Everything is coming to a head on Wentworth, the Governor is losing it, Fletcher is regaining it and Bea is the puppeteer / victim behind it all. Will Franky get her parole? Will Dory lose her baby to evil Jess? I will be looking for these answers and more in the season three finale of Wentworth. Rolling S3:E12 after the break

Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) talking to her Daddy (Alex Menglet)’s ghost again, I don’t think even he can save her now. Since he doesn’t exist in a corporeal form and all, but mostly because Lucy Gambaro (Sally-Ann Upton) has made her serious allegation about her pushing her down the stairs.

I wonder why Lucy did that? Maybe she found that small, feral place inside of all of us that doesn’t want to die, that clings to life with the ferocity of a small badger with sharp teeth. She’s been badly hurt twice already.

Ferguson knows what’s best for everyone, she will do whatever it takes, for the greater good. In this scenario, I’m pretty sure she is the Greater Good in her melon.

Fletcher (Aaron Jeffrey) been waiting for an attack at his house, but it’s Vera (Kate Atkinson) there to tell him he’s on permanent stress leave. He wants to share what we knows and bring her into the fold, completely unaware of how many goals they have in common.

Kaz Proctor (Tammy McIntosh) is coming to see Bea (Danielle Cormack) in the morning, better get to bed, ladies! I wonder if she has the name of the Thug and a connection between him and Ferguson.

Franky (Nicole da Silva) is trying to make amends with Boomer (Katrina Milosevic), but seven years extra time is a hard pill to swallow. She doesn’t want Franky’s stuff. Franky leaves it, if she doesn’t want it, someone else will! This had to be included because it made me laugh

Vera leaves Fletcher’s house with the intention of talking to the board in the morning, I think there will be a problem with how fantastical this whole story sounds. A 10 year old revenge plot? The systemic terrorizing of senior staff members including murder attempts? The murder of an inmate’s ex-husband for leverage? It sounds like a TV show (ahem).

WAIT: that actually sounds like a soap opera, but it’s really not! It’s a compelling drama, that narrative has been carefully spun over three seasons, so it’s not a soaper! It’s NOT!

They have a great talk first, I love that they’re friends again, and on the same side again. I think Ferguson represented a dark side of Vera that she tried to connect with (the euthanization of her nightmare of a mother) that did have some benefits. It allowed her to tap into her strength in dealing with the inmates and gave her confidence she lacked. So, except for the murdery bits, you can see how it would be hard for Vera to give up that feeling of being powerful when she had spent the rest of her life being miserable and powerless.

Creepy Jess (Georgia Chara) is singing lullabies to baby Joshua (who’s all covered with a blanket – come ON!!) when she sees Liz (Celia Ireland) clocking her. Liz absolutely has her number, she was too quick to drop her guard and now Liz will be watching out for the baby extra close with Dory (Shareena Clanton) away in Medical thanks to Jess drugging her. Liz figured out last time that Jess was the one gifting her recovering alcoholic arse with booze, so she knows exactly what depths Jess will sink to.

Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva) and Rose (Maggie Naouri) are there to take the baby to Dory for a feed, Jess tries to resist, but it’s not a request. Now that Dory’s had a night away from Jess drugging her, maybe she’ll be able to breastfeed successfully.

Liz is going with Sophie (Edwina Samuels) to meet the wife of the man she killed while driving drunk, Christine Connors (Naomi Rukavina) is very young. And angrily crying already. Social worker Jane (Melanie Beddle) is there to mediate as part of the Restorative Justice program, it’s meant to be about dialogue and closure.

Christine can’t believe how young Sophie looks, nothing at all what she expected. She almost felt sorry for Sophie, until she remembered that this wasn’t the first time Sophie had driven drunk. Liz steps in when Sophie can’t speak for crying; shouldering some of the responsibility for what happened, given her alcoholic past. Sophie stops her; whatever happened when she was a child, she’s an adult now and she’s so very sorry. She knows that can’t make a difference, but she is.

Cuppa / tissue break!

Ferguson has gotten wind of Kaz Proctor’s upcoming visit, she advises CO Miles (Jacqueline Brennan) to put them in a secure box: recorded of course. The Governor is distracted by another manifest: Simmo Slater (Ally Fowler) leaning against the wall. Since Ferguson killed her in S2, she’s understandably shook.

Oooooooh now we find out what Franky was REALLY giving Boomer! She submitted an appeal on her behalf! Maybe NOT seven years after all and Booms could have a baby! Just for the record: having one at 43 isn’t impossible, just trickier. Ask Kate from Last Tango In Halifax! Or wait, no, you can’t. ANYWAY

Oh finally, Boomer comes to see Franky

And it was everything it needed to be

Cuppa / tissue break!

Ohhhhhhh Dory has decided to switch her Alternate Carer from Jess back to Liz, I sincerely hope she’s got something in place already and cameras around or something. Dory’s wind is up because of Jess’s “our baby” but you can see Jess plotting

Kaz is here! And she’s super spooked by the secure box, but she has the Thug’s name for Bea: Nils Jesper (Tony Nikolakopoulos – I’m guessing he’s Greek. It’s a gift!) so yaaaay, I don’t have to call him Thug any more!

Bea has the name, she’s owt! Kaz wants to know what level of retribution the Red Right Hand is looking at but Bea doesn’t give a fcuk about the RRH and she TELLS Kaz that. Poorly, poorly played, Bea. You cannot discount how dangerous this woman is and how vulnerable she is based upon her desire to impress you. I have all the heebie jeebies on Bea’s behalf about that move. This woman is clearly stark raving mad.

Will is arrested before Bea can pass on the name, they must have tested the top of the woodsplitter for DNA.

Jess sneaks into Dory’s room in medical and takes Joshua, HOW is there no monitoring? How is she planning to get away with this? You can’t hide a baby! Not for very long anyway

Ferguson retrieves her recording device from the interview room while the ghost of Harry (Jake Ryan) stares balefully at her. So she WAS responsible for Harry’s murder! Why was the Red Right Hand taking responsibility for it? Maybe to make themselves seem more important?

I want to know who Nils Jesper is to the Governor that he’s willing to commit so many murders while in her employ. I think that is less than normal, yes?

The man himself is waiting outside Fletcher’s house while Ferguson plays back the recording. She rushes to phone Nils to tell him to do it right now, they’re on to him. She listens to the recording again and makes another call.

Bea wants to know who has the phone? C’mon Kim (Ra Chapman), just for a minute! She gets to it just as Will’s trying to convince Det. Mears (Damien Richardson) to test the tissue with Nils’ DNA.

Fletcher left his gun…and now Nils has it. He clocks Fletcher across the back of the head

Dory wakes up, well rested as only the mother of a newborn can be when not caring for her infant. It takes a moment to realise that Joshua isn’t where he’s supposed to be. She goes from sleepy to alarmed, calling for Rose, who calls for Miles: why would anyone have moved the baby?

Nils plan to make it look like Fletcher committed suicide is interrupted by Fletcher waking up and kneeing him in the balls. Fletcher gets control of the gun and shoots Nils in the leg, then the OTHER leg, for fcuking up his life. Now call the police!!!

Det. Mears is having a hard time processing the timeliness of Bea’s call with Nils name when another detective runs in and advises that there’s been another shooting, related to the Harry Smith case. Let’s see how Mears handles THAT coincidence!

Ferguson’s second call was to the police and press about Kaz Proctor and the Red Right Hand, I’m almost sad for her that she thinks she won. She tidies her pencils and listens to the news reports that an inmate at Wentworth reported the Red Right Hand and smiles.

Vera interrupts with news of her meeting with the board. She gives Ferguson her signed statement of all of Ferguson’s offenses and involvement in several major incidents. Ferguson plays dirty and invokes Vera’s nightmare of a mother.

Ferguson doesn’t want to read about it, she wants Vera to tell her what she’s being charged with. Lucy’s push down the stairs, the attacks on Bea and Fletcher, all of that. Ferguson still doesn’t concede and Vera stares until Miles runs in with the news of Dory’s missing baby.

Ferguson is frantic, I forgot how much she still associates Dory with Jianna, whose name she uses. Vera corrects the Governor and is thrown against the wall in return. It’s only been 20 minutes, okay, that’s workable!

They’re off to look for Jess, Dory know immediately as soon as Rose said there were drugs in her system. Jess is in the basement, only a short term goal after all. Just please don’t hurt Joshua. A full lockdown is instituted, Ferguson finds a dead guard with his pants down and his swipecard missing: the Jess Special.

Seriously, Joshua is freaking GORGEOUS!

Ohhhhh, that’s what Jess did, she was abandoned as a child and murdered her last charge Madison and I thought that! I thought that last season!! The way she talked about Madison and her record being sealed.

YOU FIND THAT BABY!!!!!!!

I am not fucking watching her smother that baby

Oh thank god, Ferguson is good for something after all. She’s found Jess just in time and she isn’t taking any prisoners.

She strangles Jess to death and I DID watch that. Sometimes violence is okay.

Nils is being wheeled away at Fletcher’s house, who didn’t know his assailant’s name. Det. Mears doesn’t know what’s going on, but Nils’ phone ringing with the Governor’s call just then didn’t do her any favours. She freaks out and throws the phone at Jess’s body, but that’s not going to help.

She’s frantic with worry now, what to do what to do? Her father’s ghost isn’t giving her any direction and she still has a dead body to deal with herself.

GASOLINE?? You’re going to start a fire in the basement of a prison??? Are you mad???? With a heater????

Oh more scenes with Joshua and that’s all that matters, concentrate on the Joshie. She needs to get that baby out of there!!! The card readers aren’t going to work when you’ve blown up the electrical box!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE A GOOD PLANNER!!! Her phone is on fire and she can’t get to it and the fire is spreading and nobody can hear her cries for “ASSISTANCE” because of the lockdown klaxon and eeeehhhhh!! The BABY!!

The building is evacuated  but Franky and Bea know this is about Joshua and they’re not following the crowd. The security gates have to all opened separately and they don’t get to Ferguson’s until Bea gets there. The oil BLOWS just then

Franky finds Bea, Joshua and Ferguson just as everything starts to come down: will they save Ferguson?

WHY IS THERE NO FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM IN THIS PRISON????

Explosion after explosion rocks the building while Dory screams and everyone waits tensely in the yard. Yay Bea got out with Joshua!!! But Franky is trapped inside with a now-awake Ferguson.

Eeeeh and Franky had a premonition that she would die before leaving prison!!!

Bea bursts outside with Joshua, so many tears. So.many.TEARS!

Cuppa / tissue break? Nope, no time for that, Bea’s ducked back into the fire because she knows where Franky and Ferguson are. Will comes with her and they manage to make some headway on the door and Bea grabs an unconscious Franky.

Will stays to grab Ferguson who blames him for ALL of this. He tells her that Jianna was lynched for her relationship with Ferguson, that is the exact definition of kicking someone when they are down. Wow. I don’t disagree, I just don’t expect there to be anything left of Ferguson mentally after this episode, if she even makes it out.

Franky’s alive! More tears.

Will makes it out with Ferguson, to be greeted by Bea

And walked out by the police covered in soot and blood in front of the prisoners. Holy shite. NOW a cuppa / tissue break.

It’s still not done yet!!

Franky is getting out already! What can season 4 look like without cheeky Franky Doyle? A quick tete a tete with Liz and then nothing but tears with Boomer. Franky cries and tells Bea to look after her girls then

Heeeeeeeyyyy who’s come to pick Franky up?? My fave psychiatrist Bridget (Libby Tanner), or as Franky put it: a hot girl in a hot car. I felt this in my TOES

That IS a hot car, check out the bumper!

And we’re STILL not done. The new inmates are being bunked in, one we recognise as Ferguson’s last act against Bea as Governor: Kaz Proctor is in and she’s gunning for Bea

NOW we’re out! Holy shite. I was so tense while watching that my husband laughed at me when he found me clutching the front of my shirt and trying not to scream. Wow wow wow, a lot of things happened and I think since I have 1000 gifs to do, I will ponder for a minute before writing the sum-up. You know, once my breathing returns to normal.

They packed a LOT into this season finale; when you put it all together like that it can seem a little…farfetched. But we’ve been building this story for three full seasons now, two in earnest and to see it all pay off at once? Amazing. I thought that the Governor was about to be hoist on her own petard, but I didn’t expect Jess to make her move yet, I thought she was working on a longer-range plan. And the police grabbing Will just as Nils made his move and then the fire. And Ferguson killing Jess. And Franky helping Boomer AND getting out to see my favourite sexy psychiatrist EVER? So much this episode! I can’t wait to see what happens in season four, I just hope Franky doesn’t come back to Wentworth exactly. I can’t see the show without her, I just don’t want to see her character back in the pokey, so to speak. Maybe like Liz, out and about? Until next time! Thanks to everyone who’s been reading along, especially AT/B and AK, you guys rock! Cheers