History Headscratchers / OrangeIsTheNewBlack

* Wouldn't the prison authorities have advised Lorna that her baby had died? I would think the hospital would have her information on file and contacted Litchfield to let them know an inmate's child had died.
* Why couldn't Shani argue for needing asylum to stay in America when she was going to be killed in Egypt for being lesbian?

* As heartwarming as [[SuddenlyVoiced Norma's song in the Christmas pageant]] may have been...if everyone at Litchfield thought she was mute, why did they put her in the choir in the first place?

* Wouldn't the prison authorities have advised Lorna that her baby had died? I would think the hospital would have her information on file and contacted Litchfield to let them know an inmate's child had died.

** This is just speculation, but it could be that she goes by "Artesian" but her legal first name starts with a B.

* Why does it say "B. McCullough" on McCullough's uniform shirt, even though her first name is Artesian?

** Healy broke several rules by sending Piper to the SHU, so it's understandable that Caputo would want to return her to a 'normal' prison life as quickly as possible to avoid any further complications. Additionally, the rest of the staff apart from Healy knew that Piper hadn't actually done anything wrong, so decided not to remove her privileges. Watson is a little more complicated, but it could be that there's a grace period where being sent to SHU when you're relatively new to the prison means you don't lose your job/uniform on returning. Or perhaps the same works for your first visit to SHU.

* Why is it in episode 1 of season 1, Nicky comes back from SHU and is processed back in like a newbie (orange uniform, sleeping in the rooms, not the dorms etc), but when Watson and Chapman both go and return, in the same season, they both return straight into the dorms, with their usual beige uniforms and keep their jobs? Watson tells Chapman she goes straight back to dorms since there was a bunk free, but that doesn’t explain the uniform issue. We don’t know how long Nicky was in there but Watson was there for 2 weeks, and Chapman less than 48 hours - so it can’t be an issue of time spent there, a season surely 2 weeks would warrant putting her back in orange, even if Chapmans less than 48 hours doesn’t.

* Lorna Morello does not seem to be particularly techno-savvy. She did not even know what Pinterest was, and did not seem to do online stalking other than through email and Facebook. She does not seem to be particularly into gadgets- and other than the make-up, she does not really MacGyver anything. How in the world did Christopher MacLaren know that it was Lorna Morello who put that homemade explosive under Angela's car? It does not seem like something she would be able to come up with. Or was she found "not guilty" of this particular charge due to that exact same reason, and thus was convicted only of the lesser charges of mail order fraud and perhaps stalking and harassment?

** I don't think it's fair to say that it's idiotic for them to do the show. It's just a school production and they should be able to do what they like. That's like saying it's idiotic for a school with mostly black students to do Les Mis. The problem isn't with the students doing the musical in and of itself. If there were more black students at the school and they wanted to do Dream Girls, but no black people auditioned or wanted to be a part of it, I don't think the situation would be looked upon as badly. The real issue is the dynamics of the school.

** It's also because most jurisdictions have pretty strict rules on sentencing around mental illness (to avoid someone from gaming the system by committing a crime and then claiming insanity to get an 'easier' sentence). There's quite a lot to it, but generally, the principle is that even if you're mentally ill in some way, if you're sufficiently sane enough to realise that what you did was a crime and have an understanding of the consequences of your actions then you can be tried as normal, so to speak, since you are sufficiently mentally sound to be able to take responsibility for your actions. In Morello's case, while she clearly has issues presumably she was sufficiently aware that planting a bomb in someone's car (which incidentally is kind of stretching the definition of "relatively harmless" a little, but that's another discussion) is still a crime and could have killed him to make a guilty plea and sentencing on the basis of diminished responsibility out of reach.

** It's also because most jurisdictions have pretty strict rules on sentencing around mental illness (to avoid someone from gaming the system by committing a crime and then claiming insanity to get an 'easier' sentence). There's quite a lot to it, but generally, the principle is that even if you're mentally ill in some way, if you're sufficiently sane enough to realise that what you did was a crime and have an understanding of the consequences of your actions then you can be tried as normal, so to speak. In Morello's case, while she clearly has issues presumably she was sufficiently aware that planting a bomb in someone's car (which incidentally is kind of stretching the definition of "relatively harmless" a little, but that's another discussion) is still a crime and could have killed him to make a guilty plea and sentencing on the basis of diminished responsibility out of reach.

* How are the three inmates hiding in the time machine at the end of Season 5 if it was destroyed by Angie and Leanne at the end of Season 4?

** It would not be surprising at all if they justified it as teaching them about black culture and racism; I was once in a drama class that was about 80% white, and most of those people were trying to get a production of Hairspray going. It could also be a matter of one of the richest kids wanting to do it and her parents having enough money to make it happen for her.

** Bank robbery, unlike other forms of robbery, is a federal offense, regardless of the jurisdiction.

** While most forms of robbery are state crimes, bank robbery is a federal crime, which is why Janae is in a federal prison.

*** Apologies for the Main/Squick, but it's implied that Pennsatucky's upbringing is less than ideal, with the possibility of sexual abuse. This is related to both early onset of menstruation and also to promiscuous sexual behaviour/increased likelihood of risk-taking, consistent with Pennsatucky's actions, beliefs and worldview.

*** Given it was a school production, and so would only likely be seen by parents, siblings, other family, maybe a reviewer from a local newspaper, I'm guessing the teachers wouldn't care. As long as the kids are engaged and having fun with it, they aren't going to care if it's white kids doing a mostly black people musical, or a Jewish one or whatever. Besides, given it's an exclusive boarding school, most of them aren't going to realise the implications of it. See the girl who gives Janae the tour, she just thinks she's crying because the singing is emotionally moving, not because a white girl is playing a black woman and singing songs from a black group.

*** Given it was a school production, and so would only likely be seen by parents, siblings, other family, maybe a reviewer from a local newspaper, I'm guessing the teachers wouldn't care. As long as the kids are engaged and having fun with it, they aren't going to care if it's white kids doing a mostly black people musical, or a Jewish one or whatever. Besides, given it's an exclusive boarding school, most of them aren't going to realise the implications of it. See the girl who gives Jamar the tour, she just thinks she's crying because the singing is emotionally moving, not because a white girl is playing a black woman and singing songs from a black group.

*** Fair, but when I was in high school, the school had to approve any show we did. I'd imagine one of them would think about the idiocy of it, but maybe they just didn't care. Idk.