An unlikely alliance between Sonia and the Freak, and is this the end for Fridget?

Sadly, I had internet issues on Tuesday night so my Foxtel Go wasn’t loading, which meant I couldn’t watch this week’s ep till Thursday, so this is going to be a much reduced recap this week. Please forgive!

After ‘the pact’ from last week, Franky and Allie are now BFFs, further bonded by being the ones to discover poor old Marge dead, still sitting up straight as an arrow where it happened. The women line the fence as her body is wheeled to the ambulance, with Franky’s comment “maybe I was right – the only way outta here is in a box’”, reminiscent of her pessimism of season 3. Further fuel for the escape fire, methinks.

Sonia is cracking the whip in the workshop to get things up and running by the time Channing comes to give the final ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ for the project. Joan comes in to ‘suggest’ that she and Sonia set up a mutual back-scratching situation, where she gets the drugs in through the workshop and Sonia gets… well… doesn’t get bashed again I assume. Sonia, being the hard-arsed business woman she is, and not averse to her own bouts of sociopathic behaviour, tells her in much nicer words to ‘bugger off’.

Joan, not one to a) take no for an answer or b) have her authority undermined, sends in Stella to sabotage the operation. Boomer’s first reaction is to flatly refuse her a job, but she and Sonia relent, not realising they’ve been set up. When Channing arrives to inspect the place, he’s already a bit nervous with all the power tools in the hands of violent criminals, so when Stella starts an argument with Boomer, who then pushes her, who then bangs into Liz, who then knocks Channing over, landing on top of him with him spraining his wrist in the process… well he chucks a little hissy fit and with the power bestowed upon him, shuts it down telling Vera he can’t believe she trusted “the bitches” in the first place.

Sonia flies fully off the handle, and aims her wrath directly at Liz (after having given a special invitation to Liz to come on board the project as the ‘horticultural expert’) for having landed on Channing, something that was not her fault in the slightest. I’m starting to think that the whole project is an elaborate scheme to exact vengeance on Liz for being Witness X, to wear her down by blaming her for any misfortunes that befall it – and she doesn’t hold back with the public dressing down of Liz’s “selfishness” in front of the other women. When Boomer asks Sonia later why she blamed Liz when it was Stella’s fault, Sonia tells her to trust her.

But it’s not the end of the project. Channing dirty past catches up with him AGAIN, and when Allie recognises him as the owner – and someone who regularly availed himself of the services – of a brothel she used to work in, and manages to get him alone for a little ‘chat’, he suddenly flips his decision on closing it down, the project is back up and running, and Allie and Franky have jobs in the workshop after having been previously knocked back.

You’re, like, my BFF!

Meanwhile, the Freak is at work on Bridget, who is fast losing the plot. Taunts about Franky “trading up to a younger, more attractive model” are exacerbated when Bridget looks out her window and see Franky and Allie laughing together in the yard. Despite knowing she should know better, the heart overtakes the head, as she gives Allie a piece of ‘friendly advice’ about not moving on too soon after Bea, and Allie (still oblivious to the Fridget relationship) looks at her like “yeah… whatever, don’t know what you’re on about!” But when she tells Franky that Bridget “already thinks we’re fucking”, Franky rushes to Bridget to assure her they’re not. Bridget wants desperately to believe her, but she’s so messed up by all the stress and pressure of their situation, that she’s not so sure she does. Bridget starts drinking and turning up to work more that a little pissed, and when she can’t see Liz because of her state of inebriation, Liz tells Vera, who later tells Bridget she can’t turn a blind eye if she turns up to work like that again.

Not happy, Jan.

Franky and Allie convince Smiles they’re an item and want some ‘alone time’ in the laundry, but are really checking to see if the conveyor belt might be a viable escape route for them – so when the Freak intercepts Smiles, you just know that she’s gonna let her pass because the Freak must have a list as long as her arm on all the “little” things Smiles has done and she’s well and truly gonna call them in when she needs a favour. Joan strides into the laundry and finds Franky and Allie in a hot and heavy make out session – all for hers/Smiles’ benefit of course – and when she tells them to get out, Franky’s comment of “you killed my lady boner anyway” made me laugh out loud. She strides out with purpose, Allie not so much as she scurries past the Freak, head bowed.

Lady boner effectively dead.

The Freak takes great pleasure in telling Bridget that she just found Frallie doing gay stuff together, and Bridget’s reaction is to call Franky into her office as she’s packing up her stuff, to tell her she’s resigned, she’s leaving, she can’t do this anymore, it’s too hard seeing her but not being able to be with her. Franky begs her not to leave her, “I fucken love you,” and Bridget tearily replies, “I fucken love you,” but turns her back, walks out, gets into her car and drives away. Crying, looking weary, drawn and affected by over consumption of alcohol, she’s quite the opposite of the ‘hot girl in the hot car’ that drove Franky into the sunset at the end of Season 3. [Will we see Bridget Westfall as a character on Wentworth any more, or has she been consigned to the “past characters” heap along with so many other recent favourites?]

Not looking or feeling anywhere near hot right now.

Franky’s reaction is to go to Allie’s cell, probably with the original purpose of just being with her new friend, but having just been dumped, and with emotions running high and a fellow hot lesbian standing before her, she pretty much jumps Allie, to get some good old rebound sex. Allie resists, then doesn’t resist, then resists again saying, “I can’t it’s too soon…” (Really Allie? Come on this is TV, we won’t hold it against you! You have human needs, just like Franky!). Franky runs back to her cell, heart-broken and dejected. From almost 5 years investment in this show, and in particular this character –  I know that this is when she’s the most dangerous, most often to herself. Remember your advice to Doreen last episode, Franky, “Don’t fuck up.”

Anyway, the final story line – Kaz is sure Allie is using again, and bails her up only to find out she’s not, but that Jake the Snake had supplied her once before. She takes this info to Mr J, who decides on a plan to try and trap him, asking him for some gear because he’s going clubbing that night. Jake is suspicious, and after telling him he doesn’t do that shit anymore, goes to Joan who is still hassling him to find a new way in for the drugs. Will convinces Vera to get the CDSC in for a raid and when she innocently mentions this to her slime-ball boyfriend he sets Will up with a whole stash in his locker, bound to be found by the big boys (and girls).

Will gets it just in time to flush it down the toilet, and when Vera tells him that Jake was the only other one to know about the raid, Will goes and gets real tough on Jake, calling him an ‘arsehole’ and giving him the old royal flush treatment. Obviously a throw back to his childhood. But basically they understand one another now, and it’s going to be a case of Will v Jake and the Freak, and Will v Jake and Vera, who he doesn’t know are together because no-one does (well except Bridget now, but she’s out of the picture anyhow). Gonna be a hard fight for him, but knowing our Mr J, he’ll get into it neck deep, but fight his way out. Plus he’s got Kaz in his corner now!

Royal Flush for you, you arsehole!

So Joan goes for another pitch to Sonia about using the workshop to bring the drugs in. It’s kinda no surprise that there’s a different outcome this time – when Joan passes Jake after their talk she tells him “We’re back on.” Now I think there’s a few possible outcomes for this:

1. Sonia can see that she can benefit from this somehow (but she doesn’t need the money, so what?).
2. She is formulating a plan to use the situation to bring Joan down (she’s very astute).
3. She’s going to do something to Liz even worse than her original plan.

Interesting days ahead!