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.
Piper (Taylor Schilling) continues to get her operation underway. Meanwhile she runs into Lolly (Lori Petty), who she knows from Chicago and is suspicious of Alex (Laura Prepon). Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba) is a success as a writer with most inmates loving her erotic fiction. Joe Caputo (Nick Sandow) begins to have problems with Danny Pearson (Mike Birbiglia). Likewise, Danny enforces laws on the prison that people don't agree with such as mediocre food and the abuse of Jewish food. As a result, Piper begins to smuggle and sell food on her own. Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) has a day out with a guard where she has some fun. Red (Kate Mulgrew) quits her job as a cook. Daya (Dascha Polanco) confesses about her relationship with Bennett and her insecurity with the inevitable pregnancy. Sophia (Laverne Cox) continues to have trouble at home. Soso (Kimiko Glenn) confesses to Sam Healy (Michael Harney) that she is depressed and needs help.
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| Laura Prepon |
Flashback
A flashback to Alex's moments of freedom. While she is out, she visits a funeral for a friend that has no friendly attendances. As she tries to get all of her old operations back in check, things don't go according to plan. Her smuggling operations aren't being nearly as successful as they used to. Also, there's some clues that maybe Lolly is related to Alex's past in some important ways. However, she enjoys her moments of freedom by dancing and living it up before it all comes to an abrupt end.
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| Taylor Schilling |
MVP:
Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling)
Before I get into this, I want to say that her story is awful and may be what inevitably makes me loathe this season. While the dirty underwear idea may be a real thing, I think that it is a very dumb story and a demeaning one for this show. I don't care, it is awful. With that said, it is the one story that seems to be the consistency throughout this entire episode. She goes about her routines and even is starting to become a smarmy operator. I don't think it necessarily make her the best character in this episode, but she is the most effective as she ties everything together and makes us realize just how desperate this whole thing actually is.
Overall Thoughts
We are officially eight episodes through this season. We only have five more to go. Why is this season just feeling so off? Could it be that I am officially tired of Piper's shenanigans? Is it because the most conflict we have gotten is Litchfield's potential closing, and nothing major with any of the inmates? Could it be that Crazy Eyes is somehow an erotic fiction writer now after episodes of doing really odd things? What exactly is going on? I wish that this was all going in a more interesting way instead of just pitting various things together and hoping that something sticks. This isn't a bad episode, but it does feel like the show has reached a redundancy period where it encourages binge watching to overcome any lull. As usual, the characters are charming, but something needs to happen in the final stretch to make up for this middle part that isn't going anywhere.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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