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| Taylor Schilling |
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.
Litchfield is in the process of having some changes. As Caputo (Nick Sandow) deals with Danny (Mike Birbiglia), he discovers that his system is pretty inefficient. Alex (Laura Prepon) lies to Lolly (Lori Petty) and tells her that she's a secret agent. Sophia (Laverne Cox) continues her rivalry with Gloria (Selenis Leyva). As her workers rebel, Piper (Taylor Schilling) consults Red (Kate Mulgrew) on how to do better management. She promises to pay people. Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) confides in Big Boo (Lea Delaria) about the rape. Soso (Kimiko Glenn) continues to look for solace. Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba) remains convinced that Vee was looking out for her best interests. When everything else seems hopeless, Caputo discovers that the prison is about to form a rebellion against Danny and his poorly planned new system.
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| Nick Sandow |
Flashback
Joe Caputo (Nick Sandow)
It is a story of events that lead Caputo to where he is today. The first step is at a very young age in which aboard a wrestling team, he had to fight a mentally handicapped person. He lost swiftly and miserably. Later on, he joined his band and on the eve of their big tour launch, he discovers that his wife is pregnant with another person's child. He stays behind to take care of it. He then gets a job at Litchfield, where he learns all of the ropes. In his final move, he shares his thoughts about being frustrated for working on a low wage in a job that he doesn't really like all that much.
MVP:
Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling)
It is true that there's something very unpleasant about Piper this season. She has been desperate and her plot has been nothing but awful since the dirty underwear plot kicked into gear. However, she is the central force of this episode, as it is her establishing her dominance over the other inmates and trying to make an order to everything. The one upside is that she gets constantly berated for her stupid decisions this week, which is kind of cathartic. However, it is also a little annoying that we still have to put up with her antics. With two episodes to go, how are we going to get any semblance of a cathartic plot end for her? Who knows. She is really sucking up too much screen time this year.
Overall Thoughts
It could just be that I am trying to get an idea of where things have progressed this season, but we're not getting anywhere with this. Everyone's doing more of the same. Sure, we're finally getting a prison rebellion, but why did it have to wait for the last three episodes? Why are we still dealing with Piper's annoying schemes? On the bright side, the faulty prison system did make for an interesting subplot this week, especially as an inmate sneaked through the cracks and escaped, only to be found very easily. Among the other things is an interesting manner of how Pennsatucky dealt with her rape. Hopefully there's revenge in the cards for her. Otherwise, we have Sophia/Gloria in their fight, but that didn't go anywhere either. With next week marking the last two episodes, I am both eager and a little blase as to what will go down. Unlike season two, there's no clear finish line or any big surprises that I am anticipating.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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