So now, now I know that tonight I will find out who killed Meg Jackson lo those 9 episodes ago on Wentworth. I’ve been looking forward to it all day, but I’ve also allowed myself the leeway to watch as much as I need to through my fingers, I have a feeling it will be THAT kind of show. Last week and Bea…rolling S1:E10 Checkmate after the break

We open with a very determined looking Bea marching down the hallway with Mr. Jackson; where is she going? We’re going to get in flashbacks, starting in the laundry room talking to Liz. Bea’s beating herself up, should have asked more questions, should have known more and that was one thing that stuck out to me: in Dory’s speech at Debbie’s memorial, she talked about how Bea and Debbie shared everything that happened with each other. That’s clearly not the case, and I get why someone wouldn’t mention that their “bad boy” new boyfriend *herk* was leading them to shoot up heroin, but wouldn’t a teenage girl mention a boyfriend?

Bea is wondering about this mysterious boyfriend; couldn’t he have gotten her onto it? Heroin (which is the Holt family business) is pretty hardcore for a teenager, what if this Brayden got her hooked? Dory and Franky’s heads snap around and I’ve never seen Franky’s eyes go black like that before: Jacs has a son named Brayden they tell Bea.

Bea turns and lunges at Jacs, but Liz pulls her back by her hair, WTF Liz??? Jacs looks spooked, but not overly worried. Vera comes in then and Bea and Liz get dragged off for a warning. Bea wants to talk to the Guvnor, and that’s where she’s marching resolutely with Mr. Jackson above ^^^.

Bea lays it out surprisingly clearly for Erica, is the Guvnor gonna tell the police? She will and apparently that’s very bad for Franky and the gang. You know I love Franky, I really, really do, but having her yell at Bea for hurting the rest of the gang by “lagging” (must be like snitching) is pissing me off. Oh, and of COURSE she tells Bea to handle Jacs herself, what exactly does Franky do here as a gang boss again? All she’s ever done is tell Bea she or her daughter is fckued and her problem and I’m really working up a head of steam here. I need to chill the eff oot. STILL: this is insane, an inmate has gone out of her way to kill a family member of another inmate and THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL OR BUSINESS AS USUAL ABOUT THAT.

Jacs watches the infighting from across the yard; Bea walks away glaring.

Er-ooh, Erica has Jacs in her office to ask her point blank about the murder; oh great. After a bunch of shite about blah blah could have been Brayden blah mother’s nightmare I’m even madder when the Guvnor offers Jacs protective custody again. Jacs declines anyway, she “isn’t responsible for this.”

Jacs walks into the lunchroom after; the air is charged as she passes on Brayden’s condolences to Bea. Jacs has nerve, I’ll give her that. Franky eggs Bea on; here’s her chance! Bea’s up and pushing Jacs around at the steam table while everyone, including the guards watch. Want some tea? Bea knows how she likes it but no, er not today. Bea stomps out and there we have it: the coronation of another gang lead.

Liz can’t believe Bea provoked Jacs like what; what was she thinking? Well, she was thinking about her little girl dying and just then Jacs walks up. Bea warns her off, but Jacs will not be dissuaded, she knows Bea lagged but she’ll give her some allowance for her grief.

Jacs sells her shite fairly well, even making Bea think for a minute before she throws her out. Brayden loved Debbie, he could never hurt her, as mothers they both fcuked up blah blah. I have to give her props, that was masterful, if just a tetch too humble.

Vera and Fletcher are behind the glass together; can she borrow his pen? They disappear in here (bloody criminals he complains with a smile then says he has tonnes at home) and now I’m wondering if Bea snagged one earlier when Vera was messing her and Liz about.

Vera hesitantly brings up the other night; she’s inexperienced, see and he breaks in: all that was on him. Can he cook her dinner? Sometimes I forget how gorgeous Fletcher is, but wow. Like a giant Australian Ken Doll but sweatier.

They’re over at his place now; she doesn’t want to go home, and she doesn’t want him to sleep on the couch…looks like Vera’s finally getting some properly!! Woot!

Erica’s giving Bea MOAR bad news; the police have decided there are no grounds to investigate Bea’s claims that Brayden murdered Debbie on Jacs’ command. From what I can tell, it’s because Erica isn’t putting any stock in Bea’s claims that Jacs threatened Debbie previously. She manages a dig in there about the two mothers being in prison, nice one, Guvnor! She’s such an ahole. Will Jackson is listening intently in the background, almost as closely as I am.

Will walks Bea back to her compound, offering help if she needs any more. She just walks away, perhaps remembering his yelling at her for not repaying the other favours. He’s been a great help for her and I’m just really glad it seems to have settled him down as well.

Franky wants to know what Bea is gonna do about it? She must know it was Jacs and not what the police are saying. But Bea isn’t playing this paranoid game, she says “I’m not gonna leave this place more screwed up than I went in.” She brings up an important point; if that is why Debbie died, that would be because of her and I can see it being a relief to not think that. But of course she was right in the first place.

Vera’s up and perky the next morning; she’s gonna play hooky from work even! Fletcher goes out to get more eggs and she searches the place, finally crawling into bed to remember the events of the previous evening. Oh. Oh and she sees a drawer in the night stand and it has a journal in it and Vera opens it right to the page where he’s talking about how much he hated Meg and how much he wishes he hadn’t started “fcuking that b*tch” (although I’d already figured that out and was more worried about him saying he remembers FIRING that bullet in East Timor, although maybe that was a different bullet) and that’s when he walks back into the room. She swears she won’t say anything, she has to go and then we have it: she thinks he killed Meg (he WAS talking about putting a bullet in her brain) and he is FURIOUS. He only wrote that because the counselor told him to and GTFO now, Vera. She gets her shoes and leaves.

Oh and Erica lied to Bea; the police haven’t let the investigation go, they’re going at it hard and in the meantime, she tells Jacs, all her privileges and all outside contact are suspended. She told Bea those lies to control the situation, so she didn’t do anything stupid.

In the staff room, we get it AGAIN, no, Erica was actually lying to JACS, there is no police investigation and the suspension of privileges is just to control HER. Jesus Mary and Joseph, Erica, how is everyone supposed to keep this straight??

Erica heaps MORE work on the guards, now in addition to the twice daily spot checks and extra patrolling, they’ll also be looking through the last three months of CCTV footage and listening to any of Jacs’ phone calls that were taped. Linda pushes back, are they just stirring things up for no reason? Is there any reason to believe Bea? Erica thinks she’s controlling the situation, but you know and I know: you can never really control a situation that has people innit.

Will’s doing a spot check in Jacs’ unit, well, he reminds her it isn’t her unit any more. When she asks him to keep her apprised of the investigation he pffts: she knows very well what they’ll find, that she had something to do with Debbie’s death.

Out of the blue, with the air of someone throwing out a trump card, she almost whispers “I know who killed your wife.” His whole body wheels around, but he looks angry and suspicious, sloughing it off as desperation. She dangles it in front of him; will he bite or won’t he?

Will sits and listens to a recording of Jacs and Brayden; she tells him to make sure to bring Debbie the next time so Bea can be reminded of exactly how much she has to lose, I mean. He stalks into Jacs cell; he has evidence of her manipulating Bea using Brayden to drag Debbie in and too soon, Will. Now she knows exactly how desperate you are for closure. She won’t tell him for that; she’ll tell him AFTER he erases the tape AND shuts down the investigation. He looks so sad after and I feel bad for him that he bit.

Well. I don’t feel bad that he’s going to fuck up Bea’s daughter’s murder investigation so that he can get his own answers, but you know what I mean.

Erica’s asking Franky now; she needs proof that Jacs had a vendetta against Bea. Oh sure, NOW Erica’s talking to her, Franky pouts. More back and forth and then Franky accuses Erica of hiding in here, she gets off on it and then Erica throws her out and then somehow they’re in the corner and Franky’s saying Erica thinks of her when she’s with her man and then they’re kissing and Franky’s face after is EVERYTHING. I’ve never seen someone’s face be a perfect combination of a cat that got the cream and I KNEW YOU WANTED ME so clearly before. It there is a Thor, I will find that gif.

Harry and Bea are meeting again to discuss funeral arrangements; what will they be doing with Debbie’s ashes? She wants them brought home, and this leads to a frank discussion about their marriage. She should have left earlier; not let it go on that long and it’s enough: she’s going to take responsibility for what she’s done and plead guilty. She wasn’t before for Debbie, but he really does NOT want it coming out that his wife tried to kill him because he beat her. It’s over, she’s going to do it and he is not happy about it.

Liz asks Franky what the Guvnor wanted and Franky’s “I reckon she’s a bit confused about that” made me laugh for a minute straight. Liz warns Franky; she knows what our lady fair has been up to. She’s shoving Bea and Jacs at each other so they’ll cancel each other out and she can just strut to the top of the leader board. I did that once! I had two extremely annoying acquaintances that I couldn’t get rid of, so I set them up with each other! It worked great…for awhile. I’m disappointed that Franky only sees Bea as a curling rock she can slide to take out an opponent, but I guess I didn’t really know her all that well. Enjoy the CanCon!

Fletcher’s come to see Vera, she tries to apologize, but he just wants her assurance that she will never tell Will about him and Meg. She accedes of course; he turns and walks away. She calls after him, can they talk about “us?” “Fcuk off, Vera” is his response and I startled the husband shouting

“OH NO YOU DIDN’T”

The next day, Liz is in to see the Guvnor to give her report on the women; she wrestles with herself then lags and informs Erica about the cell phone Bea found in her cell. She confirms that Jacs has always had it out for Bea, which is all Erica was waiting to hear.

An extremely thorough search of Jacs cell ensues; Fletcher and Will aren’t keeping anything cute. Oh and Will finds Meg’s bracelet in some face cream; he goes after her full bore and thank the gods Fletch was there to take him down first. Jacs looks confused and a little scared; she has an amazing poker face, though, so it’s hard to tell if that was legit or if someone was framing her.

Do you think Franky could have killed Meg on the way to Jacs’ cell? As a present for Erica? However. Meg was killed with a can opener, so I’m guessing staff lounge, which means…Erica? I dunno, I’m flailing around.

Someone official-looking is leading a formal investigation about Meg’s bracelet; Jacs’ explanation isn’t very good, although it is succinct: someone is framing her. She’s formally charged and Erica looks strange, so maybe it WAS the new Guvnor!

Channing arrives just as Erica’s leading a press conference about the charges against Jacs for Meg’s murder; he doesn’t look happy but she looks smug AF.

Franky’s out in the yard counting heads; look! She has ALLS the support now and she barely had to lift a finger to do it. She gets at Bea again; she killed your kid and we all know it. Frustrated, Bea takes off to her bunk, where she stares at the ceiling.

Jacs is back from the police station; as she walks through the yard with Vera all the women, including her former henchwomen are against her, the biggest one spitting in her face. Even Simmo turns her back on her. She gets to her room to find it in a huge mess; she’ll take that Protective Custody now, fanks. Vera’s not so sure about that, it could take WEEKS before a bed is available. Jacs threatens to spill to the Guvnor about the fight she started for Vera and all the drugs, but Vera isn’t offering kindness any more, love. If Jacs thinks the women are bad, wait until the guards get at her and then see what happens. She’s out with “and that’s how MY world works” and I had no idea you had that in you, Vera!

Jacs is like a venomous spider being slowly crippled, one leg at a time. She sits on her bed, spit glistening on her face, hand and knees aching. This elderly arachnid probably won’t see out the night.

Liz is in to see Franky again; she TOLD Franky to stop using Bea against Jacs, why can’t she just drop it? Jacs is no threat to anyone now, why the “she killed your kid” bullshite? Franky jumps up in her face, but oh and now we have it. During the riot Franky DID kill Meg on the way to Jacs’ cell, but by accident and Liz saw while Franky freaked out and ran. Liz watched and she snagged the bracelet as a way to frame Jacs so she could eliminate the threat and have Bea left alone. I did guess Franky, and on the way to Jacs, but I thought it was deliberate. That did NOT look on purpose, it looked like a mistake and Franky looked freaked the eff oot. How did she get her cool back in time to taunt Jacs in her bunk?

Oh now this is interesting; Liz has chosen sides after all and it’s neither Jacs NOR Franky: it’s Bea.

Speaking of our Queen Bea, she’s gone to Jacs to find out the truth about Debbie. Jacs knew Bea was a player right from the start, they say same recognizes same. Bea is all hyped up, she just wants to know, stop talking about Debbie! Jacs admits it and then flaunts it, what was she gonna do?? It was a kindness putting Debbie out of her misery, look what she had to look forward to! A life of being beaten and so starved for attention that she’d do anything for Brayden once she got it. Bea is pushed to the limit and suddenly jams a pen into Jacs neck, surprising the fcuk out of all of us. She pulls it out then tries to staunch the flow of blood but gets covered in arterial spray (I FINK that’s what CSI said that was) but Jacs, Jacs isn’t fighting it any more. She looks, as she said earlier, at peace with her actions as she sits and dies.

Dazed, Bea wanders out into the hallway, covered in blood and heading for the DURESS button as I’m whispering “change that shirt!!!” at the screen. She pops it and all the inmates gather to watch her being walked, handcuffed, through the halls covered in blood. She locks eyes with Franky as she’s brought by and now, now we have a Player.

I don’t know who all was responsible for Jacs’s death; Bea clearly, but was Franky too? Exploiting the grief of an emotionally fragile mother who recently horribly lost her daughter. And how about Jacs? Did she taunt and drive Bea to the edge because she knew her reign was over and she wanted to take someone out with her? Or was it just that she didn’t know any other way to be but cruel, to flex one more time must have been irresistible, to feel that power course through her veins even as it led to her death? Was it also Vera’s fault for deliberately leaving Jacs out in the open, vulnerable and not in Protective Custody? I’m going to say that Jacs was primarily responsible for her own death and rule it a suicide. As  you were.

I have been waiting all season to find out who killed Meg Jackson and it feels kind of…anti-climactic. The thought that Franky stabbed the previous Guvnor in a reflexive action without intent and ran like a scared kid after while Liz scavenged for memorabilia…I just don’t know.

Thanks to everyone who read along with me for series one of Wentworth,; I’ll be starting season two shortly.

** all pictures borrowed from Tumblr, thank you!