Orange is the New Black may very well be the show whose new season I was most anticipating this year, and that says a lot considering this year saw things like Dan Harmon's return to Community and Louie return from a two-year hiatus. But Orange's first season was such a "lightning in a bottle" experience, a show that seemingly came out of nowhere to offer us a refreshing and completely unique experience that couldn't be paralleled anywhere else in pop culture. Shows that splash onto the scene like that go in one of two directions in their second seasons - they either improve and solidify the hype and praise they've been showered with or they completely collapse under the weight of their own expectations. I was genuinely unsure as to which category Orange would fall into, but thank the lord it's the first one, because I don't know what I would do if a show with as much potential as this one fell off the wagon. So let's get down to those first two episodes.
Thirsty Bird
There has perhaps never been an episode of Orange is the New Black that utilized its distribution model as well as this one. If Orange were a "traditional" television show, an episode like this would send fans into shock and rage. You mean the SEASON PREMIERE completely leaves out all of the fan favorite inmates and focuses in on BORING FUCKING PIPER, aka JASON BIGGS' FIANCE?!?! While I like Piper more than a lot of other people, I have to admit that even I was initially slightly let down when I found out I would need to wait until episode two to see the rest of the inmates I had grown attached to over the course of the first season. Then I remembered this is Netflix, and I can just watch the next episode and see all of those people again in a matter of seconds.
This is how "Thirsty Bird" manages to be a compelling study of its protagonist without sending us all into a state of panic about where everyone else is!!! And once you realize that the other inmates will be back soon enough, you start to realize just how great of a measure this episode is to how much Piper has progressed since we first met her. The Piper we met in the pilot was someone who seemed to have no issues following the system, because until now, the system had always done her right. She told the truth, because why shouldn't she? She made a mistake in her younger days - days that are now far behind her - and she was willing to face the consequences and get on with her life. Of course, as the first season progressed, we discovered that the Piper that made those mistakes wasn't buried as far down as she liked to pretend she was, and we started to see the anger and frustration hiding behind her perfectly sculpted image. This episode solidifies this with a set of far back flashbacks to Piper's youth, where she tells her mother about her father having an affair and is punished for it. Assumingly, that led to the Piper that dated an international drug dealer and carried a suitcase full of contraband across country lines, only to regress back into the safe and sheltered mindset she was born with while burying her rebellious and angry confusion at what's right and what's wrong. All of this is summed up quite well when Piper learns she's been transported to Chicago to testify in a trial against the drug lord that Alex worked for, and Alex warns her to lie and say she's never met him to protect herself. This is where there's a split between the Piper of Alex's world and the Piper that's about to marry Jason Biggs. The latter version of Piper would tell the truth despite the danger it might present to her, for the good of the system (and the good of not facing possible perjury charges). But the former version would say fuck the system and lie about her involvement because not doing so could result in her death - or, at least, Alex's death. The former version of Piper, once again, wins out - as it seems to be doing quite a lot lately.
And then it turns out, Alex pulls a Jason Biggs Piper move and is rewarded with an early release, while Piper watches her walk away from behind the bars of a cell. It puts Piper in a position she's never been in before: a position where she's been screwed over. It's a hell of an interesting way to kick off the season, and we don't even get a minute of screentime from Crazy Eyes Suzanne. That's a great season premiere.
"Looks Blue, Tastes Red"
HERE they are!
Since "Thirsty Bird" was quite an anomaly of an opener, it's up to "Looks Blue, Tastes Red" to serve up the typical "back to school" vibe of a season premiere, and it does so quite well without any of that "new season" awkwardness that those kinds of episodes occasionally have. Indeed, the shows' timeline more or less means that there's really no "new beginnings" for the inmates of any kind - we're more or less right where we left off, give or take a month, and it's life as usual for just about everyone at Litchfield. What is new in this episode is the information we receive about Taystee, one of the more popular breakout characters of the first season but also a character we didn't know all that much about. This episode changes that, giving us a look back at Taystee's life - a life completely dominated by the dark side of the "system".
Let's talk about the "system" a little bit. Orange is the New Black has always been a show that's deeply skeptical of powers that be and how those powers tend to benefit some while ruining the lives of others. But in these first two episodes, that bell has rang through clearer than ever, particularly as we lie Piper and Taystee's backgrounds next to each other. Piper comes from the positive influence of the system; Taystee squarely the negative. And yet, they've wound up in the same place. Sure, Piper has far more of a support system than Taystee, but it's a support system that's ready to give up on her at any moment, if the scenes with Jason Fucking Biggs are to believed. (Can we please talk about Jason Fucking Biggs and his dad going to a gay bathhouse together? I hope we get more on that development. Maybe Jason Fucking Biggs' dad was once a drug mule for his past gay lover too?). If these first two episodes are any indication, this season of Orange is the New Black seems like it's going to go even deeper into the concept of privilege, asking the differences in those who get it and those who don't - and how it can be taken away
But let's get to Taystee herself. This was perhaps Taystee's best episode yet, as it showcased just how capable she really is and just how well she could fit and thrive in society if someone would just give her a fucking chance. From the time she was just a child eating blue ice pops that taste red, no one expected enough from her to give her the time of day. And yet, every time she's given a challenge, she shines. She has ambition, drive, talent...she was able to make heroin dealing seem like a creative endeavor. There's no reason she shouldn't have been able to make something out of herself...except for her background, which is literally the only thing that could've held her back. And it did. Completely. Anyone who still honestly believes America is an equal playing ground where everyone has equal opportunity needs to take a look at people like poor Taystee. The episode ends with Taystee's heroin dealing boss/de facto mother showing up out of nowhere, and it makes me wonder just where this is going. The final flashback seemed to strongly hit at her death, which would mean the only person who ever saw what Taystee could do was gone. But she's not. She's here. And she's probably bringing some pretty bad shit with her. But it's hard not to see her peering over Taystee pleading her way into a $10 commissary credit and get the image of a proud mother looking upon her daughters' achievements. Granted, that mother is likely the one who landed her where she is and those achievements are a small victory at best, but it still promises an incredibly interesting dynamic for Taystee going forward.
The episode features a myriad of other storylines and bits of storylines, from a fun plot that gives us a sweet mother/daughter story with Daya and her mom to a sad slice of Red's dire straits to an interesting scene where two of the shows' bigger villians (Pennsatucky and Healy) play off of each other, but it all comes back to that idea of these people reeving the wrong end of the stick. After all, the inmates' petty crimes have ruined their lives; Fig's have given her more power. With the resolution to Piper's story in "Thirsty Bird", I imagine this dynamic is going to play itself out in some fairly interesting ways as we progress through the season.
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