Netflix's Orange Is the New Black - Episode 2.05 "Low Self Esteem City"
A bathroom turf war sees deeper lines drawn in the sand as Gloria and Vee go head to head. Piper receives devastating news.
The race issues between the Blacks and the Latinas are slowly getting worse and worse. It's in this race struggle that the show is creating a much stronger through line for the second season. In year one, the plot was largely about Piper getting assimilated into the prison culture. Now, the show is really changing things and forcing its characters into meaningful conflict. And that's entirely because of Vee. Her arrival has forced the two sides to unite and be in conflict with one another. She's the one who wants to be on top of the prison system. To get there, she'll have to take down the Latinas who are confidently - almost too cocky - in control because they run the kitchen.It's interesting too how they are more memorable characters on the Black side of this conflict. They have Taystee and Poussey and Suzanne. Those are all memorable and distinct characters. Over on the Latina side of things, there's Gloria who smartly gets the flashbacks in "Low Self Esteem City." But who really are the fan favorite Latinas? There's Daya, whose pregnant with Bennett's baby. That's a story we're suppose to be invested in but I don't really care about at all. She has her family and then there's that one girl who had a baby last year - and who's already turning one! This race war would be a bit more interesting if we had characters on both sides that we instantly love and what to see happiness.
But Vee is shaking everything up. She knows how to play this game. She's a career criminal. This isn't her first time in lockup and she knows the right buttons to push to get her girls united behind her as well as getting her enemy to do what she wants. The true unknown factor here is Red. She's the only way who has a meaningful connection to Vee from the past. Seeing Vee return has forced Red to be fierce again. She probably just wants to get her garden up and running - with the potential smuggling route too. But she's forced to act when she gets word of what's going on in the kitchen and between Vee and Gloria.
And then, there's the rest of the white community who aren't willingly engaging in that struggle at all. They're off having fun. They are happy with their positions in the prison ecosystem and just looking for companionship and connection. Big Boo and Nicky's competition over who gets the most points in their sexual conquest is wonderfully funny - especially Nicky's attempts to get with Officer Fischer.
Piper, then, is just dealing with problems within her own family. She is so happy once she guesses right that her grandmother is dying and then sad that her grandmother is dying. That's a wonderful scene that just goes to further highlight how repressed that family dynamic is. Her mother doesn't think Piper should be bothered with this news. It's not good for her morale. In all actuality, she just doesn't like addressing anything that's real. That's what forced Piper done this terrible road in the first place - and sent her brother off into the woods with his weird girl who can't get past security. But more importantly, this news is what forces Piper and Healy back together. She wants furlough to say goodbye - a moment that probably would have been better if we knew more about her grandmother means to her.
Healy is a really interesting character because he often takes out his struggles at home on the inmates. He was upset enough with Piper for cheating the system that he just walked right on by as Pennsatucky attacked her. He doesn't even have the one sympathetic ear he had previously as now Red is upset for him because she lost her kitchen. He has to deal with his Russian mail-ordered bride all by himself. He doesn't know how to connect with her. She pushes him away and then he makes that meaningful connection with his boss, Caputo. They have a heart-to-heart and walk away resolved do things differently for the inmates. It's the least they can do. They can't make big changes but they can at least try to better the lives of the inmates. That resolve is beneficial for Piper later as he agrees to submit the furlough paperwork - and will probably get more important later in the season.
Some more thoughts:
- "Low Self Esteem City" was written by Nick Jones and directed by Andrew McCarthy.
- Pennsatucky doesn't get that Piper, Nicky, Big Boo and Chang playing "Exclusion" means they don't want her there.
- Caputo is in a band called "Side Boob" and now Healy is their biggest fan.
- Also, Piper and Larry had their first conversation since breaking up last year. They are civil and happy to hear the other's voice. Hmmm, I think a reconciliation is coming - especially if she gets out for a little bit. But then, that means more awkwardness between Larry and Polly.
- In flashbacks, Gloria is arrested for committing fraud by collecting money from food stamps. But more importantly she's also a victim of domestic abuse. He hits her but she never gets the strength to leave him until he hits her son and the police then come to arrest her. At least he gets what's coming to him in the end as he burns to death while trying to steal her stash of money.
- But it's interesting to see Gloria afraid out of prison. She's toughened up in her years here and is now able to face Vee even though she still doesn't have the strength or the anger to fully go through with her threat.
- So, Vee wanted those two Latinas to be reassigned to the kitchen for a reason, right? I'm guessing it's so Blacks are in positions everywhere else in the prison while all the Latinas are just stuck in the kitchen.
