Netflix Catch-Up: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black: Season 7, Episode 10 “The Thirteenth” (B+)

Fortunately, Lorna didn’t take her own life as appeared to be the case at the end of the previous episode, and though Nicky doesn’t have confirmation on what happened to her baby, she’s at least paying attention now, feeling like a terrible friend for not noticing her pain. Red relented and had Nicky called as her most trusted confidante to hear the devastating diagnosis that sounds like it may have been accelerated by her time in solitary confinement. She was making progress romantically with Shani, which makes the deportation notice she received even more devastating. After Elmer’s departure, Luschek was a horrible replacement, and he literally agreed to do whatever illegal thing Daya wanted before she asked, with the only caveat being that he couldn’t smuggle in books because that would be way too suspicious. At least Taystee was able to take over teaching duties for the serious students, and Pennsatucky was open to the idea of sharing. Suzanne’s murderous chicken plotline isn’t all that enthralling, but I suppose it’s a mildly entertaining diversion. Zelda coming with Piper for her dinner date with Larry and Polly didn’t make it much less awkward, especially when they thought she was Alex, and Alex baiting McCullough into a private place and then screening Piper’s delayed return phone call signaled problems in their relationship, which is somehow more complicated than the circumstances under which they met in the flashback. The most touching part of the episode was Dixon coming in to Caputo’s class to confront Maria about what she did to him, which made Caputo telling Tamika at her home that he had to quit all the more regrettable. That character really has evolved considerably, holding himself accountable for something he now knows he’s done wrong.