Wednesday, June 11, 2014

TV Review: Orange is the New Black - Season 2

So if you're not watching Orange is the New Black, you are missing out.  The first season took the internet by storm last year.

Based on the real life adventures of Piper Kerman. Piper wrote about her time in prison in her book (which the series is based off of) Orange is the New Black.

Netflix has really done well with their choice of shows to feature through their platform.  While most of them are still on my "to watch" list, OITNB is most certainly a strong show for them.

Instead of going through the season - which was amazing! I've decided that I want to go over each character - maybe discuss what I like and dislike about them, and what they have brought to the show.  If you haven't finished the second season - I'd recommend not reading any further, consider this your SPOILER ALERT!


The series started out, completely centered on Chapman. This season, I feel like her character has grown and changed.  When the season started (she was in the shoe!) she seemed to have gone a tiny bit crazy. [the last season ended, with her beating the ever loving sh*t out of Pennsatucky] She proceeds to be taken to Chicago to speak on behalf of the prosecution for the drug lord she originally trafficked for.  Alex was there - and told her she had to lie.  So she did, then found out Alex dicked her over and told the truth, thereby setting herself free, and having left Piper still in jail, and having had committed perjury. This pretty much sets up the rest of the season for Piper.  She sort of realized that she had to look out for herself.  She's become hardened while in prison.  She's blunt and angry.  I felt that where her character ended up at the end of the season (little bit of revenge - or was it protection? - against Alex) was good for her.  She's accepted her fate, and she's realized she has changed and has to figure out what to do. 

I feel bad for Piper when it comes to Larry though.  Even though they split up, because she cheated on him, in jail, with Alex, he should not have rebounded with her best friend.  Wrong wrong wrong. At least in my mind, but I have trust issues ;)

I'm excited to see what next season brings for Pipes - especially since Alex will be back...

I don't have much to say about Alex.  She was barely in the season - and that's okay with me.  Don't get me wrong, I love Laura Prepon, but Alex is a self centered bitch.  She really just says and does what she needs to to get what she wants. I'm glad she's going back to prison, I just hope it is worse for her the second time around. 

I used to love Larry. But now he's with Polly (Pipers best friend).  I think they have both made bad choices, and I no longer feel badly for him. 

The Wiki page that I've been pulling from isn't completely flushed out yet, so the list of the rest of the characters can be found here.

Joe Kaputo:
I didn't like him last season, but by the end of this season - I'm rooting for him.  I hope he finds happiness and is able to take his new position and do great things with it.  He's a dreamer - and I didn't realize this until near the end of season two. 

Natalie "Fig" Figuera:
Good riddance.  I despised everything about her.

Sam Healy:
He's grown on me this season, and I think he honestly means well. Unfortunately for him, I could take him or leave him. His home life is sad, but I'm glad he has started to "do what's right" when it comes to the prison. 

George "Pornstasche" Mendez:
He needs to see a therapist or something.  He's a raging lunatic. Not to mention - makes me very uncomfortable.  Glad to see him go - though it's not fair he's taking the wrap for Bennett. 

John Bennett:
I used to like him. Not so much now.  The way Daya put it, he needs to stop being a pussy. 

Galina "Red" Reznikov:
I love Red.  I love how strong she is, and how much her "family" means to her.  I think that her having such a strong enemy this season really helped develop her character more.  I'm excited to see how she recovers from the splocking.  It'll be interesting to see her "family's" dynamic when she returns. 

Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren:
She's crazy. But in a way that you feel badly for her.  The last shot of her from this season was gut wrenching. She really felt like Vee was her "mother" and was devastated when she realized that she left.  Crazy Eyes is very misunderstood and has been her whole life.  I enjoyed getting to see into her past.

Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson:
Love her. She struggled this season, but ended stronger than she has been.

Nicky Nichols:
Gotta love her.  Her demeanor is that of a dudes. She really brings that sort of "guys guy" vibe to the cast.

Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett:
Even a fresh new set of teeth didn't help to make her tolerable.

Poussey Washington:
Loved getting to know her character a bit more.  Though I'm still not sure what landed her in prison. Her friendship with Taystee was put on trial this season, but they made it through.

Lorna Morello:
Two words: She's f*cking crazy.

Sophia Burset:
I feel like even though she (used to be a he) has one of the more complicated stories - she brings most of the sanity to the show. I'd love for her character to have more prominence next season.

Dayanara "Daya" Diaz:
She's become to whiney.  She got knocked up by a prison guard - what does she expect will happen.  The house with the white picket fence? I feel badly for her guard - though not too badly. They both made stupid choices. At first I was really into their story line - but now - not so much.

Brooke So-So:
Her last name is how I feel about her.

Yvonne "Vee" Parker:
I knew she was a bad egg the second she showed up.  I didn't know she was going to go straight up crazy though.  She got too power hungry.  Her last shot of the season was perfect.

Rosa Cisneros:
Not only did she escape from prison - but she ran Vee over. Best exit ever!! RIP you fierce old lady!

So much happened in this short 13-episode second season.  My brain is tired from trying to remember most of it.  But the finale was pretty spectacular.

Here's to waiting for another year for more.

Did I not touch on something you felt was important?  Do you disagree with my thoughts on any of the characters?  Do tell!!





4 comments:

  1. I was glad to see Vee go. I didn't like her one bit. Still love Red. Larry is a schmuck. Pornstache.. pass. Bennett and Daya.. They really need to just move on from them, that was doomed from the start, everyone knows that. Lorna needs professional help. Sophia is cool. She needs more story. Poussey, they need to go more into why she got put in jail if they're gonna do all this backstory stuff. Healy.. He's better, but still too phobic. Glad to see "Fig" go.. She was useless. Kaputo could have a chance, if they do it right. The Tucky crowd.. bored with the meth-heads. SoSo needs to go-go. She's like Piper was in the beginning of the show, magnified times 100000000.

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    1. so curious as to who this is!! but seems like we agree on most everything...

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  2. Laura: in the episode i just watched it said Poussey was selling weed and thats why shes in jail as a drug dealer. I love her the best this season I think. I still have one episode left to go but the Vee/Rosa ending was spoiled for me from tumblr gifs so I figured I could read your post. Red was def my second favorite this season. And I didn't feel bad about Pornstache taking the fall for "rape" because he IS a rapist and he coerces women to have sex with him and abuses his power and i think he deserves to go to jail for being a rapist even if this PARTICULAR charge is false, he still is a rapist (to other women, and coercion aka making women do sex acts on him for drugs is a form of rape, as well as all the sexual assault he does on a regular basis) and he still should go to jail. Also i think Daya is being whiny too. And I'm annoyed they had so little Sophia she is one of the best parts of the show. And I hate Piper I think she's my least favorite character she's whinier than Daya and I don't care about her plotline with Larry or with Alex I wish she would leave the show and they could make a show about Poussey, Taystee, Sophia, Red, and Nicky instead.

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    1. don't you know to stay away from social media ;) I like Piper, there wouldn't be a series without her. but I think she's going to impress us next season. i hope she goes bat-shit on alex :)

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