The second season of Orange
is the New Black ends with the funniest example of vehicular homicide ever
put on television. With Don’t Fear the
Reaper playing in the background, it served as a fitting conclusion to a
stellar season of television. The first season of the Netflix series, which I
reviewed here,
was one of best surprises of 2013. In 2014, the show improved upon its first
season by continuing its investigation into the largely forgotten women (and a
few men) who inhabit America’s prisons.
At its
core, Orange argues that the penal
system is invariably and undeniably broken. Anyone who tries to improve the
system succumbs to the institutional inertia that stands in the way of meaningful
reform. Even worse, the institution finds a way to punish anyone who dares
challenge it by stripping away their good intentions piece by piece. At the end
of the season, Joe Caputo, a well meaning, if sleazy prison administrator
replaced corrupt assistant warden Natalie Figueroa. Caputo frequently spoke of
his plans to change the prison with Figueroa gone. Yet on his first day, Caputo
compromises his values to protect a criminal act by a prison guard in the name
of protecting his hold on the job and promises of bettering the prison. The
show also traces the efforts of Healey, a prison counselor, to regain the
passion he once had for his job. When Piper complains to him about the problems
with other inmates stemming from her successful furlough, Healey reminds her
that despite all the difficulties and rules, he occasionally can do something
humane for a prisoner and she should be grateful.
In its
second season, Orange continued to
rely on its diverse and expansive cast to shed light on the most marginal
prisoners in an oft-ignored institution. In these forgotten characters, Orange offered its most savage critique
of the federal prison system. The refusal of the administration to pay for Rosa’s
cancer treatments brought the prospect of dying alone and behind bars into
horrifying focus. Having lost her position running the kitchen, Red (the
wonderful Kate Mulgrew) became the leader of the Geriatrics—the old women in
the prison. They point out to Red how everyone in the prison ignores them—including
Red herself. When the prison
administrators discover that Jimmy, one of the Geriatrics, has dementia, they grant
her a “compassionate release.” What the prison views as an act of mercy is
Jimmy’s death sentence. The other prisoners believe that Jimmy, armed only with
a bus ticket and without family or anyone who cares about her, will be dead
within a week. With these neglected prisoners, the show reminds its viewers of
the failures of the prison system.
The
character of Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) reveals how individuals cannot bend
corrupt institutions solely to their will. After her arrival at Litchfield, Vee
recruits the other African American prisoners to help her regain her power. As
their leader, Vee offers them a new purpose—becoming the new power in the
prison. Quickly, Taystee, Janae, Black Cindy, and Suzanne become Vee’s foot
soldiers; selling cigarettes, manhandling fellow inmates, and eventually
dealing heroin. Vee’s gave Suzanne attention and respect, transforming her into
a violent and loyal enforcer. Her manipulations nearly allow her to escape the
consequences of her actions as Suzanne proves willing to take the fall for
Vee’s attack on Red. Yet Vee’s willingness to manipulate others for solely for her
own benefit and at the expense of everyone else becomes her undoing. By
attacking Red, exploiting Suzanne, playing Poussey and Taystee against each
other, and finally turning on the other black women, Vee proved too disruptive
to the prison ecosystem. Even Healey, Caputo, and the Geriatrics recognized the
need to get rid of her. It is then fitting that she meets her fate outside, rather
than inside, the prison—cast out of the system she sought to control.
Orange
contains a few problematic and distracting weaknesses, most of which carried
over from the first season. Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) served as the
audience surrogate and entrance point into the world of Litchfield. Piper’s
realization that she bears little resemblance to herself before her
incarceration offers hope of tying her story into the larger themes of the show.
Yet at times Piper’s world—especially her interactions with her lesbian lover
and partner in crime Alex (Laura Prepon), her ex-fiancé Larry (Jason Biggs) and
all of his Larryness, and her family and friends—seem to exist in a world
separate from the prison. She barely interacted with Vee or most of the other
women in the prison. Piper and Alex’s relationship or Larry’s affair fail to
offer anything meaningful.
Some other observations:
The
pregnancy storyline involving Bennett and Daya continues to underwhelm. Neither
actor brings much to their repetitive and frustrating interactions. Whereas Orange
has important things to say about women’s prisons, it still has not mined anything
useful out of this particular plot line.
The
flashback structure can be useful, but also has limits. Piper’s flashbacks and
a few of the other ones, like Black Cindy, did not illuminate anything about
the characters. On the other hand, the flashbacks featuring Morello, Rosa, and
Sister Ingalls offered some nice shading.
The show
also grappled with mental illness by revealing that Morello had fabricated the
entire relationship with her fiancé, Christopher. It provided her with a nice moment of bonding with the
similarly broken Suzanne. After the confrontation with Christopher, Morello
managed to put herself back together through kind words from Nicky and Piper,
culminating in her act of kindness towards a dying Rosa.
Vee also
offered an improvement over last year’s villain, Pennsatucky. Vee became a
fully formed character, while Pennsatucky never moved beyond a cartoon. This
season she remained an odd character—featuring some kind of performance by
Taryn Manning, I’m just not sure what kind.
