I think we need to take a moment to process all that happened in the season finale of Wentworth. Because if you thought the death of Bea Smith last season would be a hard act to follow, you ain’t seen anything.
Over the past 12 episodes, the writers have been quite successful at keeping things moving at a cracking pace. The tension ebbed and flowed as the Freak successfully manipulated all those around her.
Until now.
After her ‘trial’ and near execution last week, Joan knows she is a marked woman and she is literally ‘freaking out’.
Channing refuses her many requests to be placed in protection. Everyone wants her there; Vera, Will and even Jake.
But not Derek Channing; he wants her in the general prison population. And he knows the other women will want to ‘take care of business’ but he just doesn’t care.
“Don’t bother going to the board. They think you’re barking mad….. You’d better be quick Joan, I can hear the prisoners sharpening their shears”.
In fact, he practically tells Kaz Proctor to get on with it, urging her to ‘strike first’.
And there’s nothing Vera can do about it. She saved Joan’s life in the prison yard, but there’s little she can do now to prevent the women seeing out their plans for retribution. She’s not in charge any more and doesn’t have the authority to act.
And she says as much in their first confrontation since the prison yard lynching. Joan thanks her for saving her life and again makes a desperate plea to be saved again.
Vera’s response:
“It’s not my decision now. I’m powerless. You did a too good a job on me”.
Yep, you reap what you sow. Oh the irony of it all.
Meantime, Will Jackson has finally realised that Jake is truly rotten to the core after Vera tells him that he was doing Joan’s bidding all along.
He finally clicks that Jake was responsible for the death of the witness against Ferguson; Nils Jesper. He checks the roster and checks CCTV footage and realises Jake had ample opportunity to carry out murder.
Jackson confronts him with the evidence of his guilt, which prompts Jake to fall to the ground sobbing and begging for help.
“I don’t know what to do? Tell me what to do”.
“You f**king coward”.
Jake then looks to Vera for mercy and forgiveness, but he’s done his dash there too.
“I know you hate me. I’ve done some pretty messed up shit and I am so, so sorry. I swear I did love you. Please tell me how I can fix this”
But there is no fixing this as far as Vera’s concerned. That door has been well and truly slammed shut; a bit like a cell door, really.
After realising the depth of Joan’s depravity and how far Jake has fallen, Will Jackson confides in Kaz Proctor.
“While she’s still breathing, she’s never going to stop”.
“To get justice, sometimes you have to cross the line”.
Meantime, Franky and Allie are pushing ahead with their escape plans, although Liz Birdsworth nearly throws a spanner in the works. She’s petrified of Sonia Stephens and begs for Franky’s protection.
“Can you protect me, Franky? I’ll be safe with you”.
Franky wants to postpone the escape plans to look out for Liz. But after being warned off by Allie, Liz decides to take things into her own hands.
Boomer gives Sonia a cup of tea prepared by Lizzie. She drinks it and falls to the ground. It doesn’t look like she’s long for the world and no one realises what Liz has done.
We don’t know that Sonia has actually breathed her last. The writers have kept it deliberately vague. We might yet see her in season six.
So, the prison escape is back on, but then Boomer threatens to bring it undone. She knows Franky is up to something.
“Franky, if you go, the workshop will be shut down. I’m important here, you can’t take that away from me, Franky’.
“I love you Booms, but I’ve got to go”.
Boomer has the chance to lag on Franky, but doesn’t go through with the threat. Instead, she distracts the guard on duty as Franky runs into the workshop and seals herself into a delivery box.
She hears someone else get into a box and finally relaxes. It looks like she and Allie are on their way to freedom.
Except Jake may have stumbled onto their plan. He informs Will Jackson that he’s discovered an escape plan.
The crates are loaded onto a truck and it drives through the prison gates. It eventually arrives at the depot and the delivery guys go home.
Just as Franky begins to get out, another vehicle pulls up and a crate is unloaded. The car drives off. Franky gets out and realises Allie’s crate has been taken away.
In her pocket, she finds a note from Allie:
“You need to prove your innocence. I need to do something else. I loved Bea and Joan Ferguson took her away from me”.
Allie wasn’t in the crate. It was someone else. And as they do a roll call back at Wentworth, we find out that someone else was Joan Ferguson.
She’s still in the crate and trying to bust out as it’s lowered into the ground. She begins to scream as dirt is thrown on top. She’s being buried alive.
At first it seems Jake Stewart has decided to step up and deal with the Freak, but it turns out to be WILL JACKSON!!!!!
As he walks away, Joan desperately looks around for a way to escape and suddenly notices a hand drawn picture nailed to the inside of the crate.
It’s a picture of Bea Smith. Drawn by Allie. As promised, she’s avenged the death of her lover. Joan shrieks as the end credits roll.
What an ending to a gripping season of Wentworth. It begs the question; will we see Joan back next year? Will Sonia survive and become top dog?
How can we possibly top season five? It was the same question we asked last year and somehow the writers managed to pull it off.
How long to season six?
Nikole Gunn has been a watcher of TV since the 70s. A writer of words since the 80s. A reader of the news since the 90s; mostly on Triple M, Nova and Gold.
Twitter – @NikoleGunn