. It is Christmas and family tensions are on the rise; Albert is surrounded by his family for Christmas dinner, concerned that it will be his last. Annie's parents visit New Orleans and although her mother is disappointed that she's not pursuing a classical career, she comes to appreciate Annie's musical talents. Davis and his parents have opposing views about the value of the projects which they see as being a breeding ground for criminals. Relations between LaDonna and her brother-in-law Bernard remain frosty and she refuses to join the in-laws for Christmas dinner, offering instead to host them at her bar. Toni and Everett continue their investigation of the Glover homicide while the police continue to harass Toni's 16-year-old daughter Sofia.

6. Careless Love

Sonny's downward spiral of substance abuse continues, with his failing to board Tran's fishing boat and later humbly asking his forgiveness; he later fails to show for a music gig. Albert ignores his doctor's advice and refuses to start chemotherapy until after the Mardi Gras, frustrating his daughter's good intentions to help him. Davis continues pushing for his R&B opera, seeking the support of new Orleans legends such as Fats Domino. Janette is discovering more of the implications of working for a corporate restaurant chain and doesn't care for her new roles of manager and spokesperson, taking her away from her first love of cooking. Antoine is horrified to discover that Jennifer, his 14-year-old trumpet protégée, is illiterate but even more horrified that the charter school enthusiasts are more interested in a smoothly operating school than the individual students. Toni and Everett track down an out-of-town pathologist who worked on the Henry Glover case and provides more ammunition for their case that Glover was shot and burned post-mortem, providing further evidence implicating the local authorities in a cover-up. Sofia's romance with the 27-year-old street musician sours, with her surprisingly calling him "immature".

7. Promised Land

Albert, Delmond and his "tribe" work to finish their suits for Mardi Gras. Delmond meets Kimberly who gives him a DVD of the film Trouble the Water, which has a dramatic effect on the family. Colson is warned off by a colleague for being hard on officers he sees as being derelict in their duties. Judge Gatling manages to get Toni to relax for a short while after she interrupts him at lunch for an ex-parte decision. Davis' aunt has to tell him that he needs a veteran singer for his songs but he takes it badly. Janette takes the advice of an old friend and decides to make the restaurant a success in spite of the commercial pressures. On Mardi Gras Day 2008, Antoine's school band goes public and has a happy interaction with the tight yet loose, Marine marching band. Albert finishes the day pleased with his tribe's performance but leaving him coughing and exhausted. Annie takes time out of her tour playing with bands like the Neville Brothers for people who seem to care little about the music. She returns to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and shares a tender moment with Harley’s sister as she scatters his ashes in the river. After a very long, emotional and boozy day, Davis and Janette spend the night together. Sonny manages to stay clean for a couple of weeks and is taken back by Linh's father, Tran.

8. Don't You Leave Me Here

Janette and her crew have the successful soft opening of her high-end restaurant, DeSautel's, received with acclaim by other chefs but not without excellent customer management by her head waiter, Derek. Davis continues his frustration in the lack of control he has over his R&B opera project, disagreeing with Aunt Mimi over the CD cover design. LaDonna confesses to Larry that she is being intimidated by friends of the robber she's about to testify against but Larry’s reassurance cannot dispel her fears. After his last night drinking for a while, Albert Lambreaux commences his first chemotherapy session and his family suffer the effects with him. Sonny proposes to Linh and she accepts but Sonny still needs Tran's permission. Antoine takes his first steps in learning modern jazz but it is a challenge for the veteran trombone player. The NOPD continue their harassment of Sofia to maintain pressure on Toni for investigating misconduct in their ranks. Eventually Toni sends Sofia to live with her grandmother in Florida and she reluctantly goes. The harassment of Ladonna continues.

9. Poor Man's Paradise

Lieutenant Terry Colson is set up by his colleagues and takes a beating during an investigation while two uniformed officers and his partner sit idly by. Bucking under the pressure on her and Sophia, Toni Bernette decides to call off her investigation of Officer Wilson until she is presented with a witness to the shooting of Joseph Abreu in a supermarket. Janette is finding that she has much less control of her restaurant than she expected, with Tim hosting his freeloading friends at her expense, while she and her crew have become prisoners of her signature crawfish ravioli. Annie also finds that she has less control of her life that she expected, with her manager Marvin and the recording studio running the show. As Delmond becomes more involved in the proposed jazz center, he begins to have misgivings, especially when Albert suspects that it will not be benefit the local community. Toni suspects that Terry is crooked but is reassured by the FBI agent that Terry has been tracking evidence to implicate crooked officers in cover-ups and she reconciles with him. After weeks of intimidation, LaDonna's bar, GiGi's, is set on fire to stop her from testifying against the men who raped her. To find some relief for the pressure, LaDonna pays visit to Albert during his chemotherapy session.

10. Tipitina

Two weeks after the fire that destroyed her bar, LaDonna gets a visit from the insurance assessor looking for reasons to void her claim. Everett has his article on the NOPD involvement in the death of Henry Glover and Toni manages to interest the FBI in the Abreu shooting. Davis announces his departure from the music industry with a song entitled "I Quit" which becomes a minor hit, while Annie has a CD released of her own music. Delmond quits consulting on the jazz center when he realizes that developers are in bed with Mayor Ray Nagin. Desiree seems to finally be getting some results over the home demolitions. Janette finds out more of the downsides of her contract with Tim. He owns her name and she feels trapped but she still manages to cater for a benefit concert for LaDonna and her burned-out bar. Just about everyone attends the benefit and surrounded by her friends, LaDonna cheers up for a while. Sofia returns home to find Terry has been staying overnight with her mother, Toni. At the court case of LaDonna's rapists, the jury is deadlocked and the case is dismissed, leaving LaDonna disillusioned. As the season ends, life in New Orleans goes on; Antoine's efforts with the school band is achieving results; Toni, Terry and Sophia are upbeat; Sonny and Linh are married with her father's blessing; Annie and Davis go their separate ways; LaDonna starts cleaning up the ruins of her bar and at his chemotherapy session, Albert is sewing panels for his next Mardi Gras suit.