Rita and the 'Wentworth Warriors' bring some much needed joy in the prison, as well as exact revenge on Lurch and Lou. Lurch eventually is accepted as a Warrior, but Lou is very much on the outer, so she slashes her wrists, escapes from hospital and finds her way to Lurch's parents place, where she is raped by Lurch's brother after he finds out how much Lou has bullied Lurch. Lou responds by killing Lurch's brother and mother.
Meanwhile it's been factional warfare between the officers. Ann returns as governor, which sees Bob demoted to deputy and Meg demoted to senior officer. Joan, who never liked Bob, arranges a snap strike in support of Meg, prompting the minister to make Meg deputy and Bob senior officer.
Bob, meanwhile, is dealing with his mates wife, Kath Maxwell. Kath's daughter is gravely ill, suffering the side effects of Agent Orange Kath's husband was exposed to in Vietnam. Kath then decides to end her daughters life, which sees her in Wentworth. Bob (who doesn't let anyone know him and Kath are close friends) tries to explain why Kath did what she did, but they simply see her as a kid killer - the ultimate sin in a women's prison. Kath is played by Kate Hood - who portrays the complex character of Kath brilliantly, and IMO is one of the best (and definitely one of the most underrated) actors on the show.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
"The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment" – Warren Bennis
Joyce and Mervin get married, and the women decide to hold a dinner to celebrate their wedding. It's a great night, but ends suddenly when Lou Kelly is found dead in solitary. A classic whodunnit ensues, with just about everyone a suspect. The police attempt to pin the blame on Lexie - more for revenge for her accusing Bassinger as the psycho killing escapees. However, Bob reveals Janet 'Maggot' Williams could be the killer and the cops get a confession out of her.
There's also been a couple of revelations. Bob, in getting Maggot for Lou's murder, reveals his relationship with Kath. Steve is also revealed as a doctor doing research for a thesis and not a handyman, and is dismissed from the prison. Julie is heartbroken that Steve has been deceitful, even though he is genuinely in love with her. Nonetheless she accepts his marriage proposal.
Meanwhile, Rita's brother, Bongo, on a heroin high, attempts to bust Rita out of prison by trying to get her out on a motorcycle during an exercise period. Rita tells him not to be silly but he goes ahead with the plan anyway. Rita counters the plan by trying to get everyone in the prison to stay in (doubling as an excuse to use the new gym). However, when one of the blocks ends up outside as punishment, Rita has to get out there to stop him. However, Ann and Dan are in the grounds as well, and Bongo decides to run over Dan, crippling him, and leaving both Ann and Rita devastated.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
The power struggle between the Warriors and Kath Maxwell intensifies as Kath sides with Joan. Joan decides Kath needs some muscle so she arranges for Merle Jones to come to H block. Merle is acted brilliantly by Roseanne Hull-Brown, who retired from acting after Prisoner. Merle is a gentle giant, who loves comic books, but underestimates her strength, beating people to a pulp when they call her 'Looney'. Initially, Kath wants to use Merle to take on Rita but when she discovers Merle is one attack away from a lifetime at the Ingleside mental institution, decides against using her.
Meanwhile, we have another celebrity inmate. Loreli Wilkinson (played by Paula Duncan - of Spray n Wipe and thrush ads fame) is in for fraud and impersonating a police officer.
Wentworth loses the last of the Barnhurst 5, as Chook marries Steve before a transfer to Barnhurst to prevent Joan ruining her chances of parole. The wedding is deeply opposed by Steve's mother, who arranges with Joan to try and get the wedding cancelled. The wedding happens, but not before Joan becomes deputy Governor in the process, to the horror of Ann.
And Marty Jackson is back in the show - this time permanently as he becomes an officer at Wentworth to work alongside his mother (Meg). We also see two other trainee officers join Marty - the ineffectual Delia Stout (most of her scenes involve her eating in the staff room) and Wentworth's answer to the Village People, Rodney Adams, who Joan takes under her wing. While he becomes as bent as Joan, he isn't as good and his foolishness is often exposed by fellow officers and women alike.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
Reached episode 646 of Prisoner - less than 50 episodes to go!
Marty and Delia arrange a work release program on a boat in Melbourne's docklands (before they became a football stadium and outlet mall mecca). When Joan gets rostered on to supervise, Rita takes the chance to try and kill her. When the women convince the captains' assistant to take the boat for a ride, the boat 'breaks down', Rita pushes Delia overboard (and Marty goes in after her) and then goes after Joan. The end result is Joan goes looking for help using a dinghy, Rita follows to kill her, Nancy follows to stop her, and Roach and the assistant get the boat operating again and sail off into the sunset, never to be seen again! The end result is Joan ends up saving Rita's life, the girls are rescued first, and Joan returns to Wentworth via helicopter!
Back at Wentworth, Lexie was meant to be transferred to maternity, but a golden staph infection sees the three bed dorm converted into a nursery. Meanwhile, Kath, Rodney and Joan start a casino, using Merle as an enforcer.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
Nancy realises her son is beating his wife, so turns him in to the police for murdering his dad, meaning she is released. Lexie gives birth in her cell. Lexie is subsequently paroled to look after the baby in hospital. This means we're now up to our last set of introduction mugshots (Kath, Rita, Lurch).
Meanwhile, Rita decides that Kath needs to be knocked off the top dog perch, so she arranges for her abduction out of Wentworth, where she is abandoned in a disused house that looks somewhat similar to the one Phyllis held Judy and Cass hostage in when they nicked off from the glee club bus a couple of hundred episodes prior... Kath gets in contact with Rodney who puts her up in a hotel, until she is spotted, and she flees, tells Rodney where she is, and he decides to turn her in. This is not before Rita puts Lurch in as top dog though.
Loreli is acquitted, but still loses custody of her child. She then commits a robbery and abducts the child, so returns to Wentworth.
Wentworth has also seen the addition of two new inmates. Lisa Mullins, who has photos of an underworld figure who faked his death so now he wants her dead. This means an undercover cop (Wendy Glover). When she is exposed as an undercover cop, the women decide to brand 'cop' on her forehead.
Prisoner also starts to tackle the Aboriginal issue with Ann's social worker mate Pamela Madigan now on Wentworth's books, to Rodney's disgust. Most of this storyline evolves around Sarah West, in for a string of minor charges, who's entry into the rec room sees her wreck it!
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
Spiders black market storage is found by Merle, who discovers a replica gun in there and starts playing with it, sparking terror in the prison until Kath advises it's a fake. Ann decides to cut out any possibility of a black market by replacing the buy up with a shop, with all goods the women want to come from the shop only. Joan and Rodney arrange for Kath to mange the shop. The shop become a front for Kath's own black market (with Joan and Rodney's support).
Joan wants Rita gone, and a plan where Rita ends up attacking Kath in the shop sees Joan damage the shop in a set up resulting in her authorising Rita's transfer to Blackmoor (which today is the Scienceworx Museum).
Blackmoor's top dog, Roo, is backed by a network of bent screws under the guidance of sadistic governor Earnest Craven (Ray Meagher's third role in the show). Rita's brief time out of solitary sees Craven arrange a fight between Rita and Roo. Rita wins the fight, but Craven puts her back in solitary. Some of the women decide that it's time Roo, Craven and company are put out of business, and Rita is capable of doing this. So they arrange a riot, which sees the women in the rec room, and a line of armed officers from all the prisons in the state opposite the rec room window shooting intermittently to distract the women.
The women at Wentworth decide to start their own riot in sympathy, but it's pretty tame - more of a protest against Blackmoor and demanding it be closed.
Back at Blackmoor, the riot comes to it's conclusion when Craven chains Rita's brother, Bongo, to the courtyard. Rita decides to swap him for a hostage, Craven gets an officer to shoot Bongo dead (claiming he was attempting to escape). So Rita burns Blackmoor to the ground, seeing Rita (and the co-ed Blackmoor inmates) back at Wentworth. With Craven a bigger racist than Adams, Pamela quickly arranges Sarah's transfer to Barnhurst before she moves on to her next project.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
On the home stretch of Prisoner - up to episode 685
Joan and Craven attempt to turn Wentworth into another Blackmoor. First, they arrange the rape of Loreli, then bully her into denying the rape to get Ann suspended, before attempting to murder Rita. Loreli, however, in shock from the rape, stabs Craven to death before turning catatonic. Joan then arranges the transfer of Meg, Joyce and Marty to other prisons to continue Cravens vision before Meg, Joyce and Marty go to the media and tip the bucket on the recent events. This results in Meg, Joyce and Marty remaining at Wentworth, Ann being reinstated, and Joan being demoted. Joan decides it's time to look for another job, but Willie Beecham makes a cameo as a highly reputable security company operator who makes sure Joan can't get another job anywhere, forcing her to return to Wentworth.
With Ann back, she decides to continue her reforms at Wentworth she started with the shop prior to the Blackmoor storyline. She subsequently installs a pay phone for the women and starts building a 2 bedroom independent flat for the women. She also builds a punishment cell opposite the rewards cell.
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10
"The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment" – Warren Bennis
Ann's reforms continue with a teacher - Tom Lucas, who is largely helping Merle to read, and starts trying to get Kath and Merle to talk to each other again (after Kath inadvertently got Merle put in Ingleside after a recent escape). The women also decide to become more close knit, being overly compliant with the good screws and giving hell to Joan and Rodney.
Also started on to the last storyline in the show, Rita Connors cancer battle, and the first mention of the famous bank job. The first stage of the process is Joan and Rita appearing to become close...
They don't keep me here because I'm gorgeous and 5'10