T he final, frenzied showdown of Wentworth last season rocked fans when prisoner and former Top Dog Bea Smith died.
The show’s pivotal figure since its debut in 2013, Bea’s (played by Danielle Cormack) demise during a fight with Joan “The Freak” Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) was greeted with stunned disbelief.
Bea met a violent end after confronting Joan with a screwdriver as the former governor was leaving Wentworth Detention Centre. Joan had just been exonerated of the charges she’d faced.
When Joan managed to gain control of the weapon during their fight, Bea realised the only way to keep the master manipulator behind bars was to make her plunge it into her.
A grief-stricken Bea believed her girlfriend, fellow inmate Allie (Kate Jenkinson), had died of a drug overdose and felt she had nothing left to live for.
Now, as the series returns, we find out how Bea’s death has affected the prisoners and guards.
In the season five premiere, the action picks up straight after Bea’s death. There are plenty of tears when the other inmates are informed. The women decide to hold a memorial service in the yard.
At the same time, Bea’s small, sombre funeral is attended by governor Vera (Kate Atkinson), deputy governor Will (Robbie Magasiva) and former prisoner Franky (Nicole da Silva).
Picking up the pieces
It’s the heartbroken reaction of Bea’s girlfriend that really displays the raw grief and anger felt inside Wentworth.
Bea assumed Allie had died from a lethal dose of drugs Joan had given her. She felt she had nothing to lose when she attacked the former governor. Yet, in the final minutes of the season finale after Bea had died, Allie awoke from her coma.
This season, Allie returns to the prison vowing revenge. She wants Joan to pay for what she did to both her and Bea.
“Allie’s coping mechanism is to seek revenge,” Kate, 35, says of her character.
“As anyone who was in her position would feel, she’s out to avenge the death of the person she felt closest to.”
Pamela Rabe as Joan “The Freak” Ferguson.
Watch your back, Joan!
Now facing a murder charge, Joan finds herself back in Wentworth. Determined to clear her name, she insists Bea inflicted the fatal stab wounds herself – but no-one cares to listen.
“It’s a scenario she never imagined could possibly happen,” Pamela, 57, says. “It’s a big blow for her.
She doesn’t like to fail and, unusually, this time she’s not guilty. Joan’s biggest focus is on being exonerated.”
Joan has also figured out Bea must have had inside help from a guard.
Governor Vera, who was the one who assisted Bea, doesn’t want her actions exposed, so starts looking for ways she can cast the blame on others.
While Vera is trying to cover her tracks, Joan demands she be allowed to return to the general population, despite the prisoners baying for her blood.
When Joan enters the prison yard, the tension is palpable. An unmissable Wentworth moment occurs that will have viewers riveted…
Sigrid Thornton plays Sonia Stevens.
New Top Dog
Allie and the other prisoners are planning to attack Joan.
But new Top Dog Kaz (Tammy MacIntosh, above far left) wants to maintain a strict no-violence policy.
On the outside, Kaz was a member of the Red Right Hand, a vigilante group that metes out justice to men who’ve abused women.
“Her background has been extreme anti-violence towards women,” Tammy, 47, explains. “So her reign is her trying to be as ethical as possible in her beliefs.”
However, the usual way for women to settle scores inside Wentworth is by using violence. Stopping the prisoners – Allie in particular – from exacting revenge on Joan could prove near impossible.
Blast from the past
Meanwhile, on the outside, former inmate Franky winds up dealing with her own dangerous situation.
In a chance encounter, Franky comes face-to-face with the man she attacked and left horribly disfigured.
Mike (Felix Williamson) was the TV cooking-show presenter who was injured when Franky lost her cool and threw scalding oil at him.
Franky knows it’s a violation of her parole to be anywhere near Mike. Could she find herself in another red-hot mess if she doesn’t abide by her parole conditions?
