The new season of Wentworth is here and you'll want to lock yourself up to devour it.

This piece contains spoilers from season six if you’re not caught up yet (in other words… catch up!).

If given the choice between spending a night in prison or missing out on the new season of Wentworth, I would gladly choose to be locked up.

The critically acclaimed and fan-favourite Australian drama takes place inside a women’s prison, focusing on an ensemble cast of complex characters as they navigate survival and the hierarchy system that has built up within the prison walls.

If you cast your mind back to season six, our incarcerated ladies ended up in a couple of brutal and bloody situations that have left us counting down the days to the premiere of season seven so we can learn their fates.

At the conclusion of the sixth season, a couple of friendships were broken beyond repair and the chess pieces were moved into place for a death to take place within Wentworth when Zara (Natalia Novikova) made the discovery that Ruby (Rarriwuy Hick) had been the one to kill Marie’s son Danny.

At the same time, our deep undercover police officer Rita (Leah Purcell) was attempting to use her leverage and connections to not only get the assault charges against Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) dropped but also to get her sister Ruby transferred to a different prison for her own safety.

Of course, that plan all quickly went to hell when Zara, who was still determined to kill Ruby, challenged her to a fight forcing Rita to step in and take her place.

We’ve seen some full-on smackdowns on Wentworth before, but nothing quite compares to this blow-out punch-out between Rita and Zara, with Rita doing exactly what her fellow officers had accused her of – forgetting who she really was and smashing Zara’s head in, leaving her dead in a pool of her own blood, much to the shock of her fellow inmates and prison staff.

Since her undercover operation was completely off the books, Rita’s police contacts severed all ties with her and left her within the prison to be just another inmate with no protection.

Take a look at the trailer for season seven of Wentworth, coming only to Foxtel. 

When it comes to our other Wentworth Queen Bees, Allie (Kate Jenkinson) had let slip to Marie (Susie Porter) that Kaz (Tammy MacIntosh) was actually the one who planted rat poison in her drugs and landed her in the hospital wing. It led to an intense fight between the two women and only strengthened the power struggle happening within the cells.

In the upcoming season, we’ve jumped a few months ahead in the story and tensions in the prison are running high.

Rita has been released back into general after her attack on Zara, but is unable to tell anyone, even the prison guards, about her real identity for fear that the prisoners would retaliate and “beat the sh*t out of her”.

The Marie and Kaz feud is also back in full swing and, as far as Kaz is concerned, more dangerous than ever before.

All because back in season six, Marie was treading carefully because she was hoping release was on the horizon, but now that’s she’s been saddled with an additional 15 years behind bars, all bets are off.

The strongest storytelling hooks of Wentworth have always been more than just the scintillating drama that comes from watching the brutality and cat-and-mouse games taking place within a women’s prison.

The real hook here is how these women have become a family out of desperation and shared sorrows. A dysfunctional, often violent and abusive family, but a group of people who protect each other nonetheless.

In typical Wentworth fashion, there are some shining lights of hope at the beginning of the latest season.

There are new chances at freedom for some longtime inmates, new romances taking place within the cells and even a prison wedding to warm your heart up for just a moment.

But of course, it doesn’t take much for it all to come crashing down in a bloody mess that will kick off a new set of storylines within Australia’s most captivating and gritty drama.

The stakes for our characters are certainly high in Wentworth season seven, and I for one will be locking myself up to devour every juicy and heart-pounding morsel of it.

Wentworth’s new season will premiere Tuesday, May 28 at 8.30pm AEST. Stream new episodes every week, or watch live on FOX SHOWCASE. All six season of Wentworth are available to watch now on Foxtel.