S04.E09: Turn Table Turn

[Cranberry]

TBA

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Ramos and Flores figure out new ways to rebel against authority. A news item has an unexpected effect. Red and Lorna face personal disappointment.

[Lady Calypso]

The guard, Baxter, is still clueless but kind of adorable. Now all the guards are slowly warming up to me, very slowly. Humphrey! That's the one that speaks Spanish. His story with Maritza is pretty interesting. I'm just glad Maritza is getting a good storyline. She's trying to sabotage the drug transport because she doesn't want to do it anymore, but she can't tell anyone about it because her friends will probably make her life hell. But damn, the thing with Humphrey took a dark, dark turn. 

Blanca's flashbacks were fun. Diablo was a good foil for her story. Plus, as mean as it was, I was laughing at her getting back at the old woman by having sex with Diablo in her room. 

Judy and Cindy 'convincing' Caputo of their 'love' was hilarious. 

Nicky and Morello's storyline is good. I feel bad for Morello, who has to watch her closest friend be on drugs again. But Morello is really getting obsessive again, as shown through her scene with her sister. I think she might be overcompensating, though. Nicky's story is heartbreaking because Max has done something to her. I felt so bad when Red was crying to her about her guilt. 

Nooo, Pennsatucky and Boo's story suddenly got a whole lot sadder, just because Tucky was considering going back to being friends with Coates. 

I was having doubts through most of the episode about Aleida actually getting out. I thought there would be a last minute twist in which she doesn't get out. I guess we'll see next episode if this is the case.

Edited June 18, 2016 by Lady Calypso

[Chairperson Meow]

I really thought at first Baxter or Bayley was supposed to be Bennett lite, but the actor is so good.  

[AmandaPanda]

I'm so scared for Maritza. That was the most terrifying thing I've seen from a guard yet. Between that and the stuff with Blanca, these new guards are so disturbing.

As always, I love the relationship between Nicky and Red. They have my favorite relationship on the show.

[Brn2bwild]

I'm still not quite sure what was going on with Maritza's last scene.  She's looking at a baby mouse in a cup, surrounded by dead flies, and... what?  I missed what that was in connection to (I know he referred to her "game").

Edited June 20, 2016 by Brn2bwild

[snowwhyte]

She and Flaca were doing hypotheticals situations and psycho guard heard her say she would rather eat  a baby mouse than 20 dead flies. He decided to make the hypothetical situation real.

[wmdekooning]

I think this season on at least two occasions it's not really that clear what lead to prison for a given inmate, particularly Blanca.

You don't go to jail for having sex in front of an old lady yet.

Did she really kill her husband as she said?

[junemeatcleaver]

Quote

Speaking of Maria, I've been pretty blindsided by her storyline this season. She barely popped in previous seasons and now she's suddenly this balls-busting kingpin. That has been a sudden shift in character for me.

I got out of her sudden assertiveness that there's finally enough Dominicans to throw her weight around, and since she's been there longer than the newbies, she's the boss.  The "we're the majority" from the premiere wasn't talking about Latinxs in general but Dominicans specifically.

Anyway I welcome Maria having a bigger role.  Better flesh out a background character than make one of the random new Dominican girls the big bad.

[Agent Dark]

On 20/06/2016 at 8:16 AM, nosleepforme said:

Maritza's storyline got scary. I loved how she blew up Maria's business, but the scene with her and the guard was scary. Who does that even? Speaking of Maria, I've been pretty blindsided by her storyline this season. She barely popped in previous seasons and now she's suddenly this balls-busting kingpin. That has been a sudden shift in character for me.

Heh, it seems natural to me - Jessica Pimentel had a recurring role in season 4 of Person of Interest, where she played a lieutenant in the Brotherhood (a violent street gang).  Plus in real life she's in a couple of heavy metal bands.  I think she's just playing to her strengths lol.

[questionfear]

On 6/19/2016 at 8:57 PM, wmdekooning said:

I think this season on at least two occasions it's not really that clear what lead to prison for a given inmate, particularly Blanca.

You don't go to jail for having sex in front of an old lady yet.

Did she really kill her husband as she said?

I wondered if her work with the old lady escalated to elder abuse, possibly physical (not getting her out of bed, etc) or financial. The woman implied she had a bad relationship with her daughter, but the daughter was clearly monitoring the mother. And it would fit with what we've seen of how Blanca reacts to feeling powerless. 

[Primetimer]

Everything's going to shit. Let's rank the crises.

View the full article

[heatherchandler]

On ‎6‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 9:51 AM, Lady Calypso said:

 

Blanca's flashbacks were fun. Diablo was a good foil for her story. Plus, as mean as it was, I was laughing at her getting back at the old woman by having sex with Diablo in her room. 

 

I did not like that, I thought it was f-ed up.  And not in a funny way, like a psycho way.

[Princess Sparkle]

On June 19, 2016 at 0:47 PM, AmandaPanda said:

I'm so scared for Maritza. That was the most terrifying thing I've seen from a guard yet. Between that and the stuff with Blanca, these new guards are so disturbing.

As always, I love the relationship between Nicky and Red. They have my favorite relationship on the show.

That scene with Maritza and Humphrey was the first time I've actually been completely unsettled by an inmate/guard interaction. Pornstache was a terrible person, but I was never scared of him. Humphrey is on a whole other level, and I've only ever seen the actor on Inside Amy Schumer, so I was expecting him to be on the show for comic relief. 

That scene with Red and Nicky in the shower was so, so good. I did feel terrible for Morello when Nicky was being so cruel to her though. 

[kieyra]

As far as Maria getting scary, I'm not sure they've spelled it out clearly in the middle episodes, but she lost her baby, then she lost Yadriel, and THEN Piper got more time added to her sentence. And we've seen what her father was like. She hit bottom and then reached for what she knew, 

Edited June 23, 2016 by kieyra

[knaankos]

10 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I did not like that, I thought it was f-ed up.  And not in a funny way, like a psycho way.

Yeah I agree. And it wasn't like the old lady was being mean to her. A little oersnickety maybe but she generally liked Bianca and was basically telling her she was going to put her in her will over her daughter. That's a pretty good deal. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I think we saw the old lady being mean to her - not only did she consistently yell at her, she refused to call Blanca by her real name because the old lady read it wrong, and after she was corrected said "I like Bianca better".  And with as capricious and spiteful as that old lady appeared to be, I have no doubt that she would find a way to not leave her daughter or Blanca anything in her will.

[kieyra]

6 hours ago, knaankos said:

Yeah I agree. And it wasn't like the old lady was being mean to her. A little oersnickety maybe but she generally liked Bianca and was basically telling her she was going to put her in her will over her daughter. That's a pretty good deal. 

I read it as the lady holding out an inheritance as bait/manipulation. There was no way she was going to give Blanca anything, and I got no sense she liked her at all. Just my take on the whole thing. 

[Maysie]

I left the room during the mouse scene. I just couldn't.

23 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I did not like that, I thought it was f-ed up.  And not in a funny way, like a psycho way.

On 6/21/2016 at 9:36 PM, questionfear said:

I wondered if her work with the old lady escalated to elder abuse, possibly physical (not getting her out of bed, etc) or financial. The woman implied she had a bad relationship with her daughter, but the daughter was clearly monitoring the mother. And it would fit with what we've seen of how Blanca reacts to feeling powerless. 

I'll tell you what, that old woman was getting on my last nerve and she acted like she owned Blanca instead of merely employing her. I agree that having sex in front of her crossed the line, but it seems like Blanca snapped. And after asserting her authority that way, she was able to say, "here's your motherfucking coffee heated in the microwave" and really, what's the woman going to say after that? Based on what we saw, I wouldn't say Blanca was abusive but she stopped being kind, gentle and accommodating - she began calling the shots. And I'm sure the old woman figured if Blanca was willing to have sex in front of her, all bets were off. That was a messed up relationship from the get-go. I'm sure the old woman have never experienced anyone standing up to her like that, let alone "the help."

[Clanstarling]

On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 10:47 AM, AmandaPanda said:

I'm so scared for Maritza. That was the most terrifying thing I've seen from a guard yet. Between that and the stuff with Blanca, these new guards are so disturbing.

Humphrey scared me from the get-go, though I didn't really expect him to be that psycho. I was distressed enough by the flies and the baby mouse, but when the gun came out...man.

The scene with Red and Nicky in the shower touched me deeply. For Red to just fall apart was huge.

[Negritude]

"Next time I see you, you smell like a goddam daisy or you're not gonna like what happens next." Damn I wish I could say that to people. Especially a certain coworker who's always leaving her signature scent in the women's restroom *shudder*.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Negritude

[Blakeston]

On 6/19/2016 at 8:57 PM, wmdekooning said:

I think this season on at least two occasions it's not really that clear what lead to prison for a given inmate, particularly Blanca.

You don't go to jail for having sex in front of an old lady yet.

Did she really kill her husband as she said?

She told Diablo she was joking about killing the woman's husband.

I'd say it's become downright rare to learn in the flashbacks what actually led to someone going to Litchfield.

The flashbacks with Maria, Soso, and Lolly didn't show us why they're in federal prison. And with Maritza, it's possible she was arrested in a stolen car, and it became federal because she crossed state lines with it - or because she was part of a larger car-stealing operation - but that's just a guess.

On 6/21/2016 at 10:36 PM, questionfear said:

I wondered if her work with the old lady escalated to elder abuse, possibly physical (not getting her out of bed, etc) or financial. The woman implied she had a bad relationship with her daughter, but the daughter was clearly monitoring the mother. And it would fit with what we've seen of how Blanca reacts to feeling powerless. 

Even if she was charged with elder abuse, I wouldn't expect that to be a federal charge. I think the flashbacks were meant to show us how Blanca responds to obnoxious authority figures - and what led her to criminality.

[JBC344]

Yeah "most" of the flashbacks don't actually tell us what the women are in prison for.  Some have, but a majority of them mostly show the women going down a particular path that may have lead to their jail sentence.  To me Blanca's flashback was about her gaining her voice and power.  Voice and power that she eventually uses in her current prison situation. 

Also there is no way in hell that the older woman was leaving Blanca anything.  Not that it would be unheard of but the older woman was clearly manipulating Blanca to show her power.  She fired the gardener to show her power and control, and to remind Blanca that she was in charge and not to get any ideas. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Although I know that sexual abuse definitely has a psychological impact, Humphrey forcing Maritza to eat a baby mouse was straight up psycho. Honestly, that situation was scary enough even before he took out his gun.

Poor Red. She was really at a loss to break down like that. I think that is the hardest part of loving an addict - watching them spiral and feeling helpless. Red barely blinked when she realized a few episodes ago that Nicky had stolen some of her stuff, but realizing now how far gone Nicky is broke something inside of Red.

Morello is losing it again. That obsessive thinking is sad to see (as is the way she idealizes her marriage). But to see her turn on her sister (especially when her sister only did exactly what Morello guilted her into doing in the first place) was painful.

[mansonlamps]

On 6/23/2016 at 2:20 PM, Maysie said:

I left the room during the mouse scene. I just couldn't.

I'll tell you what, that old woman was getting on my last nerve and she acted like she owned Blanca instead of merely employing her. I agree that having sex in front of her crossed the line, but it seems like Blanca snapped. And after asserting her authority that way, she was able to say, "here's your motherfucking coffee heated in the microwave" and really, what's the woman going to say after that? Based on what we saw, I wouldn't say Blanca was abusive but she stopped being kind, gentle and accommodating - she began calling the shots. And I'm sure the old woman figured if Blanca was willing to have sex in front of her, all bets were off. That was a messed up relationship from the get-go. I'm sure the old woman have never experienced anyone standing up to her like that, let alone "the help."

If one of my employees snapped and "asserted their authority" over me while in my employ, I'd have a lot to say.  If you don't like the conditions of your employment, you get another job, you don't fuck with the elderly woman who is paying your salary.  Being kind, gentle and accommodating is the definition of carrying for the elderly, clearly Blanca was in the wrong job.  She really makes me sick.  I hope we see the old lady writing her out of the will, that would be satisfying.

[ganesh]

On 6/18/2016 at 8:51 AM, Lady Calypso said:

Blanca's flashbacks were fun. Diablo was a good foil for her story. Plus, as mean as it was, I was laughing at her getting back at the old woman by having sex with Diablo in her room. 

I was surprised how much I enjoyed her story. 

 

On 6/19/2016 at 11:47 AM, AmandaPanda said:

I'm so scared for Maritza. That was the most terrifying thing I've seen from a guard yet. Between that and the stuff with Blanca, these new guards are so disturbing.

Seriously. It's one thing if he wanted a cut from the drug shipping. He put a gun to her head and made her eat flies. 

[DangerousMinds]

Or a mouse?

[woodscommaelle]

n/m

Edited July 18, 2016 by woodscommaelle

[Dobian]

They do a really good job of uglying Blanca up when she's in prison because she's actually nice looking.

I feel bad for Red dealing with Nicky's crap.  She'll get clean, then go back to drugs again when things aren't going her way, and Red will get dragged along for the ride.

Maritza's been the surprise character this year, she's gone from a bit player to one they focus on.

I totally get Boo's frustration with Doggett.

[peggy06]

On 7/10/2016 at 10:25 AM, mansonlamps said:

If one of my employees snapped and "asserted their authority" over me while in my employ, I'd have a lot to say.  If you don't like the conditions of your employment, you get another job, you don't fuck with the elderly woman who is paying your salary.  Being kind, gentle and accommodating is the definition of carrying for the elderly, clearly Blanca was in the wrong job.  She really makes me sick.  I hope we see the old lady writing her out of the will, that would be satisfying.

The old lady looked positively scared when Blanca came into her room with the coffee. I don't know, but I sense this storyline could go into elder abuse.