Marlene has barely recovered from this bashing when she becomes a victim of the new prisoner Edna Pearson. Edna is in Wentworth accused of poisoning her husband, and during a barbecue Edna manages to poison Marlene and divert suspicion initially onto Bobbie (468). Marlene has already shown her organising abilities by running aerobics classes and a fashion show. Her father's gift of the Guinness Book of Records gives her the idea for a charity fund raising dance marathon and this eventually takes place in (480). Marlene decides to start a book on whatever comes to hand - including Pixie's knowledge of the Bible (489). The betting money becomes one of the first battlegrounds for control between new officer Len Murphy and Joan. When Marlene refuses to give evidence to support either of them, she is caught between the two - Len bashes her in the face with a cell door.
After a scalding "accident", Marlene is taken to infirmary and is the first to see Matt - one of the male prisoners (499) whose presence in Wentworth is still a secret. Reb feeds Marlene cocaine in a biscuit (503) after she refuses a free sample and Marlene suffers a bad allergic reaction to the drug. Her relationship with Matt is pretty much her only plotline after this. They exchange their first kiss in (515), though the course of true love does not run smoothly: they bicker pointlessly and make up again all in the same episode (523). Lou Kelly causes a more serious rift when she maliciously convinces Marlene that Matt is really gay and Marlene manages to convince herself it is true when she misunderstands his account of the incident which put him in prison - he beat up a colleague who made a pass at him in a classic display of "homophobia". Of course, they eventually make up again, Marlene's parents finally agree to the wedding and when Marlene's release comes through early (531), Ann agrees to "lose" the paperwork for a few days to allow Marlene and Matt's wedding to go ahead as arranged in the grounds of Wentworth (533). After the ceremony, Marlene is released and Matt is transferred to a prison farm.
Viewers are given a little reminder of Marlene when Lexie gets a letter from her in (576).