Orange Is The New Black review – 1×02 / 1×03: ‘Tit Punch’ / ‘Lesbian Request Denied’

We’re ready to tackle episodes two and three of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. Can the women-in-prison dramedy maintain the high standards set by the pilot?

Let’s bitch it out…

As a quick reminder, each Friday we’re reviewing two episodes of the series. Without further ado, let’s jump into the pie-throwing, fasting and bodily fluids!

1×02 ‘Tit Punch’

One of the smartest decisions Orange Is The New Black makes is using protagonist Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) the audience’s surrogate to prison life but not focusing on her exclusively. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the prison system itself, which strips (sometimes literally) people of their individuality. Dramatically speaking, the show is richer for its interest in exploring the other women that Piper is surrounded by.

Aside from bits and pieces in the ‘Pilot’, we didn’t really get to know much about anyone. ‘Tit Punch’ rectifies this as we spend substantially more time with Red (Kate Mulgrew), as well as learn the rules that govern life behind bars. The episode still focuses a great deal on Piper’s culture-shock as she continues to commit faux-pa’s, but the wide-eyed naivety at times feels a tad overdone. I appreciate that she’s been in prison a very short time and there is a dark streak to the humour, but ‘Tit Punch’ more often than not asks us to laugh at Piper and her entitled, white girl privileg, not with her. This occasionally makes me uncomfortable, which may or may not be intentional (though I’d wager that series creator Jenji Kohan is aware enough that she wants us to feel complicit in Piper’s skewed middle-class values). Because we’re still so glued into Piper’s experience, the show’s mockery of her indulgences (represented here as a ridiculous lemon juice fast) become a mockery of our indulgences.

It’s funny, sure, but the contrast between the flashbacks and the present as Red literally starves Piper out is far too obvious. I much prefer watching Piper cast a fleeting glance at the discarded King Cone on the floor, simultaneously entranced and disgusted with herself in her famished state. This conveys much of the same argument – people don’t appreciate their food and even the worst food is a “King Cone” to someone who has nothing – but it does so without making Piper feel like bad person.

Despite this semi-rant, I don’t think that ‘Tit Punch’ is a bad episode. Rather, I think it’s a little too interested in shaming Piper – and by proxy us. As you’ll see below, I think episode three is ultimately much stronger.

Other Observations:

• I love the sweetness and the harsh reality that accompanies Piper’s developing relationship with Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba). At first it’s touching considering how isolated Piper’s felt throughout her starvation ordeal, but that final moment during the movie is an automatic “uh oh!” moment when you realize Crazy Eyes’ generosity is coming from another direction
• Side Note: Do you have to be in prison to find Good Luck Chuck (the film being screened) funny? Because that movie is garbage
• Other reviews highlight Mulgrew’s performance, but I’ll confess that I find it merely adequate. It’s certainly a different kind of character for the former Star Trek actress, as well as television more broadly speaking, but it’s not like Mulgrew delivers a show-stopping performance
• Obviously there’s a barter system at work in the prison, but I was really interested to see how things work in an environment where money is (partially) removed from the equation. How does one measure the value of human hair in comparison to cocoa butter? Answer: Apparently it’s a fair trade for someone like Taystee (Danielle Brooks) who rocks Piper’s blonde hair like Jessica Simpson extensions
• The most laugh out loud worthy moment is courtesy of the hilariously inappropriate induction video featuring a Mary Hart-esque actress with big hair (shades of Sarah Newlin in True Blood)
• Finally, we’re still meeting lots of new characters, but Warden Healy’s (Michael Harney) assistant, Natalie Figueroa (Alysia Reiner) makes a strong impression in a brief scene and an even more abrupt dismissal

Best Lines:

• Natalie Figueroa (when Diaz tries to ask her a question): “Today I’m only here as a formality”
• Mama Rose (talking about losing a fight with Red): “Thank god I got cancer. No one fucks with cancer.”
• Piper (freaking out over Red’s ‘fatwa’): “I think I’m going to have to fight her. How am I support to prison-fight an old Russian lady?!”
• Natasha Lyonne’s Nichols (confounding Piper with knowledge of her relationship with Alex): “I just know dyke drama when I see it”

1×03 ‘Lesbian Request Denied’

Episode three is the episode that seals the deal for me. Its success is due in no small part to its nuanced and unconventional representation of post-op transgendered character, Sophia (Laverne Cox). We met Sophia in ‘Tit Punch’, but it was a brief “sassy hairdresser” performance that didn’t stand out from the glut of other women we met. ‘Lesbian Request Denied’ digs into Sophia’s backstory in a fashion that’s not that much different than Red’s, but it has a much more significant emotional hook. It’s easier to invest in the character as we follow Sophia from unhappy fire fighter through to the in-transition, pre-op through to the proud, determined woman we see in the prison.

I love the relationship between Sophia and her wife, Crystal (Tanya Wright) which feels authentically complicated. Their discussion during Crystal’s visit is frank and uncomfortable; it’s loaded with gender-specific terms/roles that highlight the conflict within a woman who married into one relationship only to see it turn into something else. There’s nothing conventional about this marriage, and yet the way these two agonize over their situation and what they need from the other speaks to the tug-of-war present in any romantic relationship enduring hardship.

This storyline also had the most symbolically loaded image to date. There’s a truly haunting image as Sophia is arrested and she sees her son Michael sitting on the stairs holding her red purse. He’s wearing the expensive sneakers she felt obliged to purchase in order to buy his love to overcome his inability to process her transition, even as he’s holding an object that represents her shift from man to woman and father to criminal (for credit fraud). It’s so simple and yet so powerful (Kudos to director Jodie Foster – yes that Jodie Foster).

Aside from Laverne Cox’s humanizing performance, the remainder of the episode is well-balanced. Seemingly every storyline is advanced: Piper’s relationship with Alex (Laura Prepon) is deepened (both in the present and in flashback) even as her relationship with her mother and sister deteriorate (the show has now passed the “shaming” onto them). Meanwhile things with Crazy Eyes take a turn for the worse and the prison newbies are assigned brown uniforms and permanent bunks. Predictably Piper is given the “ghetto” and not the “suburbs” (as soon as it was suggested she’d bunk with the other white girls, we knew it wouldn’t come to pass). The new location introduces another new character, Miss Claudette (Michelle Hurst), who is clearly going to start off as the hard-assed cellmate and turn into a mentor/guide. Mark my words!

Other Observations:

• This episode is all about bodies (which makes sense given the prominent focus on Sophia). The result: we spend time discussing the best time to go #2, masturbation tips from Piper’s brother, food porn that doesn’t quite turn into phone sex and, ultimately, Crazy Eyes going #1 on the floor
• Healy discomfort/dislike of lesbians is clearly one of the series’ running gags. He’s obviously a prejudiced idiot who has a specific idea of what a “lesbian” is – think Natasha Lyonne’s Nichols or Crazy Eyes – so it’s always a chuckle when he assumes that Piper is a goody two-shoes hetero
• Subtle character reveals (with far reaching implications) about Piper: two characters suggest that she’s prone to taking risks in order to feel “special”. This resonates most strongly in her confrontation with Alex when Piper tries to play the victim card and Alex refutes her perception of self. The first two episodes have gone to great lengths to convince us that Piper is a good, but ultimately misguided person. It’s clear now that some risky decision-making is the real reason she’s in prison (This mirrors the flashbacks of the other prisoners that both humanize them and illuminate what led to their incarceration)
• I’m glad that Sophia ultimately refuses Pornstache’s (Paolo Schreiber) advances, though I don’t know how long this will last. I’ll bet that we haven’t seen the end of this icky storyline
• Finally, this may make me sound like a jerk, but does anyone actually care about Bennett the guard’s (Matt McGorry) interest in Diaz (Dascha Polanco)? Anyone?

Best Lines:

• Sophia (when Piper asks why she’s being nice): “’Cause I fucked up your hair. That shit looks broke.”
• Nichols (surveying her roommate situation): “How come I got stuck here with Darth Vader and Mr. Clean?”
• Piper (to her mom): “That’s exactly what I need right now: a reminder of my ebbing fertility”

What did you think of these follow-up episodes? Do you agree that Sophia’s backstory is more emotionally compelling that Red’s? Are you concerned for Dandelion’s safety now that Crazy Eyes has begun living up to her nickname? Is Larry (Jason Biggs) an asshole for watching Mad Men alone? And did anyone else immediately picture a pie when he mentioned masturbating in ‘Lesbian Request Denied’? Sound off below

Orange Is The New Black S1 is available in its entirety on Netflix. *Please refrain from discussing upcoming episodes (we’re covering two a week, so we’ll get to them shortly)