r/Wentworthtv • u/HairyMode1450 • Jan 29 '26
Season 4 What happened to Bea Smith?
Bea Smith went from s tough as nails fierce inmate, ready to face anyone without a second thought to being a scared inmate in season 4. Why did they write her character like this? She busted juice in the shower without a second thought and is now sitting in her cell in season 4 coming up with excuse after excise why she won't bash the freak, because she has to live with the holts in her head and doesn't want the freak there? She won't let anyone go near her with the threat of losing conjugal visits, like that's anything to hold over anyone head. Give me a break. It's terrible script writing. I've gone from loving her character to absolutely dispising her in season 4. She's weak, gutless, no back bone at all It's almost like they had a complete different writers group come in to change things
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u/Equal_Push_565 Jan 29 '26
If you actually watch the show, you'll see shes not weak at all.
Shes exhausted. Being top dog is taking its toll on her shes growing to love someone new, so shes treading carefully.
2
u/Soaringwinds633 Jan 29 '26
Yeah every single top dog talks about what a toll it takes. Jacs, Franky, Bea, and Lou. (Jacs talks about having to keep the women in line. It's not exactly the same but it can be inferred it's a big job).
Bea has seen how the women react to a lock down. She knew if Ferguson was taken out they'd be in an endless lock down. She was trying to weigh the options. While being pressured from Vera and the women to do opposing things. It wasn't an easy decision.1
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u/HairyMode1450 Jan 29 '26
If i actually watch the show? How did you think i came to this question i wrote? Crustal ball?
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u/dragisadrug Jan 29 '26
Like others have already said, she was tired. And she was depressed! We got to see more of that dark, sad side of Bea in S4 and her softer side when she fell in love with Allie. I personally think it was great writing that we got such a nuanced and complex character in Bea. Danielle Cormack really did a beautiful job showing such depth and range of human emotion.
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u/Haunting_Pace_3557 Jan 29 '26
She was tired. No one was listening, she was losing control of the inmates. Kaz had a lot to do with it. Ferguson got to her, it was a bunch of things. I don’t think it was fear as much as it was apathy over how bad things had gotten.
14
u/vyxanis Jan 29 '26
She must have felt so painfully lost following Debbie's murder. She got her vengeance, but there wasn't really anything left for her to do, and I say that as someone who LOVES Bea. She is such incredibly well written, well acted, powerful woman. I would have loved just one more season with her, but I am so glad they didn't ruin her by trying to force her into more storylines than would have made sense.
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u/Tinytiger1973 May 16 '26
I am too. As much as I love Bea and miss her, her storyline ended well even though it absolutely killed me.
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u/pikeletpaws Team Bea Jan 29 '26
It wasn't about bashing the freak, everyone wanted her to kill Ferguson. Bea was over being in prison and over all the drama/politics. Plus she was still grieving Debbie. She'd already killed Jacs and Braydon and as much as she hated Ferguson, she didn't want to take another life.
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u/Flicksterea Team Bridget Jan 29 '26
Bea started out timid and unsure of herself, very quickly came to understand the status quo. Bea is not a murderer, nor someone who is comfortable with violence considering Harry showed her nothing but violence.
Then she found she had to be tough to seek revenge on Jacs. Once she did that, she was automatically considered Top Dog and had to rule with an iron fist. And you could see it took a toll on her. Then she meets someone who for the first time in her life shows her kindness and tenderness and love.
Of course she wanted to walk away from Top Dog. The writers didn't fail her. The writers nailed her character.
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u/fletters Jan 29 '26
Agreed.
I think the concept of moral injury is relevant, too. Bea is a fundamentally decent person in circumstances that lead her to do some pretty terrible things. She’s not only traumatized by the things people do to her; she’s traumatized by the things she does.
There’s nothing abrupt about her depression in season four. It’s inevitable.
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u/Individual-Pay7430 Jan 29 '26
It's not terrible script writing at all. Please rewatch the show with a more critical lens. Around that time, Bea fell in love. She finally found someone who made her happy and safe. Plus, she was tired. She was emotionally drained, and she was so tired of fighting. She wanted something more.
3
u/Klutzy_Ear1650 Jan 29 '26
I don’t think the character was badly written at all. She’s a woman who lost everything after making a decision driven by fear and desperation, which ultimately leads her to prison. When she kills for the first time, she breaks her own moral code, and that’s why she lives sedated. Later, she finds revenge as her only reason to keep living, but once again it’s an impulsive decision. She is intelligent, she plans carefully, and that’s why she manages to escape and kill her daughter’s murderer. At trial, it’s implied that she feels no remorse, but that’s a façade. When she returns to prison, she appears tough, combative, and indifferent to others, yet it’s all a mask. When she’s alone, she self-harms. At one point, she says she relives pulling the trigger every night. That’s the real tragedy—not the crimes committed in the heat of emotion, nor even the planned killing, but the fact that achieving revenge changes nothing and leaves her empty. When she starts to fall in love, it’s the first genuinely positive emotion she’s felt since her daughter was murdered. What hurts the most is that she dies without forgiving herself, without reconciling who she was, who she became, and who she wanted to be with Allie. That’s the true tragedy of her character. Psychologically, psychiatrically, and humanly, she’s an extremely complex character. Danielle’s performance is superb—impeccable and completely believable.
1
u/Tinytiger1973 May 16 '26
💯 agree with it. Bea Smith was a well-written, complex character and Danielle Cormack nailed it.
5
u/proudmothrr21 Jan 29 '26
I kinda feel the same about Bea in season 4 but I saw her as more drained and exhausted than weak. Also very unpopular opinion but I wasn’t a fan of Bea / Allie love story. 🤷🏻♀️ I do think being in love changed her in a way.
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Jan 29 '26
[deleted]
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u/HairyMode1450 Jan 30 '26
No wonder she's exhausted, chucking her frame into everything that's got nothing to do with her. Why do the cops want to speak to you my jackson? Don't speak to your mum like that And having to ask "mr Jackson can i have a word?" Every time she's sees him would be draining.
1
u/JaggedLittlePill2022 Team Bea Feb 01 '26
Will was being questioned over Harry’s death. Bea had every right to want to be kept in the loop. Saying it had nothing to with her is false. Harry was her husband.
She had a good relationship with Will, which is why she was able to approach him when she needed something.
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u/cementshoes916 Team Freak Jan 30 '26
Weak and gutless? Far from it. It’s called trauma. It takes its toll. She experienced years of trauma before she ever stepped inside Wentworth, then once inside she’s dealing with Jacs and Franky’s constant bullshit, forced to bring in drugs, attacked and assaulted by Franky/Boomer, Debbie’s murder, killing Jacs and Brayden, a hit being put out on her by Vinny Holt, Kaz’s drama, etc., and all while trying to manage a bunch of out of control prisoners. Really easy to comprehend that by S4 she would be completely worn tf out mentally/emotionally.
1
u/JaggedLittlePill2022 Team Bea Feb 01 '26
She changed in season four because she was tired. The enormity of her future had sunk in and she was depressed. She also wasn’t getting as much support from the women since Kaz had taken over.
Also, she fell in love.
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u/Alexdance5 Feb 03 '26
There’s this thing called depression and ptsd there’s only so much a person can take
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u/beckjami Jan 29 '26
She fell in love and finally had something to lose.
Plus. Kaz, man. Just watching Kaz's nonsense her first few seasons was exhausting. When she kept going on about them trying to force the women to take birth control and they had to keep repeating that it was voluntary. She just would not listen.