Jackson Ball reviews the ninth episode of Orange Is the New Black Season 2 …
Just like that, we are heading into the tail-end of season 2. Episode nine offers the regular dose of shocks and laughs, but also promises certain events that will, I expect have drastic repercussions when we reach the season finale.
Warning! Spoilers Ahead – You have been warned!
It’s been a while since we spent any considerable length of time outside the prison. Sure, there have been the (excellent) flashbacks that have fleshed out the backstory’s of the show’s supporting characters, but the only present-day escapes we’ve had are that of the prison staff – in the form of Caputo’s (Nick Sandow) ludicrous garage band – and the awkward goings-on of Larry (Jason Biggs). Neither of these plot-paths have been particularly gripping as yet.
However, now we finally get to leave Litchfield Penitentiary with some real narrative purpose, and we get to leave the same way we arrived: with Piper (Taylor Schilling). Before we discuss the events of Piper’s temporary release, I have a particular qualm with the circumstances of how it came to be.
Now, make no mistake, it is underpinning of black comedy that has made OITNB such a revelation in the past. However, I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s believability is an equally string asset. The characters, however colourful or wacky, have always been shrouded in a realism that makes the believable. It is this balance between grounded and farcical characters that has been the finest reward for the show’s writers.
For me though, there is an exception to the rule, and that is the character of Healy (Michael J. Harney). He had quite a drastic character arc in the first season, and it was brilliantly difficult to watch, but now it seems as though the writers have made a complete u-turn and are playing that entire arc in reverse. I understand he’s a psychologically damaged by his job, and his home-life is equally depressing, but I don’t think that is enough to warrant such a vigorously-fluctuating moral compass. Healy started season 1 as a friendly confidant for Piper, but his mental instability and implied lesbo-hatred saw that relationship crumble to the point at which he was willing to LEAVE HER FOR DEAD at the end of the season! Now though, just because he’s decided that, actually, he wants the inmates to like him, he’s managed to secure her the much-coveted temporary release. It was just the first time the show has made me say, ‘No. Sorry. I’m not buying that!’
Back to Piper’s little vacation from the prison. Despite all the build-up to the occasion, It was almost subversive in its uneventfulness. Other than a superbly-acted, heart-felt confrontation between her and Larry, most of time away from Litchfield saw her putting on a brave face at her grandmother’s funeral. It was a wonderfully nuanced performance from Schilling though, who took every opportunity to show how unrecognizable Piper’s personality had become since she first departed for her incarceration.
The time away from prison was refreshing, but the real highlight of the episode took place back at Litchfield, with the long-awaited reinstatement of George ‘Pornstache’ Mendez (Pablo Schreiber). The ‘D-List Burt Reynolds’ is back!!
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