What’s that? That sad pitiful whistling noise? It looks like the Womp Womp train has made it to No1 Care station, because it’s a Larry scene. Larry’s at a gay bathhouse with his dad. For those of you who watched this scene and completely ignored the dialogue, thinking instead “Why don’t we have lesbian bathhouses? Why isn’t that a thing? Why don’t I get to go to a sauna and fuck a random chick while people watch us but pretend like they’re not watching us?“, it’s because no, don’t ask, and you don’t want to anyway. Bathhouses are, as far as I can see in my brief checking of Wikipedia, a dude thing. Their clandestine nature and ability to allow preciously incriminating activities to take place in safety make them them famous in gay male history, kind of like how we have vegan bakeries and zine libraries. Also, when was the last time you wanted to finger somebody in a slightly more visible version of the YMCA’s locker room? No, you’d rather eat goat cheese off each other’s nipples at a dog farm in Vermont.
I was gonna put an image here, but, um. Never mind.
Also, aren’t you glad you ignored the dialogue? Larry was telling his dad he was excited because he figured out how to get Piper off internally. Are you kidding me with this shit? The entire queer world just did a six-minute long Ursula laugh. Rookie bitch, please.
HONEY STOP
For those of you worried about Red, duh! We are all worried about Red, we are holding lesbian prayer circles and lighting lesbian prayer candles for Red. This lady was our favorite prison mother and now her roots are showing in a hardcore way, literally and figuratively. Her family has lost control of the business at home that was her pride and joy, her old prison throne has been handed off to someone else, and whatever friendship she’d found behind bars has abandoned her with a grudge. The fact that is becoming all too clear is that Red actually has a heart, and that’s why she can’t just ruthlessly fuck over everyone in her path. It’s something we love about her, but it also means it’s going to be a rocky road to the top, if she ever gets to the top again.
It was all so easy. I was the captain of my own life, I was drinking lots of coffee, I was helping out in situations that were coded for real life social issues, I was wearing a lot of red and black.
Long story short: Red is aching for a bitchy reveal and an emotional comeback like it’s the last twenty minutes of a Catfish episode. When we see how defeated and miserable she is, it eats us to our very core, right? As everyone else in prison whispers, it’s like seeing a bear going into hibernation. The table that was labeled the Golden Girls during Piper’s Season One introduction to everyone in the prison a la Mean Girls cafeteria scene is the same table that wants to acquire Red, but Red feels like while she’s slowly dragging her limp body up the hill, she is not yet over it. Hanging out with the elderly inmates would be a sign of complete defeat, and at least she’s not ready to admit that yet. Hang in there, baby girl!
If you were concerned about Daya’s bowels, a combination of yogurt and spices does the trick, apparently. And this causes Daya to play the peacemaker between her biological mother, someone who has not really been there for her ever, and Mendoza, who has had to give Daya a bit of mothering in the meantime.
Pennsatucky leaves solitary confinement to much fanfare and fear. Things in the laundry room have been pretty chill according to Leanne, and no one is actually looking forward to a walking Planned Parenthood protest showing up and yelling about purgatory all the time. Tucky seems to have turned a new leaf in her time alone, though, and part of that leaf was functioning with, like, three teeth. Healy has her into his office to confirm that his silent confirmation that she go right ahead and murder Piper in cold blood is a thing she needs to forget if she doesn’t want her ass handed to her in a gift-wrapped prison package. Tucky, not the sharpest tool in the shed but still a tad bit pointier than people like to remember, uses the bargaining chip of her real world weight to get herself some new teeth. Now she can make the methheads jealous and maybe get her mojo back. You go, angry scary baby girl. You shine like the little nickel I know you are, murderous feelings and all.
We found love in a toothless place. (Sorry, that is hands-down the worst caption I have ever made but I don’t want to change it because I need you to bear witness to me at my lowest moment, at the bare minimum of my pun capacities.)
Larry visits Piper’s friend Polly, whose boobs are fully exposed but she doesn’t care because new mom exhaustion and nipple confidence. Is it weird I’ve always found Polly attractive? Christ, I have the most intense fucking mommy issues. Larry stares at Polly’s boobs which I guess is meant to indicate it’s been a while since he had some? But also just comes across as come on, man, don’t be a gross weirdo over someone who you’ve known as a protective friend for a very long time. I’ve been celibate for like a month and a half and I’m not staring down the shirt of every Victoria’s Secret ad that comes in my Sunday paper, you know?
I’M SORRY I HAVE A MILF THING OKAY? DON’T JUDGE ME, FICTIONAL CHARACTER. DON’T JUDGE ME WITH YOUR FICTIONAL FACE.
Taystee kicks absolute ass in the job fair, making Poussey so proud that my face actually hurt from how much Poussey smiling makes me smile. Poussey Washington has the greatest smile in the world. That is a goddamned irrefutable fact. I will defend this as fact until they put my cold dead 100 year old body in the ground when I am wizened and surrounded by all my great-great-grandchildren and their love for the old school show Orange is the New Black. And they’ll be all like, I don’t know Great-Great-Grandperson, Poussey’s smile is great but is it really the best? And I’ll say, kids these days have no respect, wearing their plastic trousers and listening to space droning and riding around on rocket scooters and eating their electronic ice cream, thinking Poussey’s smile isn’t the best goddamned smile that has ever been dreamed into existence. And then I shall shudder and shake a fist at the heavens and die.
*!#~~sigh~~#!*
The bad thing is, the rumors Taystee heard about last year’s winner getting a job when she got out of prison weren’t true, and Fig shoots her down in the nastiest way possible. Fig is an unforgivable bitch, y’all. When you have utter and complete control over the lives of so many people, down to the conditions of the toilet in which they must shit, and you don’t give one single tiny little fuck about them, not even on the micro level? You’re a terrible person. If you fear people in power who don’t care one bit about those who are affected by their power, this show is probably one of the scariest on television. Even the reporter from last season’s NPR fiasco doesn’t shake her, and you know she’s cooking the books in the worst way.
Speaking of scary things, Vee is waiting just outside the chapel when Taystee finishes the job fair. And from the look on Taystee’s face, this is hardly a happy family reunion. If your nethers tingled with a sense of dread, your nethers weren’t far off! Tally ho to episode three, hoes!
Oh, and and I should mention this before I forget because my mind wants me to forget. That whole scene with Big Boo was… yeah. No. As someone who is so obsessed with dogs to the point that people have to physically restrain me when I cannot pet a passing pitbull, no thank you. Please don’t do the thing with the dog, please. I know we all heard this urban legend in middle school but I think we also all knew even as wee baby middle schoolers that it was a thing we never wanted to see as part of our favorite gay television show. Vomity vomitous vomit.
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That whole paragraph about Poussey’s smile made me chuckle. And I thought I was the only one with yucky feelings about the dog scene, thank you! Your recaps are awesome, can’t wait for the next one!
“Poussey Washington has the greatest smile in the world. That is a goddamned irrefutable fact.”
Probably the only thing that rivals her smile is her adorably curled-upward eyelashes.
YES to Poussey smiling because her smile is the best ever hands down no dispute srsly, and I said NO out loud during Boo’s scene. Great recap, Kade, thank you for doing this :)
brb crying about taystee and poussey’s smile forever
laura prepon and jason biggs gave an interview together and they were talking about the reactions their characters had on audiences. Laura talked a lot about how much love she’s received and how much she appreciates it.(alex’s sex appeal is ridic) and larry said he has the exact opposite effect, people run up to him and talk about how much they hate his character and wish he were dead, (they were laughing as he said it) I laughed too then felt the tiny tinniest smudge sorry for Jason, then it goes away. Awesome recaps!
I kind of respect Jason Biggs for this. In all his media appearances it’s clear that he knows how people feel about him on the show and he owns it, embraces it, and has plenty of humility about it. Which I like. And makes me confident that my dislike of Larry is what the writers and actor intend.
I honestly could barely get through the scenes with Larry and found them even more unbearable BECAUSE Jason Biggs is such a fucking asshole in real life.
http://www.pajiba.com/trade_news/jason-biggs-goes-on-an-ugly-misogynistic-twitter-rant-.php
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2634426/Jason-Biggs-makes-insensitive-jokes-deceased-The-Bachelorette-contestant-Eric-Hill-Twitter.html
He got into some hot water talking about the “bleached a**sholes” of several Republican women/politician’s wives, and he also really hates the Kardashians, to the point where it’s kind of REALLY icky. I saw a screencap of his Twitter where he once tried to hijack a hashtag Kim was using to promote aid to the Armenian genocide and he compared her career to a genocide, I think? He’s just all around a gross person.
Great recap!
I felt the same way about the Boo scene (and so did DeLaria at first, apparently). I chose to take it as “it occurred to her and that really disturbed her that she even thought about it, and that’s all that happened.” Because that’s how I can still go on!
Ah yes, thank you. I feel better now.
if your Tucky Pun (which I enjoyed) is the lowest point in this article, than I have solid faith in your skills, Kate. Nothing was lower to me than Little Boo’s absences explained. Rest in Peace, sweet little muffin face.
They said in the DVD commentary for Season 1 that the dog they hired was constantly passing out and so they just decided to write the dog out (and I was a bit irked at how proud they were of how they did it). I can relate, Little Boo. I always want to sleep at work!
No, you’d rather eat goat cheese off each other’s nipples at a dog farm in Vermont.
WOW GET OUT OF MY MIND
…
I have these organic goat milk maple cream caramels and no [other]’s nipples to eat them off of what am I doing with my life?
Also, this ep is totally the real start to the season because that weird first ep doesn’t count.
Perfect introduction to the new Litchfield (same as the old Litchfield).
#rallybehindred #rallybehindtaystee
I VOLUNTEER
AS TRIBUTE
May the odds be ever in your flavor
Maybe it’s because I went to a middle school in a hoity totty neighborhood, but that never was an urban legend in my school or area(we had 4 middle school & 1 high school). Urban legend we had was related to fruits and vegetables.
the thing in my school was always that some girl shoved a hot dog up her vagina after getting up on a table at a party. and then i went to college and someone else said the same thing supposedly happened at their school, and so on and so forth, and now any time i hear a story about food entering an orifice pre-college years, i assume it is urban legend.
I just finished watching the entire season so I have a lot of feelings about it. Especially about Poussey. This season really did a number on how I feel about certain characters and many of those feelings were not good ones. I will get into that in later recap threads.
This was a good introduction to the Vee character and she definitely was a captivating presence all season. Everything she did had a lasting effect on everyone.
And I end with this–every scene of Larry’s are minutes of my life that I can’t get back that could have gone to one or more prison characters. I don’t understand what they were trying to do with him but the writers make me hate him even more with each passing episode.
Oh. And this episode proved that this show can do an entire episode without Piper and still hold your attention. I feel like they were testing the waters with that so see how well it would go over. I didn’t miss Piper or Alex at all.
The season is young, we have much to learn.
I find Vee too attractive to bare.
Love all your recaps! I feel the same way about the Boo scene, creepy creepy gross. Binged watched Season 2 in 3 days! Can’t wait for the rest of your recaps.
I’ve had some RAs that remind me of Fig…
I really really want Fig to end up in prison. That would be perfect. Please tell me that happens! (I’m pacing myself, so, have not watched past ep 3 yet.) But wouldn’t that be perfect? Nobody should ever talk to Taystee that way.
i would love to see fig in this prison, too,but then we would have to do without getting to see her legs. :(
Everything about boo kinda grosses me out, but this was the tip of the iceberg. Blah to her everything.
I actually kind of don’t totally hate Larry and never understood the extreme hatred he gets. I wouldn’t care if he left the show, but he’s not /that/ awful to the point where he would be the one character I’d get rid of.
Yeah, I kind of liked her last season, but this season practically everything about her behavior was seriously not OK.
I found myself liking Larry MORE this season actually. I guess for things that happen later, so I can’t say why. And not liking Vee at all. I guess I can’t fully say why at this point either. I do agree that OITNB showed it doesn’t need Piper and Alex, although I really hope to see them. I like the character of Piper, too. Hated her at the beginning of season 1, but then I begin to see her subtlety. By season 2, she is no longer seeming like a “know-it-all,” but is starting to better understand where she is.
that, and taylor schilling is just beautiful. her eyes are lovely.
Hey Kate, the “real Larry” here, with some differences to what we all see on TV (I do enjoy a schvitz, btw, but wouldn’t go with my dad to a gay one; he’s not ready). Love this piece, and there’s no character I love more then my girl, Taystee.
And that Bloom guy? Well, it’s complicated…
taystee’s first impression of vee was right: “you nasty”
i laughed out loud and re-watched that moment four times, baby taystee was perfect