(This recap was originally published on June 23, 2016.)
Immediately after finishing this episode of Wentworth, I went out to the backyard and cried a cry that had been building up for weeks. And because I majored in film and theater, even as I cried, a voice in my head said: “Ah, there’s that catharsis business Aristotle was on about.” They were tears of release, the kind you cry when there’s a long enough break in the battle that you can give yourself a minute to feel anything at all. I hadn’t really given myself permission to do that in a while. But thanks to this episode, I found myself feeling everything.
So as you know, this is quite a moment of upheaval in our favorite corner of the correctional system. Joan is gunning hard for Kaz to unseat Bea. Bea herself is barely holding onto power thanks to her punishment of Tasha for pushing the panic button. Doreen, disgusted with the violence, has left Bea’s crew for Kaz. Maxine is faced with a choice between giving up the breasts and hormones she fought so hard for or the cancer that may take her life. And in the midst of all this change, heartbreak, and uncertainty, a woman named Allie has the nerve to fall in brave, determined love with a woman who has never let herself be loved before.
This week begins with Vera Bennett strutting down the cell block with the well-earned confidence of someone who was recently kissed in an elevator. Hearing her strut, Joan is reminded both of her own days as a strutting governor, and the crush she once harbored for Vera.
Vera is in a particularly good mood because Joan’s lawyer has particularly bad news: Nils Jessper is preparing to testify as to all the people he beat up, drugged, framed for murder, and ran under in his murder van. And what’s more, the prosecution has a super special guest witness to rap a verse for them.
Yes, Bea agrees to testify against Joan on the condition that she be removed from gen pop permanently. Of course, snitching on Joan is a rather tricky proposition, since Bea recently made very clear that all laggers will be subject to a forcible makeover. But I’m sure that will percolate in good time. For now, the suspicion that Bea might testify against her means that Joan needs to speed up her plans to dispatch the Top Dog.