When I say Netflix prison drama you probably think I’m talking about Orange is the New Black, right? Well while I do love the ladies of Litchfield, we are going down under to the even more intense women’s prison, Wentworth. The series is a modern re-imagining of Prisoner, a prison based soap opera style drama that aired in the 1970’s and 80’s. Wentworth in just its first two seasons takes you on a roller-coaster of craziness with a diverse cast of characters and remarkably well written plot lines. This recap will just look at the first two seasons to showcase just why you should be watching this show.

The first season of Wentworth reminded me a lot of Orange is the New Black when I first watched it. It focuses on Bea Smith, who has been arrested for the attempted murder of her husband. While that might make her sound like a villainous woman, Bea has actually been dealing with her husband’s abusive behavior for years and finally snapped. After being arrested Bea finds herself dealing with the ins and outs of prison life and has to find her place within the system. While she’s in prison Bea’s daughter Debbie is stuck in a home with a father who is more focused on torturing her mother than on parenting her. In this season the big bad boss of the prison is the wife of a crime lord named Jacs. Jacs may run the prison, but Bea becomes friends with Franky, a younger prisoner who holds her own by smuggling in drugs.

Besides general prison drama, at the end of the first episode the current governor, that’s just the name for the person who runs the prison, is found stabbed to death. The core plot of the season is finding out who killed the governor and why, but we also see Bea dealing with attacks from Jacs, not just inside the prison, but on her daughter. Debbie gets drawn into drugs and her mother can do nothing to help her. Much like Orange is the New Black we get to see the backstories for the main prisoners in flashbacks. The end of this season involves not only the reveal of the governor’s killer, but also a pretty intense death that is a huge shock.

Season two drops you right back into the thick of it with Bea in solitary confinement, getting divorced, and on the outs with Franky. This season focuses on Bea getting revenge for things that happened to her daughter in the first season and she becomes laser focused on her goal. Franky is trying to maintain her new found control of the prison, but she finds herself dealing with an intense new governor, who has her own plans for how Wentworth should run. We get to meet some male prisoners and a few new female prisoners are added to the cast, one of whom is transgender. The final episode of season two is literally insane, I feel like I dislocated my jaw when it dropped.

If you like Orange is the New Black you should definitely check this show out, but beyond that if you’re looking for a show full of strong female characters or really just a great new show you should start binging on Netflix now. I haven’t watched season three yet, but I’m guessing it’s going to be crazy.

Want to share your thoughts about Wentworth with us? You can comment below or tweet at us, @thenerdygirlexp. You can also tweet at me, @kleffnotes, find me on my blog, kleffnotes.wordpress.com, and on my kleffnotes YouTube channel.