Just like its predecessor and inspiration Prisoner, Wentworth has exploded in international popularity, locking viewers in on all the drama and violence of a fictional women’s prison in Victoria.
We’ve had eight terrific seasons so far to get to know each inmate and ‘screw’ (Wentworth lingo for a corrections officer) as they enter the big house and leave…by one sinister end or another. And now, we’re facing down the gripping conclusion titled Wentworth: The Final Sentence, just to emphasise that those doors are clanging closed for the last time.
Aussie fans can catch the last season of Wentworth through Foxtel Now, with all 10 episodes of season nine/The Final Sentence now available in the default Essentials (Pop and Lifestyle) content pack.
By now we’ve seen so many faces come and go, of both legendary villainous Top Dogs and sympathetic lower-ranking inmates. The legendarily nasty Joan “Freak” Ferguson, as played by Pamela Rabe, is still suited up as one of Wentworth‘s inmates, but it looks like she’s got her eye on the prize, whether that means escape or bloody revenge.
“I’m having urges that I can’t contain”, she utters, before sprinting across the prison yard to take down one of her former colleagues with a massive knife.
For every character who’s met a bloody or shocking death inside Wentworth, the show has been great at consistently introducing new ladies to root for or loathe. Leah Purcell’s conflicted undercover cop Rita Connors, Rarriwuy Hick as her boxing sister Ruby and Susie Porter’s performance as the new Top Dog Marie are just a few of the later season’s new heroes and villains.
Who will be left with the keys to the concrete kingdom when we farewell Wentworth? It’s too early to say, but after so many seasons of shocking plot turns and terrific female-driven character acting, it’ll be bloody great TV no matter what happens.
