As the third episode of Wentworth’s ninth season begins, Sue ‘Boomer’ Jenkins (Katrina Milosevic) uses the small camera to record some of the events taking place inside Wentworth Prison. Then, she talks to Ruby Mitchell (Rarriwuy Hick) briefly about the passing of her father. Judy Bryant (Vivienne Awosoga) interrupts to let them know Allie (Kate Jenkinson) has filed her lawsuit against the prison. Although Allie might become rich, she doesn’t know what she’ll spend the money on. Zaina Saad (Louisa Mignone) continues her drug operation with Lou locked in the slot. After a short argument, Zaina decides to call for a vote to determine who the next top dog will be since Lou was never voted into the position.
Boomer decides to stand up and run against Lou Kelly (Kate Box). Ann Reynolds (Jane Hall) storms back into the prison and ridicules the officers for letting two murders happen while she was gone for less than a month. Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva) isn’t sure what she was expecting since they cut staff and hours. He argues every decision she made put more stress on the system, but Ann claims the system is broken and needs to be brought back in line. Linda Miles (Jacqueline Brennan) seems to like Ann’s idea of mandatory drug tests for the prisoners, but Will does not. Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson) reminds Ann they only have so many isolation cells. However, Ann doesn’t want them isolated. She wants them named and shamed in the public.
Will gets a message on the radio letting him know Rita Connors (Leah Purcell) is back at the prison. As Will takes her inside, Rita admits she messed up and they claim she created the undercover investigation story to take off. Although Will isn’t sure he believes that, he can’t understand why she would run away. Rita admits she wanted to see her dad before he died, and she did. Vera arrives and gives her condolences to Rita for her father’s passing. Once Vera steps away, Will wants to know what he can do to help Rita since she is facing serious jail time. She says it is over and she is done. Meanwhile, Judy helps Allie who promises she doesn’t blame her for her situation. Judy admits she has a reason to help. She explains her lawyer thinks she might get a stay on compassionate grounds if she can prove she is Allie’s partner. Boomer tells Ruby she isn’t sure what came over her before suggesting it might’ve been hormonal.
Ruby wonders if she might be pregnant. She insists Boomer will make a great top dog. Rita surprises both by returning to the cellblock. Allie and the others join them before Allie claims she slipped in the shower and hurt herself. They tell Rita about the vote for top dog and Boomer offers to step aside if Rita wants it. She walks inside her cell and says nothing. Ruby enters Rita’s cell, and they begin talking about their father. Rita admits she is going to wear teal because she is done fighting it. Ruby encourages her to fight back, but Rita only wants to make sure she fulfills her dad’s wish of making sure Ruby is freed. Ruby claims Marie (Susie Porter) doesn’t want to hurt her anymore. Marie stops Linda in the hallway and asks about her transfer request, but Linda says she is too busy for that. Linda suggests asking Jackson because she can likely find some way to persuade him.
She smirks as she walks away. Joan Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) hears about it and asks Marie if she wants to transfer. Ann goes to Lou and complains she broke their arrangement by killing Sheila. Lou believes Ann would’ve done the same if someone killed the person she loved the most. Then, Ann lets her know she will be released from the slot later today. Lou learns about the top dog vote against Boomer and laughs at the idea of the women voting against her now. Linda watches on CCTV as Ann tells Lou she needs her controlling the women so they can bring the prison back in line. Linda approaches Ann to ask if she is still serious about getting rid of Will and making her governor. Ann believes she’d need something fabulous, so Linda asks if sleeping with a prisoner is enough. Will finds out and tells Vera that Ann has asked for his resignation.
He isn’t sure who told on him since only Vera and Marie knew about his relationship with Marie. Will wants to talk to Winter about it while Vera believes he should deny everything. During lunch, the women show their respect for Boomer by giving her food until Lou arrives and dumps food on her head. Lou learns that Boomer won the vote fair and square, so she wants to challenge it. Before Lou walks away, she tells Boomer they’ll settle this a different way. Once they leave, Boomer says she’ll give Lou a fight if she wants one. Judy learns you can become a top dog by winning a vote or a fight. The girls try to talk Boomer out of fighting Lou, but she isn’t willing to budge. Rita approaches Marie who insists Ruby has nothing to worry about. Rita tries to intimidate her before Linda arrives to tell Marie her transfer request has been denied.
Moments later, Lou sits with Marie and admits she can’t stop thinking about Reb’s funeral and his mother putting him in a dress. Marie sympathizes with her since she didn’t get to bury Danny either. Although Lou isn’t worried about Boomer, Marie warns her about Rita. Mandy Frost (Jennifer Vuletic) approaches Lou and asks for help. Lou believes she can arrange that and kill two birds with one stone. Vera visits Ann who immediately tries to get her to talk about Will’s relationship with Marie. However, Vera pretends it is an outlandish accusation. Vera warns her Marie is a liar, manipulator, and it will backfire on her, but Ann isn’t going to back down. Ann insists it would be easier for everyone if Will just fell on his sword like Winter allegedly did. Once Vera is gone, Linda enters to tell Ann about Marie’s request to transfer out of her cell block and Will refusing.
Ferguson meets with Dr. Greg Miller (David de Lautour) and sits with him. She tells him about trying to give someone information to help solve their problem only to be rejected. She admits she felt hurt and believes she might’ve done something to injure that person in the past. When Greg asks her how she feels, she says she feels regret and possibly guilt. Greg believes that is a sign that their therapy and the medication are working as intended. She takes another pill. Vera meets with Will before they walk past a few workers installing restraint stations. Will doesn’t like that and complains about Ann, but Vera encourages him to focus on his career and the member of the board coming tomorrow. Before she leaves, she reminds him to deny everything. Meanwhile, Lou has a difficult time trying to cope with the loss of Reb. Marie, who is outside listening to Lou’s sobbing, is approached by Joan. Ferguson wants to know why she wants to get moved.
Marie admits it is guilt because she created a monster who ended up hurting someone she cared about. Ruby sits with Boomer and learns she is scared and wishes everything was different. She wishes she was having a baby, Allie was back to normal, and Ruby was getting out on parole. Allie and Judy join them as everyone comforts Boomer. The others agree to take her place if she chickens out. The next day, Rita finally puts on her teal prison uniform before Will finds her outside. He asks about it, and she explains the jacket belonged to someone else who she doesn’t know anymore. She says she was someone else for ten years, so she lost touch with her roots. Will sympathize with her because he has been through something similar. She calls him a good fellow. Ruby asks everyone about Rita before telling Boomer to go to breakfast so she can help her out with the Lou situation.
We see that Ruby is carrying what appears to be a shank. The others find out about the restraint stations before Rita runs into Allie and her buddies. Rita asks Boomer about Judy before learning that Ruby is up to something. Once Boomer is alone, Lou walks by and tells her to enjoy her last meal. Rita stops Ruby before she can attack Lou and scolds her. Ruby explains she hasn’t given up and will do what she must to protect her best mate. Marie is taken to Ann’s office so she can be told about the upcoming inquiry into her relationship with Will Jackson. Ann pretends to sympathize with her and admits she realizes how hard it is for Marie to remain at this prison. She offers to send Marie to a minimum-security prison if she cooperates with the inquiry.
Will finds out that many have failed the drug tests for methamphetamines and MDMA. Ferguson tested positive for a drug they don’t test for. Ferguson tells Greg she feels like she has two halves One half wants to have human connections, but it is at odds with her urges. She says she used to exploit the weaknesses of others and hurt them. Jake (Bernard Curry) tries to convince Vera to let him care for Grace, but Vera isn’t interested. He realizes she doesn’t trust him and suspects she could be punishing him. Greg learns more about Ferguson hurting people and her impulses. Their session ends. As Ferguson walks out, she hears Jake threaten to get a lawyer and sue for joint custody. Ferguson angrily stares at Jake as he walks away. Rita is chained to one of the restraint stations because she allegedly had drugs in her system. Mandy approaches Lou who confirms the piss swap worked so they’re responsible for Rita’s current predicament.
Lou is ready to fight with Rita out of the way. Ruby goes to Boomer to tell her Lou has called the fight forward. Boomer doesn’t want to do it now because Allie won’t be there. Ruby encourages her to come on. Boomer says she is taking a dump and will be there when she is finished. Ruby goes to the fighting spot and tells Lou that Boomer will be there as soon as she finishes taking care of business. Ruby tries to leave so she can get Boomer, but she learns that nobody is allowed to leave once they’re inside. Since Boomer doesn’t show, Ruby decides to take her place as her second. Boomer shows up just before Ruby and Lou can go after one another. Boomer takes the shank, and the fight begins. After a little back and forth, Boomer knocks the shank out of Lou’s hand. Instead of taking advantage of that, she drops hers as well. They fight with their fists until Lou is thrown to the side. She runs toward Boomer, grabs the shank, and stabs Boomer in the rib area.
She stabs her repeatedly as Ruby is left stunned. Boomer bleeds on the ground. Lou grabs her and threatens to cut her throat if she doesn’t give up. Boomer relents and says Lou wins. The victorious Lou leaves before Marie tells the guard to get in there and call medical. Ruby comforts her friend. Allie and Judy meet with Judy’s lawyer so they can tell him about their pretend relationships. Allie claims she couldn’t cope without Judy. Lou goes to Ann who wants to know about Boomer’s stab wounds, but Lou denies being involved. Ann says she wants a compliant prison body, so Lou says that sometimes requires blood being spilled. Lou says Sheila should’ve been in protection and Ann let a mass murderer in general population. Ann says something that angers Lou who knocks everyone off her desk. Lou is escorted out and put in one of the restraint stations as well. She looks over at Rita who is still locked down as well.
Lou asks her what she is looking at. Will talks to the board member before Marie gets her turn. Marie admits she worked closely with Will since she was the top dog. Ann doesn’t like it when Marie says their relationship never turned sexual. When Marie leaves, she tells Will she lied because he was always good to her. She claims he saved her life. He doesn’t thank her, and she understands that. Rita is returned to her cell block before Linda tells everyone that Boomer had a few flesh wounds and will be okay. She should be back tomorrow. Ruby walks into Rita’s cell and finds her wearing a jacket. Rita says screw teal and they should fight those bastards. They first bump. Ferguson asks Marie if she wants to transfer out still, but Marie says you can’t run from yourself. Ferguson says she doesn’t think Marie had a choice. Once Jake walks by, Ferguson says you sometimes have to kill the monsters you’ve created.
Marie goes into Lou’s cell and comforts her. Both admit they miss Reb. Marie tells her it is all over now since Sheila is dead and Lou is top dog. There is nothing else to fight for. Lou says Sheila didn’t kill Reb. The entire place did. She blames Jackson and Bennet and says it won’t be over until she has killed every one of them. She also wants the prison to be ripped apart.
The 9th and final season of Wentworth has been a major improvement compared to the previous few seasons. In a way, it is disappointing since we should’ve gotten this quality during the past seasons too. What was stopping this stuff from happening sooner? While I don’t agree with everything, I can tolerate almost everything that has happened so far. I only have a few complaints with season 9 right now. While they’re minor, they could create problems for me personally down the line.
First, I have to wonder what happened to Boomer between season one and season nine. The character used to be tough with Franky, but I guess she lost her backbone without her old friend. Since this is the last season, I can’t fathom why they felt the need to let the character survive. Besides getting pregnant, I am not sure how Boomer’s story can continue in any satisfying way. Nevertheless, I can put up with Boomer just as well as other viewers.
My biggest complaint is the predictability of the main story arc with Rita Connors. We can all see where this is going, and it is going to be dreadful if Rita becomes season nine’s hero. Wentworth doesn’t need a hero and it doesn’t need Rita since it was more enjoyable when the character was outside the prison. Rita Connors is just too cringey of a character to become the main protagonist, but I think we can all see where this is heading.
We need more chaos, more bloodshed, and more books closing before the final season ends. Season 9 has been pretty great so far so I really hope they don’t ruin it by manufacturing a hero from a character who should’ve maintained her freedom to begin with. The episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Previous and future recaps of Wentworth are available on Reel Mockery here.
What’s Up With Wentworth? Questions answered
Wait, wasn’t Wentworth over? It was, but thanks to popular demand it has now risen like a phoenix from the ashes, to bring us a much-needed fix of lags, screws and Shakespearean intrigues.
So when WILL it be over? We’ve got 20 episodes left, ten airing in 2020 and ten in 2021, so there is lots more Wentworth to soak up before the end.
What’s new at the prison? Well, following the siege that closed Season 7, a new broom has been put through the facility, with Jane Hall arriving as Governor Ann Reynolds. Old Prisoner fans will remember Reynolds as the distinguished governor with the less silly accent than Erica Davidson. The rebooted Reynolds’ brief is to crack down on the inmates’ shenanigans. Meanwhile, Allie (Kate Jenkinson) is Top Dog, while The Freak is plotting revenge.
Wait… isn’t The Freak dead? You can’t keep a good freak down. The world’s most evil correctional officer (played by Pamela Rabe) had seemed to die at the end of Season 5, but she is back and more determined than ever to crush her enemies. It’s quite a trick to escape being buried alive, but nobody could ever accuse The Freak of not being resourceful.
Pamela Rabe plays Joan “The Freak” Ferguson.Credit:Ben King
Are there any other newbies to watch out for? Sure are! Lou Kelly – one of Prisoner’s more weaselly denizens – is reincarnated here by Kate Box as a truly formidable ex-Top Dog who’ll cause all sorts of trouble. Also, anyone who remembers Judy Bryant, the maternal grey-haired American from Prisoner, will be a little startled to meet Judy Bryant, the decidedly un-maternal young British hacktivist who is out to rage against the machine.
Will anyone get slammed in the laundry press? No spoilers, but it just wouldn’t be Wentworth without a few scorched hands, now would it?,
Who is Susan “Boomer” Jenkins? Meet Katrina Milosevic.
Katrina Milosevic is the talented actress behind Boomer, and since appearing on Wentworth, the actress has become something of an Australian treasure.
The Queensland native is a classically trained actress who attended Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art before going on to star on Australian comedy series The Games and police drama Blue Heelers. From 2008 to 2009, she also played Kelly Katsis on the iconic Australian soap opera, Neighbours.
Katrina almost didn’t get the role of Boomer, a character who was originally supposed to only make a guest appearance in Season 1. But the actresss performance was so strong and audiences loved Boomer so much that the writers decided to make the character a mainstay of Wentworth. Article continues below advertisement
Over the seven seasons that Katrina has worked on the show, she’s also had a lot of input about Boomer’s emotional arcs. The storyline of transgender character Maxine and Boomer’s developing closeness, including Boomer wanting to have a baby together, can be credited to Katrina.
“The Maxine and ‘Boomer’ stuff was my idea in the first place,” Katrina told TV Tonight. “We actually had something else that was in place and then at the last minute they decided they couldn’t go ahead with that. I was in there going ‘OK well what are we going to do?’” “It’s never been said but ‘Boomer’ falls in love with the man that Maxine was,” she continued. “That was the genesis of this relationship and then they brought in the baby element in.”
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