MovieChat Forums > Wentworth (2013) Discussion > Bea Smith is NOT dead!

Bea Smith is NOT dead!

posted 8 years ago by sm-02022
34 replies | jump to latest

First and foremost the cliffhanger ending of Bea laying on the ground in a pool of blood is not simply to have viewers wonder for ten months if she is dead to only confirm in season 5 that she is dead. The reason why they did that is to keep viewers interested in the show. As well on Twitter when someone was behaving as though Bea was dead, Foxtel's (verified Foxtel's) tweet was word for word 'Or is she?... We'll find out next year...' That is really all the confirmation I need. Furthermore people have been shot in the head at point blank and survived, shot multiple times and survived, stabbed more times than Bea, been in impossible accidents and survived so I cannot say that she is definitely dead. I never heard any officials of Wentworth say Bea Smith is dead and not returning so until I physically see something official I will not believe that she is dead.

That said, the network has truly achieved its goal of creating buzz and holding the interest of viewers for another ten months (Game of Thrones by the way did not need to do this. It is fitting the way characters die. Wentworth on the other hand garnered a different reaction). While the show is doing well, I think they want to see how invested people really are in Danielle Cormack's character so I believe with this little experiment that they have gotten their answer. It's a form of market research and they wanted to see how killing Bea would sit with fans. As for Kate Jenkinson's interview, I don't believe her. She is part of the game.

P.S. If my research has not been thorough, please let me know if there is something definite out there that I missed.

[–] crazygreen1126 8 years ago

Well then the writers & a couple of the actresses are lying because they all confirmed it. The main writer has said multiple times that Bea is 100% dead.

"What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

[–] sm-02022 8 years ago

When season 5 comes out and if she is in deed dead then you can say 'I told you so'. For now the writers and whoever can say whatever they want. The episode itself has not confirmed her death so why do the writers and the actors need to come out and confirm the death of the character? If it is made final in season 5 then I will safely say 'Oh, Bea Smith is dead'. This is television at its best and right now she is not dead.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

Where have you been for the past two weeks. I tried to say these things till I was blue in the face.

[–] Heygirl215 8 years ago

She was stabbed a ridiculous amount of times

She lay there motionless in a pool of blood

Her eyes were wide open and STILL motionless

Will and Vera stared at her as if they knew it was too late.

Yea Im gonna say Bea is dead.

[–] Zipp-er 8 years ago

Unfortunately, you are completely right. They don't need to confirm it (although they have), it's obvious she died. :(

[–] Heygirl215 8 years ago

I think people don't want to accept it even though it is extremely obvious because they love Bea. I love her too and will miss her immensely but for whatever reason, the character was killed off the show.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

The same thing happened when she was drowned. They stood there because it was the season finale. They had to leave it open ended because it was the last episode. There is no on screen confirmation, yet. She's not truly dead until it's confirmed on screen. When the characters say she's dead, when we see that they've buried her, etc. She's dead. There's no dialogue or confirmation of her death on screen. Hey I don't mind if she's dead or not but the fact is there was no onscreen confirmation. TV confirms when a person is dead ON SCREEN with dialogue and rituals. Even if they "come back."

[–] christineweast-500-571500 8 years ago

I have to agree with you, all those times that she was stabbed her lifeless body in a huge pool of blood, No one could survive all that!

[–] Heygirl215 8 years ago

Not to mention the actress is in Asian with blonde hair and season 5 is filming as we speak. It doesn't get anymore clearer than that lol. To me at least.

[–] cwissmar 8 years ago

Foxtel is just the company that airs the show. They have zero input into the show and no nothing about season 5. The people who respond to social media are not higher ups who might have a relationship with someone at the production and distribution side -which is FremantleMedia and Wentworth. It is the job of the social media folks to get people to watch the foxtel channels, which their comments are trying to accomplish. The executive producer of Wentworth and director of Drama at fremantlemedia has confirmed that Bea is dead. Also Kate Jenko and Katrina. Danielle even alluded to this is a post about the world losing some color (finale called seeing red).

[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

Foxtel are basically the "Executive Producers". They are the ones paying for it all...

Freemantle media are just an agency that gets it all together to get the show running.

The writers are writing the show, but are definitely influenced by Foxtel, and their input. But unlike America, these "Executive Producers" don't get so much involved here in Aust.

There was an article put out by Foxtel that Bea Smith is not returning to season 5, at all. Danmielle McCormack is in Cambodia right now and they are filming season 5 right now. And they specifically said she will not be appearing at all, not even in flashback. Basically she is off their payroll. There was a post on Facebook, either on Foxtel page or Wentworth page or Soho page. But they made it very clear. I tried looking for it again, but it was weeks ago now and I hate FB, so can't find it again.

But it was absolutely confirmed.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/spoiler-wentworth-has-officially-killed-off-the-character-no-one-thought-theyd-ever-kill-off/news-story/4604b34e9f189e3eaa0375d365c8d7db

Buffy Lives
🐖

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

News.com.au is one of the most sensationalist news websites I've ever seen. Honestly, I never trust anything I read on there....especially when it's in regards to a fictional TV show.

[–] CountryGirl36 8 years ago

I wholeheartedly agree with you! I will not believe she is dead until S5 episode 1!! Bea Smith is Wentworth. And her character is far from boring!

[–] tadaia 8 years ago

When it comes right to it I honestly dont think she's dead. Here's some reasons to believe if you prefer ;). Why would they spoil the show before Wentworth Prison (UK) has even finished airing if it were true? A TV Week article about Wentworth is likely to have links all over the web. The average viewer however is not on social media perusing for Wentworth posts. As I've heard over the years casts often only get 1 or 2 eps of scripts at a time. The cast may be reporting what they're told and what little they know. I think Bea's in a coma for a few eps to give them time to focus on and establish other characters, which would at least make comments about building new dynamics and buoying other characters true. I think Bea returns perhaps mid season healed and with a vengeance. I'm not a doctor but the stab wounds were to her abdomen. I know people that have survived multiple gunshot wounds. If it didn't hit a major artery or vital organ I think she could survive. They made it a point to tell the audience that an ambulance was in route.

Those seahorses were either pointless or they meant something. I believe they meant something. As well I doubt they would taking Ballie from the us when they'd barely even begun. Most shows would give anything to have that, let alone throw it away. Above all else killing Bea Smith would be insane. There are few character/actor combos that compare anywhere on television.

[–] sm-02022 8 years ago

You're on point with the seahorses. You don't use symbolism is for fillers. The seahorses linked tales. Are the writers trying to say 'oh the symbolism was just a filler to make up time. It didn't really mean what it symbolized'. The show is already imperfect, I mean nothing is perfect, but if they eff up something so simple and make it out to be nothing then it borders on really *beep* writing because you don't put a symbol there for it to mean nothing at the end.

It's not that I cannot let go of Bea being dead. It's that it makes no sense. Why all the drama around this? It's a cliffhanger and I begin to think more and more than Dan knows her character is not dead. I get it. Everyone wants to see the finality in this so they look for the links to the most reputable sources that says 'Bea officially dead' but there are too many conflicting stories. I'm not talking about what people say. I'm looking at the cast and the producers and such. When Bea posted on her instagram about 'the world has lost some colour...' and 'thanks for season 4' why didn't she say thanks for all the seasons knowing she is not returning? I mean any normal person knowing they are done with the show will say thanks for the whole thing and not just season 4.

Next thing that Jenko interview she keeps saying 'Bea's death'. Everyone thinks Bea is dead (maybe including her, she's so convincing and intelligent) and they want us to believe it so I'm done with this until 5X01. Let the show itself confirm it for me then I will say my thoughts were wrong and i will see how much it either made no sense to kill Bea or how it made sense to do so. For now she is not dead and it does not make sense to kill her.

[–] tadaia 8 years ago

There's a ton of reasons why it makes no sense from a practical standpoint. As well the finale speaks for itself - Seahorses, gutstabs, 2-3 times letting the audience know of an ambulance in route. If she were to die Will or Vera could've checked her pulse and confirmed for the audience right on the spot. It's a cliffhanger and I believe for practical reasons Bea lives/Cormack returns. The only arguments for that are smoke and mirror comments from staff and cast.

[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

I can see your points, that there could be seen that some triggers are there to point out that Bea is not dead.

I am not a huge Bea fan but I don't dislike her. I think the show was to much on her shoulders, and I saw that from mid season 3. So I was waiting to see what they would do without her.

I think she is dead, I would like to see her dead. So the show can continue without resting on her completely. They couldn't have her as a side character at all. If she's in it she'd always have to be the protagonist. Unless she leaves and killing her off would be the best in terms of story line.

The reasoning for the Seahorses is for us to presume that Bea has died peacefully, knowing in her mind she is still linked to Allie, and the heavens are showing her that. We are seeing the linking of the seahorses in the clouds through Bea's eyes. It gives us a sense of good closure to know Bea thinks she is in the best position and she won. Well at dying she thinks she won, the fact that Allie comes back is not of any importance to Bea's death because Bea has totally believed that the 2 people she really truly loved in the world are dead and she is now joining them.

As for why they left her lying in the street piling out blood, with a zoomed out high above camera shot is for another heavenly shot for us to feel better. It was calm and peaceful, not over dramatic like you suggested, why didn't we have a close up shot of the body that showed us officially she is dead.. Because the way they shot it was a lot more peaceful. That is the symbolism to it there. Its like we are seeing Bea having an outer body experience her soul has left her body and traveling towards the sky/heaven.

All I see/read is people grasping at straws trying to make sense of why she shouldn't be dead, when all the signs are there to show she is.

If she really isn't then I could complain about poor writing. For what I have mentioned in this post is how I see all the screen time, and what it symbolised as to how I see it. But I'm not complaining, I'm not complaining about the show, or any of its writing. I am starting to get annoyed at the amount of people and their outlandish comments as to why she isn't dead, trying to clutch at straws and making out this and that. Denial is not a river in Asia/Africa.

Buffy Lives
🐖

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

It's only denial if they say said she was dead on screen. ON SCREEN is what matters. No one said she was dead on screen. It's not denial, it's simply not calling a situation without confirmation. Only on screen confirmation matters. Because it's what we see and hear as a part of the show. All else is noise.

[–] sm-02022 8 years ago

Thank you. You said it. And I said this before too. The show has to confirm it. If I see something happened on screen why would the crew need to come and say it again which is just trying to convince people? Like in OITNB they confirmed Poussay's death onscreen. They didnt leave the guard on top of her and ended the episode like that. If they did then we would also be skeptical and say well we need to wait until season 5 to see if she is dead or not. Wentworth is an entirely different thing. It's a cliffhanger. It has nothing to do with denial. It's what we actually see on screen.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

Exactly this.

[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

I get what you're saying, and like I said, I'm sure I said, I wouldn't be totally disappointed if she lives somehow and returns. But I also don't need it spelled out to me so obviously. I like to let the writers say what they are saying in between the lines that is what seems to be the most obvious.

If Bea comes back, I don't want to be the type to be always clutching to her character to come back and then finally she does and turn around and say "I told you so". Where as I'm the one who likes to be shocked and surprised when the writers want to make the shock/surprise.

I am expecting that it will be confirmed start of season 4. Because I'd rather it that way and the way they ended it here, rather than seeing them rushing around her trying to revive her. If she isn't actually dead, then the officers would be actively trying to revive her. That is the obvious scenario. If she isn't dead and she comes back I'll feel some contempt towards Will and Vera for not trying harder to revive her at this time.

Also, your outlook is an exact representation of the Bea Smith from the original Prisoner. She was transferred out from Wentworth to another prison. And for years the fans were always waiting and wondering if she'd ever be transferred back. Because so many characters were transferred in during the time from the same prison she went to. So in one episode years later they had an influx of prisoners from that prison because it burnt down, and just in narration they said, 2 inmates died, 1 was Bea Smith.. So even though she'd left and she'd left for good, everyone was just waiting out for her to come back and it was getting to the producers because they hadn't officially written her off "on-screen". So they had to do this and make that statement years later. Which I also see unfair to the writers, who write it so well, but they can't leave any sort of obscurity because of these type of viewers who need it spelled out to them to their face in the absolute obvious way.

I would absolutely love it if they left it at that, and never mentioned her again and finished the whole show off without ever mentioning her again.. Or just mentioning her in memory. Not because I want the door open for her to return, but for the writing to speak for itself and have our own interpretation.

Buffy Lives
🐖

[–] sm-02022 8 years ago

You're right with this. I agree. When season 5X01 comes out if she is dead she is dead. If they leave it as it ended then that would be the confirmation and the door would be closed.The writers would not need to read and spell for us because I hate that. But right now the door is still wide open.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

You don't have to be insulting in your delivery. Those of us who wait for confirmation aren't daft or small brained. It's just the way tv works and we know it. There is always confirmation and there wasn't one at the end of season 4. It's not about what is obvious to who it's about how television works. Your reasoning is working outside of how television works.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

And you seem to fail to see that them not ever mentioning her again etc is the only confirmation needed but it is in fact on screen confirmation. But them leaving it open ended which they have on screen is reality.

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

With all due respect Mr. Gordo, this isn't a soap opera anymore. Wentworth is filmed as a cinematic TV show, and despite the title focusing on the establishment in question, is centered around Bea. The plot for the entire series as described by websites like IMDB and Netflix mention Bea in their plot descriptions, because she is the TV show's main character, not a main character for a season or two. The entire show revolves around Bea's adaptation and reaction to prison life. If the series were a soap opera or episodic like Law & Order, then I can see it reasonable for her to leave the show. However, Wentworth is marketed akin to series such as The Wire, Breaking Bad, or Justified, which all have non character centric titles, but present one primary protagonist throughout the show. The Australian media also likes to sensationalise its TV productions, which I can understand, as it's a good way to get their audience to tune in and support native series'. This is probably why Bea has been pushed and promoted as being "dead" by news outlets.

[–] Mr_Gordo 8 years ago

Jesus. If you actually need it to be actually spelled out to you, to be forcefully explained to you in the show, then you are daft... That isn't how television works. It is abstract. They can do what ever they want...

And for those who can't accept it and put the pressure on the writers and producers to have it actually spelled out to them, like the example I gave regarding the Bea in the original Prisoner, then its people like you who give the producers and writers are unnecessary hard time.

And look at the characters in Prisoner. Sandy Edwards disappearance was never explained and Sonia Stevens demise was never fully clarified. That is what makes for great writing. But people like you who don't appreciate that ruin it for them.

And as for news.com.au sure they may not be reputable. But I have seen that quote on the foxtel FB page. And it is actually quoted, and is illegal to do so and even news.com.au doesn't actually misquote. If they had I'm sure the producers would have been right up0 them!!!!

Buffy Lives
🐖

[–] kenny2001-2 8 years ago

I will be okay if Bea is dead... but only if the Governor is found guilty of her murder and sent back to Wentworth with a 90 years to life sentence. Oh, and Franky has to violate her parole and get sent back into prison so that she can again become the sexiest inmate in the world.

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

I think the actress (Franky) wants to break into American TV shows/movies though. The next thing listed on her IMDB looks like an American production, and she is the lead character.

[–] Alice-Morgan 8 years ago

She is filming season 5. The one that isn't filming is DC.
So go on. Kiss me. Kill me. Do something.

[–] StephenRCrider 8 years ago

And remember, Frankie put Shayne's gun in the back of her pants and I bet she gets caught with it and is charged with parole violation and sent back to Wentworth.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

Hey. I'm going with what you say.

[–] Alice-Morgan 8 years ago

She's dead dead, the rest of the cast is in Melbourne filming season 5, if you see Danielle's post in snapchat she still has blonde hair (regardless the twitter conspiracies her hair is red again for the dark roots in her instagram pictures, no she always had dark roots, her hair is still blonde) she's doing other stuff, she's not filming or coming back.

So go on. Kiss me. Kill me. Do something.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

This means she can never appear in the season right? No, it doesn't. Lol how do you know that part of those different endings they shot before 4 ended didn't include Bea in a comma with her red hair BEFORE she went to Melbourne. People keep throwing up these scenarios that they think makes something impossible without realizing there's all kinds of things that could explain one situation.

[–] Ltay328 8 years ago

I meant before she went to Cambodia not Melbourne.