What I’m Watching: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black: Season 4, Episode 2 “Power Suit” (B+)

This prison may be dealing with a serious overcrowding issue, but this show is handling its influx of new characters and new storylines exceptionally well. It’s hard to figure out where to start when tackling this hour since there’s just so much going on. It’s nice to see a focus on characters who have spent most of their time in the background, and getting to know Maria much better was well worth it. Her resistance to her father’s lifelong Dominican pride turned into a sense of apathy in prison, and only when she needed to make a show of power on behalf of her people when they were targeted did her background come back to define her. Piper is continuing to be as stupid as possible in her efforts to get those around her to be afraid of her, and while thus far it’s only resulted in some comic moments, it’s going to get her into trouble before long. Red trying to deal with her snoring bunkmate was very entertaining, especially when she fell off her bed because of the weights Red had added to her clothes. Lorna going on about her wedding and her conjugal visits was hardly atypical, and I like that she called Alex out for not being supportive and didn’t even get an argument from the distracted inmate who nearly got herself killed before offing a guard. The Judy King situation is both entertaining and thought-provoking, as her new roommate Yoga tried to point out only to be analyzed and judged by Judy. Black Cindy’s war with her new Muslim roommate is providing plenty of entertainment at the moment, and hopefully it won’t escalate into something serious. Caputo’s new ideas seem to be going over well, and now he has a love interest, a new suit, and a plan to overhaul the whole prison in a way that might actually create more solutions than problems.