***SPOILER ALERT***
I can’t help it. As crazy and messed up of a show it may be, I love watching Orange is the New Black (OITNB) on Netflix. And I know I’m not alone. The show has had millions of viewers binge-watching for the past three seasons.
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So I finally finished watching Season 3 and it was awesome.
I love learning more about the characters and where they came from- and how they got there and then how prison changed them. We also see Piper’s character developing become more a heartless hard criminal instead of the “good person” Flaca says she knew she was. This season has so much going on. From changes in the prison with a corporate company taking over and challenging Caputo- who we love at some point in the season but then hate again in the end. Then there are the messed-up prison guards who take on drug deals, smuggle panties, and rape the inmates to the ones who are really there to help them. We learn about relationships, trust, betrayal, parenting, gossip, even discrimination, and religion are covered in this season.
This post would be way more super lengthy if I got into the details of each episode, of course.
Here is my list of ten things we learned from OITNB this season.
- Trust no man. Nicky is up to no good and lets Luschek in on her stash of heroin. They become friendly and he’s psyched when he begins to get paid. But when two nutty inmates find out about his stash, the rumors begin. Luschek is searched and immediately points all of the blame on Nicky who only had two years left. She is now sent to max. Caputo suspects it wasn’t all her fault but he protects his employee. And a very pregnant Daya is left to deal with her unborn child alone. No matter all the romance and talks of future plans they had, the one legged lover just couldn’t do it. But now with the end of season 3 showing Daya’s baby being taken away- I wonder if she will end up in foster care or maybe daddy will come back for her? hmmm…
- Everyone needs a distraction from reality. A drama class is offered to the inmates to help them exercise their creative side. Berdie, the new counselor hopes to give the ladies something new to look forward to and an escape to reality. Although, some take it to extremes with their “creativity,” it acts as an outlet for them to escape reality for a bit.
- Sexist and Racist men in the workplace are not a thing of the past. Healey shows Berdie major disrespect when he sees how much the inmates adore her. They can speak to her openly and fill up her drama class. She is good at her job. Instead of Healey being supportive, he shows envy. His remarks are just ridiculous, sexist and racist- like the scene where he points out that she has a different hair do every week. Berdie answers back, “I don’t know if you’re a misogynist, or a racist, or a winning combination of both.” You go girl! And then poor Pensatucky getting abused and raped by the weirdo prison guard.. (they should’ve given him the broom!!! lol) I don’t know if that’s considered sexist but it’s plain wrong. Pensatucky as crazy and unlikeable- we now get to know how she got to be so crazy.
- Money talks, not people. When a corporate company takes over the prison, Caputo doesn’t realize the company is not only allowing the prison to stay running but they now make the calls, too. For example, the food gets changed, new unqualified guards get hired and corporate can care less about the inmates or the employees safety. Caputo learns how they work and that there’s not much he can do. He later decides to take a promotion and side with corporate which causes his guards to loose respect for him…again.
- Time inspires creativity. Crazy eyes becomes an erotic author, Piper starts a pervy panty sniffing business, Norma starts her own religion, and Lorna runs a pen pal lover service to help support her commissary needs. Need I say more?
- Never underestimate the power of mom’s love. We see this a lot this season. The first episode being about preparations for Mother’s day at the prison, this season explores a mother’s love and protection in many ways. We have Gloria’s heartaches with her son’s behavior and not being able to parent him outside the prison. Sophia, with the same issue only it is more complicated with her being a transgender parent. Their boys become friends but when they get into trouble, the moms go against each other, even get physical. Nicky’s flashback shows her mother, a socialite who doesn’t know how to deal with Nicky’s addictions and behavior. Then we have Aleida and Daya’s relationship. Aleida tries to be a good mother and protect her daughter and grandchild from the same life and mistakes she made. She later makes a choice that shows Daya a different side of her. Interestingly, we also see Pornstache’s relationship with his mother- he calls her mommy and he is her little “black sheep” out of her three kids.
- Discrimination is everywhere. This season goes into discrimination of all types. Religious- Soso looks for peace in Norma’s group but Leanne bullies her out of the group. Ironically, she later laughs at Leanne being Amish. I don’t think she meant harm but Leanne took offense. Soso is not welcomed by any of the inmates. They call her annoying and dumb. She isn’t “Asian” enough either to hang with the one Asian lady in prison. She goes into depression and Healey suggests pills which she almost overdoses on. Luckily, she is found and the black group who doesn’t allow any other races sit with them take her in. They develop a soft spot for her when they see she is suffering. That was definitely a beautiful part of this season to see acceptance. Then we have Sophia’s story and Big Boo which are similar. Both from the gay community who have had difficult times through life to being accepted on who they truly are. When the women gossip about Sophia, she gets beaten on. It was heartbreaking and just sad because she did not deserve it. What happened with Gloria was an accident- well, she didn’t mean to hurt her that way but being that she still has male strength, she did and she scared herself for it.
- Everyone has a chance at love. It’s no secret that Healey has an unhappy marriage. We watch his relationship with Red unfold and it’s very clear when she translates to his Russian wife how she sees him. Their relationship is refreshing though. She’s tough as nails and he respects and supports that (which is ironic because of the way he treats Berdie!). He even goes on a limb for her to get her back in the kitchen she loves so much. The two are older but it shows that no matter what age, you still have a chance at romance. At the end of the season, when the two witness Lorna’s wedding, tears flow and it gets real. Yes, miss Lorna finds love, too. Vinny, who is just a crazy and romantic as she is, sweeps her off her feet and marries her in prison. Toilet paper veil and all. We see Crazy Eyes being approached by a fan of her book. Could this be the start of a relationship for these two nuts? And let’s not forget Caputo’s strange thing with Fig (his arch enemy)…
- Everyone wants something to believe in and hold onto. Holy Norma? Worshipping a Norma piece of toast? New Jewish “Tova” converts (mostly for better meals but then it seems to be more than that). Amish rebels and then religion that claims to cure “gayness.” We see some of the inmates come to Sister Jane for guidance and praying at the chapel. They look for something to hold onto- faith- to go on.
- Trust No Bitch. Stella screws money power crazed Piper big time when she transfers her money from the stinky panty business to her own account. Bad move inmate. No matter how much Piper may enjoy hot Justin Beiber looking Stella’s company, she makes it known to everyone that is is not to be messed with. Piper set Stella up by stashing illegal things considered weapons and against the rules in her bunk. Her two days til she’s out quickly turn into max. A harsh thing to do to a girl but now we see Piper is not the same forgiving person she used to be and she is definitely all about herself. Ironically, Stella gave Piper a white ink tattoo only a few days before with the phrase “trust no bitch.” At the end, we see bad ass Piper giving herself a new tattoo of the infinity symbol. “Cliche my ass!” she says in pain.
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With the season finale being so good, I can’t wait for Season 4! I’m so curious to see what happens to Daya’s baby, what Pensatucky and Boo plan to do about the rapist guard, Alex in the shed-does she make it??- and everything else!
What was your favorite episode this season?
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