Wentworth: Redemption first review - The Freak is back from dead and wreaking havoc

Wentworth’s new season will shock fans. There’s a classic, horrifying scene that is up there with some of the drama’s most graphic incidents ever seen.

• Aussie TV’s most brutal scene on Wentworth
• Wentworth’s new jail love secret

Okay where were we?

Season seven of Wentworth last year ended with the obligatory but gripping prison riot that led to death (RIP Lizzie Birdsworth and Kaz Proctor and that shonky fake warden Sean Brody) and even the birth of jail boss Vera Bennett’s daughter Grace. Of course she had the baby mid-siege in some dank part of the prison. Place of birth: Wentworth Correctional Centre.

So we’re back for the final victory lap of 20 episodes before Wentworth shivs itself and ends forever. The writers originally scripted series seven to end the show, after that false start and the drama was thrown a lifeline, they’ve now had a chase to really finish it off on a high.

The cast of season eight of Wentworth, including The Freak far left. Pic: Narelle Portanier

And what better way to stir things up than by bringing Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson literally back from the dead. A coffin and a shallow grave out Woop Woop was never going to be enough to keep the devil woman down — and who doesn’t want to see the incandescent Pamela Rabe back on screen, delivering a weekly acting masterclass.

This season comes with the bonus Kate Box, who is glorious from the get-go as Lou ‘Fingers’ Kelly – your new favourite inmate.

Box and Zoe Terakes play cute but criminal couple Kelly and Reb Keane.

The season premiere starts with a failed armed robbery where Lou refuses to leave an injured Reb after a car crash — the fact Lou’s ready to go back to jail for her lover sets up their Bonnie and Clyde dynamic.

Kate Jenkinson as Top Dog Allie Novak. Pic: Jackson Finter

Wentworth newbie Kate Box. Pic: Jackson Finter

Reb is transgender, which confuses prisoners (especially Boomer, who isn’t down with correct pronouns or open-minded about gender identity issues), but Lou is there to educate and protect, at whatever cost.

What else? After killing Sean Brody, Allie (Kate Jenkinson) is now top dog and has had a glam makeover — turns out you can get make-up when running the prison from the inside.

Boomer’s still struggling from her part in Liz’s death — getting a stitch when she runs to tell the crew that Kelly is back in jail, we learn that Kelly was a top dog way back, when she knew Boomer and Liz.

Bent screw Linda Miles (Jacqui Brennan) is even more of a piece of work than you remembered (bravo for giving her more screen time), Rita Connors (Leah Purcell) is in witness protection and Marie Winter (Susie Porter) is having a breakdown after the siege she orchestrated backfired spectacularly on her.

Jane Hall plays Ann Reynolds in Wentworth, with Vera (Kate Atkinson). Pic: Jackson Finter

Speaking of pieces of work, newbie Jane Hall is delightfully devious as prison GM Anne Reynolds. She’s one of Vera’s mates, but isn’t concerned with making friends. But it’s all about the Freak. She has a new ID (Kath Maxwell) but her old revenge grudge on Vera — and now by default her baby Grace — remains. It’s tense watching Kath/The Freak in stalk mode.

Because it’s Wentworth you know that you should never take a shower alone, and there’s a classic, horrifying scene that is up there with some of the drama’s most graphic incidents. You’ve been warned.

Wentworth: Redemption — Showcase, Tuesday, 8.30pm

Originally published as Wentworth: Redemption first review - The Freak is back from dead and wreaking havoc