It’s hard to imagine that the Bea Smith who meekly entered Wentworth Correctional Facility all the way back at the start of Season One is the same Bea that was, over the last couple of weeks, overthrowing Franky Doyle in a tense blade battle and popping a bullet into the head of Brayden Holt.
And yet, at the same time, it’s not that hard to believe either. The writing and the performances of Danielle Cormack as the new top dog have made Bea’s dramatic and traumatic journey thoroughly believable and enthralling. Bea has faced her toughest challenges from behind bars, not least of all the death of her daughter Debbie and her development into the hardened yet still highly moral character that she has become has been a thrill to watch.
Similarly, the gradual development of slightly sadistic Governor Joan Ferguson into the most supreme television psycho of all time has been just as jaw droppingly exciting to behold. Pamela Rabe delivers such chilling and subtle performances; the kind where a look or a smirk delivers more meaning than a whole page of dialogue ever could. Discovering more about Ferguson’s intentions and true twisted nature has been the making of the second season which somehow managed to eclipse the high standards of the first.
And last night’s finale topped it all off spectacularly, leaving an audience exhausted from the tension but pining for more of the same. Fear not folks, there is a third season on it’s way next year, with writer Pete McTighe already having promised me in our exclusive interview that it is epic.