At the episode begins, Joan Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) remembers being buried alive. She screams for someone to get out of there before we see that she is unconscious and in the hospital. Once things calm down, Senior Detective Collins (Ian Bliss) learns about Joan’s condition from a medical professional at the hospital. Joan had to have surgery to remove the pressure from her brain. She was pretending to be Kath Maxwell who was a homeless woman. She may never wake up but she might wake up tomorrow. Then, we jump over to the prison and learn from Ann Reynolds (Jane Hall) that they’re going to close the protection unit due to budget issues and that is going to put Marie Winter (Susie Porter) in danger.

That change is going to take place immediately with Will (Robbie Magasiva) being responsible for relocating the inmates. Will and Vera (Kate Atkinson) think they’re making a horrible mistake but Ann can’t change that decision. Will goes to Allie (Kate Jenkinson) and asks her to tell the other women that the inmates from protection are off limits. Allie can’t believe Will want her help after he let authorities bug herself. Allie wants to make sure that Will is going to guarantee Ruby’s safety. Allie agrees to guarantee their safety except for Marie Winter. Meanwhile, Judy Bryant (Vivienne Awosoga) talks to Ruby (Rarriwuy Hick) and Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) about oppression. They end up laughing at Boomer who is once again the prison idiot.

Judy reveals she is going to get a visit from her lawyers and she thinks that will scare the guards. Linda Miles (Jacqueline Brennan) and other prison guards prepare the women from protection to get ready to leave. Marie can’t understand that. She tells Vera that she wanted to return to general when she wanted to die but not now. Vera leaves and visits Ann who admits she had been planning this move all along. Vera says closing protection is going to cause chaos but Ann doesn’t think it’ll last long. Vera is concerned that they’re going to put the staff in danger too before Linda enters and tells Vera that detectives are there to see her. She meets with them so she and Will can learn about the Freak showing up in the hospital. The detectives say they knew for a long time that the woman in the box was not Joan Ferguson.

They want Vera to formally identify Joan so she goes to the hospital and does so immediately. She returns to the prison to tell Will and Jake Stewart (Bernard Curry) about Joan and Kath Maxwell. Ferguson escaped from the box, killed Maxwell, and put Maxwell in the box. The DNA of Maxwell’s sister was used to confirm the match. They think Ferguson called Murphy who followed Will and helped Ferguson get out of the ground. The man who assaulted Ferguson took her backpack and it has nearly 30,000 dollars in it. Linda Miles interrupts before Will begins working to move the women from protection to general population. Lind wants to know about Ferguson too. Marie and the others are moved to other cells. Judy returns to Allie before telling them how it went with her lawyers. She says it was legal aid and that she needs to call her father.

Allie interrupts and tries to get Will to let Judy call her father but Will can’t help since she is being held on terrorism charges. Vera tries to convince Will otherwise but she realizes they won’t be able to get it past Ann. Marie goes to the cafeteria and everyone stares at her. Boomer heckles Marie before Marie is attacked by another inmate. Once the fight is stopped, Zaina (Louisa Mignone) tries her luck but Linda stops her causing her to spit food on Marie. Seconds later, Lou Kelly (Kate Box) visits Reb Keane (Zoe Terakes) in medical. Reb is not happy with the things going on and says he’d rather die. That night, Lou creates a nasty shank with the intention of killing someone and helping Reb. Then, Boomer says that at least Marie tries something but Judy says a revolution should start with getting away with it.

A news report comes on television and lets everyone know about Ferguson being found alive. Boomer freaks out while Judy tries to find out who Joan Ferguson is. Allie asks Jake about Ferguson but he won’t tell her anything. Will visits Ferguson at the hospital later. Senior Detective Collins tells him about the man who attacked Ferguson before wondering what is going on in Joan’s head. We see into Joan’s head and see Joan abusing Joan. In the morning, Marie goes to Allie and tries to convince her not to kill her. Allie tells Marie that she won’t stand in their way when the women come for her. She says she’ll cheer them on and Marie ends up leaving with a smirk on her face. Jake speaks to Will about Ferguson’s coma and head injury. Jake says they need to sort something out to save themselves and Vera.

Vera invites Judy Bryant into her office and lets her call her father. Judy calls her father and tells him about the problem with her lawyer. He reveals that he hasn’t hired any lawyers and he doesn’t believe that she is innocent. He says there is an election next year and his daughter being a terrorist isn’t going to help. Lou places a call to make sure that Marie has as much money as she claims. Then, she begins keeping a close eye on Ruby who tries to teach Boomer how to fight and deal with Marie Winter. When that ends, Ruby decides to take a shower and Lou follows her but she stops to speak to Reb. Lou tells Reb what she intends to do but Reb believes they should talk to Marie first. Reb tracks down Marie while Lou goes after Ruby in the shower. Lou bashes Ruby and knocks her out but Marie stops her and Boomer follows.

Boomer pushes the panic button instead of doing anything to Marie. Jake checks on Grace and Vera catches them together. Jake says Grace made him realize that he isn’t the most important person in his world. We join Boomer and Ruby in medical and learn that Ruby is going to be okay. Jake visits and waits for the nurse to leave so he can steal a lethal drug and a syringe. He escorts Boomer back to her cell before Lou confronts Marie and wants the money Marie promised Ruby. Marie says she changed her mind and doesn’t have any money but Lou threatens to kill her. Marie crosses Boomer in the hallway and neither one of them say anything. Boomer returns to Allie and tells her what happened. She says Marie was trying to kill Ruby making Allie angry. Jake goes to the hospital with the intention of killing Ferguson.

We see flashbacks of Joan buying a woman who looks exactly like Joan. Then, Ferguson wakes up at the last second and looks directly at Jake. A nurse enters and Jake runs out of the hospital room. He goes to Vera and tells her what happened while suggesting they take Grace and flee. Vera doesn’t want to do that though. In the morning, Vera calls the hospital and learns that Ferguson is conscious and the police are talking to her. Jake believes they’re screwed while Will and Jake say they’ll protect Vera. She isn’t sure about that since she thinks Ferguson might have a copy of Murphy’s photo. Next, one of the inmates tells Marie she wishes they would hurry up and take her out. Allie comes outside and bashes Marie until the guards break it up. Vera approaches Ann and tells that Allie is in the slot but that they won’t be able to stop their feud.

Ann apologizes for being rude before Vera gets a call from Detective Collins. Lou visits Ann who has an offer for her. Ann wants Lou to take Marie and the other women from protection under her wing. She wants Ann to keep an eye on Judy too. In return, she agrees to help with Reb’s HRT and surgery. Vera tells Will and Jake that she got a call from Detective Collins and he wants to meet her at the hospital alone. Jake says they should all go together and Will agrees so they all visit the hospital. Collins takes them inside and asks Joan if she recognizes them. She looks at them and says no but saying she is Kath Maxwell.

 

Wentworth Review

I sincerely hope you find these recaps to be beneficial because they take a lot of time and energy to write. My personal opinions aren’t meant to be an attack on anyone who liked or didn’t like the show but I feel it is necessary to at least be honest. I genuinely do not think Wentworth has been great for several seasons. It has had its moments and some characters are still tolerable but it isn’t what it was. It lost the magic that made it special back when we had the prison showdowns between Bea and Franky.

It is hard to get excited or anxious when a main character is going to be killed because that mostly never happens. There isn’t much time left for Wentworth and I think it would be better if they started killing characters sooner rather than later. This episode was predictable since we knew Ruby wasn’t doing to die and that Jake wasn’t going to kill Ferguson. I wish the writers had the guts to pull the trigger on these characters since it would make the show less predictable and more dynamic but they never have and likely never will until it is too late.

With the ratings dropping lower, they don’t have much time left. They possibly still have time to salvage this season but that isn’t going to happen with Boomer being Gomer Pyle, horror movie like flashbacks for Joan, cringy overacting from Kate Jenkinson, and put poor, predictable writing. These are just my opinions and I would like to hear others. Personal insults aren’t going to do either of us any favors.

Previous recaps of Wentworth can be found on Reel Mockery.