She is credited in (399) as Tammy Fisher - a minor role later passed on to Gloria Ajenstat - standing next to Bea in muster lineup and chosen by Joan to scrub out bins for Lizzie's grog.
She is next credited as "Louise" offering a boa to Cass for Petra's wedding (404), but this is clearly not the Lou we know and love. By (412) she is back to being an unnamed extra, and makes further appearances in the backgrounds of (418), (422), (443), (447).
She gets her first real credit in (452) when she torments Hannah Geldschmidt with Alice's support as a "Kraut" and eventually Hannah taunts Lou and Fran into bashing her to delay her deportation (453).
In (457), there is possibly some confusion: she is credited as Lou (though she has no lines) but at muster both she and Gloria Ajenstat move off when the name "Fisher" is called, and when mail is called out for "Kelly", it is passed to a group near the door where she may be just in shot.
After Reb has bashed Phyllis in the shower block, Lou tries to take Phyllis' place in dealing drugs for Reb and gives Reb an alibi (461). Lou is next seen helping Marie Winter in the riot she arranges at Joan's instigation (466). When Marie escapes, it is Lou she asks to start a fight as a diversion (471).
With Reb out of action and Marie gone, Lou plans to take over the rackets, but modestly decides she needs someone to be the brains of the outfit, and approaches new prisoner Bev Baker (473), who doesn't want payment in cash but victims to torment. Lou provides a selection of implements for her, including a knitting needle (475).
Lou and Alice team up again to torment Reb's mother when she is brought to Wentworth for aiding her escape (480).
While still working with Reb, Lou is looking for ways to take over the trading. She gives information to Joan about Heather's attempt to frame her, in return for help in getting her friend Neville a job as handyman so he can bring in goods to trade (484) - though of course, Joan doesn't do anything of the sort.
Lou sets Reb up so that Joan can find a knife on her and have her sent to solitary (485) - which Joan uses to try to push Reb over the bannisters. When Reb returns from solitary, she uses Lou to front for her, as she is trying to distance herself from the rackets so she can win support from the women and take over as top dog.
Lou overhears that the Governor is getting threatening letters, and Reb decides to fake a ransom demand (487). This backfires for Lou when Neville is caught collecting the money, and she is charged as an accomplice to murder (489) after a police guard on Ann's flat is killed and the police assume Neville was responsible.
Lou is furious and demands that Reb helps her with an escape attempt. Her first attempt is during a softball game, when she attacks Phil Cleary, Meg and a gate guard with a bat (490), but she is stopped by Marlene. Lou is sent to solitary, but she has a razor blade hidden in her shoe and uses it to take Joyce Barry hostage, get her into the armoury to collect a gun, then drive Lou out of the prison in her own car. After tying Joyce up and hiding her in the boot of her own car, Lou makes her way to Reb's mother's place and demands money from her.
Diedre tells Lou she'll have to wait until the next day when she can go to a bank. Lou is injured in the arm when Diedre grabs the gun and it goes off (492). Lou makes it to Adelaide, but is recaptured when a "handsome stranger" takes her for a meal and walks off with all her money, leaving her unable to pay. She is returned to Wentworth, where she is inducted by Joyce (495).
While she was away, the new male officer Len Murphy has arrived and Lou is drawn into plans by both Joan and the women to frame him, but these come to nothing. After Brian Lowe is identified as the person behind the threatening letters to Ann, Lou's murder charge is dropped, but she then becomes one of the prime suspects for the murder of corrupt visting justice Sarah Higgins (499).
Myra resigns as top dog when she finds everyone but her knew that Lou Kelly was dealing drugs (502). Reb takes over and decides to have another try at getting rid of Len, this time using the fact that Len clearly fancies Lou. Len is set up to be discovered having sex with Lou, but he outsmarts the plotters and calls on Lou's cell later in the evening and forces Lou to have sex with him (503).
After Reb is outsmarted by Joan and transferred to Blackmoor, Lou tries to take over the rackets and starts to fix Marlene's cockroach races and use Lexie's cardplaying skills to con money out of the women. With the help of Woodridge prisoner Frank Burke, Lou gets in drugs herself and demands the women's buyup and payment for protection (512).
When lawyer Jan Grant is brought to Wentworth as a prisoner, Lou quickly realises she is an alcoholic and supplies her with various alcohol substitutes such as meths (515). When Myra tries to stop her, Lou decides to get rid of both Myra and Joan. She steals a zip gun made by Frank in the workshop and plans to frame Myra for killing Joan. Unfortunately the plan and the gun both backfire, and Lou ends up in hospital (517).
When she returns, a further attempt to get rid of Myra by wiring up her cell door handle to the electricity ends in disaster when Samantha Greenway is killed by mistake. Lou and Alice string her up to make it look like suicide (520). Myra finds out who was really responsible and tricks Frank into thinking that Lou intended to frame him for the murder, so Frank beats up Lou (522).
Lou has to share with the nun Anita Selby (526) at Anita's request as she wants to try and "save" Lou - fortunately there is no chance of that, and it provides many opportunities for classic Lou putdowns and snide comments.
Lou goes for trial for the attempted murder of Joan and gets another seven years (534), noticing that Joan is suffering memory lapses when giving evidence. Myra plans to use this by framing Joan for bashing Lou when she is having a funny turn. The plot collapses when Anita Selby is stricken with conscience and tells the truth about what happened.
Lou finds herself outclassed by the next lot of arrivals: May Collins refuses to support Lou's challenge to Myra as top dog and Lou's attempt to suck up to Ruth Ballinger just gets her a slap across the face (539).
Lou does eventually manage to convince Ruth to let her do errands and when Ruth agrees to get rid of Myra in return for having her escape arranged by Joan, Lou is the one who beats up Myra (548) and is accused by Joan for attempted murder (549).
After Ruth's escape is bungled, the prison is besieged by armed terrorists trying to free her. Lou tries to help them at first, but is forced by their ruthlessness to join forces with the other women. She gets skewers and knives from the kitchen and manages to stab one of the terrorists in the leg (551).
After Myra is killed by the terrorists, Lou tries to take over as top dog, but loses to Nora Flynn. Lou fights back for a while, taking over the press and bashing a few women to convince the others of her authority (557) but it doesn't last very long.
Lou is not looking forward to Reb's promised return to Wentworth. However, when they see how she has changed they are initially puzzled - but Lou sees her comb her hair and thinks she is faking (577). Lou and Alice are later made to coach Reb to convince Dr Weissman to argue for her release.
Lou is once again overtaken by new arrival Rita Connors. Lou decides to stir up trouble by pouring paint on Rita's jacket (588) and tries to blame Joan for it.
Joan uses Lou to cause trouble for the Governor and Lou eventually stirs up the women into starting a hunger strike (590) - this does lead to Ann's resignation. After Lou and Alice attack Joan and put her in one of the driers, someone gets her out again and leaves a note on Joan implicating Lou.
Lou is convinced that Lexie is responsible and tries to electrocute her with a faulty power point in the kitchen (593).
Lou becomes top dog and leads the women in another hunger strike to protest against the new Governor Bob Moran (597). This becomes a fully fledged riot when Lou finds out that the "Phantom Lagger" was Eve Wilder. After the briefest of trials, Eve is strung up in the dining room and Lou kicks the chair away (600). Lou sets Rita and Joan to fight to the death in the laundry but Bob Moran overpowers Lou and puts an end to the riot.
At first it seems certain that Lou will be transferred to Blackmoor, but Bob decides to keep her on to make an "example" of her to the other women. To teach them a lesson, Lou and Alice are subjected to a "trial" and a faked "hanging" organised by new top dog Rita (603).
This causes Alice to sever ties with Lou for good, so Lou fakes a suicide attempt to get to hospital from where she is able to escape (607). She seeks refuge with Alice's family in the country, but they behave oddly towards her, and hide her in the barn until their "visitors" have left. When she is invited inside the house, it seems she is expected to work for nothing or be reported to the police. Alice's brother Sean rapes Lou and when she hears Alice's mother planning to "get rid" of her, she gets hold of a gun and shoots them both before escaping (612) but she collapses at the roadside and is recaptured. At this point we learn Lou's middle name: Louise Jane Kelly.
Lou's first meal back in Wentworth contains a threatening note, and Alice and Lexie make various attempts to get to her in sickbay.
There are several suspects when Lou is found dead in solitary (615), bashed over the head with a bottle. Even the Governor Bob Moran seems to have motive and opportunity, and the police suspect Lexie, but it turns out to be Janet "Maggot" Williams (617), who had tried to get Lou to co-operate in blackmailing Bob to help them both with an escape attempt.