Wentworth Season 6 - Where Is It Heading?

Season 5 of Australian prison drama Wentworth recently concluded, its stellar ratings performance (which put Wentworth first or second for the night 11 out of 12 episodes) was rewarded with a season 6 renewal. But where do I think season 6 should go? I'll have a quick look back at what happened in season 5 first.

SEASON FIVE

Season 5 was a big one, recovering from the death of Bea Smith, with many of the cast trying to wreak revenge on her murderer, evil ex-Governor Joan "The Freak" Ferguson. So here's what happened, in as few bullet points as possible:

Franky Doyle

• Maxine Conway transferred to Barnhurst to receive breast cancer treatment in episode 5x02. Shortly after, Doreen Anderson was released after serving nearly all of her five-year sentence.
• Sonia was found not  guilty of murdering her best friend when Liz's false testimony was ripped apart in court, but she betrayed her prison officer lover and he reported her to the authorities for the murder of her husband. She returned to Wentworth and, seeking a way to stave off boredom, set up a project to build shipping containers for garden items.
• Franky was framed for murder and returned to Wentworth; however, after a number of failed escape attempts she finally broke out in the finale through Sonia's shipping containers, determined to prove her innocence.
• Kaz Proctor tried to retain her top dog status, but her stance of no violence made it easy for The Freak to usurp her.
• Ex-Deputy Will Jackson made good with Kaz and together they tried to expose Deputy Governor Jake Stewart as the prison drug runner, eventually succeeding. While Jake's relationship with Governor Vera Bennett was destroyed, he was offered protection from corrupt Regional Manager Channing, and stayed at Wentworth.
• The Freak made her way to the position of top dog, manipulating prisoners and her puppet Jake Stewart. However, Jake's increasing discomfort led him to attempt to break free of her grip, and upon discovering Allie and Franky's escape route he helped The Freak escape, only to betray her and have Will Jackson bury her alive.

There is obviously more to Wentworth than listed above, but those are the main points that make up the essence of season 5.

SEASON SIX

So here's what I think season 6 needs to do - and a lot of what needs to be done is course-correction.

Ex-Governor Joan "The Freak" Ferguson

1. Firstly, The Freak needs to be dead. She appeared from seasons 2-5, but her arc has pretty much reached its closing point, with her buried alive by Will Jackson. The whole theme of season 5 was revenge for The Freak murdering Bea, and while she's definitely wily enough to escape being buried alive, she can't return to Wentworth because she'll be killed instantly (the inmates tried to lynch her in 5x11), and, in all honesty, it would be far more interesting to see how committing cold-blooded murder would affect Will. Plus, her return would undermine the good work done in season 5 to off her. Keep Ferguson dead.
2. Similarly, Franky needs to stay out of Wentworth. She was released early in season 4 but, after Bea's death, she was always going to end up back inside to provide an extra dimension. However, I wasn't pleased with the manner in which this was achieved, so Franky proving her innocence and the charges against her being dropped would be optimal in season 6. Of course, I do also see a simple, organic way for her to be drawn back in: if she proves her innocence, she could still be remanded for breaking out, and prison life could suck her back in more than temporarily. Either way suits me, because either outcome makes up for the unsatisfying way she returned to Wentworth in season 5.
3. But whether Franky does or doesn't wind up in Wentworth, the prison needs another huge character to vie for top dog. The Freak is gone, but while Kaz is potentially on the verge of returning to violence, her only current potential opposition is Sonia - who may or may not survive the poison Liz fed her. Either way, we need a third voice - and Wentworth has a plethora of characters to call upon. Perhaps it's time for a fresh look: someone who is unscrupulously violent, rather than the long-game manipulators like The Freak and Sonia.

4. 

   Karen "Kaz" Proctor

   If Sonia survives, I expect her to slide into top dog position and take revenge on Liz for poisoning her. In fact, I imagine she will survive: there's no way we can let Liz off the hook that easily.
5. Maxine needs to make a return. She went to Barnhurst for cancer treatment, but her cancer could go into remission and Maxine be transferred back. It would go some way to reuniting a core of characters that had, in half a season, lost her, Bea and Doreen - and potentially could provide a way to send in another character: a big bad from Barnhurst who Maxine knows and will stand up against.
6. Jake's story can go one of two ways: he'll continue his drug running under the threat of exposure from corrupt Regional Manager Channing, or he'll break away and try to redeem himself and his relationship with Vera. For now, I'd like to see the former, though eventually I would like to see the latter occur.
7. Will very simply needs to lose his grip on himself. Presuming The Freak doesn't return, he's killed somebody. The guilt of that needs to eat him up for a long time.
8. I'm not sure what specific storyline could or would be attributed to Vera or Boomer, but they could fit very easily within the other storylines I've suggested.

And what happened to Liam Hemsworth supposedly making an appearance?

Final thoughts

Wentworth season 6 is already filming, so the likelihood is I'm way off-base with these ideas. But one thing is for certain: if The Freak isn't immediately revealed as alive, we should prepare ourselves for another draining year of "she's still alive" nonsense, a lá Bea Smith in season 5.