Dead or Alive? Here's What the 'Wentworth' Finale Means for Joan "The Freak" Ferguson (SPOILERS)

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

The past seven seasons of Wentworth have delivered quite a ride for viewers who prefer the Australian female inmate drama to our more pedestrian Orange Is the New Black, or who've turned to the Aussie series after completing the entirety of OITNB.

And while we've covered what happened to Kaz in the Season 7 finale, and cleared the air around some questions surrounding Rita and her sister Ruby, we dedicate this entire story to Joan "the Freak" Ferguson.

If you're wondering whether the governor-turned-inmate is dead or alive, here's everything we know.

We first met Joan Ferguson (portrayed impeccably by Canadian-Australian actress Pamela Rabe) in Season 2's premiere. From the get-go, she is an absolutely no-nonsense governor determined to put an end to the drugs at Wentworth by any means necessary.

After trying to build an alliance with Franky, who rejects any attempt at working together, Ferguson cuts Bea's medication and manipulates the Wentworth dynamics so that Bea replaces Franky in the prison's Top Dog position.

Meanwhile, she turns Will Jackson against Matthew Fletcher because she believes Mr. Jackson is responsible for the death of her ex, Jianna Riley, at the prison she worked in before arriving to Wentworth. Season 3 ends with Ferguson being arrested after a long string of dramatic events that end in her setting Wentworth on fire.

Season 4 begins with Ferguson awaiting trial, fallen from her position as governor of Wentworth and now a lowly prisoner. By the end of the season, Joan kills Bea — Bea, more accurately, thrusts herself into a knife and makes it appear like Ferguson has killed her — and is then charged with her murder.

Joan focuses on becoming Top Dog in Season 5 and scares all the inmates straight by demonstrating how she can snap arms and strangle the ladies. After cutting Lucy Gambaro's tongue and gifting it to Vera on her birthday, Ferguson quickly rises to power and is elected as Top Dog by the inmates.

By the end of Season 5, Joan, who's lost the trust and friendship of the majority of the Wentworth staff, is terrified for her life in general population. She comes up with an escape plan to hide in a wooden box where she'll supposedly be driven out of the prison in a truck. However, it ends up being Mr. Jackson who takes her away. But instead of setting her free, he buries The Freak underground.

Ferguson screams for help but is ignored once she realizes how crucially her plan has failed. 

However, in Season 6, Mr. Jackson is haunted by Ferguson, and becomes convinced she's still alive. But is she? Will brings Vera and Jake along with him to double-check the box at the burial site and make sure she's indeed dead. 

And they do find a decomposing body at the site. But it doesn't seem to be Ferguson... By Season 7, she continues to be presumed dead, but in the season finale, while Rita is being transferred out of Wentworth, she comes across a group of homeless people living under a bridge. As it turns out, one of them happens to be Ferguson, who proves to be alive after all.

Catch up on all seven seasons of Wentworth on Netflix.