The Freak gets away with another crime, Jake gets away with being a dealer, while Franky gets done for another murder she didn’t commit.
Let me start by saying that I have been, like many of you, on this Wentworth ride for almost 5 seasons now, and loved every minute of the first 4 seasons, minus the last 5 minutes. Those last 5 minutes broke my heart and I sobbed like a baby for a full hour afterwards. The death of Bea killed my real passion for the show (even though Franky is my #1 love), but I was sufficiently addicted that I knew I would be back for this season (because Franky), unlike those ‘till I die too’ Bea fans who swore off the show because Bea.
This season I am the least invested that I ever have been. I mean, I still find it entertaining – if you can call having your favourite character fucked over again and again entertaining – but the plot holes are no longer pea sized, but enough in some places to shoot a basketball through, and that’s disappointing. I’m curious to see how it ends – and knowing that season 6 has already been announced, I know that it will end on one monumental cliff-hanger, setting it all up ready for the new season to start. I do know, however, that whatever happens, I will not have the same emotional reaction as I did at the end of season 4. Even if they kill Franky, I’ll most likely be, ‘Well, better off dead than locked up with the Freak for the next 20 years.’ Unless of course, she dies just after she’s found not guilty, and she and Bridget stare lovingly and excitedly at one another across a courtroom. Then I’ll be pretty pissed off, because a) Franky and b) another dead lesbian. So I don’t reckon they’ll go there…
But I’m starting off with one very large digression with all this speculation, so let’s go back to recapping this episode – number 10. The episode begins with Channing coming into the prison to investigate Will’s claims of a dirty officer, telling Vera that her judgement is quite possibly being clouded because she’s banging the main suspect. After Vera just about chokes on her tongue, she does acknowledge that they are in a relationship, but that she can still do her job. Channing sets up an office from which to conduct his investigation and the games are on. Jake the Snake is a picture of ‘golden-boy-butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-his-mouth’ as he denies any wrongdoing and wishes Channing all the best with his investigation in finding the dirty officer.
I’m going to get to the bottom of this – and then feast on the carcass of your career.
Away from Channing, Jake freaks out just a little and calls his old mate Turk to tell him they have to put their plans on hold, but Turk freaks out back at him ever more, because Jake owes him money, and he quite likes the ‘captive market’ that Wentworth provides as far as being a bunch of desperate users. Turk finds out where Jake lives, and bursts into the house when Vera is home alone, throwing her up against the fridge, and grabbing her around the throat. Suddenly, Vera’s not so sure about how unsnakey Jake is. But he gives her a flash of his baby-blues, and makes up some totally lame-arse and completely unbelievable excuse that Turk is a loan shark and Jake borrowed money for his fake micro-brewery which Vera has to be pretty dumb to believe still exists – either in the present or the future, but she’s pretty happy to accept what he says.
See Vera! Your boyfriend is a snake-in-the-grass! Nah… I still don’t see it.
Jake rushes around to tell Turk to stay away from his house, and never to go near Vera again, which pretty much suggests that Turk will quite likely do something to Vera, given Jake says he’s out of any further dealing with Turk, but Turk tells him he’s only out when Turk decides he’s out. He makes to pull a gun on Jake, and Jake is resigned that Turk could, and probably would, kill him but it’s just a cigarette lighter and Jake breathes a sigh of relief as he walks out of Turk’s workshop.
Jake goes in for another meeting with Channing, and Channing has traced the burner phone used to do the deals to Jake – seriously, how hard would that have been? He’s not a cop, he just kind of thought, ‘oh I might save this number and then phone it and see if it buzzes anywhere’. It’s not rocket science. But finally, Jake the Snake is going down! YES!! EXCEPT, we know how crooked Channing is – worse than Jake by a country mile – so he doesn’t turn Snakeman over to the cops, instead tells him to keep going with his business but he wants a 20% cut. This is really gonna piss Will off.
It’s all over Jakey-boy… or is it?
Will goes nuts. Channing tells him that he found nothing to pin on Jake, and Will tells him he’s going to resign. This causes poor Kaz to go into her own meltdown, as she can’t imagine life inside without Will because she ‘needs to believe there’s at least one good guy on the other side of the wire.’ My, how a near-death experience and being saved by your mortal enemy changes things! Will looks a bit unsure, so the question now becomes what does he decide? The final major fallout of the drug issue, is that Channing sidelines Vera, and assumes the position of acting Governor… That’s not going to be a good look for anyone involved – Channing Acting Gov, Jake Acting Dep. Gov and Joan Top Dog. Batten down the hatches.
Just when I stopped hating you…
Little sideline story, that is getting a bit annoying, tbh. Sonia tempts (well nags and niggles and hounds) Liz into having a drink with her, hoping Liz will ask about Dirty Detective Don – which she duly does. Sonia’s mind games with Liz intensify as she tells her she killed him, then goes into the details of her original plan, which was of course, unsuccessful, and what led to her being charged for the murder of her husband. Liz runs back to her cell and throws up, and goes to Vera again with a claim that Sonia confessed, sounding like a complete nutter as she won’t let it go. Vera is up to her eyeballs with the investigation and really has no time for Liz’s shenanigans, and gently tells her to drop it; ‘after all, your false claim of her confessing once before isn’t going to make you look like a very reliable witness’. Liz realises her lies have ‘bitten her on the arse’, and now she has to live with herself… and Sonia. The guilt will be a burden she will most likely not handle (but she’s now got a taste for the grog again, and what’s a season of Wentworth without Liz falling off the wagon?).
Just one for the road, Liz… But Sonia, I’m not goin’ anywhere.
Meanwhile, Franky is still planning the BDE (Big Dumb Escape) with Allie, but only after she confronts a shiv-making Iman (who’s now working in the workshop, remember?) about how she knows Mike Pennisi. She claims to not know him at all, he was just some random who left a message on her site. Franky’s not convinced, so goes to ask her ex Kimmy if she can help her out by letting her use the mobile phone that Tina has. Kimmy basically tells her to, ‘fuck off, you only talk to me when you want something, and I’m not going to get it for you if you’re calling that slag Bridget.’ Franky counters with, ‘She’s not a slag, I never meant to hurt ya, and I couldn’t help it I fell in love, first time I ever let myself go there.’ There’s actually some closure there for Franky and Kim, which I thought was a nice touch. Kim, however, walks out, but soon after comes through with the phone and gives her two minutes, where she calls Bridget and says, ‘you gotta come in, I need some help’.
I loved you Franky.
Oh dear, these two… Yes, they split up. Yes, Bridget said I can’t do this anymore. Yes, Franky tried to hit on Allie straight after the break up, but OMG they really do love each other too much for Bridget not to come running as soon as Franky is going to let her help. That’s all she ever wanted right from the start of this mess, ws for Franky to let her help. Now that Franky’s actually asking for her help, she just can’t say no. Franky has found the name of Iman’s psychologist and asks Bridget to do some snooping – she’s not keen, it’s highly unethical and could lead to her getting reported to the psych board – to find out what she can about Iman’s story as, ‘it’s the only lead I got.’ Bridget is totally unable to resist, and the ‘ok’ she gives Franky, is really saying, ‘I would do anything for you.’
The look of love.
While Bridget is off snooping, Franky and Allie are doing BDE stuff in the workshop and making Boomer pretty pissed off. Franky’s out of sight in the general direction of the toilet, and Iman is lurking in the dark with the shiv she made earlier, presumably to do some real damage to Franky. Saved by Boomer searching for her to tell her to get back to work, after realising that Allie ‘the goldfish’ has ‘forgotten’ to put the planter boxes in the big boxes being shipped out of the prison, Franky and Allie are kicked off the team by the A-Team of Sonia and Boomer, before Boomer relents and lets them back in. (But when she comes to Franky in her cell and tells her not to screw things up for her, because this is the first time ever that people have looked up to her and she’s been the smart at something other than cracking heads – it made her even more lovable than ever before. #LoveYaBooms).
We’ll behave, we promise.
You better, remember I’m boss.
Bridget rocks up the next day to tell Franky that she’s got some info on Iman and Mike Pennisi. Franky says to her, ‘I could get used to this, seeing you every day.’ Bridget’s reply of, ‘I can’t after what we had,’ makes me just want to scream “LET THE LESBIANS HAVE A HAPPY ENDING, FFS!” at someone, anyone, but we all know that’s not going to happen. So Iman and Pennisi both attended the same group therapy for victims of PTSD – Iman for the horrible experiences she suffered as a refugee, and Pennisi for the horrible suffering he experienced as a burns victim at the hands of Franky. They had known each other for 18 months. Why would she lie? Franky intends to find out.
She rushes off to Iman’s cell and is having a bit of a snoop and comes across her kite necklace and is all ‘WTF’, when Iman appears and is also like all, ‘WTF’ but at Franky about being in her cell. Franky says you stole my necklace and you lied to me, and next thing Iman is going at her with the shiv she has secreted away up her sleeve just waiting for the opportunity to kill Franky. Now, here’s where they lost me a bit, because it’s all just too rushed! YOU CAN’T HAVE GREAT WADS OF EXPOSITORY DIALOGUE AND FLASHBACK VISION WHILE THERE’S A FIGHT TO THE DEATH HAPPENING! Throughout the fight we learn that Iman was Pennisi’s girlfriend; he was the only good thing to happen to her; he was obsessed with you; you took him away from me, the only reason I’m in here is to get you… ‘I didn’t kill him’… no Franky, you didn’t because in a fit of jealous rage I shot him with your gun, and nearly killed myself too, but then figured a better course of action would be to kill you instead.
Let me tell you a little story about a man named Mike.
At this point Iman has Franky down on the bed with the shiv at her throat, and has made the first incision, ready to slice her open, when a black leather glove clad hand grabs Iman from behind and pulls her off Franky. Franky is incredulous that none other than the Freak has come to save her life, and she watches as Iman is overpowered saying, ‘she killed Pennisi’. Of course, Joan isn’t going to let things sort themselves that easily – she gets to kills two (or three actually) birds with one stone; ‘I heard that, but no one else will’, and crack, Iman’s neck is snapped and Joan lets her go as she falls to the fall in a heap, dead, and Joan strides out of the cell leaving a gobsmacked Franky in her wake.
Never liked her much anyway.
Now Iman being dead is bird #1 (although she really is just collateral damage and conveniently there to further the Freak’s plans to take down Vera), Franky subsequently being charged for her murder is bird #2 (again more collateral damage than full blown revenge on Franky, but the Freak would enjoy beating her with this one), and Vera’s ability to run a tight ship and lead the prison is bird #3. That’s the big one. (But I did love Channing line to Joan earlier in the ep ‘at least it’s not on fire’…).
So, more evidence of the ‘oh no we’ve only got two episodes left, so we have to but on out skates and get moving, even if the telling of the story becomes a little unrealistic… Franky’s being questioned by the cops who charged her with murdering Pennisi, and they’re basically saying straight off the bat, well you killed Iman too. Now I know that’s what cops do (well in all the cop shows anyway, so I’m guessing they base it off RL) hoping the baddie will confess and they don’t have to build a case. Franky says, no but this is the story… they laugh in her face, and don’t believe a word she says. BUT then they take the Freak and Tina’s word for it as ‘eye-witnesses’. Joan’s a proven pathological liar and diagnosed psychopath, and Tina is a common drug-dealer, and is under Joan’s thumb so would say whatever she wanted. Where’s an interview with the former prison psych? With the governor? NO – let’s just take the word of these tow prisoners who could have any numbers of beef with Franky and would want to take her down for who knows what reason. And according to the cops Pennisi couldn’t have had a girlfriend because ‘he was too ugly’ and ‘basically a recluse’. So that precludes him completely from any kind of intimacy? And it’s enough to base a murder charge on? Fuck that!
My life is a complete ‘mare.
So Franky gets slotted, screaming all the way that Ferguson did it, and even Jake is shocked when he goes to see Joan (playing chess alone in slow motion) and asks her why she would do that. As she knocks over the white queen (that’s Vera folks…), she replies that everything is falling into place perfectly…