Season Three Discussion

[lovemytvshows]

I think it's Alex who has 15 years, not Piper. Alex got sent back to prison after violating parole by having a gun (and pointing it her parole officer).

 

I thought Alex's sentence was never explicitly mention (like actual time in years) whenever it got brought up. If she violated parole and got sent back in, do they add time onto her original sentence that she has to continue to serve out or is it a completely new sentence with new terms?

[poppy-]

I think it's about the tone the show takes. The tone towards even Aleida got to be extremely sympathetic, cuing the audience to feel for her. It just didn't work. The show took a "isn't this adorable" tone towards Morello having Christopher beaten up, her pen pal schtick and her marriage. I just think that's lazy, particularly regarding Morello, whose backstory was the most affecting.

 

I don't think the show is sympathetic at all to Aleida, She's an awful person. She isn't a monster - she doesn't hate her daughter, she doesn't sell the baby - but she is routinely destructive in tragic ways with terrible consequences for other people.  The show's pretty clear about that, even if it allows her the occasional moment of regret or flash of insight.  

 

Morello, too, really.  But attractive, charismatic, charming actors who do horrible things often get an unexpected pass from the audience. I remember reading an article about The Vampire Diaries where they talked about the ways they tried to make Ian Somerhalder's character unlikable so that they could back-burner his romantic potential for a few seasons (basically until the lead character was 18).  He murdered in cold blood. He  rape and abused women.  Didn't matter, the fans adored him and  thought he was dreamy. I think Morello is kind of like that. You do Morello's storyline in Big Boo's body, fan reaction to her would be very different.

[Aja]

It's so funny how different people can read completely different things. I didn't get the impression the show was trying to portray Morello's prison dating and prison marriage as an adorable romantic plot. Contrarily, all that started happening after the breakdown she suffered when Nicki left...almost like her obsessive, romantic fantasy world got kicked into overdrive. And her intended was clearly shown to be just as off-balance as she is.

[EllenI]

I really enjoy the interaction between gruff, mean, bun-so-tight-it-acts-as-a-facelift Wanda Bell and her always-on-a-diet-but-always-eating-or-sipping-something teddy bear of a sweetie, Scott O'Neill.

 

He was so excited to tell her he'd learned some new things about the female anatomy! They are so cute together, and I love their ever-so-subtle facial expressions and loving gazes in various scenes and thought that these two are an example of great casting!

[EllenI]

Hi Everyone!

 

Why do you think they hired Dascha Polanco to play Dayanara? She is one of the poorest actresses I have ever seen. She acts as if she has had a frontal lobotomy or something - just this robotic, blank expression. I remember when Caputo said that he'd cancelled Ruiz's transfer, and Daya said, with this blank stare, "That. Is. So. Nice. Of. You." Really? NO sign of enthusiasm or anything? I can't buy into her "love" for Bennett at ALL.

 

The other question I have about her is - why would Bennett be attracted to her, of all people? Again - zero personality, constant bad mood. She's certainly one of the least attractive of the girls.

 

It seems that it would make more sense for Bennett to fall for cute little Maritza Ramos, or almost anyone EXCEPT Daya. But I find it hard to believe that Bennett, who is new, would break the rules right off the bat and have sex with an inmate. That entire storyline made no sense to me. And if they are honestly going to leave it this way, with no resolution - just Bennett driving off into the sunset with the crib on the side of the road, apparently deserting Daya and their baby, then they've made it the worst storyline ever.

 

I wrote a post about what I think happened with Bennett, but it is now gone. I will post it again.

 

 

[EllenI]

Because I don't think these talented writers would want the audience to think that Bennett is a complete moronic jerk a-hole who would simply disappear without a word, leaving his pregnant girlfriend and baby alone, I have an idea of what happened with him.

 

When I saw the DEA making their way into Cesar's house and taking the new baby and other children, I immediately thought that the raid was a result of Bennett's visit to the home, where he witnessed Cesar's "discipline" (pulling a gun on his son to make him eat french fries, for example) and saw the living conditions where his new baby would be.

 

We know that Bennett has an uncle who is friends with the warden (this came up when he told Daya he wanted her to apply for furlough), and I think that Bennett reported Cesar to the authorities. By doing so, he knew that the children would be taken to a safe place and that Cesar would be taken to prison. Bennett himself had been "gone" for so long that no one would associate him with the bust.

 

Has anyone else thought about this too? I guess I want to think better of Bennett. I think he is a good person, and that he would NOT desert Daya and the baby.

[DianeDobbler]

Daya makes sense to me as a real life love object -  the sort of girl real life guys might go for. She's receptive, feminine in an accessible way, meat on the bones but has a waistline. She's not a commercial look like Maritza, but I see urban girls like her attracting guys all the time. She's easy to be with. It's not, however, riveting to watch.

[MakeMeLaugh]

It's so funny how different people can read completely different things. I didn't get the impression the show was trying to portray Morello's prison dating and prison marriage as an adorable romantic plot. Contrarily, all that started happening after the breakdown she suffered when Nicki left...almost like her obsessive, romantic fantasy world got kicked into overdrive. And her intended was clearly shown to be just as off-balance as she is.

All the guards we know in attendance, tears everywhere, rings, a ceremony, a maid of honor in Red, O'Neill the photographer, meaningful longing glances among the onlookers, a fun toilet paper veil, the conjugal visit allowed in the storeroom (breakroom?) behind the guards' desk--surely not the typical jailhouse wedding. That is why I would call this an adorable romantic plot within the confines of this show. Show better follow this up with some rousing nasty plots involving both the bride and the groom.

 

Now guards Wanda Bell and Scott O'Neill'smnuptials  is a wedding I want to see!! Love them both. For the longest time I thought they were brother and sister.

[FerD]

The writers ruined Piper's character in the second half of the season. She started S3 admitting she got Alex back in prison for selfish reasons (she missed her), asking her to be her girlfriend and telling her parents that she had a girlfriend that she loved. I thought great, she's finally being who she wants to be, instead of who her parents and friends expect her to.

 

But then the writers went over the top and turned her into something she never was. I mean, she has always been selfish and entitled, but I had never thought of her as a bad person. First, she mocked Alex's fear of being attacked (which was completely justified) and cheated on her with a girl she barely knew (not the same as cheating on Larry with Alex). Then, she became the caricature of a villain. Feeling good about having the poor girls under her thumb. What she did to Stella was straight up unforgivable. That girl is being sent to max with an extended sentence. She could get beaten up, raped or even killed there. I don't see how Piper can fix what she did. Neither can I see how the writers can fix what they did to Piper's character. "Sorry" certainly doesn't cut it.

 

This should have been the story of a privileged white woman who went to prison and -through the interaction with people she would have never met in her regular life- got a much needed dose of reality and became less self-absorbed. The writers decided to turn her into a Walter White wanna-be instead.

[lovemytvshows]

This should have been the story of a privileged white woman who went to prison and -through the interaction with people she would have never met in her regular life- got a much needed dose of reality and became less self-absorbed. The writers decided to turn her into a Walter White wanna-be instead.

 

Amen!

[Hanahope]

 I finally watched over vacation.

 

I like the private-prison story and where its going (I hope at least).  I'm hoping that Caputo still has the guards' back and set up the whole situation with the guards walking out of such a critical day, since the guards repeated back to him what he said was going to happen when they started unionizing.  The prison is going to absolutely explode with double the number of inmates.  Caputo was an idiot for giving up his music dream for the girlfriend who really didn't need him and wasn't pregnant with his child.  There's no reason he couldn't have gone on the tour and come back to the girlfriend, if that was still an option.

 

I also hope that the theory of what happened to Bennett is true, that he called the authorities on Ceasar, though I would have thought there'd be some reference to it if that is what happened.  I don't see why Daya couldn't have made arrangements with porn-stache's mother for an open adoption, where she'd still visit, but the child would have a better life.

 

The panty story was funny and I agree that it seems to be a precursor to more time in prison for Piper.

 

Wouldn't one of the inmates try to swim across the lake?

 

Redemption story for Black Cindy?  It was nice to hear a real sincere reason for her Jewish conversion, even if it did start out as just for the food.

 

I liked getting more back-stories.  Especially when they teach something, like one can be arrested for not selling drugs.

[Dancingjaneway]

This season is definitely my least favorite season.  I absolutely hated the Norma storyline. It was not interesting and the meth girls piss me off. They are horrible people and I wish they had gone to max instead of Nicki. Nicki not being there for most of the season made it less interesting for me. Nicki is one of my favorite inmates and I love the unique relationship she has with each inmate. Daya/Benett/Dayas mom can all die in a fire for all I care. That poor baby has a horrible mom, dad and grandmother. It would be much better off with Pornstaches mom(even though something about her doesn't seem kosher). Speaking of Kosher I didn't mind the Cindy becomes Jewish storyline. It gave us some funny moments and a poignant moment. I still hate Soso and am sad that she has hooked up with Poussey who I love. Crazy Eye's fanfiction story was hilarious as was the improv class storyline. I had to laugh when Chang was up there and pretending the phone was a dildo(something to that effect). I also laughed pretty hard when Healy was trying to fit in and called Alex Vaugh a stupid bitch. Speaking of Healy I swear if this show puts Healy and Red together for good I am OUT. No WAY would Red fall victim to Healy and his poor me shtick. I can see Red using him to get back in the kitchen but no more than that. My heart broke for her when she found out that the business was closed. I'm glad she divorced her POS husband. Also Red stating at various times and in various locations of the cafeteria that the food wasn't her fault was laugh out loud funny. Boo and Pennsatucky were one of my favorite pairings and storylines. I started out hating Penn but loved her this season. Same goes for Boo. I have a feeling that guard that raped her is going to get his hands on someone else next season but I don't think it will last long. I miss the friendship between Yoga Jones and the one girl from the black girl group. I thought they had a nice thing going on. The two guards in love is awesome I hope that storyline sticks. The panty business is crap in my opinion. Too much time was spent on it and the logistics of it. I could have done without that and Alex's BS. At this point I couldn't give two shits about Piper and Alex they both are just too annoying now. I have no sympathy for them. Healy is still a misogynstic asshole and I hope Birdie comes back and kicks his ass. I'm sad that Gloria and Sophia are on the outs. I like both characters and I hope that they can reconcile at some point. I also hope Sophia gets revenge on the prison somehow for putting her in sol. Ruby Rose is a HORRIBLE actor and I don't want her back on the show. The character was a joke and she was purely used to bait people in to see the pretty lesbian. Ugh. It just makes me think less of Jenji. It's lazy. Mauriello is fucking scary. I don't know whether she has serious mental issues and she should be in an institute or if she is a psychopath. I could see it being either because she does seem to be up and down in  her moods but at the same time to just obsess and target this poor guy? Time will tell. The wedding scene was fucking ridiculous. Red would not cry she would probably think Mauriello was nuts and not want to be a part of it. I did like the guard couple crying though. I'm disappointed that once again we did not find out why Crazy Eyes is in prison. I was hoping they would show that and when they didn't I was pissed. We could have had less Norma more Crazy Eyes. I didn't mind the lake scene at the end because it kind of fit in with the tone of the season. This season was MUCH lighter in tone. Sadly though I think this show does better when it has an even mixture of the two. I also think the show is hurting because they keep adding more and more characters. The show already has enough going on we don't need to be keeping track of more backstories and more crazy ass shit. Jenji needs to get her ducks in a row for this next season because if it is anything like this one this show is on it's way to a slow painful death. 

 

ETA: Did anyone notice that Cesar(Daya's ex and her moms bf) showed up to get a job as a guard at the prison??!! 

Edited September 3, 2015 by Dancingjaneway

[SparedTurkey]

 

ETA: Did anyone notice that Cesar(Daya's ex and her moms bf) showed up to get a job as a guard at the prison??!!

No?! When - What? I need to rewatch anyway but can you point it out?

 

Otherwise - I agree with most of your points. I really missed Nichols. She had great interactions with everyone, was funny. I really hope she is back in season 4. There was a lot going on - but after the couple of episodes after she was shipped I did notice and I really missed her.

 

I don't care for Bennett/Daya because it bores me but I do hate Dyaa's mum even in light of the backstory she got - she is still awful all around.

 

But I do like SoSo - she grew on me this season. I could see being depressed in prison and felt for her that no one liked her and there was no easy group that she slotted into. Also - having her hair cut off while she slept by an ex-crackhead- awful. I liked that Poussey stuck up for her and I do hope they make it.

 

I really hate Healy and I hope Red is using him. I also love how Doggett has changed, vs her in season 1 and think Taryn Manning is good enough to get away with such a change in character. I hope her and Boo help Mariza next season with that awful guard.

[GreekGeek]

Like everyone else, I liked the Boo/Tucky friendship. I'm having a hard time figuring out just how sincere Tucky is about Christianity, though. In the first two seasons, she alternated between fire-and-brimstone convictions and just playing the Christian martyr for the legal help and a lighter sentence. This season, it seems she's all about using her supporters for money, but she barely mentions faith otherwise. 

 

I always love the backstories, especially those of the older inmates and the guards. I'm a sucker for 1970's fashions. But I wish the Chang backstory had gone somewhere the way Norma's did. There was that one Chang-centered episode, then she was back to being invisible.

 

I want to see what landed Boo, Soso, and Suzanne in prison. My guess is that Boo assaulted someone--she showed quite a lot of anger in her flashback. At first I thought Soso had committed some act of civil disobedience for political reasons; after that one brief flashback I wondered if she experimented with drugs to get back at Stereotypical Tiger Mom, and didn't have the street smarts to avoid getting caught. What Suzanne did is anyone's guess.. 

 

Speaking of Suzanne, I thought she was retconned into someone more innocent and childlike than she was previously. Her confession that she hasn't had sex doesn't fit with her aggressive pursuit of Piper in s1. (I don't buy that she didn't understand what a "prison wife" was.) She's supposed to be an intelligent woman with mental illness, not a black female Forrest Gump.

 

I like that no one is all good or all bad, with the possible exception of the corporate bigshots and "Donuts" Coates. It would be too easy to show the guards as one-dimensional meanies and the prisoners as wrongfully convicted sweeties. 

 

Enjoyed the conversion of Cindy and glad to see Red back in the kitchen. I felt her pain over those packaged meals. I hope she and Healy can be friends without sex complicating things.

 

What I did not like: the Alex/Piper/Stella triangle. Also the panties scheme. I don't want to hear anything more about vaginal odor. If that makes me a prude, so be it. While I'm at it, enough with the graphic sex scenes. It would have been enough to show Caputo and Fig in bed together; we didn't need to see the sexual positions and hear the noises. I felt the way Piper's mom did when Piper started the orgasmic moaning: "We get it--you're fucking." The raping of Tucky by Coates was handled well by comparison--keeping the focus on Tucky's face. And no more vomiting scenes where we actually see the puke. Two in the season finale--ugh! 

 

The Norma cult was stupid. I wanted Poussey to grab that piece of toast and eat it.

 

Overall, I was drawn in, and I'll count the months until s4.

Edited September 5, 2015 by GreekGeek

[Hanguy]

Great video of Ruby Rose getting naked for PETA here 

 

[Elder Wand]

For me, season 1 is so far the best. I liked many things about season 3, for example the friendship of Boo and Dogger is great! It was also nice to see a vulnerable Alex. About Piper, even when her attitude is disappointing, it is not surprising. I like a lot Piper, but she has always been selfish, and now it was just sad that she was not supporting Alex. Anyway, I hope season 4th would be here soon and we can see Nicky again