Bea Smith begins her life as a remand prisoner in Wentworth after being charged with attempted murder of her husband. She is immediately caught up in a battle between Governor Meg Jackson and rising Top Dog, Franky Doyle. Siding with Franky unleashes Meg's retribution as she releases the reigning Top Dog, Jacs Holt, back into the compound to pull Franky back into line.

A grief stricken Will is obsessed with finding his wife's killer and blackmails Doreen into helping him, threatening the removal of Kaiya. When he discovers Meg's bracelet is missing, the resulting (ramp) dog search traumatises Kaiya and Doreen comes to the unselfish conclusion that the little girl is better off living on the outside.

Franky is confronted with a visit from her father who abandoned her as a young child. He wants to offer Franky a life on the outside when she is released but after a momentary connection. Franky is torn, she wants her father but banishes him from her life.

Franky teaches Bea a lesson in loyalty leaving her vulnerable to Jacs. When a child used to smuggle drugs into the prison overdoses, the women assume Jacs is responsible but are too afraid to punish her for breaking the prison code.

Unsettled by an erotic dream about Franky, Erica tries to avoid Franky but they are thrown together when Channing decides to use Franky as the poster girl for prison reform. Erica is forced to tutor Franky but their close proximity and Franky's provocation leave her hot and bothered. Erica's sexual frustration at work illuminates the problems in her relationship with her fiancé, Mark.

Vera's attempt to make herself over to impress Fletch backfires when he confronts her about flirting with him when she has a boyfriend. When Vera defies her controlling mother to go out with some officers after work, her mother punishes her by turning up to work to publicly shame Vera and expose the truth about her relationship with her fantasy boyfriend.

With Franky in the slot, Jacs is ruling the prison and the women are living in fear. When word gets out that Franky is to be released back into the compound, Jacs plans a brutal attack. Bea challenges Jacs and pays a high price. Jacs attacks Bea to safeguard her silence, but when Franky is released from the slot, Jacs' plans take an unexpected turn.

The officers and women are on edge, aware of Jacs' downward swing in popularity, while Bea's is on the rise. They are waiting for the next round of reprisals. To Liz's disgust, Franky continues to push Bea to confront Jacs while Jacs scrambles to claw back ground by blackmailing Will and revealing Vera as responsible for the riot where Meg was killed.

Fletch reacts badly to Bea's grief, not only unsympathetic, but it triggers memories of a horrific experience in East Timor. Using Vera as a distraction, he ends up humiliating her when their first sexual encounter ends disastrously. He finds an ally in Channing and when he explains his actions to Vera, she agrees to think about starting over.

Bea discovers the link between Debbie's secret boyfriend and Jacs and immediately believes Jacs was behind her daughter's death. She is counselled by Liz to handle things the right way and convinces Erica to talk to the police. Fletch makes amends to Vera and they grow closer, finally making love. But when Vera discovers Fletch's journal and believes he killed Meg, he rejects her.