No Place Like Home (Wentworth)

"No Place Like Home" is the first episode of Wentworth. The episode primarily centres around Bea Smith. This episode introduced the major characters Bea, Franky, Liz, Doreen, Jacs, Vera, Erica, Will, Boomer, Harry and Debbie. The main plot of the episode centers around Bea trying to fit in to prison life while it tells her story of her being regularly abused by her husband. Other storylines feature the rivalry between Jacs and Franky which results in a riot which kills governor Meg Jackson.

Plot

The episode begins with Bea being transported to Wentworth Prison. Before arriving at Wentworth Bea witnesses another prisoner in the van giving the guard oral sex for cigarettes. Bea then meets Will who is processing her; when she realises she hasn’t spoken to her daughter Debbie she loses her cool and has to be sedated.

The next day, Bea is being taken to her cell by Vera Bennett. Bea then meets Franky and Kim when they are having sex in her cell. Franky mocks Bea’s name and then shows a form of interest in that Bea is a hairdresser. Bea then meets Liz and Doreen. Bea offends Doreen a little when she notes that she wouldn’t want Debbie seeing the inside of a prison.

Franky plans to use Bea as a drug mule, when Bea is caught by Meg Jackson with drugs in her possession she is slotted for refusing to speak against the other prisoners. When in the slot Bea overhears Jacs Holt singing On the Inside (the theme of the original series Prisoner). Will visits Bea with her breakfast the next morning and tells Bea that her silent approach is the best way to be especially with the women.

Meg releases Jacs from the slot and Franky is scared and gets up support to cause a riot, Liz fails to talk Franky out of the riot. During the riot Franky gets ambushed and Jacs tries to cut around Franky’s tattoos. Bea is chasing Kaiya during the riot and then trips over Meg’s dead body while the other prisoners and staff watch.

The episode ends with Will crying over Meg’s body.

Flashbacks

The flashbacks in this episode focus on Bea and the physical and sexual abuse she received from husband Harry. Bea got the courage to stand up to Harry but her plan was foiled by Debbie, who immediately called an ambulance.

Harry later told the police that he was feeling suicidal covering up for Bea but he went and hit Bea when Debbie wasn't looking.

Reception

TV Equals described this episode as "Things have been changed to suit modern sensibilities, of course, and this updated series has been stripped of the campy sets, dialogue and black humour and populated instead with sex, violence and a heroine with a journey to go on. That’s Bea Smith, a woman whose been put away for the attempted murder of her abusive husband, and her experience in this first episode will surely inform her future trajectory up the hierarchy of her new surroundings. But first she’ll have to contend with warring queen bees Franky and Jacs, whose confrontation this week results in the death of a warden."^[1]

An IMDB review claims that the end scene between Franky and Jacs is "beautifully staged and filmed, forming a dramatic crux, to a largely introductory episode."^[2]

It was said by Elaine Atwell writing for AfterEllen, " I tell you this not to scare you off, but to caution you that if you’re looking for a show to fill the OINTB-shaped hole in your heart, this one is actually likely to wound you much deeper. Anyway, welcome to Wentworth prison. Let’s jump right in to the trauma, shall we?"^[3]

John Crace writing for The Guardian stated "Just with more lesbians, more tattoos and more violence. And fewer sets that wobbled any time someone accidentally knocked into them. I can't believe this is the best drama being made in Australia right now, but I also can't believe that the only place in the whole prison without CCTV is the exact spot where Governor Jackson got knifed, shortly after snogging one of her wardens – male, surprisingly – in her office. It was also disturbing to find the lead character – wrongly banged up, obviously – looking like a young Rebekah Brooks. If you like this sort of thing, you're in for a treat. I rather preferred the wobbly sets."^[4]

Ian Hollingshead writing for The Telegraph said "The final showdown between Franky (Nicole da Silva) and Jacs (Kris McQuade), a young tattooed lesbian and a schoolmarmish matron, laced with malice as they fought over who would be top dog, was so compelling – and the cliffhanger so agonising – that it would be a crime to miss the next instalment."^[5]

Ratings

Wentworth drew in 244,000 viewers for its premiere.^[6] Meanwhile Foxtel spokesperson Jamie Campbell said that "more people watched Wentworth last night than any other Australian drama series premiere in Foxtel history".^[6]

References

External links

• No Place Like Home at the Internet Movie Database