TV Recap: Orange is the New Black - "Bed Bugs and Beyond"

Welcome to the recap series on the third season of the Jenji Kohan Netflix hit Orange is the New Black. Over the next few weekends (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) 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.

Laura Prepon

Litchfield runs into a series of problems following an outbreak of bed bugs. With everyone forced to wear blue paper uniforms, nobody is comfortable and they grow increasingly suspicious of each other. Alex (Laura Prepon) and Piper (Taylor Schilling) try to overcome their annoyances with each other for landing them both in jail. Caputo (Nick Sandow) does his best to cover up everything including that the facility is close to shutting down. Bennett (Matt McGorry) proposes to Diaz (Dascha Polanco). Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne) and Big Boo (Lea DeLaria) lose the drugs that they were holding on to while finding a corrections officer who may be willing to deal. With all of the mattresses burned, everything is returning to normal. However, Red (Kate Mulgrew) is unable to have a restraining order against her husband. Alex and Piper continue their pettiness until finally making out in a contaminated library.

Nick Sandow

MVP:

Joe Caputo (Nick Sandow)

It isn't easy having to take care of an epidemic. With everyone forced to wear bland and uncomfortable paper uniforms, Caputo does an excellent job of making sure everything is in order. While he may at times be a brute force, his power is definitely felt and with many shocking reveals, it is hard to not give him some sort of pat on the back. From having to determine if a black flake was a bed bug or a muffin strand to discovering the fate of Litchfield, he makes the most of this episode. It wasn't a pleasant outing for everyone, but at least it was handled with professionalism and dignity still in tact.

Flashback

This week chose to do something different and focused on Bennett's interesting life before landing his job as a security officer. He was in the Army and liked to have fun. He is seen confidently dealing with a series of problems from the minuscule bad filming from a camera man to feeling guilt for not falling onto a potential bomb. As he comes to terms with it, he returns home and is happy to announce that he will be a father to one of his Army friends. This doesn't go well when he attends dinner at his house and is immediately thrust into an uncomfortable environment where the father threatens his own son with a gun. He eventually loses faith in being a father... at least in the flashback. Who knows what him and Diaz will get up to.

Kate Mulgrew

Overall Thoughts

What has really happened over the first two hours of season three of Orange is the New Black? It is a tough question, considering that we get some exposition, but it is the second episode without much fulfillment. Where last one skid by on unifying themes, this one manages to have even less. Yes, the riffing on bed bugs had its moments, but what exactly was achieved in this episode? There were a few revelations, but not enough to make it a stellar episode. Thankfully, the show gets by on its cast, and this is one of those episodes that does it a little too heavily. Sure, we continue the toxic Alex-Piper story as it goes into an illogical corner, but for the most part it is one of the few interesting things this time. I can only hope that something more interesting happens soon because this is quite a lull and develops my theory that the show is embracing its binge watching roots a little too heavily this time around, and I feel it is influencing quality a little.

Rating: 3 out of 5