Orange Is The New Black

Agreed, the finale is just so sweet, and yet so quietly terrifying both with the big spoiler-y moment, and for what is going to happen to Lichfield in the future.

Really, I wonder if one of the points of the show is not to have Piper be a Foil to all those inmates who lived really shitty lives before entering Lichfield yet fight against their deshumanization. While little Miss Privileged decides that the entire world is after her and that the solution is to turn into an horrendous bitch, probably to spite it.

I mean, Soso was introduced as a way to show how Piper evolved over Season 1, but she also shows what Piper could have become had she not decided to be a bitch. Granted, the attempted suicide was a very low moment, yet it is telling that Soso thought that it was better than be corrupted by the prison. Meanwhile, Piper sends a girl to hell because her (illegally acquired) money was stolen, and seems to be proud of it.

That's definitely what Piper is meant to be.

that's a good point actually. even people like aleida or cindy who were shown to be more or less terrible people initially and still kind of are to some degree manage to be more sympathetic or are at least trying a little bit to be better people. piper's given up.

I really wish I had a better read on how genuine Cindy was about converting to Judaism. It seemed like she was actually genuine about it towards the end, but I could still see it being part of the act.

I hope it wasn't part of the act. Her big speech at the end about how Judiasm encourages folks to question reawakened what I love about my faith.

Yeah, that was great.

given the flashback we got to cindy's childhood, with her oppressive religious father, i'd say it's probably genuine.

Wasn't that Watson?

there were two flashbacks. cindy's was about her christian fundamentalist father, janae's was about her muslim father disapproving of her being a runner.

the finale had a LOT of flashbacks for different characters.

Ah, okay.

Are our protagonists at risk of serious ST Is? I'm studying a few case studies of AI Ds and HIV spreading through male prisons and dang this is scary.

The women have a lot of sex with a lot of partners, don't have access to physical barriers, nor regular screenings I think? And the prison is populated with lots of demographics at high risk of various ST Is.

Honestly kinda surprised this isn't something that's come up yet. I would hope that some manner of protection is being smuggled in, but given the demonstrable level of knowledgeably about reproductive health in the prison...yeesh.

That's enough point; a fair number of characters have shown to just not be knowledgeable about reproductive health, so ST Is could already have spread through the prison and just no one's recognised it yet.

I need to construct a sex chart so I can see who has had sex with whom and see the potential devastation of an unseen STI.

There's plenty of ST Is which cause sterility, which is exactly the kind of topic I would expect this show to tackle.

WLW have very low transmission rates for most stds. Not all of them, but most. There is, for example, a grand total of one known case of woman-to-woman sexual transmission of aids. And this is not because anyone actually ever uses dental dams. So, it's quite plausible litchfield could have a major epidemic of herpes simplex, but.. well, 60% of the world has that one already anyway.

edited 1st May '16 11:30:59 AM by Izeinsummer

Haven't started watching S4 yet, but just so we're clear, what are the spoiler policies for a show that gets a binge release? How long before we stop whiting important stuff out?

Wait, Season 4 has already started?

It's out today on Netflix.

I'd say we keep everything in spoiler scope for at least a month. I'd also suggest we mention from which episode we're talking about like

I can't believe that in S 4 E 1: Suzanne is secretly an alien.

On that note: I liked E1. Really great moments and they're setting up a lot of stuff. I especially liked S 4 E 1: That ending. Golden Girls are fucking hardcore.

I squee'd after 18 seconds. When I saw the name "Natasha Lyonne" displayed on-screen. MORE NICKY, YES!

Edit: Seriously, this show.

- Black people can't be racist. We have no power!

- I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that. I'm sorry, look we may not be able to act on our racism, like, put people in a ghetto, send them to shitty school, kill'em in the back of police vans, but we sure as shit can be as racist as everybody else, 'cause this is America. Home of the free, land of the racist.

Black Cindy wisdom ♥

edited 17th Jun '16 11:12:50 AM by Julep

Halfway through, thoughts so far, character by character:

• Piper: her It's All About Me attitude was just kicked up since the whole "send your girlfriend to MAX" episode, which makes her, hands down, one of the most disgusting human beings among the Lichfield inmates. Yet, watching her behave like she is some kind of top dog never fails to entertain. And at the end of that episode 5, she might just have happened upon a Heel Realization after her latest scheme has Gone Horribly Right and she might just have created the Lichfield equivalent of a white supremacist group. Which, in hindsight, was glaringly obvious, but she is so self-centered that of course she missed it. When you end up creating an assembly where Morello is among the few savvy and responsible members, you screwed up somewhere. Side notes: her sidekick (whose name I don't know, I think she is Hawaiian) is hilarious, and her failure at seducing Piscatella was epic. "I have to beards actually: this one, and the one I took to prom. I like dudes. I will never find you cute, Chapman."
• Red, Lolly and Alex, and Frieda: That cliffhanger left us with an entertaining story to witness. Frieda is both creepy and hilarious with her sociopathic tendencies, and Red is giving "I'm too old for this shit" vibes. Kudos to Laura Prepon who manages to handle both Alex' extremely deadpan lines, and her being rightfully scarred by the events. Of course, Piper being a dick does not help her to cope.
• Poussey and Soso are the breeze of fresh air during this season, and the episode that focused on the cliches they have on each other (especially Soso) was extremely well-done. It's good to see them being happy after the shit they went through under Vee and Norma's cult respectively.
• Taystee is still the goddamn hero of Litchfield. Nothing else to say. Her adventures only would make for one of the best comedy shows.
• Maritza is either a Cloud Cuckoolander that is sometimes right, or one of the greatest cases of Obfuscating Stupidity in the prison. I never pegged her as being in jail for being a Con Artist, but there she is.
• Pennsatucky got the greatest scene of the season when she faced Donuts. That was plain powerful. And devastating. Also, her clumsily trying to watch out for Maritza is really heartwarming.
• Healy...is still garbage, but when you see his backstory and how he was raised...I suppose he has savior's complex mixed with a completely wrong morality set.
• I saw a glimpse of Nicky, can't wait for her and Sophia to come back in more significant fashion.
• I want to see more of Black Cindy's muslim trunk neighbour. They work extremely well together.

edited 18th Jun '16 12:19:03 PM by Julep

On episode 5 right now. So far good, with a few gaffes. Can't wait to read all the spoilered opinions.

I needed to see her again to realize how much I missed Nicky. Now I remember how angry I was when she got sent to Max. The first meeting between Luschek and her...Natasha Lyonne deserves all the praise, that was the second masterpiece of a scene this season after Coates/Daggett.

@ last few seconds of the penultimate episode: What the fuck.

I will answer to that in two episodes, I just finished #10 right now (I thought it was only 10 episodes long).

Edit: "Orange juice...toothpaste...AR-15 Assault Rifle...looks good! Have a nice day."

Okay, since this is 'murica, you get quite a few occasions for this to be a relevant topic, but damn.

edited 19th Jun '16 3:24:42 AM by Julep

FUCK YOU, SHOW. FUCK. YOU.