Earlier this week, the fifth season of Australian prison drama Wentworth came to a close, and with it, the closing of one particular big door. Note, that as we discuss the fifth season, there will be spoilers…
Pamela Rabe as Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson
Opening up this year with the inmates and prison staff saying their final goodbyes to Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) – a character who has led the show since its initial debut but who was murdered at the end of season 4 by the villainous Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) – emotions ran high from the very first moment. As the tears flowed, viewers wondered if the show would be able to survive without its Queen Bee. What many of us have realised for some time however is that this is an ensemble show; every cast member and character brings something unique and important to the table. And whilst Bea isn’t there in physical form, she still truly helps drive the story on inside Wentworth.
Top Dog is a role that has in the past only shifted a couple of times, but this season we saw Kaz Proctor (Tammy Macintosh) take to the mantle, before being overthrown by Ferguson, only to put her to trial and claim leadership once more. The once stable foundations of the prison have been chucked aside, with everything that those there held dear threatened.
As the season came to a close, it looked as if Franky Doyle (Nicole de Silva) would finally make her escape from prison to prove her innocence, after being arrested for multiple murders she did not commit. She had a rock solid plan in place with Allie Novak (Kate Jenkinson), but when Novak was caught by crooked officer Jake Stewart (Bernard Curry), things went a little awry. Luckily for Novak, having lost her partner in Bea through the actions of Ferguson, she could still use the plan in order to get some revenge. Working with officer Will Jackson (Robbie J Magasiva), the pair leaked the escape plan information to Ferguson who would take her opportunity to get out of the prison before being lynched by the prisoners.
Unfortunately for Ferguson, she’d finally been outsmarted. When the wooden box she was inside reached its location, none other than Jackson picked her up, took her out into woodland and buried her alive in one of the best planned out ends to a storyline we’ve ever witnessed.
Even the little added touch of showing dirt breaking through the wooden casket and raining down on Ferguson was intricately thought out; this is a woman who despises dirt and cannot even hold a pencil without using a rag if she believes somebody else to have touched it.
Now, revenge has finally been served in Bea Smith’s name. Whilst there are those that believe this is a fake-out and Joan will miraculously make it out alive in the now-confirmed season 6, here we believe Joan’s story is done.
As Ferguson, Rabe has given one of the most compelling, intriguing, exciting, unpredictable, powerful performances the small (or big) screen has ever seen. She has been the perfect villain, even forcing viewers to empathise with her at times despite all of the harm she’s done to the beloved characters that have worked their way into the hearts of everybody watching.
The real death fake-out may come in the form of Sonia Stevens (Sigrid Thornton), who’ll be gunning for Lizzie Birdsworth’s (Celia Ireland) head next year if she does indeed manage to survive the poison Lizzie planted in her tea. It’ll be down to the likes of Sue ‘Boomer’ Jenkins (Katrina Milosevic) to decide which side she’s going to fall on. One thing’s for sure; there’s a lot more drama headed Wentworth Prison’s way. We can’t wait to watch it all go down.
Wentworth returns to Foxtel in Australia next year, and continues on 5 Star in the UK.
Tagged in Wentworth Prison