Li Ann escapes, but Mac is arrested and left to rot in a Chinese prison.
Two years later, he is released and taken to Canada where a mysterious woman known as the Director employs him to work for her crime-fighting institution.
He soon learns that he will be working as part of a team with Li Ann, and the man she was engaged to, Victor Mansfield, a disgraced police officer.
In June 2011, Alliance Home Entertainment released John Woo's Once a Thief: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only) for the very first time.
In episode 20, there is a reference to the audience's unfavorable reaction to the show:[citation needed] when the Director is told that the trio is coming along well, she replies "that depends on who you talk to".