What I’m Watching: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black: Season 3, Episode 8 “Fear, and Other Smells” (B+)

Alex is an interesting character because she doesn’t tend to really socialize with other characters on the show, with the exception of Nicky during the time that the two of them started dating towards the end of season one. During the first season, she was a predatory figure who helped shock Piper into her new life, in season two she betrayed her and then was barely around, and now she’s been relatively absent and sheepish, especially because she feels like Lolly is watching her. The context we got from the flashback was that Piper leaving really hurt her, and she had a lot of resentment that built up which resulted in her doing drugs and getting herself into trouble with the big bad boss she now believes to be after her. The confirmation at the end of the episode that Lolly is in fact tracking her every movement is worrisome, though I suspect it may be a personal thing more than a bounty hunter-type arrangement. Piper boiling it down to paranoia and taking it upon herself to very publicly seduce the guard didn’t help at all, and she’ll be crushed if Alex gets hurt while she’s too focused on her criminal enterprise. It’s tough to see Red falling apart in the question, but it’s clear that, especially with the kosher meals everywhere, the food situation is going downhill. Caputo now seems like a good guy, and it’s a shame that Pearson advocated for him and got shut down and then took it out on Caputo, who was just trying to enjoy some regularly-scheduled band practice. Crazy Eyes’ book is really exciting everyone, and Poussey is into it in a way that’s far too intense. Daya telling Pornstache’s mother the truth was unexpected, as was her reaction, which was a devastated but dignified one, far different from how her awful son would ever act.