S07.E06: Trapped in an Elevator

[Meredith Quill]

Quote

Taystee takes advantage of her new position. Linda teaches Tamika how to pivot. Black Cindy and Maria make amends to people they've hurt.

[Chaos Theory]

I really like what the show is doing with Taystee this season.  Taking her down a really dark path ehich makes sense considering what shitty hand she got dealt last season.  

[ExplainItAgain]

Was supposed to be house cleaning, but instead got sucked in to another episode.

Damn Taystee! Can't believe she sent that letter.

So Pepa is probably not Yadriel's I guess. Also, I can't believe it took until season 7 to find out what Maria's crime was! I always thought it would have to do with drugs.

It seems a little late to be introducing the #metoo stuff with Caputo. There's only 7 episodes left!

And finally, just have Alex and McCullough do it already. This is way too drawn out.

[TiredMe]

I’m assuming Yadriel isn’t the father too. 

The longing looks from McCullogh are starting to get on my nerves. Either do it or me be on.

[ShortyMac]

Black Cindy's and Suzanne's goodbye was touching. 

Edited July 28, 2019 by ShortyMac

[funnygirl]

13 hours ago, ShortyMac said:

Black Cindy's and Suzanne's goodbye was touching. 

Very. It was a really nice moment. 

I only wish the destruction of Cindy and Taystee's friendship never happened. 😕 Their interactions were always amongst my favorite throughout the series. Hate that it was ruined. 

[DoctorAtomic]

21 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

Also, I can't believe it took until season 7 to find out what Maria's crime was! I always thought it would have to do with drugs.

I do kind of feel bad that she got set up there, but she kind of knew what was going on. The thing is, it's the being dragged down that is the real tragedy. I did like her letter at the end. If in fact the babydaddy's new fling is going be a real relationship, I do hope he follows through and lets her see the baby.

22 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

And finally, just have Alex and McCullough do it already.

I don't know. I also feel bad for McCullough in a way. I liked her sneaky plot to get rid of the drugs.

"I haven't logged in since the Russians took over."

22 hours ago, ExplainItAgain said:

It seems a little late to be introducing the #metoo stuff with Caputo.

Yeah, I'm not liking this. I don't remember when this happened though I remember the character.

Whoa Taystee.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/27/2019 at 6:08 PM, ExplainItAgain said:

Also, I can't believe it took until season 7 to find out what Maria's crime was! I always thought it would have to do with drugs.

It is intetesting that both her and Yadriel had seemed to have cleaned up their lives, both working at the mall and then she fucks it up selling knock off jeans. I am also assuming that she didn't flip on the guy she was getting the jeans from in order to get a lighter sentence.

On 7/26/2019 at 11:42 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I really like what the show is doing with Taystee this season.  Taking her down a really dark path ehich makes sense considering what shitty hand she got dealt last season.  

The Tastee stuff is interesting since it really kind of challenges your brain. I mean it was shitty what happened to her considering she didn't kill Piscatella. At the same time she was a leader of a riot and by her drawing it out longer people actually died.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't know if I'd lay that on her. You could argue that the conditions of the prison and the treatment at the hands of the guards also led to the deaths. Taystee did actually use the situation to get their demands, to be fair. She did screw it up, but the show is essentially a tragedy.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 7/28/2019 at 10:51 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't know if I'd lay that on her. You could argue that the conditions of the prison and the treatment at the hands of the guards also led to the deaths. Taystee did actually use the situation to get their demands, to be fair. She did screw it up, but the show is essentially a tragedy.

Yea it is a complicated issue and Taystee is a likeable character (and the dead guard wasn't) which makes it interesting. At the same time she was a leader of the riot (she was negotiating) and because of her keeping it going people who she knew were critically injured died. It is not hard for me to draw a direct line between her actions and people dying. Yea there were other people responsible as well but it doesn't mean she isn't to the point where if I was on a jury I would say she was guilty of that.

[foxfreakinmulder]

I don't rewatch this show and hated the riot season and barely remember it so please correct me if I'm wrong but didn't 2 guards die? In the very beginning of the riot when Dayanara had the gun wasn't a guard shot and bled out? Didn't they hide him in a closet or something?

Cindy's letter to her mom was touching. I hope things work out for her with her mom and daughter after her daughter reads the letter. They were so happy and supportive when they picked her up at prison. That was wrong of Taystee to send that letter.

[ExplainItAgain]

@foxfreakinmulder That was Humps (the guy who made Maritza eat a baby mouse). Daya shot him in the leg and they did stash him in a closet, but he was eventually taken to medical. That's where Kukudio blew air bubbles into his IV and finished him off.

Edited July 30, 2019 by ExplainItAgain

[DoctorAtomic]

The guard did get shot, but then when he was in the infirmary, one of them actually piped air into the IV and he technically died of an aneurysm iirc.

[foxfreakinmulder]

Thank you, ExplainItAgain and Doctor Atomic :-) I do not remember the part with the IV at all.

[JakeyJokes]

I used to work at a store where True Religion was so often stolen that we had to cable every pair and had to unlock them every time a customer wanted to try them on. If anything, this episode made me miss 2009.

[AllyB]

It's such a pity for Piper that there is nothing in the world in between being bleak and miserable on the outside and finding someone else to have sex with. Nothing at all, either she's in a boring job with no friends and feeling constantly terribly sorry for herself or she finds someone to screw so she can be happier in her life. If only she had taken the time to say goodbye to Suzanne before leaving prison then she too could be reminded of the existence of bicycles, ice-skates, roller skates, anything with wheels that people have a lot of fun on! Even scooters if she can get past the negative judgment of Suzanne's father!

Seriously, Piper's life does seem miserable as her job is boring, her home life would be extremely irritating and she has no friends. But there is plenty she could do in between just being in a grim rut and having sex outside her marriage, something where she could carve out a few hours of pleasure most days. That said, the marriage would not last and I have zero investment in it. But Piper has a myriad of options to find enjoyment in her days, she's just choosing to wallow.

[tennisgurl]

Piper needs to think about her life considering her only options for happiness seem to be sex.   Yeah thats all well and good, and with her crappy job and crappy living situation and missing Alex and having a million rules to follow is tough, but...get a hobby girl! I dont think your PO will mind if you buy some puzzles or take up knitting or palates or something, anything to add a little fun into her miserable routine and take her mind off of things!

The most obvious victims of Maria are clearly her daughter and Yadriel, and it is really sad seeing that they had moved past crime and things seemed to be, if not glamorous, than stable at least, and could maybe become better with more work, before she screwed everything up so she could cheat with that asshole guy and make some cash to go clubbing with her side piece. Her daughter lost years with her mom and she was willing to toss away what seemed like a good relationship with a loving man for a slightly more flashy guy, so it was nice to see her actually admit that she screwed their family up so badly that now its been fractured and Yadriel has moved on. And it was probably for the best not to tell him that he might not be the babies biological father, I cant imagine that it would benefit anyone at this point. 

Cindy's goodbye to Suzanne really hit hard, but its still so sad that her friendship with Taystee is so broken.

[Iseut]

It was obviously way over the line for Taystee to mail that letter, and made me say "DAMN!" out loud.

Thinking about it some more, though, once the daughter gets over the shock of the news, would it really have to be so earth-shattering for their family? Obviously the daughter loves Cindy (as a sister, but still) and her adoptive mom/bio-grandma, and obviously Cindy has not been in a good place to raise her. I feel like the daughter is probably old enough to eventually understand that the family did what was best for her, even though they did it less than truthfully (rebuilding trust would be the hardest part, I'm sure). Cindy is one of the characters that has shown the most growth since her arrest, though she still definitely has a loooooong way to go. I'm sure it's Pollyanna-ish of me, but I want SOME happiness to come about for these characters by the end of the series. So far it's not looking too great. So I'm really hoping for the best for Cindy and her family.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Iseut

[possibilities]

I agree that the parentage issue should be not such a devastating revelation after everyone cools off. But do we know for sure that the letter didn't also talk about Cindy's other crimes? Taystee might have talked about the lying that led to Taystee's life sentence, and generally smeared her character. I didn't see the entire letter (my eyes are a mess), but if it wasn't ONLY about Cindy being Monica's mom, I can easily imagine a lot else being in that letter that might lead to some righteous rage.

[kieyra]

1 hour ago, Iseut said:

Thinking about it some more, though, once the daughter gets over the shock of the news, would it really have to be so earth-shattering for their family? 

I’m probably painting with too broad a brush, but I feel like I’ve read so many “and then it turned out my sister was my Mom” stories that ended horribly. Including Ted Bundy. 

It’s probably a close second to finding out you’re adopted. 

Edited August 6, 2019 by kieyra

[DoctorAtomic]

4 hours ago, Iseut said:

It was obviously way over the line for Taystee to mail that letter, and made me say "DAMN!" out loud.

Was it though? Cindy lied to get out of jail and T is in for life because of it. Doesn't mean Cindy isn't redeemable, or T is completely innocent but still.

[Iseut]

"Over the line" may be a poor choice of words since what Cindy did to Taystee was incomparably worse. It was still shocking to me though. 

[BonnieD]

Piper, here are some options to wile away your free time: read a book, watch a movie, draw, paint, walk in the woods, exercise vigorously, play with your nephew (niece?), take an online course, utilize any free activities offered by your community. Fulfilling entertainment doesn't have to cost money and it doesn't have to involve sex. What a loser she is and always has been!