Tag Archives: Wentworth

Foxtel, FRONT, Wentworth

Tales of Freedom and Revenge in Wentworth’s Season 5 Finale

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Did Ferguson get her comeuppance?  images credit: Foxtel

There are no words to describe just how shocking the season five closer episode of Wentworth was!

NO WORDS!

That said, my last post – “Eight Wentworth Season Five Endgame Suspicions” once again proved that either i’m a) terrible at reading the set ups and misjudged quite a few things or b) at the whims of the talented team behind the show who masterfully created one of the best finales this show has seen to date and threw every viewer for a six.

My score card from that last post was a measly 3.5 out of 8…same as last season so let’s look back at that finale and how my predictions played out.

SPOILERS BELOW!!  Do not continue if you have NOT watched the season FIVE finale!

1: Franky and Allie make their escape /// Taking this as a point from not only the escape plan itself (which we all knew about) but also down to Franky (Nicole da Silva) being the only one who successfully escaped inside one of the Greenwall Project boxes.  With Allie (Kate Jenkinson) busted by Jake (Bernard Curry), Franky made her successful escape and made a touching and fleeting reunion with Bridget (Libby Tanner) before fleeing off into the open darkness!

2: Sonia steps up for ‘top dog’ status ///  Well, that one is clearly a no!  With Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) recovering from her wounds, top dog status went immediately back into the hands of Kaz (Tammy Macintosh).  As it turned out, Sonia (Sigrid Thornton) did not even make an attempt to claim a throne that should clearly have been hers!

3: Liz winds up all alone inside Wentworth ///  Errrrrm.  Another missed point here. Utterly freaked with the knowledge that Sonia had set her up all along and worried for her safety, Liz (Celia Ireland) approaches Franky for protection but after Allie informs her of the escape plans, Liz makes her boldest move to date to protect herself and doses Sonia’s tea with a whole vial of drugs found inside a shipment of mulch causing a very critical overdose.

4: Kaz and Allie team up against Ferguson ///  Gave myself half a point for this one as Allie pleads with Kaz to steer clear of Ferguson while Kaz abandons her ‘no violence’ stance to finally take Ferguson out for good but, another plan that was in the works stops Kaz from getting to her.

5: Ferguson makes a plan to escape ///  Tick!  While I had envisioned Ferguson using Jake’s knowledge of Franky’s escape plan help her get out, it seems when Jake busted Allie, she revealed all to him allowing a plan to be set in motion that saw several people including Allie giving up her escape route, to get Ferguson out of Wentworth for good.

6: Vera sets her sights on Channing and Jake ///  Total miss here.  Not a single shred of evidence to show that Vera (Kate Atkinson) even planned to tackle Channing (Martin Sacks) though Vera’s “I’m a big girl, fuck you” speech to Jake in the staff meeting room was not only utterly vicious but so so so so good!

7: New inmates arrive to shake things up ///  Another miss here.  With so many inmates gone this season, there seems to be a vast wasteland of empty beds and tables in the cafeteria – even the head count towards the end of the episode showed just how few prisoners are currently left inside some of the living quarters, and yet not a single new face was presented.

8: Bea Smith returns to Wentworth /// Biting my tongue here as not only was this another miss, this could have made for a killer final scene reveal had it not been for another even more stellar final reveal.  BEA SMITH DID NOT RISE FROM THE DEAD.

That final reveal – yes, Allie teamed with Jake to get Ferguson out of the prison using the Greenwall Project box and before Franky could get out of her box, Ferguson’s was taken away by a mysterious person.  By the time Vera realized she was gone, Ferguson was BEING BURIED ALIVE in her wooden case of freedom (looking at a drawing of Bea Smith done by Allie mine you) BY WILL JACKSON (Robbie Magasiva)

So what does season six (currently in production and slated for 2018) hold for us?  Will Sonia survive her overdose?  Will she discover it was Liz that did it to her?  Will Jake and Will make amends while bonding over BURYING SOMEONE ALIVE?  Will Franky find the evidence she needs to clear her name of double homicide?  Will Vera reclaim the position of Governor?  Will Kaz finally take control of Wentworth with her reclaimed top dog role?  Will the Greenwall Project continue to operate?

Will Ferguson pull a Richard Hart (Patrick Muldoon) from Melrose Place and….

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So many questions and such a long wait!  Sound off in the comments section!

 

 

Foxtel, FRONT, Local TV, Wentworth

EIGHT WENTWORTH SEASON FIVE ENDGAME SUSPICIONS…

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Another season of the fantastic Wentworth is almost upon us which means it’s time for that annual “Wentworth Endgame Suspicions” that I have been doing for the past few seasons.

Season five took Wentworth into new territory by confirming the death of Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) and bringing fan favorite Fanky Doyle (Nicole da Silva) back behind bars while we also said goodbye to Maxine (Socratis Otto) who left for cancer treatment Juice (Sally-Anne Upton) who copped the unkindest cut of all and Doreen (Shareena Clanton) who finally made parole.

The battle for Top Dog status saw Kaz (Tammy Macintosh) loose out to Ferguson only for her to be stripped of the title when all her past murderous indiscretions come to light while Jake’s (Bernard Curry) troubled dealings were finally revealed to Vera (Kate Atkinson) but her dealings with allowing Bea to escape at last seasons end be held against her from taking action against him.

So here we go, my eight season five end game suspicions and as per the norm, none of this is confirmed! – POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE NOT UP-TO-DATE!

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Prison Break?  images copyright – Foxtel/Showcase

1: Franky and Allie make their escape /// Franky’s bid for freedom has, this season, hinged on her need to escape and find the evidence to prove she did not kill Mike Pennisi (Felix Williamson).  Along the way, she has managed to bring Allie into the plan but with the revelation that Iman (Zahra Newman) was not only his killer, but his lover too, Franky’s bid to escape is more dire than ever.

Franky and Allie make their escape plan but only one makes it outside the walls of Wentworth.

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New Top Dog?  images copyright – Foxtel/Showcase

2: Sonia steps up for ‘top dog’ status /// She’s garnered the praise of her fellow inmates with the Green Wall Project, has managed to get Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) on total trust levels and is not partial to a bit of causal murder.

With the status of ‘Top Dog’ currently vacant, Sonia (Sigrid Thornton) will take the opportunity to nab the position with the full backing of the inmates.

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All alone within the walls of Wentworth.  images copyright – Foxtel/Showcase

3: Liz winds up all alone inside Wentworth ///  After her meeting with an investigator into her perjury and mistrial, Liz (Celia Ireland) discovers that Kaplan (Steve Bastoni) and Sonia had in-fact targeted her all along to be ‘witness X’ in Sonia’s murder trial.

With Bea dead, Doreen and Maxine both gone, Boomer struggling to contain her wrath at Liz’s ‘lagging’ and Sonia out for revenge, Liz suddenly finds herself without any support within Wentworth but she has the knowledge that Sonia set her up from the get-go, but what will she do with that information?

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Red Right Hand.  images copyright – Foxtel/Showcase

4: Kaz and Allie team up against Ferguson /// A strong champion of a violence free prison, Kaz has often resorted to the use words as her weapon of choice, a move that earned her ‘top dog’ status but also saw it as the reason for it being taken from her.  Allie is still desperate for revenge against the woman who murdered her one true love.

With Ferguson surviving her surprise lynch mob hanging and the fear of retribution, Kaz will abandon her no violence stance to team up with Allie in an attempt to take Ferguson out once and for all.

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Prison Break Part Two? images copyright – Foxtel/Showcase

5: Ferguson makes a plan to escape /// With thanks to Vera, she survived the hanging from the inmates but now Ferguson finds herself vulnerable prey and with no protection from acting governor Channing (Martin Sacks).

Getting wind of Franky and Allie’s escape plan, Ferguson uses Jake to help her with her own plan to get out that involves revealing Franky and Allie’s plans to the guards and using the ensuing fracas to make her escape with Jake and his swipe card.  But will she make it out?

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Cleaning up the trash.  images credit Foxtel/Showcase

6: Vera sets her sights on Channing and Jake ///  Stripped of her role of governor (thanks to Channing), Vera finds herself in precarious waters struggling to maintain a grip on her life which has become even harder after discovering her entire relationship with Jake was a fabrication created by Ferguson to bring her down.

While Jake knows Vera was the one who allowed Bea to escape in season four’s finale, Vera will take aim at bringing him down along with Channing so as to reclaim her role as Governor.

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images credit – Foxtel/Showcase

7: New inmates arrive to shake things up ///  There were some major cast adjustments this season with Bea Smith, Maxine, Iman, Juice and Doreen all leaving Wentworth, leaving it a lot emptier than it has ever been.

New inmates will arrive to Wentworth to fill those empty beds but will any of them bring a familiar face to some of the current inmates?

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Back from the dead?  Images credit – Foxtel

8: Bea Smith returns to Wentworth ///  It’s been a suspicion all season long that Bea did not die at the hands on Ferguson but was gravely injured and put into protective custody for her own safety.  Could the season five finale reveal this to be true and bring Bea back into Wentworth?

The move could be the driving force for season six with Allie beginning to show feelings for Franky, Ferguson now at her weakest and the position of top dog up for grabs.

So there we have it!  From escape plans to attempts to reclaim the throne to a surprise return, these are my season 5 endgame suspicions.  Agree, disagree or have I missed something?  Sound off in the comments!

 

Drama, Foxtel, FRONT, Local TV, Wentworth

How Wentworth Survived After Killing Its Queen Bea.

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It’s a risky move for a television show with such a staunch world wide fan base to kill off one of its main characters in an attempt to shake things up and introduce fresh blood and fresh stories yet oddly enough, despite the hark from fans claiming they’ll never watch again, the bold move usually works.  Homeland, House of Cards, Grey’s Anatomy, M*A*S*H and 24 are just some of success stories where killing off main cast have worked in their favor.

Wentworth, is the most recent entry into this world with the murder of main player Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) at the end of the shows fourth season and questions quickly began to flit about how this show could survive without the driving force that Wentworth sprouted itself from.

The tour de force that was Bea Smith and the story around her propelled the show from a generic Prisoner remake into a modern day drama-come-love-story with an incredibly dedicated fan base, devastated their “Queen Bea” had been mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of series villain Joan “The Freak” Ferguson (Pamela Rabe) leaving her girlfriend Allie Novak (Kate Jenkinson) to pick up the pieces and exact her revenge.

This death, so surprising and utterly shocking, risked putting Wentworth fans off-side with the belief the show was supposed to be a telling of Bea’s entrance into prison and her rise to ‘top dog’ status and while, in point, we did get that tale, the killing off of a main character is still none the less a gusty move for any show.

What we didn’t notice however was the growing importance and build-up of the other characters within the show, each getting story lines that played quietly along the Bea Smith/Joan Ferguson/Allie Novak main story arc, all ready to take effect when the time was needed.

These stories involving Vera’s (Kate Atkinson) battle to maintain control of her governor position, Franky Doyle (Nicole da Silva) struggling to develop a healthy life outside of the Wentworth with girlfriend Bridget Westfall (Libby Tanner), the buddy buddy snitch snitch relationship between Sonia Stevens (Sigrid Thornton) and Liz Birdsworth (Celia Ireland) and current top dog Kaz Proctor (Tammy MacIntosh) feeling her grip loosen on her top dog status were all slowly bubbling along and came to flourish and hit the ground with both guns blazing when the time was right.

This move not only forced us to move on after Bea’s death but implemented a newer relationship with these characters on the back of strong writing and even stronger acting from the cast, allowing the show to thrive in a time of viewer devastation.  The fact that this death wasn’t used as a way to end an ugly love triangle or to move on a story arc that just wan’t working is even more testament to the writing on the show.

Bea’s death was personal but it was also a propeller, not just for the show but for each an every character within the world of Wentworth.  Killing off a Queen Bea can be dangerous but when done right, breathes new life into an already fascinating and intense show.

Wentworth continues Tuesday nights on Showcase and will see production begin this month on season six.

FRONT, TV

Best of 2016: TV Characters

Standing out is hard to do in a television land that is as wide and varied as it is today.  In most cases, it’s the lead who takes front and center and other times, it’s those side characters who just pull you in and make you love them.

From an actress and a single mother trying to balance work and home life to a brassy best friend who tells it like it is to a family keeping many secrets to an actress blurring the lines between acting and reality, check out my list of the 12 best TV Characters for 2016.

12: Doris (Ali Wong) – American Housewife [New Entry]

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Playing on her ‘non threatening Asian diversity’ within the snooty town of Westport, Doris (Ali Wong) has been able to share the dismissive views of best friend Katie (Katy Mixon) while also being able to mingle with the popular green-smoothie-drinking fit moms, who Katie literally hates.  Doris has no qualms about pushing her take-no-prisoners, hands on approach to parenting (which involves lots of yelling and eating strange meats in broth) onto Katie’s children.

11: Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) – American Crime Story [New Entry]

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Finding herself playing in the big league with the OJ Simpson trial, Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) found herself facing a giant brick wall right from the go.  From her personal dealings of a crumbling marriage and a nasty custody battle to how she dressed and did her hair for court, Clark, it seems was never going to win.  Thrust into the public eye, Paulson’s Clark offered up a deeper and thoughtful look into the most talked about woman of the time that was often overlooked for lesser, inessential topics.

10: The Morgans – Home and Away [New Entry]

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When Tori Morgan (Penny McNamee) first appeared in Summer Bay as the new doctor, none of us were prepared for the overloaded baggage she was hiding – her and her brothers (James Stewart, Jackson Heywood and Orpheus Pledger) were in witness protection.  Their parents killed by top dogs within a drug syndicate, their covers were blown, had no one they could trust and faced having to run again.  The Morgans added a major dash of drama to the bay that has been sorely missing since Charlotte’s (Erika Heynatz) murder last year.

9: Darryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) – The Walking Dead [Re-Entry from 2014]

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The confident, lone wolf we’ve all come to love has been through the wringer this season on The Walking Dead.  His lash out at Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) resulted in the death of good friend Glenn (Steven Yuen) and subsequently saw him taken into Negan’s custody, thrown into an isolation cell and tortured in an attempt to break him.  Holding onto the grief and guilt of Glenn’s death is the only thing keeping Darryl sane while being tortured.

8: Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) – Game of Thrones [New Entry]

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The pint sized warrior, the Lady of Bear Island Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) proved herself to be a formidable leader as she held the cards to back Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) and Sansa Starks’ (Sophie Turner) attack on Ramsey Bolton to reclaim Winterfell.  Her blistering speech to the bickering houses of Manderley, Glover and Cerwyn showed that while Jon may have finally killed Ramsey, Lyanna is the one who has become the people’s champ and a force to be reckoned with.

7: Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) – Wentworth [New Entry]

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With all focus this past season on Joan (Pamela Rabe) entering Wentworth as a prisoner, the side story arc to this season featuring the blossoming romance between Bea (Danielle Cormack) and Allie (Kate Jenkinson) showed a more open yet vulnerable side to the prison top dog.  While the relationship was used to expose Bea’s weaknesses to both Joan and Kaz (Tammy Macintosh), this relationship ultimately proved to be Bea’s strength, believing Joan had given Allie an overdose, she sacrificed herself to put Joan behind bars for a very long time.

6: Agnes Mary Winstead (Kathy Bates) – American Horror Story: Roanoke [New Entry]

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While the premise for this latest season of American Horror Story was fantastic, the second half of the season became a total mess with one shinning mark – that of Agnes Mary Winstead (Kathy Bates) AKA – The Butcher.  Agnes’ became a victim of her own sudden rise to fame after My Roanoke Nightmare became a massive television hit and earned herself a Saturn Award best actress nomination.  After delving right into the role of The Butcher, Agnes was diagnosed with  schizoaffective disorder, unable to distinguish between fact and fiction and wholly embodied the woman with a penchant for meat cleavers.

5: Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) – Game of Thrones [New Entry]

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Season 6 of GoT was one full of loss for Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) as he mourned the death of his daughter Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free) and was removed from his position in the Kingsguard by his own son Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) who, later on, also died taking his own life after his mother Cersei (Lena Headey) set alight half of Kings Landing.  Discovering that the woman he loves was responsible for the act that pushed Tommen to take his own life looks set to push Jamie into darker personal territory as he struggles with alliance next season.

4: Bonnie Winterbottom (Liza Weil) – How to get away with Murder [#8 in 2015]

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We’ve seen Bonnie (Liza Weil) fall back into old habits this past season of How to get Away With Murder as she continuously battled with boss Annalise (Viola Davis) over the treatment of Annalise’s former right hand man Frank (Charlie Weber) now on the run after his murderous past was fully revealed.  With Laurel (Lauren Velez) and Annalise trying to find Frank, Bonnie took it upon herself to track him down and try and coax him back after discovering he had killed her abusive father leading the two to spend a very intense and revealing night together.

3: Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon) – Better Things [New Entry]

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There’s no high glamour or Hollywood high life when it comes to Better Things‘ Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon).  She’s not a struggling actress but she’s also not readily recognized on the street by the everyday person.  She’s an actress and it’s her job and it’s this level of fame she attains while also a single mother to three girls, all of whom require a bulk of her attention to make it through each and every day, that makes Sam relatable.  Woman on the verge…..perhaps.  Woman trying to get a minute to have ‘dirty facetime’ with a recent hookup..seems to fit better when describing Sam Fox.

2: Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) – Stranger Things [New Entry]

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Joyce Byers (in a defining comeback role for Winona Ryder) is a single mother, relatively poor and wanting answers regarding her missing son Will (Noah Schnapp).  Her less than affluent standing within the small town of Hawkins, Indiana has the locals not believing her son has gone missing, but despite her lack of influence within the town, she challenges each and every person – right up-to the Police Chief.

When she discovers she can communicate with her missing son through lights, Joyce finds a confidence and a voice to believe in what she is doing is actually real despite the constant knock downs from those telling her, her son is dead.

1: Quinn King (Constance Zimmer) – UnReal [#2 in 2015]

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Walking into season two of UnReal (and the new season of Everlasting) shouting the motto “MONEY, DICK, POWER!!” and ready to hand over the reigns of Everlasting to Rachel (Shiri Appleby) Quinn (Constance Zimmer) found herself not ready to let go when former boss Chet (Craig Bierko) returned to the fray looking to take control back of ‘his’ show. Quinn’s battle to maintain a hold on the show all came to a head in the fourth episode when she learns her father has died and only able to internalize her pain for a short while, Quinn literally opens the biggest can of whoop-ass ever seen.  No one, not even the studio office was saved from her scathing breakdown that saw her literally throw monitors across the room.

But Quinn is a quick one to recover.  She’s a smart ballsy woman who has this inane ability to see the knife coming before it hits her back and has a counter-attack already in play by the time that knife is on it’s way down.  By the end of the season, Quinn retained control of Everlasting and her Money, Dick, Power relationship with Rachel was as strong as it started out at seasons start.

 

FRONT, TV

Best of 2016: TV Shows

How does one pick just 12 TV shows to make a “best of” list without going insane?!  It’s a struggle I had last year and with an influx of impressive new shows, it doesn’t get any easier.  That said, I chained myself to my desk, a list was made, shows were culled and now here it is, my Best of 2016 TV Shows list.

12: American Crime Story Season 1 [New Entry]

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There was going to be no shock surprises with how this real life re-telling of the sensational OJ Simpson case ended yet somehow, we all watched with baited breath to see what was coming next.  What made this series so exciting to watch comes down to the genius casting and slick handling of how this story was told.  Sarah Paulson as lawyer Marcia Clark, Cuba Gooding Jnr as OJ Simpson and John Travolta as Robert Shapiro equaled perfect casting and played so well along the story telling that at times we flitted between feeling for Clark and her battle to win what should have been an open and shut case and Simpson who, while clearly guilty, was dealing with the possibility of losing everything his glorified sporting career had gotten him.  In the 90’s the OJ Simpson trial was must-watch TV and today, American Crime Story was also must-watch TV.

11: The Exorcist Season 1 [New Entry]

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It was a big effort for the supernatural show breathing new life into the timeless horror classic but with surprising plot twists, impressive special effects, strong story lines and the star power of Geena Davis, The Exorcist has managed to deliver a show worthy to sit among the Exorcist timeline.

10: Grace and Frankie Season 2 [#10 in 2015]

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It was a very strong and solid outing for the second season of this Netflix comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin about two 60+ year old women facing life as singles after their husbands them them for each other..  Feeling much more confident in this outing, Grace (Fonda) and Frankie (Tomlin) deal with the fallout of Sol (Sam Waterston) and Roberts (Martin Sheen) relationship breakdown.  The topic of mortality was often seen throughout the season, especially towards the back end of the season in which a touching story line involving a long time friend suffering from terminal cancer decides to end things on her own terms.

9: American Housewife Season 1 [New Entry]

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This light-hearted comedy about a middle class family living a fish-out-of-water life in the rich Connecticut town of Westport hit many funny notes in its first outing.  A family based comedy at heart, topics of body image, fitting in and making the most out what life has handed to you featured heavily throughout the season all while never taking itself too seriously.  Katie Otto’s (Katy Mixon) friend time spent with  Doris (Ali Wong) make up a large portion of what makes this a great show to watch.

8: Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 10 [New Entry]

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Celebrating 10 seasons, the model search reality show competition pulled out all stops from the addition of Megan Gale to the judging panel to an impressive line-up of worthy competitors to the guest list of world famous models (Elle McPherson and Miranda Kerr to name a few) that popped up along the way to offer some sound advice.  The photo shoots were more glamorous and the resulting photos even more stunning.   While the scoring system still remains the shows biggest downfall, this recent cycle proved why our version of this show remains one of the best in the world.

7: How to Get Away With Murder Season 3 [#4 in 2015]

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Another season, another murder, another set of flashbacks bringing us to a spine tingling revelation, surrounded by weekly court cases.  It’s a solid system that works for the legal/murder drama but season three changed things up by killing off one of the series main stars in a glorious and shocking mid season finale while tying in major events that had occurred throughout the first two seasons bringing everything together in one very neat package.

6: Wentworth Season 4 [#7 in 2015]

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Bringing Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson into the walls of Wentworth prison was not this season’s shining glory.  While it played out nicely over the season and created one heck of a finale, it was the Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack) and Allie Novak (Kate Jenkinson) romance that really spurred this season along.  The tender yet volatile relationship between the hard as nails ‘top dog’ and prison junkie was put to the test by both Joan and Kaz Proctor (Tammy Macintosh) that it ended up with such brutal heartache.

5: Better Things Season 1 [New Entry]

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Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon) is a working actress, mother to three daughters and a woman with not enough time on her hands.  Better Things had no big fanfare around it’s premiere, instead relying on very strong story telling revolving around the circle of motherhood and powerful performances from lead Adlon and her on-screen offspring (Hannah Alligood, Olivia Edward, and Mikey Madison).  There’s also a list of brilliant cameos from David Duchovny to Constance Zimmer to Julie Bowen and Lenny Kravitz.  If one needs to know more, just watch the season one finale titled “Only Women Bleed” where Sam comes across all kinds of obstacles just getting her three daughters dressed and ready for school before dealing with a very real and confronting personal situation involving her middle daughter Frankie.  It’s pretty much a perfect half hour of television.

4: The Walking Dead Season 7 [New Entry]

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Controversial choice considering the backlash from fans with the introduction of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the very graphic deaths of Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yuen).  This season of TWD has once again split our survivors into multiple groups, each of which are discovering have all had the same dealings with the bat wielding pack leader.  From Ricks’ (Andrew Lincoln) submission to Negan to Darryl (Norman Reedus) playing prisoner to Carol (Melissa McBride) unsuccessfully going it on the road alone, the tension and raw emotion has never been higher.

3: Ink Master Season 8 – Peck Vs Nunez [New Entry]

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How to change up a slightly stale reality competition series without bringing back past fan favorite contestants over and over?  Do it the Ink Master way!  Pitting judges Oliver Peck and Chris Nunez against each other with hand picked teams of tattoo artists has breathed new life into this show, boasting a massive line up of contestants that were being eliminated from day dot.  The flash challenges have been more interesting, the tattooing more intense and the girl power all female alliance – never seen before on Ink Master – has proven to be one of the greatest alliances ever on the series and put two females (Ryan Ashley Malarkey and Kelly Doty) into the live finale.  Another season like this is highly recommended!

2: Stranger Things Season 1 [New Entry]

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Most of us were instantly drawn into this Netflix series just off the awesomely authentic 80’s synthesized opening theme.  It played so well into this tale of medical experiments, a missing child, a seriously creepy ‘underworld’ and a nameless little girl trying to survive – all set in the mid 1980’s.  The flash and meme worthy series (Barb anyone?!) offered up cover-ups and government conspiracies, utter scares and touching moments given by pretty much all over the main cast.

1: UnReal Season 2 [#2 in 2015]

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Always a sketchy move coming off a bumper first series but UnReal kept doing what it does best – offering up must-watch TV that is smartly written and skillfully acted.  Rachel (Shiri Appebey) goes fully fledged into girl power territory by becoming BFF’s with her boss Quinn (Constance Zimmer) after the breakup of her romance with season one bachelor Adam (Freddie Stroma) and makes the bold move to introduce Everlasting’s first ever black suitor in NFL quarterback Darius Beck (B.J Britt).  The perusing episodes throughout the season slam into us like a steamroller on steroids as Rachel and Quinn constantly butt heads and egos, both trying to take control of the show and climb up the Hollywood glass ladder.

 

FRONT, Local TV, Wentworth

Literal Blood, Sweat & Tears for Wentworth’s Season 4 Finale

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Lady be crazy!  (c) Fremantle Media/SoHoTV

WHAT A FINALE!!

Why is everyone so shocked?!  I mean really come on, this is Wentworth people!  The team creating this show have always set the bar high for compelling television and continue to raise that bar with each and every season finale!

My last post, I offered up some season 4 end game theories which came off from not having previewed the episode but from reading what Wentworth had offered up during the season.  My score card?  Not the greatest…i’m giving myself a 3.5 out of 8….so not even 50% but let’s look back at that finale and how my I went in my predictions.

SPOILERS BELOW!!  Do not continue if you have NOT watched the season 4 finale!

1: Ferguson Becomes a Free Woman (sort of right) /// I was partially right on this one!  Joan did in fact find freedom after raking in Jake (Bernard Curry) to kill star witness Nils Jesper (Tony Nikolakopoulos).  It was a bold move on Ferguson’s behalf but that final scene proved that her freedom will be certainly short lived.

2: Sonia reveals her true freak (right) /// Sonia (Sigrid Thornton) kept us guessing for most of the season as to her guilt or innocence and as I called it, we would discover that Sonia in fact is a cold hearted murderer but in the way we found out was nothing short of chilling.  After a meeting with Det. Don Kaplan (Steve Bastoni) Liz (Celia Ireland) discovers that the body of Sonia’s missing friend had been found with a shaved head.  It was an odd mention to reveal and after seeing Sonia’s devastated response to her friends death, Liz believed Sonia to be innocent.  It’s not until Sonia offers to be the one to shave Maxine’s head as she goes through chemotherapy that Sonia, so calm and gentle mind you, mentions the power one has when shaving someone’s head and that it’s a symbol of rebirth.  It’s the first reveal of Sonia’s inner freak that Liz or us viewers have ever seen.

3: There Will be no Top Dog (wrong) /// Karen (Tammy Macintosh) says early on in this final episode that she doesn’t want the job…”let someone else take charge”.  It’s after a brutal fight between herself and Bea in which Bea believed Kaz to be the one to give Allie (Kate Jenkison) a ‘hot shot’ that she overdosed on.  It’s not until she’s ‘drafted’ by the other imates that she accepts the job of prison top dog.

4: Boomer Does not Fall Pregnant (right) /// It was only a short scene, a very quiet mention in which Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) reveals to Liz that the pregnancy didn’t take.  While only a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene, it was another touching moment for Booms this season.

5: Vera Will Discover Jake’s Past Offences (wrong) /// Jake managed to not only keep his secrets hidden from Vera, he left his co-worker Will Jackson (Robbie Magasiva) exposed as he kept his tracks hidden when Vera (Kate Atkinson) demanded an officer wide drug test to try and find who helped smuggle the drugs in that somehow ended up in Allie’s veins.

6: An Inmate Will Die (sort of wrong) /// To be clear, Allie woke up from her coma and Bea…well they can’t kill Bea right?!  Wentworth played a sneaky game on us by making us believe Allie would not wake from her induced coma thanks to the overdose provided to her by Joan.  In the meantime, we all believed that Bea would finally get her final revenge on Joan for those actions but when the tables turned on Bea, she, like us, all believed there was no hope for Allie and literally surrendered herself to the brutality of a stabbing with a screwdriver.

7: Doreen’s Sentence is Extended/Reduced (sort of right) /// While there was no mention of Doreen’s (Shareena Clanton) current sentence being altered, it was revealed she “doesn’t have that much time left” and that it should play well for her if she were to request a transfer to Perth where Nash (Luke McKenzie) is currently holed up with their son Joshua.  There wasn’t much more for Doreen this episode but it looks like this decision will play heavily into her story line for season 5.

8: Franky Distances Herself from Wentworth (wrong) ///  Can I just say though, was I the only one thinking the worst when Franky (Nicole da Silva) put the gun she took from Shayne (Hunter Page-Lochard) into her pants outside the court where Joan’s trial was taking place?!  While that scene decided to go no where, it seems like Franky has no desire to remove herself from the ladies inside Wentworth and that was shown in a touching scene between herself and Bea in the visitors room where the two talked love and life.

So there you have it.  Another wonderful season, another spine tingling season finale!  Will Bea survive her attack?  Will Allie make a full recovery?  What will happen to Ferguson? Will Jake keep his secrets close? Will Doreen make the transfer to Perth?  Will Franky and Bridget live happily ever after?  Sound off in the comments above!

Foxtel, FRONT, Local TV, Wentworth

Wentworth Fourth Season Premiere Date Announced

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Mark your diaries people – Wentworth’s fourth season premiere has finally been announced and it’s coming to SoHo on Tuesday, May 10th!  I’ll just start with the reveal trailer….

 

Season four will see Bea and the inmates return to Cell Block H after the destructive fire that tore through the prison in the third season finale but not all is as it seems with another inmate looking to take Bea’s top dog position within the jail.  There’s also a confirmation that Frankie Doyle (Nicole da Silva) and Bridget Westfall (Libby Tanner) will be back with Frankie now free from Wentworth trying to adjust to life outside the walls of Wentworth and ‘the freak’ aka Joan Ferguson is still around, albeit spending some time wrapped cozily in a stylish white jacket!

New faces to this season includes Sigrid Thornton as Sonia Stevens, a wealthy cosmetics entrepreneur, recent entrant into Wentworth and murder suspect.  Bernard Curry as Corrections Officer Jake Stewart and Kate Jenkinson as another new inmate Allie Novak.

So once again, remember, Season four begins Tuesday, May 10th on the SoHo channel on Foxtel!

Foxtel, FRONT, Local TV, Wentworth

SoHo Teases First Wentworth Season Four Look

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Push our buttons why don’t you SoHo!  Yesterday, via the SoHo Channel Facebook page, a small and soundless snippet of a trailer was posted with the words

“Your patience has been rewarded…
Wentworth Season 4 – COMING IN MAY!
#Wentworth #Season4 #SoHoTVAU #Foxtel“

That’s it.  Nothing more and nothing less.  Not even an exact date in May!!!  As we’re now in mid March, this is the longest we’ve ever had to wait for any information on the upcoming season of Wentworth (bypassing the new cast members) and this snippet is sure not to be the last before the May premiere date.

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So now it’s a waiting game as SoHo relentlessly tease us with these meager flecks of information!

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Are you excited for the new season of Wentworth?!  Sound off in the comments above!

Drama, Foxtel, FRONT, TV, Wentworth

Wentworth Season 4 Air Date Revealed?!

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One thing is for sure, Wentworth, the top-notch Aussie based prison drama from Foxtel’s SoHo channel, sure know how to keep fans waiting!  While seasons three 2015 premiere date was revealed on Christmas day 2014, the only information us eager fans have been treated to is the casting of Bernard Curry as corrections officer Jake Stewart, Kate Jenkinson as new inmate Allie Novak and Sigrid Thornton as inmate Sonia Stevens.

But, is it possible we’ve finally been given the news we’ve all been waiting for?

Wentworth’s official twitter page has been oddly dormant since Jan 12th, Foxtel’s have been very silent on anything Wentworth and SoHo’s is the same applies to all three’s other social media accounts including Facebook pages.  Wentworth star Danielle Cormack though posted to her Instagram account attempting to set the record straight on the date

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The 25. 04. 2016 date falls into line with Wentworth’s usual premiere dates for an April start, so until official word comes through, as per usual, it’s a waiting game for us all!

 

FRONT, TV

Best of 2015 – TV Characters

It’s been an impressive and varied landscape of television this year that saw the end of Mad Men, the cancellation of Hannibal, the surprise death of Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy and the reveal of Pretty Little Liars’ Big A.

From a small-time suburban drug dealer to a former down-trodden housewife fighting a zombie apocalypse, a Queen who has fallen from glory to a formerly pussy-whipped husband and a mother willing to do anything to get what she wants….these are just some of the defining characters that made a huge impact this year on our TV screens.

Either love them or hate them (or love to hate them), check out my list of the 12 best characters that graced our screens in 2015

12: Charlotte King (Erika Heynatz) – Home and Away

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Not since the introduction of ‘The River Boys’ to Home and Away‘s Summer Bay has a single character impacted both the residents of the bay and viewers alike.  Charlotte King’s (Erika Heynatz) main goal of reuniting with her former love Zach (Charlie Clausen) had become skewed over time resulting in this small town teacher resorting to lying, sex with a student, black mail, theft and a double murder.  This, of course, led to her murder yet Charlotte’s web was so wide and tangled with victims that there is an unlimited amount of suspects as to who killed her.

11: Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride) – The Walking Dead

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The second half of season five and the first episode of season 6 were quiet ones for Carol.  The woman who’s proficient with the use of sniper rifles and small blades seemed to have found peace within the walls of Alexandria embracing the safety and familiarity of what life was before….until episode “JSS” – 6×02 when rogue survivor group The Wolves brutally attacked Alexandria and went on a murdering spree, sending Carol into a ninja mode like we’ve never seen her in before.  Her will to protect her kin outweighed the moral right Morgan was trying to enforce which resulted in a bare-knuckles slam down fight between the two.  Look out Michonne, there’s a new slayer in town!

10: Bridget Westfall (Libby Tanner)- Wentworth

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Finding the balance between professional and personal was a very wobbly tightrope for Wentworth Prison’s new psychologist.  The openly gay Bridget found herself the target of inmate Frankie Doyle’s (Nicole Da Silva) affection to which, it turned out, the feelings were mutual.  Working closely with Frankie to help her earn freedom and bring down the tyrannical Governor, Bridget flitted between the lines of right and wrong within professional misconduct which eventually saw her unemployed but happily in love with the recently released Frankie.

9: Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) – Game of Thrones

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Oh how the mighty have fallen!  Cersei’s greedy need to remain in power and her dislike for the Tyrell’s ultimately saw her downfall from Queen to Queen mother to filthy peasant rotting away in a cell.  A stark contrast from the sharp tongued powerhouse, Cersei’s confronting walk of atonement through the streets of Kings Landing remains one of the most astonishing falls from grace seen this year.

8: Bonnie Winterbottom (Liza Weil)- How to get Away With Murder

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Got murder on the mind?  Bonnie (Liza Weil) did during this season of HTGAWM when we learnt the formerly mousy legal aid to the big and brassy Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) was behind the murder (via way suffocation mind you) of bad girl Rebecca.  Throw in a relationship with student Asher (Matt McGorry) and the revelation Bonnie had been sexually abused as a child and suddenly the quiet Bonnie became a force to be reckoned with – covering up multiple murders and even going toe to toe with Annalise.

7: Donnie Hendrix (Kristian Bruun) – Orphan Black

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Of the myriad of clones, government organizations, montiors and love interests that swamp the very excellent Orphan Black, this year saw one stand out more than usual.  Soccer mom clone Alison Hendrix’s hapless husband Donnie actually shined this year, stepping out from his wife’s overbearing shadow and going head first into Alison’s brand new drugs-for-bored-moms business.  The underwear bed dance with Alison while they ‘made it rain’ was just the start of this brand new Donnie.

6: Asher Millstone (Matt McGorry) – How to get Away with Murder

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Of all of Annalise Keating’s minions, Asher seemed to lean more towards that of being somewhat leveled headed.  While having no involvement with Sam’s murder and subsequent cover up, the overtly loud and confident Asher had his dark past exposed revealing his involvement in the gang rape of a student in his residence years earlier.  For Asher, this revelation sadly led to blackmail, the suicide of his father, the dissolution of his relationship with his mother and eventually the murder of D.A Emily Sinclair throwing Asher right into the mix of murder cover ups that plague his friends.

5: Emma (Jessica St.Clair) and Maggie (Lenard Parham) – Playing House

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There’s no splitting these two best friends up which is why it was an easy decision to keep them together for this list.  Emma and Maggie showed this year that no man, no baby, no sex-with-an-ex and no Kenny Loggins could ever screw with their friendship.  They continuously present us with a humorously authentic look at the relationship between two best friends who like to cross dress, make bird houses and smash the dance floor with body rolls.

4: Ce Ce Drake/Charlotte DiLaurentis/Charlies DiLaurentis (Vanessa Ray) – Pretty Little Liars

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Pretty Little Liars offered up the mind fuck of the season by not only revealing that Ce Ce Drake (Vanessa Ray) was Big A, but that Ce Ce was also a DiLaurentis – Charles DiLaurentis in fact, now known as Charlotte. It was her parents – Jessica and Kenneth’s issues with her gender identity crisis that set off the whole Big A scandal when they shipped him off to Radley Institution.  Throw in the murder of Toby’s mother along with sisterly jealousy vibes  and Ce Ce became one of the biggest players in the series.

3: Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts) – Scream Queens

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The sassy, fashion obsessed and utterly evil Kappa Kappa Tau sorority president Chanel Oberlin could be considered to be quite despicable with her treatment of fellow Chanel’s and those less fortunate than her, but every now and then, a small glimmer of human slithers through Chanel’s frosty well dressed exterior.  Her zippy one liners and god-awful on-again-off-again relationship with equally transparent Chad Radwell (Glen Powell) made for great viewing.

2: Quinn King (Constance Zimmer) – UnREAL

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Heartless, greedy, bitch, thoughtful, loving, woman.  Just some of the words one could easily use to describe the woman behind the Bachelor inspired love at first sight TV series Everlasting.  Quinn had the ability to carelessly destroy (emotionally and physically) her fellow woman and it was all for ratings and professional growth.  She was after all the puppet master who controlled the romantic life of numerous women.   While her circle of those who meant most to her was quite small, Quinn showed she would do anything to protect them even if it ended in heartache and utter hatred.  Yet when you tear down the brutal hardness and moral corruptness of Quinn’s exterior, underneath there was a woman who oddly enough was looking for stability and romance……but would only accept it if she was also winning at everything else.

1: Allison Carr (Miranda Otto) – Homeland

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A new member to the Homeland family, Berlin Station Chief Allison Carr has the ability to talk herself into and way out of everything from putting Carrie’s (Claire Danes) name on an assassins hit list to roaming the halls of the CIA moments after being arrested for treason and cover up a double homicide while allowing a terrorist attack to take place – all while divulging USA secrets to the Russians.  It’s all for a good cause though as Allison has literally millions of dollars waiting for her once her task with the Russians are complete.  Unlike many ‘bad guys’ there’s no redeemable qualities to Allison and she’s riding front and centre on the karma train.

So there you have it!  My 12 best TV characters for 2015.  Who made you list or do you agree with mine?  Sound off in the coments below!