Episode 3.3 - The Chains Of Freedom
Written by Phil Ford
Produced by Brian Park
Directed by Laurence Moody
Hollamby fails in her attempts to get the Union to support an all-out strike. There’s only one thing for it then, a mass ‘sickie’ where each PO will report in too ill to work. Karen takes phone call after phone call from G-Wing’s officers and soon realises that she has no staff to work. Understaffing means a 24/7 lock-down for the inmates, a situation that Helen finds unacceptable. She suggests that the inmates be allowed to run the wing for themselves. Stubberfield is reluctant, but Karen is willing to give it a try, as long as Shell remains on cellular confinement.
Having won her case for electronic tagging, Julie S is now safely installed in Monica Lindsey’s halfway house. She is however in turmoil, having left behind Julie J whose own request for a tag was turned down. Julie S is also anxiously anticipating the arrival of Trevor, her ex-boyfriend and father to her son, David. During their first meeting, Julie S feels old emotions beginning to stir and they’re clearly reciprocated by Trevor. Julie S worries that Trevor will reject her if he knows about her past, so she and Monica initially present themselves as travel agents. But, having been urged by Monica to tell the truth, Julie comes clean. Convinced that she’s blown it, she begs him to be come to the play for David’s sake.
Left alone on the wing, the inmates can’t believe their luck. Shaz and Denny are put on servery duty and spend more time mucking around than they do serving food. They are watched from afar by Julie J who is putting on a front to mask the deep depression she feels at Julie S’s ‘rejection’ of her. Meanwhile, Yvonne takes advantage of her unexpected freedom by making a play for Josh and is crushed when he turns her down. Nikki tries to persuade her to cut her losses and turn to another inmate for gratification, but Yvonne would rather “shag Fenner” than “turn lezzie”. All-in-all, the inmates are self-managing G-Wing rather well, until Yvonne discovers that a knife has gone missing from the servery.
At home, Di is heart-broken. She has learnt that Dominic has fallen in love with a girl he met on holiday and has decided to stay with her in Greece. She surveys her McAllister shrine with tears in her eyes as the reality of spending the rest of her life alone with her bed-ridden mother begins to overwhelm her. She is teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown and responds to her mother’s cries by smacking her. Meanwhile, back at Larkhall, Stubberfield does a deal with Hollamby, agreeing to reinstate her as a Senior Officer if she agrees to call off the protest.
After a fruitless search of every cell on G-Wing, Nikki resorts to making a fake knife. She and Yvonne hope that it will fool Karen until the real knife is found. Barbara meanwhile is convinced that the knife has been stolen by someone contemplating suicide. Nikki deduces that Yvonne is the guilty party and demands that she hand the knife over. An amused Yvonne is quick to put Nikki right – she’s sexually frustrated, not suicidal! Nikki offers to put her in touch with a male escort service.
Monica and Julie S arrive at David’s school. The play is about to start when Trevor makes an appearance and there’s an emotional moment when he sees his son for the first time. Unfortunately, Julie’s joy is short-lived. She is struck by an overwhelming sense of doom and becomes convinced that Julie J is in trouble. Trevor is eventually persuaded to drive Julie to Larkhall. Up on G-Wing, Julie J looks out of the window to see Julie S screaming up at her through the sun roof of Trevor’s car. Julie J is delighted and abandons her suicide attempt. Later, she returns the knife to the cupboard.