Wentworth (season 2)
| Wentworth (season 2) | |
|---|---|
 Region 4 DVD Cover | |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | SoHo |
| Original release | 20 May – 5 August 2014 |
| Season chronology | |
The second season of the crime drama television series Wentworth premiered on SoHo in Australia on 20 May 2014. It was executively produced by FremantleMedia's director of drama Jo Porter. The season consisted of 12 episodes.[1]
The second season picks up three months after Bea Smith murdered Jacs Holt. While Bea was suffering in the slot, Franky Doyle rose to the position of top dog unopposed. However, the introduction of a new governor, Joan Ferguson is about to shake everything up.[1]
Cast
Regular
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Recurring and guest
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Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Aus. viewers (thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Born Again" | Kevin Carlin | Pete McTighe | 20 May 2014 | 75[4] |
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It is three months later. Bea has been sentenced to twelve years for manslaughter and is confined to the psychiatric ward, under heavy sedation. Meanwhile, Franky has risen to the top and is ruling the compound with notably more malice than before. Erica has been replaced by Joan Ferguson, a tyrannical and intelligent minded officer, who decides that changes need to be made. When Franky declines Ferguson's offer of alliance, she becomes fixed on ending Franky's reign. Seeing a potential in Bea, Ferguson forces her off the sedatives and returns her to the compound. But Bea, consumed with grief, realizes that now is the time to exact her revenge against Brayden for killing her daughter. First Appearance: Joan Ferguson | ||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Whatever It Takes" | Kevin Carlin | John Ridley | 27 May 2014 | 99[5] |
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Harry attempts to file for divorce from Bea but she refuses unless he helps her enact revenge against Brayden. Bea sets Harry up to meet with Brayden and he commits arson against the Holt business in a failed attempt to kill him. A new inmate arrives and tells Kim that she swallowed drugs that the police have yet to discover. Franky refuses to call for help and tries to force her to defecate the heroin. When the drugs rupture in her digestive system she overdoses and dies. Doreen meets a male prisoner named Nash, who is enlisted on a project to build a garden in the prison. Ferguson gets Vera drunk and learns of Fletch's affair with Meg. First Appearance: Nash Taylor | ||||||
| 13 | 3 | "Boys in the Yard" | Catherine Millar | Timothy Hobart | 3 June 2014 | 95[6] |
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Jacs' second in command, Simmo, returns to prison and starts selling drugs for Brayden. Bea befriends her in order to lure Brayden into a trap. Franky takes issue with Simmo selling drugs and gets Boomer to attack her. Franky orders Boomer to break Simmo's kneecaps, so she would spend the remainder of her sentence in protection and out of the way, but Bea convinces her not to in order to gain Simmo's trust. Bea attacks Brayden when he visits Simmo but fails to kill him. Doreen and Nash grow closer while they care for a sick bird. Franky makes a deal with one of the male prisoners helping with the gardening project, Bates. She has Boomer perform oral sex on him in exchange for drugs. | ||||||
| 14 | 4 | "The Danger Within" | Catherine Millar | Marcia Gardner | 10 June 2014 | 66[7] |
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Simmo is visited by her husband who informs her that Vinnie Holt has enlisted a hitman to murder Bea as revenge for her failed attempt on Brayden's life. Knowing that she is her only ally, Simmo warns Bea of this. Bea, Doreen and Liz suspect the hitman to be one of three newly arrived inmates. After confronting Jess, a terrified young woman, Bea deduces the hitman to be transsexual inmate Maxine Conway. Eventually though, the culprit turns out to be Cat - a young woman pretending to be disabled - who attacks Bea in the shower block, armed with a knife she hid in her cast. Just as she attempts to make the fatal stab, Bea is saved by Maxine, who punches Cat unconscious. Doreen catches Boomer preparing to perform oral sex on Bates and confronts Franky about it. In exchange for her silence, Franky arranges for Doreen to have time alone with Nash in the garden shed for sex. First Appearance: Maxine Conway, Jess Warner | ||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Twist the Knife" | Dee McLachlan | Pete McTighe | 17 June 2014 | 64[8] |
| Bea learns that Simmo's daughter is working for Brayden. She decides to make Simmo paranoid about her daughter's safety in an effort to spur her on, then gets Linda to lie to Simmo claiming she saw them together. Franky tries to recruit Maxine into her gang after seeing how strong she was but she refuses. Boomer is starting to feel useless and accidentally locks herself in a laundry chute, causing a prison lock down when they think she has escaped. Fletch comes home and finds that his diary is missing; he assumes that Will stole it. Later, Will comes home and finds that his house was broken into; he assumes that Fletch broke in procuring his diary to find details of his affair (with Will's wife). Will attempts to resign out of fears that he will attack Fletch but Ferguson refuses to accept his resignation. During the prison lockdown, Will violently attacks Fletch in the boiler room after Fletch reveals that Meg was pregnant with his child and that's also why she aborted it. | ||||||
| 16 | 6 | "The Pink Dragon" | Dee McLachlan | Marcia Gardner | 24 June 2014 | 100[9] |
| Vera struggles to cope with her mother's terminal illness and Ferguson lends her support. While in the garden shed, Bates attempts to rape Franky after stating that he isn't interested in another "Boomer Blow" and would rather have her instead. She defends herself by stabbing him in the scrotum with a fork. In the commotion, Boomer retrieves the drug supplies from the project before the guards find them. Vera notices that the blood patterns from when Bates was stabbed are inconsistent, causing her to find where the drop box was. During a search, Fletch finds the drugs in Boomer's cell, resulting in her being taken to the slots while facing an extended sentence. Simmo's husband keeps insisting that she murder Bea as per his instructions by the Holt's, otherwise the Holts may kill him instead. She is reluctant because she views Bea as her only friend, but out of fear for her family's safety she rigs an electric death trap in Bea's cell. Ferguson, after listening to a conversation between Simmo and her husband, is aware of the situation. Ferguson dismantles the trap and poisons Simmo, making it appear that she had overdosed on Franky's 'badly cut' drugs. | ||||||
| 17 | 7 | "Metamorphosis" | Pino Amenta | John Ridley | 1 July 2014 | 68[10] |
| Ferguson punishes the entire prison for Franky's drug trafficking by bulldozing the garden project and forcing them to watch. Doreen is upset when Nash is taken away. She then has her sister smuggle in a pregnancy test because she believes that she is pregnant, which the test later confirms. Frankie gets a visit from her lawyer in regards to her assault charge from Bates' failed rape attempt and she fires him after being unsatisfied with his defense. Maxine yearns to see her boyfriend Gary and schedules a visit. Fletch attempts for force her to mop up vomit before her visit and ends up accidentally hitting her in the face with a mop handle. Later, he shows transphobic actions by insisting referring to her with male pronouns. When Maxine goes to her visit Gary's brother Martin is waiting for her instead and he informs her that Gary is leaving for New Zealand for a job and that he thinks that she is too good for Gary. Frankie tells Vera that Fletch may have been the one to bring the drugs into the prison, causing her to order a search of the staff's locker room. Marge starts bleeding uncontrollably, causing her to go to medical. Maxine assists her and while in medical uses this opportunity to prepare to escape. She attempts to escape from prison during a visit by disguising herself as a man, but Will and Vera manage to capture her. Bea is talking to Marge and learns about how her medication slows down her bleeding, which gives her an idea. Fletch attacks Franky in her cell, causing her to plan revenge, but her plan ends up hurting Vera instead, humiliating her in front of the inmates. Later, Franky confronts Ferguson and tells her that she thinks she murdered Simmo and made it look like an overdose. Vera's mother continues to viciously insult her and constantly screams in pain because Vera refuses to give her more morphine than recommended. Eventually, she can't take it anymore and she finally gives her mother a lethal dose of morphine. | ||||||
| 18 | 8 | "Sins of the Mother" | Pino Amenta | Timothy Hobart | 8 July 2014 | 79[11] |
| Franky is determined to find out who reported her drug trafficking scheme to Ferguson. Only after she threatens both Jess and Bea with death, does Liz finally reveal that it was she who informed on her. Franky decides not to harm Liz, but promises her that if she returns to Wentworth she will personally kill her. Now fearing for her safety, Liz requests to be placed in protection/solitary until her pending release. Meanwhile, a hardened/nastier and more tyrannical Vera returns, following her compassionate leave, and her change is quickly noted by officers' and inmates alike. Searching the remains of the bulldozed garden, Vera finds Doreen's pregnancy test and determined to get to the bottom of it orders urine samples from all the inmates. Jess helps Doreen hide the truth by smuggling her a sample of her own urine. Jess starts to flirt with Fletch, which Vera still hung up on him, immediately notices. Bea starts to stock up on Marge's blood-clotting medication. Liz is talking with her probation officer in preparation of her release and is told that she needs to contact family, something that due to guilt and fearing rejection she is reluctant to do. Ferguson offers Bea a form of alliance. Initially reluctant, Bea eventually agrees to help bring Franky down. Will starts to date Rose. | ||||||
| 19 | 9 | "The Fixer" | Steve Jodrell | John Ridley | 15 July 2014 | 87[12] |
| Bea is returned to the unit and enlists Maxine's help to infiltrate Franky's gang. Meanwhile, Doreen's pregnancy is revealed due to her unknowingly using Maxine's urine, which showed signs of the hormones she was using for her hormone replacement therapy. It is not long before Ferguson learns that Nash is the father. The situation reminds Ferguson of how - some years before - she looked after a young, pregnant inmate who committed suicide when her newborn baby was taken into care, devastating Ferguson. Harry arrives at Wentworth and demands to see Bea. When Will refuses, Harry accuses them of having an affair, causing some of the other staff members, including Rose, to suspect that it is true. Will decides to tell Ferguson immediately in order to reduce any chances of him being investigated for inappropriate behavior. Upon learning this, Ferguson utilizes the situation and blackmails Doreen - if she names Will as the father - she won't inform Walford Prison of Nash's involvement so it doesn't jeopardize his chances of going on parole. Doreen refuses. In flashbacks, we eventually learn why Ferguson is so desperate to implicate Will: he was the social worker who took the baby into care and she wishes to take revenge on him for it. To punish Doreen for not complying with her wishes, Ferguson slaughters Doreen (& Nash's) pet bird and tosses it's corpse into her cell. | ||||||
| 20 | 10 | "Jail Birds" | Steve Jodrell | Timothy Hobart | 22 July 2014 | 81[13] |
| Liz is released from prison and goes to a ex-offender housing. She tries to make contact with her children but decides not to after a short meeting in front of their house. Later, she comes home and is robbed by one of the ex-convict thugs also living there. She follows her daughter into a bar and after watching her get drunk she prevents her from being sexually assaulted by a man she met, eventually putting her in a cab and being recognized by her. Boomer decides to get revenge on Liz after her sentence is extended seven years for the drugs that were found after Liz's blagging. Bea prevents Boomer from ordering a hit on Liz by purposely getting her slotted. Fletch finds out that he is being transferred to Walford, but his transfer is delayed by Derek. Derek tries to remove Ferguson from power and promises Fletch her role. He then starts interviewing the other guards as well as Franky in regards to the failed rape attempt against her in an attempt to build a case against Ferguson. Ferguson becomes suspicious of Derek's involvement with parole officer Rachel Singer after noticing that all of the attractive ex-inmates without families or support went to the same halfway house and left within a week. Through research, she learns that he has been recruiting ex-prisoners to work in a brothel he is a co-owner of. Ferguson uses this information to get Derek to back off on his investigation and give her a good word on the board, and consequently having to renege on his deal with Derek. Bea informs Ferguson that she will make her bid to become top dog in her own time. Fletch finds Jess crying in the library, so he gives her his handkerchief and consoles her. | ||||||
| 21 | 11 | "Into the Night" | Kevin Carlin | Adam Todd | 29 July 2014 | 86[14] |
| Bea continues to take blood clotting pills and prepares to put her plan into action. Bea gets Toni to send a package to Liz on the outside. Franky realises that Maxine is helping Bea and discovers a knife. Ferguson is not happy when she discovers that new inmate Kelly is transferred to Wentworth and tells Vera that she wants to discreetly deal with her. Fletch becomes suspicious, after seeing how talkative she was when she arrives only to see her become silent after she saw Ferguson. After Ferguson becomes unsatisfied of Bea's efforts to dethrone Franky, she releases Boomer from isolation. Jess seduces Fletch and gets him to have sex with her in the shower; Bea uses this opportunity to steal his prison card so that she can sneak into the mail office and steal a box cutter and tape. Then, she uses the tape and some magazines to create body armor under her clothes. A knife fight breaks out in the laundry room which Bea wins, following this she forces Franky to admit she is now in charge. Bea then cuts her wrists and is taken to hospital where she is told that she survived because of unusually high blood clotting. When Will leaves her unattended she escapes from hospital. It is then shown that the fight was her plan all along, with her using the blood clotting drugs to prevent herself from bleeding out when she cut her wrists after learning that regulation dictates she can't be cuffed with her wrists cut. Back at Liz's place, and much to her objections, she opens the package to find the gun she had arranged delivered there. | ||||||
| 22 | 12 | "Fear Her" | Kevin Carlin | Pete McTighe | 5 August 2014 | 103[15] |
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Bea makes her way across Melbourne, stopping at Debbie's grave on the way, eventually arriving at the halfway house where Liz is staying. Liz realizes that Bea planned her escape so that she can get revenge for Debbie's death and she tries to talk her out of it. However, Bea takes the gun and leaves before the police can find her. She arrives at Brayden's garage and holds him at gunpoint and in the face of death he begs for forgiveness. Will arrives and talks Bea out of killing him as he's not worth it. But when Brayden smiles mockingly at her when he thinks he's out of danger, she sees red and shoots him dead. Nash, recently released on parole, comes to the prison to see Doreen. After being blocked from visiting her, he yells for her from the other side of the wall and when she responds she tells him that she's pregnant. Fletch queries Kelly's reasons for being so afraid of Ferguson. Kelly eventually reveals that Ferguson tortured her at Blackmoor when she discovered Ferguson's affair with an inmate, who subsequently committed suicide when her baby was taken into care by a social worker. Piecing it together, Fletch realizes Ferguson's evil vendetta against Will and plans to reveal all to the department. But before he manages to, Fletch is targeted and run over by a speeding vehicle in front of Will's house. It is shown that Ferguson claimed that Bea and Will were in an illicit relationship and Vera confirmed Ferguson's false accusations, with it being implied that she was forced to go along with Ferguson due to her knowledge that Vera killed her mother. Bea is arrested for the escape and murder while Liz and Will are arrested for aiding and abetting. Upon Bea's return to Wentworth, and a violent confrontation, Franky hails her as "Queen Bea". But while all of the other inmates applaud Bea, it is suggested that Franky has an ulterior motive for capitulating her previous 'top-dog' position. Final Appearance: Brayden Holt | ||||||
Production
Wentworth was commissioned for a second season on 5 June 2013.[16] The executive director of Foxtel Television, Brian Walsh stated of the renewal, "Wentworth's bold storytelling has attracted a record-breaking response from our Foxtel customers. This drama, tailor-made for Australian subscription television, is capturing local and international attention sparked by its Prisoner heritage."[16] The director of production company, Fremantle Media Australia and executive producer of Wentworth, Jo Porter stated "We have assembled an extraordinary team of writers who can't wait to get started on season two. We have so many more stories to tell."[16]
Filming
Filming for the 12-part second season began in the purpose built set in Clayton, Victoria, Melbourne on 23 September 2013 and wrapped on 13 February 2014.[1][17]
Crew
Amanda Crittenden continues on as Wentworth producer.[1] Kevin Carlin and Catherine Millar will return as directors and will be joined by Pino Amenta, Steve Jodrell and Dee McLachlan.[1] Marcia Gardner will become script producer and part of the writing team alongside Tim Hobart, Pete McTighe and John Ridley.[1]
Casting
It was revealed that iconic Prisoner character Joan "The Freak" Ferguson, a sinster, lesbian prison officer, would be introduced in the second season.[18] Porter commented "Prisoner offered up a very rich well of amazing characters to draw upon and the Wentworth writers are very excited about revisiting the character of prison officer Joan 'The Freak' Ferguson in our second season."[18] On 21 September 2013, it was confirmed that Pamela Rabe had been cast as Joan Ferguson.[19]
Kris McQuade (Jacs Holt), Catherine McClements (Meg Jackson) and Leeanna Walsman (Erica Davidson) did not reprise their respective roles for the second season.[1][20] Katrina Milosevic, who portrays Sue "Boomer" Jenkins was upgraded to the main cast, as was Rabe.[1][20]
Ratings
| Episode | Title | Original airdate | Overnight Viewers | Nightly Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-01 | Born Again | 20 May 2014 | 75,000 | 5th |
| 2-02 | Whatever It Takes | 27 May 2014 | 99,000 | 1st |
| 2-03 | Boys In The Yard | 3 June 2014 | 95,000 | 1st |
| 2-04 | The Danger Within | 10 June 2014 | 66,000 | 3rd |
| 2-05 | Twist The Knife | 17 June 2014 | 64,000 | 5th |
| 2-06 | The Pink Dragon | 24 June 2014 | 100,000 | 1st |
| 2-07 | Metamorphosis | 1 July 2014 | 68,000 | 5th |
| 2-08 | Sins of the Mother | 8 July 2014 | 79,000 | 2nd |
| 2-09 | The Fixer | 15 July 2014 | 87,000 | 2nd |
| 2-10 | Jail Birds | 22 July 2014 | 81,000 | 1st |
| 2-11 | Into the Night | 29 July 2014 | 86,000 | 1st |
| 2-12 | Fear Her | 5 August 2014 | 103,000 | 1st |
- Figures are OzTAM Data for the 5 City Metro areas.
- Overnight - Live broadcast and recordings viewed the same night.
- Consolidated - Live broadcast and recordings viewed.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Cameras Ready To Roll On Wentworth Season 2". Foxtel Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 "Characters". Wentworth on SoHo. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- ↑ "ra chapman". ra chapman on twitter. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (21 May 2014). "Tuesday 20 May 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (28 May 2014). "Tuesday 27 May 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (4 June 2014). "Tuesday 3 June 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (11 June 2014). "Tuesday 10 June 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (18 June 2014). "Tuesday 17 June 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (25 June 2014). "Tuesday 24 June 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (2 July 2014). "Tuesday 1 July 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (9 July 2014). "Tuesday 8 July 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (16 July 2014). "Tuesday 15 July 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (23 July 2014). "Tuesday 22 July 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (30 July 2014). "Tuesday 29 July 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
- ↑ Knox, David (6 August 2014). "Tuesday 5 August 2014". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Wentworth - 2nd Season Announced for Hit Drama". Foxtel Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
- ↑ "In production". Film Victoria. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
- 1 2 Knox, David (4 July 2013). "Who will play The Freak?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ↑ Knox, David (21 September 2013). "Pamela Rabe revives 'The Freak' on Wentworth". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
- 1 2 "Wentworth series 2" (PDF). Screen Australia. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.