Screw Episode Three Review

Screw has reached its halfway point. After the disappointment of Episode Two the series needs to up its game.

Rose has crossed the line: she has smuggled drugs and a gun into the prison for Costa. Her actions take place on the day a new guard joins C-wing, Toby (Jack Bardoe). Leigh gets a warning from the prison imam that one of his congregation has been acting out of character and the prison guards need to find out why.

By this point this Screw episode has a clear formula. There is a point plot involving the prisoners where one of them has an issue and the prison guards have to figure out why. In the first episode the prison guards had to race to find a makeshift weapon and why the prisoner had made it. The second episode was about the officers figuring out why a prisoner was being bullied. This episode was about finding out why Connor Joyce (Jack McMullen) was acting out of character.

All these prison investigation stories have made Screw seem more like The Bill. The prison guards must act like police officers so have to ask questions and search cells. And like The Bill and other police procedurals, there was twist after twist as more information gets revealed. It gets a bit repetitive.

A stronger element of the episode was the opening segment where Rose comes into the prison with the intention of smuggling in the drugs and a gun. There was a sense of tension since Rose was clearly nervous and being caught was a distinct possibility. Something could go wrong at any time.

This episode had a classist theme. Rose partners up with Toby through a lot of the episode. Toby came from a different background because he was a graduate trainee who had a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He stood out in contrast to the rest of the guards who were all from working-class backgrounds. Rose pointed out that the requirements to become a prison guard were lowered because the prison service couldn’t get enough recruits. It’s hinted that Rose doesn’t even have five GCSEs with A-C grades.

Toby joined the prison service because he wanted to make a difference. He believed in rehabilitation and wanted to start up programmes like literacy schemes and job training. However, Toby was an idealist who had an academic viewpoint. He stood in contrast to the rest of the guards and prisoners. Like Rose on her first day, Toby was a bit too trusting, leading to him being pranked by the guards and prisoners.

This class theme was brought up by Tanner. During his ranting and raving Tanner said prison was just created to suppress the working class and called Rose a traitor because she’s a working-class girl working as a guard. But Tanner was a loudmouth so what he says should be taken with a ladle of salt.

Class also played a major part in the prisoner investigation story. Joyce was a recent convert to Islam. However, he was groomed by a far-right prisoner who filled Joyce’s head with propaganda that the white working class was under threat by Muslims and that Muslims were having more and more children so they can replace the working class. The prisoner who groomed Joyce said he did it to protect the working class which leads to Campbell’s best moment in the series because he called out the prisoner, saying he confused class with race. Up to this point Campbell was an un-PC officer who made inappropriate comments, but this episode showed he had a limit.

Episode Three finally revealed why Leigh disliked Rose. Leigh believed Rose was a quitter because Rose had many jobs like working in a bakery and a bookies. To be fair to Leigh she’s not wrong since Rose was thinking of resigning. However, Rose has gotten close to the other guards and been a part of the team. She’s going to have a moral crisis because of her friendship with the other guards and Costa’s blackmail.

Episode Three was an improvement over the previous episode. There was drama and a sense of urgency due to Rose’s smuggling and the reveal of Joyce’s real intentions. Whilst some of the episode did seem formulaic due to the investigation story, it managed to continue the overall story.