Resistance - Orange is the New Black Roundtable #5

S04e09, "Turn Table Turn"

Ramos and Flores figure out ways to rebel against 

authority. A news item has an unexpected effect. 

Red and Lorna face personal disappointment.
(Netflix)

S04e10, "Bunny, Skull, Bunny, Skull"

The movie night selection becomes

controversial. Aleida makes an adjustment.
Piper worries the prison punishments are
getting too medieval. (Netflix)

Discussion

Tova: We seem to have come to a point in the season were few new issues pop up, and instead there are conclusions and progression of storylines from before. That’s not to say it’s not interesting to watch, or that the developments don’t take unexpected turns! 

One storyline that’s taken several turns in all sorts of directions is the interactions between Doggett and Coates. We’ve talked about this before, and commended the show for the way it highlights rape culture and shows that perpetrators come in different forms. I forgot to mention this in last week’s roundtable, but the scenes where Doggett and Coates talk about time travel and he apologises to her had me worried the show was going too far in its ambition to humanize Coates. It was almost crafted as something out of a romance narrative, and like I’ve said that type of redemption for Coates would make me sick. Fortunately, we’ve got Big Boo here to set the conversation straight - episode 9 made me hopeful again. What do you think? Are you optimistic about where the show will take this, or do you think it’s going in the wrong direction?

Amanda: Boo’s anger is more interesting to me than Doggett and Coates’ conversation at this point, with her backstory of not fighting her mother because her father told her not to, trying to do it in a sweet conspiratorial way. I think that’s where her anger is coming from, and why she directs it at Doggett rather than reserve it for Coates. She wants, or maybe needs, Doggett to fight. Her championing for Doggett is touching, but the application of that anger isn’t helping (although, this might also be caused by Boo’s helplessness to save Doggett from this situation)

Frida: I think the show usually takes twists and turns when it comes to storylines like Doggett’s and Coates’, so I think we will have to see how this will turn out. But I would be surprised if they further humanized Coates in this way as you say! I just find it interesting to see how Doggett herself processes this and makes her choices. I understand Boo’s fury but I agree with Amanda that it’s not really helping right now. It’s hard to see them disagree.

Adrian: The humanization of Coates is vital to a story men need to see. I’ve heard men insist, “Rapists are monsters; normal men don’t rape” and the story of Doggett and Coates shows that a man others believe is normal, who believes himself to be normal, who is intelligent, sometimes thoughtful, and otherwise friendly and likeable can still, absolutely commit rape. He can do this without realizing he has raped someone, because of a rape culture that does not sufficiently educate people about consent. Making Coates unlikable would allow men to excuse themselves from the conversation because “I’m not a monster like him.” Coates forces men to look at themselves in the mirror and start asking important questions.

I don’t think we’ll see a romance, but Coates’ apology and her opportunity to forgive is a boon for Doggett. She deserves the opportunity for peace on her terms.

Amanda: Speaking of peace on her own terms, I feel really, really weird about Flores’s backstory. They’ve done it really well before on the show, reminding us that not every person is wholly good or bad, but the whole “Getting hers back on a grouchy disabled elderly woman” storyline felt off on both ends. If you’re experiencing what’s basically emotional abuse at a job, quit that job (I’m assuming Flores was working through an agency and could request another client). And not humanizing an aging woman at all, when they humanized Coates, is just sloppy to me. 

Tova: I appreciate that the show gave us some insight into Flores’s not giving a single fuck behavior in Litchfield, without making it her whole person. But the rebellious act in that story did not have to consist of violating another person like that. I feel similarly to you here: I appreciate the multi-faceted characters on OITNB, even when the revelations about them are uncomfortable, but this didn’t sit right with me. The fact that the whole story is set up so that you’re almost yelling at the screen because you want Flores to tell the lady to fuck off so badly, and is told in parallel with Flores’s current righteous resistance, makes the end look a lot like righteous resistance as well. And like you say, it’s a bit sloppy to humanize a rapist but not this woman. I’d also like to point out that what Flores did is a clear violation of consent, which makes it sexual assault.

Shirleen: This is awkward. I’m grateful Tova invited me and worry my first comment goes against the grain. I loved Blanca Flores’s backstory. Writer Sara Hess shows that homecare resembles prison conditions. Imagine hours of Millie scrutinizing Blanca’s work and her body, after Millie calls Blanca a ‘half wit’ and scorns any desire for Diablo.  As this Atlantic article reports, home care is emotional, intimate, and isolating work. The intimacy of this labor blurs power dynamics between caretaker and senior. Worse, these complicated interactions occur outside the purview of homecare job agencies, making invisible the toll of this labor. 

Millie is old and weak, yet she governs her home. She teases she’ll bequeath it to Flores, rather than to her daughter; the gesture spotlights what Flores lacks: property and nearby family. When Flores’ courtship “distracted” her 24/7 attention from Millie,  Millie uses her power and privilege to fire Diablo despite his gardening talents . Blanca’s cry of “He’s a person. I’m a person. I don’t just live to work for you” pained me. Amongst my Caribbean family are homecare aids and nannies dedicated to caretaking, while they raise their own distant families. Millie acts possessively over Blanca’s body, which shows how live-in work can feel imprisoning. 

Adrian: I'm with you, Shirleen. Also, I didn’t find Millie lacking in humanization, and it’s unclear to me why some of you did. She doesn’t have to be likeable to be humanized, but estranged from her daughter, she’s alone and sad. Millie’s busybody tendency and general mistreatment of Blanca is detestable, but her suggestion that she may leave the house to Blanca showed a sense of gratitude and loyalty. Point is, I didn’t like Millie, but she isn’t quite a villain.

This made Blanca’s rebellion fascinating. Rather than suffer silently or quit, she chose a third option: remain in the relationship, but under new conditions. Blanca deliberately violated Millie with an exhibitionist display, simply to reverse their power dynamic. I like Blanca, but maybe she is a villain?

Not every inmate’s story need be unjust misfortune or pitiable misadventure. We may discover that Blanca truly earned herself a conviction.

Tova: Don't worry about going against the grain! Different perspectives means people are going to disagree, and we definitely want different perspectives here. 

I did appreciate Flores's backstory, and I think you’re spot-on in describing it as a kind of prison, especially if she doesn't have the opportunity to leave and take on a different job. It was just the conclusion, presenting a type of sexual assault in a triumphant way, I didn't appreciate. In the current day scenes, I'm 100% with Flores. The searches are humiliating, and for sure a way to assert power and make (Latina) inmates constantly police themselves. 

I think I mainly wanted Millie humanized in the moment, as she changed into a victim. Adrian is right that we did get some sense of why she was such a bitter person, though I disagree that seeing her waive the possibility of inheriting under Flores’s nose helped make her more sympathetic. I just saw it as manipulation and control. 

These episodes are practically overflowing with content on the themes of control, power and abuse of power. I’m curious to hear your theories on CO Humphrey making Maritza live out her thought experiment - what the hell was that about? And how do you think this connects to other situations with guards in Litchfield, from racial profiling and frisking to punishments like Flores’s?

Amanda: Well, for one thing, having them all live together was probably the opposite of a good idea. Alone they all have one or two personality flaws tops, and Humps would freak them out a little. In this situation, between Humps and Piscatella, every guard is encouraged to be a little rougher, a little meaner, or they aren’t “standing together.” I’m curious to see if this gets worse when the new, bigger dorms are built. Assuming all of Litchfield’s brewing issues doesn’t cause it to become a new Atlantis and fall into the lake first.

Frida: I definitely agree about them living together was a bad idea; the overall threatening and inhumane behavior against the inmates get worse. The situation with Humphrey and Maritza was just so sickening. He has some serious problems making her do that against her will. My perspective of this is that prison simply brings out the worst in some people; how easy it is to start manipulating inmates and also other guards, and the privileges and power that the guards have. It’s just a bad environment for everyone, some people might handle it better than others, Humphrey being the one that flourishes in a bad way in that environment.

Shirleen: The stop-and-frisking of the Latina inmates isn’t a mere nuisance, which Ruiz’s dismissal of Flores’ objections implies (“What’s the big deal?”). As Foucault would predict, panopticism isolates each inmate, who then internalizes rules of the COs who surveill them. The Dominicans grow self-conscious before frisking. Ouija worries if Flores doesn’t shower, her smell will confirm the CO’s racist stereotypes of Dominicans as "dirty people." Panopticism works if Latina women not only discipline and punish their own bodies, but also monitor each others’ bodies absent the guard’s gaze. But, Flores persuades Ouija, Zirconia, and other to resist, subvert and reclaim the spicy Latina stereotypes with humor: hot sauce, oysters, pile them on! Blanca sets the stage for inmates to consider collective action against guard abuse.

Tova: I wonder if the group mentality is reinforced by the specifics of working in a prison environment as well? The loyalty to Humphrey is insanely misguided, not just because he’s an abusive creep--I understand you can’t fire someone for being a bad person--but because his mistake was such a clear violation of the core ethics of his job. I used to think Piscatella took pride in doing a good job, even if he has strange ideas about what that entails. Now I’m wondering if his main motivation isn’t just to live out his aggression towards “criminals.” He sure provides plenty of room for others to do so. 

I find Shirleen’s analysis of the stop-and-frisks very interesting. The Latinas’ discipline of the self/body is one of the more subtle effects of power, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily more benevolent. Can you think of any other examples of how the power mechanisms of prison become ingrained in the inmates themselves, or how they fight back against it?

Shirleen: In Episode 10, Daya, Aleida, and Ingalls seem more aware of how prison mechanisms shape their identities and their social networks (quite a dilemma for  inmates in solitary). How each woman resists these forces intrigues me. Daya wants to reset her prison life to birth a new identity, plus, she rejects Ramirez's kitchen network for Ruiz’s salon. I don’t know if Daya is acting calculated or impulsive.

Meanwhile, Aleida re-enters in life outside Litchfield, and struggles to shake what prison ingrained. I laughed and cringed at what Cesar’s girlfriend imagined about prison. No, Margarita, no Botox or pills hidden under Aleida’s tits! 

Sister Ingalls is diligent, albeit clumsy, when she evades the SHU infrastructure that isolates inmates when they eat, shower, and leave their cell to exercise briefly. How do you all rate Daya, Aleida, or Ingalls in how they resist prison’s mechanisms to over-determine their path in episode 10?

Frida: I think all three of them were trying to resist and make their own decisions, but in the end all of them ended up knowing they had less control of the situation than they thought. I think all the characters you mentioned tries to shape their future in different ways, with Daya more going with the flow for example. With being a part of the Dominican gang maybe Daya is thinking that she has protection and friends that will stand up for her, but I’m not sure she knows what she’s doing. Ingalls on the other hand has the most control I’d say, even though her whole story ended pretty differently than she probably thought it would.

Tova: Yes, even if Ingalls acts very deliberately, she doesn’t seem to know what effects those actions will have outside of landing her in the SHU (which she doesn’t know much about either). That doesn’t mean she’s not resisting power though, and she got what she wanted in the end, so I’d say she did it successfully!

If anything, Daya joining Maria’s group seems like defeat. There are many different ways characters on OITNB get through their time in prison, and staying under the radar or being a model inmate is definitely not the only legitimate one, but I think we all feel that this development will end up hurting Daya somehow - and that’s definitely only benefiting the system (or, if you want to be more specific than a high schooler who’s listened to too much angry white boy music, the prison industrial complex). Maybe Aledia will turn out to do better, despite being the appointed fuck-up of the two. What do you think? Assuming we get to see more of her post-prison life next season, what would you like to see the show explore?

Shirleen: Aleida frustrates me. Yet, her abrasive character and her hustle to escape the corners she boxes herself into hook me. That diner scene evokes both my skepticism at Aleida’s paranoia that everyone knows she’s a criminal and my empathy that she is marked as an ex-Litchfield inmate: grey sweatshirt and pants, $40, bus ticket, old map.   

Season 5 needs to depict Aleida’s post-prison life and elaborate on her tragic irony: Aleida now faces boxes and corners she didn’t create. So many laws restrict ex-convicts’ lives and livelihoods when re-integrating into society. As Michelle Alexander explains in The New Jim Crow, parolees navigate so many prohibitions they become second-class citizens demoted to a lower caste, a permanent criminal. Housing, employment, family re-unification--Aleida will be denied at every turn.  Reform initiatives like “Ban the Box” exist, but progress is slow. Let’s see how Aleida rebuilds her shattered bonds of family, confronts foster care and the color of child welfare.  

Frida: I’m totally with Shirleen; I really want to see Aleida’s post-prison life in season five. I don’t know much about the ex-convict life in the United States, I just have an idea that it is very hard and you have that conviction following you your entire life. I’d like the show to focus on Aleida and her children, the process of getting them back and where they are now. It’s time the show added a story about one of the inmates outside trying to make it, it would make the show more dynamic I think.

Adrian: We’ve been holding out hope for Aleida since our second OITNB roundtable, and I remain very keen on seeing her story remain outside of prison walls. I understand how Aleida is frustrating, but Aleida is discouraged very easily and the situation of an ex-con is a Sisyphean exercise in that. I’m hoping she gets inspired and tempers her anger into the determination she needs make it on the outside. Maybe Aleida could find employment and purpose working with Pearson!

Tova: That would be something! Quite unlikely, but it would be interesting to see someone from Litchfield work for prison reform (or abolition) after getting out. There’s a whole movement out there, and though the show has touched on most of the ideas and societal critique behind it, it hasn’t explicitly dealt with the activists and organizations (like Critical Resistance) that are working together to change things and which often cooperate with people currently incarcerated. I’ve really enjoyed seeing the different types of resistance inmates engage in during season 4, and this could be a neat way to explore the theme further. On the other hand, being more explicit might not mean a better portrayal of human nature, prison life and oppressive structures. And that’s what I want from Orange is the New Black, more than anything else. 

Favourite quotes

Amanda: “It was up a nun’s vagina” “What, and you didn’t rinse it?” “Yeah, I sprayed it with windex, especially the microchip part with all the information on it”

Frida: “You didn’t leave me poop, you left me gifts.”

Adrian: "I cannot believe that those posers just smoked us on the unspoken, interracial, prison couple power ranking."

Tova: “I’m a rebel genius. The Che Guevara of hallway groping.”

Shirleen: “You can put me in jail, but you can’t tell me what to do with my own body.”



Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.

Frida Berntson is a Swedish cultural studies and art history student, art blogger and lover of all things geekdom; especially tv, movies and youtube.

Amanda Ling is an American who’s never lived further east than AZ, and has much too much free time to overthink television.

Shirleen Robinson is a black feminist researcher living outside New York City.  She is overjoyed to think and write about her latent love of television

The Soul is the Prison of the Body - Orange Is The New Black Roundtable #4

S04e07, "It Sounded Nicer in My Head"

Paranoia strikes deep for Lolly and Judy, aggravating an 

already tense situation. Red sticks to a Russian tradition 

for an important occasion. (Netflix)

S04e08, "Friends in Low Places"

A new work detail doesn't go over well with 

the inmates. Judy seeks help from Poussey. 

Maria finds a place she can conduct business. (Netflix)

Discussion

Tova: I have a lot of feelings about these episodes, and few of them are positive. Some of it is story-related sadness, some disappointment at badly executed plots and some is pure frustration. Let’s start with Caputo and the continued MCC-mess, which to me was part good, part bad and 100% depressing. What are your emotions and thoughts on these scenes? 

Frida: It was infuriating to watch. The show is doing a great job to make me hate Linda, and then the frustration from the whole thing Crystal explained mixes with that hate and it’s just a sad, angry mixture of feelings! It makes me wonder how many prisoners out there are in Sophia’s situation, and it’s horrible. Caputo’s education idea was really good. I’m disappointed he didn’t stay mad at Linda or MCC for completely changing it to basically slave work (but what can he do really?). I feel like MCC, Caputo or Linda has to suffer to make me even remotely satisfied after all that has happened this season.

Adrian: As Pearson warned, Linda is completely heartless. She isn’t interested in understanding Caputo or his ideas, and her pulling a gun on Crystal was absurd and infuriating. I hoped Caputo would end it with Linda, but he completely disappointed me. Linda’s so unlikeable now, her being convicted and sent to Litchfield might be the only satisfying evolution of her arc, but I’m not even sure I care anymore.

I’m upset at this whole scene: it’s completely believable, even Caputo’s arousal, which is frustrating because it’s far too serious of a moment to be played off as a joke. I can easily imagine a scenario where Linda kills Crystal, and her lawyers spin it as a “Stand Your Ground” situation, which hits too close to home for me. It ripped me out of the fiction and into the real world.

Tova: It's interesting how that scene made you both think about reality. The show in general has done a really good job of getting people to think and talk about what it's like for those who are currently incarcerated in the U.S., but it's clear that some stories have more impact than others, and Sophia's is definitely one of them. I loathed Linda before, but the scene with Crystal made it so obvious what kind of person she is (one who kisses up and kicks down, constantly strengthening structures of oppression). Caputo is a tougher nut to crack, but I'm starting to realise he's not the almost-good guy I thought. Being easily manipulated is one thing: getting turned on by Linda’s actions is repulsive. And I wasn’t ready for that side of Caputo so soon after his comment about the education initiative essentially ending up a chain gang, which was just spot on. Are you surprised that the MCC has found a way to make the prisoners do labour without any payment? It fits with what we know about the company, but if this happens in real life (and I don’t think the show would use it as a plot point if it didn’t), then that seems completely absurd to me.

Amanda: The only part that seems absurd about it to me is they’re just digging around in the yard, and not implementing an “inmate outreach program” à la Shawshank Redemption. At least the panty-sewing job turned a profit for the prison, but the chain gang is only saving them the actual cents an hour the inmates are otherwise paid.

Adrian: Well, their digging isn’t pointless. They’re building a new dorm (at least, that’s what Caputo later said) and MCC is saving revenue from their free labor. It’s not surprising that the story’s gone here - OITNB has been pretty consistent about reflecting the state of the U.S. prison system and sadly, this kind of labor is happening today.

Frida: I totally agree with you about Caputo. He does bad things on a regular basis but he also does good things sometimes. I’ve felt like he is a good person “inside” but getting turned on by Linda in that situation is just outrageous. I’m sad to say that I’m not surprised inmates work without pay in America, but maybe it’s not that common—I hope.

Tova: One thing I’m constantly surprised by is the access to drugs the inmates have—both in max and Litchfield. I don’t know the reality behind that, but it’s depressing enough to watch a character you care about (Nicky) going backwards like this. How do you see this playing out for her?

Amanda: It’s already over for Nicky. You can only hurt yourself like this as long as you can hide from the people who love you. I’m not sure how Red will handle this, but I know she will handle it. I mean, you can’t just take an old Russian Matriarch’s make-up! When I saw Red freaking out I was worried she wouldn’t see it was Nicky and take the fight straight to Maria and her crew.

Frida: Yes, I wonder how Red will handle this with still being super happy and emotional that Nicky is back. It’s almost unbelievable that drugs are so available, yes. I wonder if the meth heads will suffer anything since they’re the ones actually handling the smuggling.

Adrian: Easy access to addictive substances underscores the nature of mass incarceration today. Instead of a means of rehabilitation, prisons function as means of punishment carried out by an authoritarian state, and this is no great secret. The public expects that prisoners have drug access, or will callously joke about prison rape, righteously declaring it as deserved. Societal attitudes about prison, criminality, and human nature will be need be critically overhauled before we can see much-needed changes here. It’s a real-life nightmare. Until then, with only other inmates to support her, Nicky’s best shot at survival is undoubtedly Red.

Amanda: Almost worse than the drugs though, is the way prisons handle mental illness. Lolly homeless with a coffee cart shouldn’t be the happiest part of her flashback, but it is! The only thing worse than knowing she was treating her voices better herself than Healy (with an improvised noise-maker), is how many prisons she’s been in before Litchfield. And think of how many people she’s helped without reservation: homeless coffee guy, Piper and Alex—even Healy. It’s so wrong she was thrown away like this. Can we talk about how many of these characters need real help, and aren’t getting it?

Tova: That scene with Lolly had me smiling wide; it’s uplifting to see someone make a little room for themselves in the world against all odds, and I loved the examples of everyday solidarity between the different outcasts living in the area. On the other hand, yes, it’s depressing that that was the peak for Lolly after she became ill. And above all that when she formed her own solutions—after all institutions had failed to help her—the system destroyed that too.

They’re definitely not getting help! Lorna seems to be going to a dark place, and I don’t think anyone has even acknowledged that she has a mental health problem. It’s not just the inmates with mental health issues either: there’s of course Sophia, whose treatment is the absolute opposite of help. Not to mention the assaults committed by prison guards. Trying to think of an example of someone getting help is more difficult.

Adrian: It’s a real problem when, rather than seeing inmates as people who need opportunities for self-improvement, behavioral counseling, or addiction recovery, Correctional Officers are encouraged by the system to see inmates as self-indulgent troublemakers. It makes it easy to dehumanize people you don’t respect, and for more mercenary or sadistic officers to take advantage of inmate vulnerability.

Frida: Lolly’s flashback felt so real to me. After living in the United States you get used to seeing people like Lolly, people who need help and have no social security but try to live their lives as meaningfully as they can. Coming from Sweden, it is very different. Of course we have homeless people but they get help from the government on another level. But yes, I really liked her story, and the coffee-selling part was heartwarming. What happened to her in the end is of course so sad, you definitely feel hopeless and that people like Lolly will rarely get the help they need from society. I’m also worried about Lorna, maybe Nicky coming back stirred something inside her and now she’s very confused so bad habits come back?

Tova: I would agree it’s better in Sweden, even if the mental healthcare institutions are far from perfect here—not to mention how other agencies and institutions fail to understand mental health issues (being both unemployed and unwell is not a great combo, for example). 

On Lorna: I found myself torn between “Oh, no don’t ruin your marriage because I know you’ll freak out if you do!” and “Come on, get it on with Nicky. You know you want to.” If Lorna’s falling back into old habits has anything to do with Nicky, I’d land on the staying away side though.

What do you think of the current-day scenes with Lolly? Healy seems to continue to play a big part, and I continue to feel for him, but also worry that he’s not helping Lolly as much as he thinks.

Adrian: Nicky made a crude but interesting point when she suggested that Vincent might be turned on by the idea of Lorna getting with a girl. Would he? Or would he be homophobic? Or would he be hurt she cheated on him? There are many ways this could go wrong, so I’m preparing for the worst.

I’m enjoying getting to know Lolly. No one else has let her just talk and explain herself, so we’re learning much more than before. It’s difficult for me to feel thankful toward Healy, however. His motivation seems more about satisfying himself—rather than helping his patients—which is why his treatment typically hasn’t worked out. Healy is a guy that (in his flashback) took his patient on a date and wouldn’t acknowledge the transgression. I’m worried for Lolly but on the bright side, she isn’t smoking crack in the cornfield, or being literally branded in gang warfare. For once, Piper is having a worse day than most everyone else.

Amanda: It was like the writers heard about how many people don’t care about Piper as the main character, and thought they had to go this far, with the branding scene during Nicky’s welcome party—almost like punishing us for our blasphemy. I would have said this is out of character for Maria, but I learned a lot of bear safety in school: a mother bear will stomp on your spine if you’re a threat, and Piper made herself a threat. 

Tova: So King is a wolf and Maria is a bear? You guys are extending the animal metaphors from Spektor’s theme song and I like it. I think Maria activated some parental instinct in Red as well—or maybe just pissed her off. The alliances are really hardening. Who would you peg as most likely to escalate the conflict next? And what about the other aspect of this mess; the racial elements, Nazi branding and actual Nazi sentiments—does the show handle them well?

Frida: I’m really bad at predictions, but I feel like Piper is pretty much done. Perhaps the Nazis will make a move if they found out what happened to her? I think the show is handling everything okay; Nazi gang being not a problem but Maria’s gang being a problem, according to the COs. I thought it was scary to see how easily factions like these can be created and grow with certain people being in a certain context. It makes me wonder if White Power-related groups are common in prison, and if so is anything done to prevent them? Or perhaps this is uncommon in real prisons and the showrunners just thought it would be interesting to have on the show?

Adrian: White Power groups are common in U.S. prisons. Real inmates have historically divided themselves along racial lines (resulting in a trifecta of white/Latino/black gangs commonly represented in film and in television), just as Litchfield’s inmates have done since Season 1.

However, Sanky’s gang isn’t in the same league as Maria’s. Sanky is focused on White Power ideology, while Maria is running an enterprise. Trafficking contraband carries real danger that claiming cafeteria tables for the Aryan race does not. Sanky can afford to pick her battles in a low-stakes game, while Maria is on another level, backed into a corner, making her far more dangerous.

I think they’re doing a decent job of illustrating individual motivations behind joining up with gangs, but let’s see where these arcs lead. I doubt Piscatella will allow gangs to continue beyond this season, but maybe there are surprises ahead of us.

Amanda: Maria isn’t a bear, she’s a mother. Bears are just the only mothers people bother warning us not to fuck with, that’s all. I’m not sure Piscatella, as authoritarian as he is, can do anything about gangs. They were always in Litchfield, it was just quieter before, when there were fewer voices. I almost want Red to form a response to the Nazi group, besides Piper’s window. Also, while I’m glad Taystee didn’t see the need to be the new Vee, it feels like her group takes a backseat (which they super deserve, after last season). Some of their best screen time is interacting with the other inmates, though, and I miss that.

Tova: I could definitely see Red stepping up (again) and leading a group of inmates against Maria and her group. I have a feeling the White Power women will be left on the outside if that happens, and Red is more interesting to watch than all of them, but perhaps also more dangerous. Because Red could get on Maria’s level, and a real threat means the stakes of any full-blown conflict will be higher.

I agree about Taystee and the others. It’s unfortunate that we either get awful events focused on the group, or barely anything at all. I’m not about to wish bad things on these characters just so I get to see more of them. Something like Poussey’s and Soso’s love story would be nice though (or any reason to see Poussey being adorable and smiling, really).

I’ve got a final question for all of you before we wrap this up: If you could choose one scene, character moment, or theme touched on in episode 7 and 8 to be explored further (either in these episodes or later on), what would that be? 

Adrian: I wonder about Lolly’s family. In her flashbacks, her ex-co-worker Ann-Marie tries to drop her at a group home, and mentions that Lolly’s mother moved away. I’m assuming Lolly’s mother abandoned her, but what if she didn’t? Maybe Lolly is confused. Maybe she still has people in the world, outside of Litchfield, who care for her. I’m hoping Lolly gets out and finds the care and support she needs to live life safely and on her terms.

Amanda: Aleida. Aleida, Aleida, Aleida. My mother was half Alaskan Native, not Latin American, but she is so, so similar to Aleida. I hate her when she does horrible things, but it hurts me the most that she’s right about the GED, about her job prospects as an ex con—very real problems few people think about—and I feel for her funny-looking mother love.

Frida: Maybe it’s naive, but I’d love to see Aleida’s nail salon idea come true! It would just feel so rewarding that someone is “doing okay” outside, and even though she has done horrible things I still want it to end well for her! Right now the nail salon has turned into something else, so we’ll see how that turns out. I guess I wanted to focus on something positive for this one.

Favourite quotes

Adrian: "When God gives you a swastika, he opens a window. And then you remember: there is no God."

Frida: “Everyone was a moron in the 80’s.”

Tova: “Sometimes what it looks like is all anybody can see.”

Amanda: “My momma gonna see me kissin’ a white woman!”



Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.

Frida Berntson is a Swedish cultural studies and art history student, art blogger and lover of all things geekdom; especially tv, movies and youtube.

Amanda Ling is an American who’s never lived further east than AZ, and has much too much free time to overthink television.

Somebody to Love - Orange Is The New Black Roundtable #2

S04e03, "(Don't) Say Anything"
A new job puts Taystee close to Caputo. Lorna has to get 

creative in her marriage. Soso and Poussey deal with 

some awkward truths. (Netflix)

S04e04, "Doctor Psycho"

Nothing stays hidden for long when emotions run 

high, but Red, Healy and Caputo try to keep the peace. 

Piper has a business competitor. (Netflix)

Discussion

Tova: Can we just jump right into the best parts of the episodes? Yes, let’s do that. First off: Poussey and Soso being lezzy-togezzy in episode 3. Look at those two cuties on the basketball court! And then it goes downhill so fast. I cringed hard at Soso’s conversation with Judy King, and to be honest I didn’t think they could come back from that. I’m glad they did, mostly because Poussey deserves to be happy, but also because I think Soso is more of an idiot than an asshole, if you know what I mean. She’s one of the people who does actually “mean well” when they screw up with racist nonsense, and it seems like she’s willing to learn. What do you guys think? And more generally: What’s your take on the character insights we get into both Poussey and Soso in this episode?

Adrian: At first, I’d agree that Soso is more idiot than asshole, but in her flashback she throws the “sorta sex-offender” listee under the bus just to get petty bragging rights over her ex. She already won the bet, so to me, this showcased Soso’s lack of integrity. Unless she changes her ways, I can easily see her throwing Poussey under the bus, too. Poussey’s theme song could be “Somebody to Love” by Queen, which is very sweet, but her heart oftens leaves her vulnerable. She gets hurt a lot and doesn’t contend with that pain well (her hooch production began as a direct result of that struggle). I just hope it doesn’t come to Soso hurting her, but continuing with my Big Boo appreciation, Boo had a great line when she saw the two girls on the court: "Litchfield's latest lesbos in fun size." They are indeed both very tiny.

Frida: I still find it hard to place Soso, she’s definitely more of an idiot than an asshole as you say, she thinks she’s progressive but she has no idea what she’s doing. The end of her flashback was cringeworthy, so I completely agree with Adrian about her lack of integrity. Even though she’s rather annoying it’s going to be interesting to know more about her past.

As for the love story: they were extremely lovey-dovey and cute, and after that first crack in their communication I think they will stay together for a while. Poussey is just such a true person, so seeing her getting hurt is the worst. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I feel like she’s almost cursed on the show with unhappy love situations.

Tova: You’ve both got a much better handle on Soso than I do! I think your descriptions of her are accurate, and it’s interesting that a character with so little integrity has ended up with a character who probably has the most integrity out of anyone on the show. Though I have to add that Soso is definitely not the worst in that department! There’s always Piper, or basically anyone who has ever worked at Litchfield.

Excellent choice for a Poussey theme song (they even mention prison cells!), but I feel like she could share it with both Suzanne and Lorna. At least in earlier seasons, because now Lorna seems to have found someone to love, in a very public manner. I really enjoy the Lorna/Vinny relationship, even if it often makes me uncomfortable, and I think it’s about damn time we see Lorna happy. But she’s going to have her heart broken, isn’t she? We’ve seen a lot of love on the show, but we haven’t seen many happily ever after.

Adrian: If we're going to stick with Queen, I think Suzanne might be more aligned with "Bicycle Race": manic musical energy plus a message of non-conformity. I'm not sure my knowledge of Queen is deep enough to pick a song for Lorna, though. Poussey's need for love feels very pure, while Lorna's boils down to her desire for status: I say this because in S03E13, we see a flashback to Lorna’s childhood Confirmation. When her parents scold her for not eating her eucharist wafer (“that’s the whole point”), little Lorna argues “No, Mommy, the dress is the whole point!”

On another note, witnessing inmates released only to fall back in is important, but we've seen it so much. I'd be interested in seeing Lorna get out of Litchfield, permanently. Post-prison life is a part of the convict experience, stories worth telling. Lorna and Muccio have a great and hilarious chemistry; it could be fun watching their marriage evolve as she tries to readjust to the outside world and get to know his family. In the same way, I'm hoping that Aleida manages to stay out and evolve as a parent/grandparent when raising Daya's daughter.

Frida: I really enjoy your Queen soundtrack for the characters! I have very little knowledge of Queen though so I can’t weigh in on your picks. Lorna’s storyline is exceptionally great right now. Their sex scene (it counts as that right?) in the visitor room was on such a high level of cringe that I was squinting my eyes at the screen while screaming “nooo” and smiling at the same time. It was such a great scene. I really hope their marriage lasts, and I totally agree with Adrian that it would be interesting to see more of the inmates that get out permanently. I think a lot of people don’t realize that post-prison life is part of the experience, as you say. I loved Aleida and Daya’s goodbye-scene; it was a very touching moment. It was interesting to see Aleida handle that after having the “never give up” conversation with Gloria.

Tova: I disagree about Lorna. I think she has a mental image of a what a home and family should look like—and that image is based on societal norms—but it's not the status she's in pursuit of: it's normalcy. If Suzanne is non-conforming (which I don't think is by choice), then Lorna is on the other end of the spectrum: she wants to be like "everyone else" more than perhaps anyone in Litchfield. That doesn't make her longing any less pure, even if we might think the ideals she's working towards are messed up. I’d love to see Lorna and Vinny's life after prison, but will she get out anytime soon? I have no idea about anyone's prison sentence, except Aleida (whom I assume we will get to see outside of prison this season).

Now on to the other good parts (though good in a different sense of the word): I thought the scenes with Doggett and Coates in episode 4 were spot-on in their depiction of rape culture, and I really appreciate that we get to see the fallout of that plot line. What do you think?

Frida: Yes, I think Lorna definitely is working towards this older ideal family life which is normal to her and “perfect.” But I can see it having something to do with status also; I feel like she’s bragging a lot about her marriage and that she has a better life than everybody else in Litchfield. Maybe it is a mix between wanting the normal life and a kind of pride about that.

I totally agree with you about Doggett’s scenes. It felt realistic in how certain men view rape and all that with Coates completely surprised about Doggett’s feelings. It was hard to watch, and I still get the total creeps from that guy.

Tova: I think what creeps me out the most is all the times when I’m not creeped out by Coates—when he acts like the kind and insecure guy you want to root for. And that’s just the thing: guys who rape aren’t monsters. Some are, but rape is widespread and normalized enough that almost any type of man could do it. The thought is scary as hell, but it’s important to understand, especially for people blaming women for not getting out of situations before they turn ugly. I don’t suppose a lot of those people watch OITNB, but I appreciate it for bringing up the issue anyway.

There’s actually an article on Vulture that’s all about how this season handles the issue of consent. It goes into very spoilery territory about halfway through though, so be warned! I didn’t read past that point myself.

Adrian: I don’t have anything to add to the Coates situation (the two of you summed it up perfectly). I’m just glad that the writers decided to tackle the subject, and so well. On that same subject, Red raised the point to Healy "There's no such thing as a consensual relationship between a prisoner and a guard," to which I have two reactions. First, the thought of Red being romantically-interested in Healy grosses me out because Healy is so low-key vile. And second, Healy really is a loathsome piece of work.

For instance, take the flashback where he uses a homeless woman to act out a fantasy where he makes peace with his mother (who abandoned him in childhood, when trying to escape the horrors of electroshock therapy). He’s not interested in what the woman wants, he’s using her entirely for his own needs and expects her to be thankful for the privilege. It perfectly mirrors virtually every relationship he has with women: his wife, Red, Soso, Judy King, the list goes on and on.

Frida: I completely agree about Healy, his flashbacks in episode four made it even clearer what kind of man he is. He is not interested in understanding women at all, he just wants to control them in any way possible. The most unnerving thing for me is that men like Healy are probably super common. I wonder if Judy King will suffer from some kind of consequence after she demanded another counselor. I don’t really recall if we have seen Healy “snap” before, but I feel like he probably can right now.

Tova: Well, he did send Piper to the SHU in season one, basically for not being his good little straight middle class girl. So he does have some history with punishing inmates when he gets angry. 

I think that Red burst Healy's bubble a little with that line, similar to what Dogett did with Coates in the same episode. Healy seems to see himself as a Good Guy, and is frustrated when people don't recognize this fact. You’re also right about his relationship to women: he is deeply misogynistic, and totally unsuited for a job at a women’s prison. I haven’t read any Wonder Woman, but I think “the one who hates women” is an appropriate epithet for Healy...

But somehow I still feel for him. Healy is just such a sad, sad person. No one likes him, and the flashbacks show that he’s had a tough childhood (though who on this show hasn’t?). I empathize strongly with his loneliness and desperate attempt at some kind of closure in the diner scene, even if I agree that his behaviour towards the end is selfish. 

Adrian: I’m feeling a bit stressed regarding Sophia’s story; I’m afraid things are only going to get worse, but seeing Nicky gives me hope that she’s going to help Sophia somehow—even if only to help herself. I didn’t even know Nicky was going to return this season, so that was pleasant surprise.

Tova: No comment on my Healy-sympathy? Well, I think we can all agree we care more about Sophia anyway.

I’m always worried about Sophia. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but she’s one of the characters about whom I care the most (which is a credit to both the writers and Cox as an actress, considering how little screen time she’s had). She’s been dealt such a crappy hand: simply being a trans woman in prison is a bad situation, but being put in solitary on top of that? The idea that Nicky would help her didn’t occur to me, but I hope you’re right about that. Sophia’s a resourceful and quite strong woman, but there’s not much she can do in her current situation. Speaking of bad situations: what about Alex, Lolly and the murder drama? Feelings and thoughts on that?

Frida: I feel a little bit sorry about Healy too. As you say, it’s easy to empathize with his reality of total loneliness and sadness (even though he is a horrible person and all that).

The situation that Sophia is in right now is the worst, I have no idea what direction the writers will take it, but I agree that it will probably get even worse before she is back with the other inmates. She will make it through anything but this will be tough on her for sure! The re-introduction of Nicky was kind of meh to me; she’s not really one of my favorite characters, but it will be interesting to see what role she has to play in Sophia’s story. Lastly, on the murder: I just think it’s a great storyline, now with Red involved it’s even more entertaining. Frieda is such a charismatic character. I wonder if we will see any serial killer flashbacks on the show (probably hers, if so?). I’m very excited about how the murder drama will turn out. I am of course rooting for Alex, and that she can survive this craziness.

Adrian: I didn't want to belabor the Healy issue, because he really irks me. I agree, his flashbacks show us a more human, multi-dimensional Healy; the entire cast of OITNB characters repeat their mistakes to tragic and realistic ends. Yet, Healy has more room and power for self-reflection than any of them, and the fact that he hasn't changed in virtually all his life is infuriating when people are hurt by his selfish, petty actions. Remember, at the end of season 1, he was complicit in Piper's beating during the holiday concert; turning a blind eye to an assault—one that might have even resulted in a death—solidified his character for me. As pitiable as he is, I struggle to maintain much sympathy.

On the murder: now that Lolly has defused herself as a threat, I suspect that plotline could go in hibernation for a few episodes before popping back in, with force. I agree, a Frieda flashback is very appealing, but I'm dreading the closure of the murder arc: I'm afraid that, ultimately, one of the four ladies is going to pay!

Tova: That’s usually how it goes! I just hope it’s not Lolly. Or Alex. Or Red. Hmm…

Favourite quotes

Frida: “I have a cousin who lives in Modesto, that’s like modest with an o”
Adrian: “My daddy used to call me solnyshko, little sun, but I've grown bigger and hotter since then, and he's dead.”
Tova: “Sisyphus.” “I did hear that rumour.”


Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.

Frida Berntson is a Swedish cultural studies and art history student, art blogger and lover of all things geekdom; especially tv, movies and youtube.

"That’s just murder-math!" - Orange Is The New Black Roundtable Review #1

S04E01, "Work That Body for Me" With a major security breach and a lot of new inmates, Caputo has to call in the big guns. Things get a little too real for Crazy Eyes and Lolly. (Netflix)

S04E02, "Power Suit" The newcomers stir up ethnic and domestic conflicts, but Maria sees an opportunity. Judy's special treatment raises eyebrows. (Netflix)

Before we start digging into the episodes, a brief introduction for the readers:
Welcome to our first roundtable review of Orange is the new black! During the coming seven weeks we will be sharing our thoughts and feelings on the fourth season of the show, roundtable discussion style. Our hope is that we can extend the conversation into the comment section, but if you prefer quietly basking in the glorious light of our collective intellect that’s perfectly fine as well. Now let’s get to it.

Discussion

Tova: The first episode/s spend a lot of time on setting the scene and making us re-aquainted with all the characters. While it’s amazing to see them all again, I think the privatization issues are more intriguing than the more character-centered parts of the plot, and I find myself waiting for the show to dig deeper into that rather than wanting to know where the personal conflicts are going. So far overcrowding seems to be the only noticeable effect of MCC taking over Litchfield, and I suspect the full effect of that is being saved for later episodes - so the question is what’s going to keep things interesting until then. What do you guys think? Are the characters doing interesting enough things by themselves? What issues should be explored within the scope of Litchfield’s privatization?

Adrian: The privatization of American prisons is a real problem; it will be interesting to see how the writers address these real problems on the show, where prisons are driven by profits rather than rehabilitation. At some point, I’d like to see a take on the “Kids for Cash” Judge Mark Ciavarella story, where a victim of the racket, the corrupt judge, or even both are in Litchfield.

Otherwise, I’m excited to see the cast expansion, and the higher inmate population shaking things up: with equal parts social examination and inmate conflicts, there’s quite a lot to dig into this season.

Frida: I think the first episodes picked up and started interesting plot points for most of the characters, so I don’t think we will be bored until further and bigger plot twists. I feel like we won’t meet Sophia for another while - they’re keeping her story for later in the season, maybe to keep the viewers interested. As for the privatization I’m interested in how they’re going to focus the issues that come up. For now it seems like we will follow Caputo a lot.

Tova: I hadn't heard about the Kids for cash thing before, but it doesn’t surprise me that something like that happened. It seems like a natural side effect of allowing such facilities to be privately run… I like your idea - parallels to real-life situations are always interesting, especially if you’re engaging in social critique, which OITNB usually (thankfully) does!

Regarding the expanded cast: Which additions are you most excited about?
And do you think the focus on Caputo in these first episodes is a good storytelling decision?

Adrian: Ouija is playing nice for now, but she asked Flaca who la jefa is, underlining her ambition. I wonder what Hapakuka, Piper's new bunkmate, is in for. Judy King is a new force of gravity in Litchfield's universe; the scene where she communicates with Healy via innocuous code (‘white bunkmates only’) had a sobering truth to it.

I generally prefer more inmate story focus, but Caputo and the prison guards are important to the overall Litchfield story and relevant when considering their real-life equivalents: prison guard unions are a big factor in the problematic and continued growth of for-profit prisons.

Frida: I think the writers did an amazing job with introducing the new characters because almost all of them seem interesting to me. The new guard, Priscatella, seems pretty amusing and I wonder how his interactions with the inmates will evolve (will he soften his swat-team manner?). I agree with Adrian about Piper’s new bunkmate, she seems interesting and I feel like she has a lot of integrity; she knows how to play people.

I think the focus on Caputo is a good thing; we get to see events outside the prison and the company people, we get a wider perspective of the privatization process. I find Caputo hilarious and likable and terrible at the same time, which makes him a good character to use as some kind of center point.

Tova: That’s interesting, because I don’t feel very interested in any of the new characters! I’m worried about Ouija, but so far she’s a threat without a pronounced personality (which her cool name can’t make up for). I hope the show fleshes her out a bit more, even if she turns out to be a temporary character. Hapakuka seems to have more potential, but I wonder if the two qualities you mention (integrity and manipulation skills) aren’t too far apart to be reconciled in one character in a good way. I only know of one person in real life who has both of these sides, and that’s one complicated little gem…

Tell me more about guard unions and for-profit prisons! I’m also curious what you two think about the Maria flashbacks in episode 2.

Adrian: Like most labor unions, prison guard unions seek to protect the livelihood of its members, which leads to supporting “tough on crime” policies and candidates (which tends to disproportionately hurt people of color). More prisoners leads to higher profits and the increased health of the industry: human incarceration. Aleida says early in episode 1: “It’s sardine time, bitches. We a for-profit prison now. We ain’t people no more. We’re bulk items.” So while the stories of Ouija and Hapakuka are more interesting to me, there’s value to examining the prison guard world when seeking to end mass incarceration.

Frida: Hopefully they have some good material for the new characters in the coming episodes, maybe you will find some of them more interesting then! I forgot about Ouija, she seems pretty fierce, her backstory is probably pretty cool with the teardrop tattoos and everything. Yes, that’s true, I think Hapakuka is so hard to figure out right now, I look forward to seeing further in the season what she is all about.

The Maria flashbacks were okay, not a super strong story but I think it was well acted and still interesting. The theme of national identity and pride were interesting to me.

Tova: That’s interesting and depressing (about prison guards unions)! I’d like to see more about that too.

I do sometimes feel that these little bits we get of the characters’ backgrounds on OITNB are too short or “random”. It’s an interesting choice to show us part of a story, and then leave us without a proper ending, and it can work to the show’s advantage, but occasionally I’m left thinking “okay, so what was the point of that?”. Now, the national identity theme had a clear purpose in tying into present day events and interactions, but there were still a lot of parts that felt unnecessary.

Adrian: I found Maria’s story very interesting and personally relevant: I’m Mexican-American and I’m currently living in a primarily-Dominican neighborhood in New York. While I’m fortunate to have not lived in a time when that clash was more intensely felt, the Latinxs experience is extremely varied and identity is critically important when the non-Latin world seeks to lump us all together. The flashback gave us some much needed Maria backstory, and ultimately served to underscore how important it is that the Latina inmates agreed to cooperate; it not an easy alliance and it would be wrong to presume otherwise.

In any case, I’m thankful that we’re getting more backstory at all, regarding the other inmates, when early seasons were focused quite a lot on Piper. The most interesting part of Piper’s story for me has been Alex Vause, which by the way, is in a huge mess right now.

Tova: Definitely agree about branching out and focusing less on Piper (isn’t that what all the viewers want by now?)! In addition to making the show better, it gives more people an opportunity to see something of their own lives in the stories, like you kind of just demonstrated. It’s a show about prison inmates, and that might make them strange to most of the audience, but it’s also about a wide range of people with both differences and similarities outside of that, and therein lies the opportunity to make them all relatable in some way.

As for the huge mess... Oh, Alex. I usually think of her character as just a small step above Piper, but right now I’m really feeling for her, and I’m actually glad she’s back on the show. I think it will be interesting to see how she handles this, both practically and emotionally. But as always with the interesting storylines on this show, the anticipation is tempered by worry about what will happen to the characters.

Frida: I also agree about having Piper as a kind of supporting role and not as a main character. We know her well by now and from what I know she’s not really a fan favorite!

The murder was everything I love about OITNB; absurd, terrifying, funny and cringeworthy. I just hope Alex can catch her breath for a little while now before the next thing happens! I think the murder scene was a little bit of fresh air into her storyline, which I didn’t like much in season three. It’s going to be interesting to see the aftermath of what happened.

Tova: The (second) murder scene was sooo good and horrible. I understood why Alex did it, and I understood why she didn’t want to. There’s a lot to empathize with there, and it was well played too! Let’s hope it leads to a better storyline for her.

I think it’s time to wrap this up now. I just want to ask you a final quick question (depending on what we think about it, it may become a regular feature of our OITNB round-tables): Who do you think is the MVP of these two episodes? Who’s the most funny, awful, charge-taking, or whatever else is needed to make the show interesting? As for me, I’m going to go with Vause. Though that might be because we’ve been talking about her most recently, I also think she had the best scene, and she’s at the center of the most important drama currently happening on the show - both of which makes her important to the show.

Frida: The question is so hard with so many compelling characters and new situations in the prison! but I have to agree with you that it is Vause. Her story was carrying these two episodes with suspense and an emotional rollercoaster. But I also thought Flores had a strong presence in the first episodes, showing another side of herself.

Adrian: It might be too hard to call. Vause has the most tense storyline, but I appreciate Freida’s ‘git r done’ attitude about body disposal. Judy King’s arrival was perhaps the most disruptive single event, using her clout to make friends and earn special privileges at the expense of the other inmates. I think I’m gonna lean toward Big Boo: she always has the best lines and her horrible plan to rape Officer Coates combined with her desire to avenge Pennsatucky makes her a layered and interesting character.

Favourite quotes

Tova: "If you're gonna be racist, you gotta be accurate, or you just look dumb."

Adrian: “Well, think of it... as a mandala... of pussy.”

Frida: “That’s just murder-math!”

Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.

Frida Berntson is a Swedish cultural studies and art history student, art blogger and lover of all things geekdom; especially tv, movies and youtube.