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| Left to right: Adrienne C. Moore, Danielle Brooks, and Alysia Reiner |
Welcome to the new recap series on the second season of the Jenji Kohan Netflix hit Orange is the New Black. Over the next few Saturdays, we will be looking through the episodes and highlighting the events that make this comedy/drama a stand-out in general TV. Does the series have what it takes to make another phenomenal season of TV, and can the tales of Piper Chapman and her inmates satisfy expansion? Stay tuned and make sure to follow along at your own pace.
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| Kate Mulgrew |
With a job fair visiting the prison, Taystee (Danielle Brooks) begins to act more professional and studying the company's policies. Meanwhile, Red (Kate Mulgrew) has been revealed to have ruined the prison finances and has become an outcast, only hanging out with elderly folks while her former staff steals supplies. The pregnant Gloria (Selenis Leyva) is constipated and seeks help to make her body function properly. Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) is finally released back into the prisons after explaining her fight with Piper. However first, she is going to a hospital to get her bruised up body back into shape. Larry (Jason Biggs) decides to begin dating again after he realizes that Piper has been doing likewise. Taystee wins the job fair, though is disappointed to learn that she hasn't actually gotten a real job. Gloria's bowels are finally cleared thanks to some yogurt.
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| Brooks |
MVP:
Taystee (Danielle Brooks)
It does seem likely that the person whose flashback constitutes the wraparound of any given episode is likely to be MVP. At least the pattern has held up for the first two episodes. While we get some of the sharpest, funniest lines from other people, this episode is about making Taystee into something more. She is a hard worker who despite her laid back slang and occasional flamboyance, wants to be accepted as an employee for a legitimate company. She is vulnerable and makes every move count. Even if her ultimate success is minuscule, she brings a lot of satisfaction to the episodes and continues to complicate what the Orange is the New Black characters ultimately represent. She may have not been the funniest, but in an episode that included a montage of wise cracking inmates not taking job interviews seriously, she definitely stands out.
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| Left to right: Brooks and Lorraine Toussaint |
Flashback
Growing up, Taystee was told by her mother (Lorraine Toussaint) the proper way to be an effective businesswoman. After quitting a job as a fast food worker, she turns to the streets with her boyfriend to sell drugs. Her ambitions help her to be more savvy and professional. However, her boyfriend winds up dead from being shot, which causes her to slip into a depression at a funeral.
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| Taryn Manning |
Overall Thoughts
After the first episode turned out to be a mislead, and overall disappointing, it is nice to see the show finally kick into gear. All of the inmates are back with exciting, hilarious chemistry that reflects what the show does best. Given that Taystee was already an interesting character, seeing her back story only makes her more interesting and gives her flamboyant nature a deeper meaning. The whole job fair scene is phenomenal and full of nuanced comedy featuring mob mentality and the strange politics of people not familiar with normality. It fills in the gaps that were left open from season one and we discover the fate of Pennsatucky and her messed up teeth. Even if Larry remains a somewhat problematic character, it is interesting to see his story progress, even if the initial entryway into this universe (Piper) has become somewhat uninteresting. However, the writers have managed to give us more reason to care with new conflicts set to arise. After this episode, I am more excited for what season two has to offer.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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