I gave up after 4 episodes that felt like I was watching season 1 and had no character growth besides that Piper became a real asshole.
I finally finished the season last night! For the most part, I enjoyed it, though I thought last season was much stronger. Vee remains one of the best villains in recent memory. Great point about Piper. Prison is hardening her in a way that her indiscretions in the past (the drug running with Alex) never did. And I think the point that these women have to reenter society with nothing landed well, too. They get released with bus money and a criminal record, meaning it's going to be hard for any of them to get legal employment. I agree that Stella was kind of a waste of a character. There was all this chatter about her joining the show, and they really didn't do much with her character except to have her break up Piper and Alex. I really felt bad for Pennsatucky this season, which is saying a lot, because I hated her first season! I wish she and Boo had found some sort of way to really get that scumbag guard, but I did think her way of getting out of van duty was clever. At first I thought the end "prison break" scene was going to be a little cheesy, but I actually enjoyed seeing them all get to the lake. So glad Black Cindy got baptized! And that Soso was accepted into the group by Poussey and Tastee. I thought it was interesting that Piper wasn't in the scene… it definitely illustrated how much of an outsider she still is. I want to know what happened to Alex, though! I don't want to wait until June 2016 for season four!
I felt so bad for Pennsatucky and yeah, she and Big Boo should have went all "Lisbeth Salander" on Rapey Donut Guy! Hopefully the same thing doesn't happen to Maritza.
One thing about Orange is the New Black is that it is good at making us feel sympathy for characters at the same time it's revealing to us how they're monsters. Doggit is one of the most likable characters this season even knowing she's a murderer and tried to murder the main character in the first season. Not having seen the last episode yet, Spoiler: Norma what does everyone think of the Norma cult? I got a kick out of her backstory. And I liked how it explained why she can sing but she can't talk. I guess it kind of makes a weird kind of sense, but that story certainly took us to odd places. I also loved the Suzanne's writing story. Easily the funniest thing about this season, and now I need to use Admiral Roncocker as a trivia team name. The season also did a good job showing us how appalling it is when prisons get privatized. Get yourself in a position to have absolute power over women, force them to do labor for you while cutting all legally justifiable costs, then punishing them whenever they demand you protect them.
So I just watched the finale. I loved the lake scene. It's weird the way they left off the Vause storyline though they couldn't have ended that storyline without an attempt on her life. I suspect we'll know for sure what happened long before the show actually aired by whether the actress is still under contract. Caputo's whole moral journey is a bit boring. Oh, he's a serial pushover who occasionally is convinced by a woman he's having sex with not to be a pushover. Boring, boring, boring. I wish they'd commit to Caputo either being a good guy or not. Either 'Caputo is a good guy' or 'Caputo is an ass' would be more interesting than weak kneed oscillation between the two. The Healy/Red thing is kind of interesting. It's like, whenever Healy reacts emotionally he's an awful person, but whenever he thinks about what he's doing he's a good person. It'll be interesting to see where that goes. And it's good to see Morelli's obsession directed toward a person who reciprocates, even if the original target got horribly beaten. Piper is awful. You get the impression if she was born to parents who weren't rich she would have wound up with a life sentence before she was 18. I'm not a fan of the direction they took her.
Suzanne's story was definitely one of my favorite plot lines this season by far. It cracked me up big time. I also thought her romance with the other offbeat inmate was sweet. Loved the Norma storyline initially, as well as getting her backstory, but as the season went on it got a little tiresome. I'd say that was true of several story lines this year--the felonious panties, the privatization of the prison, etc. Overall I thought last season was much stronger. But I still enjoyed it, and I can't wait for season four.
I have to stay out of here until I see season 3 :-). I don't get Netflix out here in the sticks. I just saw Season 2 on DVD so I don't feel sorry for those eager for season 4 :-P Savoring is sweet torture but makes it last a ,little longer.
I've been thinking about the finale. In real prisons, if they found random stuff in a person's cell on the day they are getting out, do they really not question it? It is a very public space in the prison that anybody could walk into while it's empty. They've got cameras all around that place, right? They could see if another inmate was hiding contraband all around the cell. If they really don't question that in real life, then that truly is appalling.
Cameras didn't record donut boy's rape of Tiffany, nor the drugging not to mention the dragging of said donut boy down to the laundry, so we can forget about a working security camera option. As for believing the "unbelievable", who would have suspected a prison tailor was smuggling hacksaw blades in frozen hamburger meat into prison so 2 murderers could escape from that same maximum security prison? http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/06/everything-we-know-about-the-ny-prison-break.html
So, in real life, are people in minimum security prison constantly being sent to max because people are planting contraband in their rooms? Is it that easy for one prisoner to ruin the life of another out of revenge? Can you not legally challenge this? Would they not look for fingerprints on these items? I have a hard time believing that if they found contraband in a room that every inmate in the entire prison has complete unquestioned access to, they'd fail to apply basic skepticism that the person who happens to be sleeping there was involved. As if the institution of prison wasn't horrifying enough already. Some private prisons have actually sued the government for not imprisoning enough people.
Just finished season and i agree with many that season 1 is still the best but season 3 had its moments. Highlights for me (as much as some stories can be highlights) were Pensatucky's story including her rape by the prison guard. I felt really bad whenever she had "sex" and her eyes went dead.. kudos to the actress for playing it so well. I don't know what to make of Red and Healy.. there is obviously some attraction between them but everytime Healy opens up and tries to take the next step Red pulls away (even though she's interested apparently). Piper's emerging panty empire was hilarious to see but she took a darker tone towards the end which i like, especially in the finale when she really goes all out Godfather on her ex (while Boo looks at her in a mix of respect, amusement and probably memory of season 1 Piper when she was a totally different person). The last ten minutes were the best honestly of the entire season.. pure emotion and joy in the lives of the inmates when they have nothing to feel joy about. it was a welcome release, if only temporary. I don't believe they will get into much trouble though because the prison administration can't very well admit they nearly allowed a prison break to happen (i think they'll come to an agreement aka Don't piss on me and i won't piss on you). Caputo was so awesome this season.. i became a real fan back in season 2 (or 1?) when he tricked that former prison bitch boss into giving him a blowjob... that was so hilariously evil, mean and probably justified that i couldn't help it but laugh. Now he's screwing her on a constant basis in a hate/hate relationship but it was still awesome to see.. this show doesn't have a more dysfunctional couple like them. The season stretched a bit in the middle but pulled well together for the finale, i'm looking forward to season 4.
I agree. I liked learning Norma's backstory, but her cult went on for too long, especially when we could pretty much already assume it was going to end the way that it did. I also found Piper's business story to drag on a little. It didn't really interest me much. What I did find most interesting was Alex going paranoid, Cindy's conversion, and Pensatucky's unfortunate situation. I also like learning several of the backstories this year, especially Boo's, which gave me a new perspective on her. I'm surprised no one has mentioned some other cliffhangers from the finale... Spoiler: Finale What will happen to Daya's baby? This seems like a very sad but accurate portrayal of how such kids end up in the foster care system. Also, what about all of the new inmates that have arrived? It looked like rather than just installing new beds, they were doubling the bed count...I could see prison overcrowding being a main plot point next season. How are they all going to react when they come back in and there are now four people in those little cubes? And lots of new characters to contend with next season. Also, we have Judy King arriving at the prison. "We called ahead, didn't we?" I could see her being an interesting character next season as well, following the same sort of story arc that Piper originally did but even more pronounced. And, what happens with Sophia? How long does she stay in the SHU? What happens when she comes out? Are they headed for a legal battle? Of course, we also have the question of what happened to Alex.
I am very much looking fwd to that new character next season! And I noticed the double bunks OMG how awful.
Uzo Abuda has been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in Drama Series Emmy for the second time!
Actually, its the 1st time in the drama category. IIRC, last year (season 1) Uzo was nom as best guest actress in a comedy, Kate was nom as best supporting actress in a comedy, Taylor was nom as best actress and the entire show was nom as best comedy. We also need to congratulate Pablo Schreiber (Pornstache) for best guest actor in a drama "this" (=2nd season) year and the entire show for being nom as best drama. Woo Hoo!!!
Ahhh...I stand corrected. It would be pretty awesome if Uzo Abuda won Emmys in two different series categories for the same series.