IT WAS AN unforgettable climax to the penultimate episode of Wentworth.

Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson’s (Pamela Rabe) eyes bulged as she was hoisted into the air by her fellow inmates, noose tightening around her neck.

She kicked in desperation, grabbed at the rope, face turning crimson. She came crashing to the ground only after Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson) pushed through the crowd of chanting inmates and severed the rope.

It was can’t-look-away television, and Rabe tells us that even re-watching the scene had a huge impact on her. “It was brilliant, but horrific … I was left shaking,” she says.

“I found it very upsetting … watching so many of those characters and their reaction to what was happening. I was seeing this inexorable journey of Joan’s, this unravelling that the writers of the show created for her. When I sat down to watch it, I lived it again, in a way. I was suddenly struck by all that purging of emotion.”

It’s a telling statement from one of Australia’s most powerful performers, and speaks volumes about Wentworth – about how its impressive levels of writing, production standard and acting sets it apart from so many shows.

And it’s a testament to how viewers are so emotionally invested in the show’s characters that the show maintains an extraordinary capacity for suspense and surprise, especially at a time when it’s easy to be blasé about screen violence.

The trigger for this episode’s incredible climax – which presented some of the most jarring, disturbing moments in the history of Australian TV – was the prison falling so deeply into the depths of corruption.

Governor Bennett has been sidelined by the sleazy Derek Channing (Martin Sacks), who is muscling in on Jake Stewart’s (Bernard Curry) drug profits, Franky (Nicole da Silva) is likely to pay a huge price for a murder she did not commit, and Liz (Celia Ireland) collapses when she realises she was used by dodgy detective Don Kaplan (Steve Bastoni) in his campaign to free Sonia Stevens (Sigrid Thornton).

Kaz (Tammy MacIntosh) has persuaded Franky to join forces to bring down the Freak, leading to a kangaroo court where the women get to challenge Ferguson’s reign of horror as top dog.

“It was two very intense days of filming in the yard,” Rabe explains. “Joan has burned so many bridges. Her objective at the beginning of this season was to pay back Vera, to destroy her, for betraying her.”

However she admits that by the time these events occurred, the Freak has got herself into a corner. “You watch the episode and it occurred to me how incredibly alone [Joan] was. All the stabilising factors, she’s detached herself from them and has lost control.”

Her character has until now exerted a frightening degree of physical and emotional control over the inmates, rising pretty quickly to top-dog status. So we ask Rabe where does her near-death experience in the exercise yard leave her, especially after her explosive outburst towards the other inmates?

“Joan played mind games, terrorised them with sheer animal strength. Now she may have let the genie out of the bottle a little too much,” she says. “In a way she has now acknowledged the animal within herself.”

Another shocking aspect of the scene was seeing Joan’s long-time nemesis, Vera, come to her rescue, when she could easily have let her die. “We’ll see some of the effects of that play out in the finale,” Rabe teases. “Joan would not really understand why Vera would do that, because when Vera was taken hostage by the inmates Ferguson was willing to sacrifice her to maintain order.”

However, Joan is nothing without a long-term plan, so Rabe admits that we would be foolish to think that her ‘trial’ will keep her down. “Joan has no friends, no help or support, but she won’t stop trying, I can tell you that.”

Wentworth (s5) FINALE - Tuesday June 20 at 8.30pm est on showcase [114].

Watch Wentworth Season 5 on the drama combo

- Darren Devlyn