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| Natasha Lyonne |
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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| Uzo Aduba |
Everyone is investigating the attack against Red (Kate Mulgrew) and they eventually pin it on Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), who is unable to remember a portion of her past due to blocking it out. Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) finds out that Alex (Laura Prepon) is going to skip town and break her parole. She tries to get Larry (Jason Biggs) to do tell her parole officer, even though she is not on best terms with Larry. Joe Caputo (Nick Sandow) is put in charge of the ward after the previous head steps down. The gang begins to turn on Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) when they find her actions despicable, thus mending old friendships broken by her. Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat) discovers that the chemo therapy isn't working and her death is weeks away. Lorna (Yael Stone) feels bad for her and tries to plea for her freedom on the car ride back to the prison. Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) and Big Boo (Lee DeLaria) try and smuggle heroin into the shed in order to frame Vee. Diaz (Dascha Polanco) forces Bennett (Matt McGorry) to come forward to Caputo and tell him that he got her pregnant. Sister Jane (Beth Fowler) gets assistance from a group of nuns after they discover that she's on a hunger strike. They refuse to leave until the conditions are met, which Caputo eventually agrees to. Vee escapes and puts the entire prison on lock down. Alex is caught before she jumps town. Lorna distracts the guards while Rosa drives out into freedom, hitting Vee in the process. Piper is not transferring prisons, though Crazy Eyes is after the accusations.
Rating: 5 out of 5
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| Lorraine Toussaint |
MVP:
Miss Rosa Cisneros (Barbara Rosenblat)
In such a cathartic finale, it is hard to figure out just who is the best character of the episode. We have Piper getting Alex arrested. We have Crazy Eyes pleading for her life in a phenomenal performance. There's a lot that's going on that to pick Rosa would be the unassuming genius. After Lorna lets her go, it sets off a series of events that allows the ending to be one of the most profoundly genius things about the series. While it took awhile to get going, the elements were in play and nobody would expect that the person to take down Vee was also the character whom we didn't care that much about at the start of this season. Over the episodes, Rosa has become an endearing force that will be missed. Watching her drive away to Blue Oyster Cult was a stroke of brilliance and made for an episode that took unassuming turns, but eventually paid off. It seemed tragic that Rosa was announced as being near the end. However, it also makes her hit and run a lot more amazing. Will she get caught? Who cares. She got to do one last act of frivolous rebellion, and that may be the show's biggest strength.
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| Nick Sandow |
Flashback
None. This is nothing but payoff for all of the flashbacks that previously followed. These are complex characters and through the course of a season, they managed to have a tight knit community that continued to deliver until the end.
Overall Thoughts
While the universal opinion is that season 2 is a lot better than season 1, I sort of disagree. I wasn't as taken by the world building and the choice to focus on the Red vs. Vee story was a little redundant at first. However, the series did reflect a particular strength in making something wonderful and unassuming in the end. The payoff was stronger and the community felt more concrete. Sure, there was some characters that didn't get all that much time to be dealt with, but considering that Vee and Rosa became prominent characters this season, there's a lot of value in the series managing to juggle so many plots. Also, the cast remains fantastic and their chemistry has only gotten better. It's still hilarious and the final 10 minutes of this episode are the best of the season. Even if there's argument that it didn't need to be 90 minutes, it doesn't matter. The payoff was all there and played out in its own way. It's a benefit of being Netflix's crown jewel for the moment. It leaves a lot of questions, but ends with a statement that no walls can contain us and that in the end, everything will work out.
*Please come back tomorrow for a TV Retrospective on Orange is the New Black season 2.
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