Netflix's Orange Is the New Black - Episode 2.06 "You Also Have a Pizza"
Love is in the air as the inmates prepare for a Valentine's Day party. Red makes an intriguing new discovery. Larry asks Piper to be his prison mole.
In the world that we live in, Valentine's Day is all about love. All the inmates give their very candid opinions on what love really means. But in lockup, it's about so much more than just love. It's about connection. These people just want to connect with the people around them on same kind of basic level. They need to feel that connection in order to live. Under the microscope of the prison atmosphere, those issues and feelings are amplified. And yet, they are still very much present for the guards and administration as well. They all have a common thread - Litchfield. Some are able to leave the place while others are forced to remain there because of their actions in the past. But there's also an uplifting hope throughout "You Also Have a Pizza." Litchfield isn't the end for everyone who goes there. Their sentences aren't forever. Even the elderly inmate with dementia manages to get out of the facility.But what are these people's lives without any connections? Red is trying to win back her girls in order to protect the place from what Vee has planned but she can't just buy back their love. Even with her son, she's more than willing to criticize him and then tell him what to do. That's a relationship she depends on but he also proves to be very necessary when the time comes. But winning her girls back won't be as easy.
And then, there are the connections that people hope will still be there when they get out. Piper and Larry see each for the first time here. They obviously have a lot of work left to do on their relationship. Their reunion is tense but it also makes them open their eyes up to the world around them. He gets the courage to finally just kiss Polly while Piper starts to look into the budgetary and maintenance issues at Litchfield. When she's out, she just wants to come home. She's hoping Larry is there waiting for her but she also recognizes how incredible selfish she has been since she went to prison. Granted that's a quality she needed to have in order to survive this place. But it's also been a devastating thing for her outside relationship. Exposing Litchfield's money problems will earn her some good will. And right now, she's hoping that's enough to get Larry back.
Connection is a human necessity. No matter how bad or conceited or ill Orange Is the New Black makes its character's choices, it never forgets the humanity behind those choices. Pennsatucky went crazy at the end of season one and now that's she back in the general population she too has been searching for a place to belong. Her girls explicitly remove her from the group at the dance. Now, she's all alone until she finds solace with Healy outside. He too doesn't know how to communicate and connect with his wife or to the inmates anymore. He's hoping the new newsletter will turn that around. But it's still extremely lonely at the moment.
Lastly, there's Poussey who has been yearning for love for her entire life but due to factors outside of her own free will is always kept from it. When she was living with her parents and moving around throughout the world, she would make a connection just in time for her to move again. Once landing in Germany, she expects it to be the last move and really does fall in love with another girl in the same predicament. But one fateful night when they're caught in the act by the other girl's homophobic father, her family is forced to move again. She's upset and willing to kill him for his daughter's love. It's only her father that stops her from doing such a terrible thing. But she's still yanked away from the most intimate connection she's ever had.
And now, she still is looking for that deep personal connection. She has such a strong bond with Taystee. But they are starting to slip away from one another because of Vee's hold over Taystee and plans for the prison. It's just devastating to watch. Poussey just wants to be loved. She values her friendship with Taystee but also is immensely disappointed that she doesn't want that kind of relationship. They are close friends but nothing more. But now, they're fighting with each other. Taystee's off working in custodial and excited about the product Vee is able to smuggle in. Poussey isn't afraid to stand up to Vee but quietly she believes that Vee may be right. And that terrifies her. So now, she's looking elsewhere and lashing out at Taystee. It's so sad seeing these two like that but wonderful to watch as it happens - and hope for a reconciliation later.
Some more thoughts:
- "You Also Have a Pizza" was written by Stephen Falk and directed by Allison Anders.
- Loved that Morello-Suzanne conversation. And then, it cut to the Maritza-Flaca kiss which was just odd.
- Suzanne's double-sided conversation with the mop was also excellent.
- I'm not that invested in the Daya-Bennett relationship. But I'm really intrigued to see how Mendez returning into the picture changes things as well as the other Latinas expecting him to smuggle things in for them.
- Also, Piper got a letter from Alex which she quickly threw away without reading. Good for her!
- Two inmates have escaped from the walls of Litchfield this season without the administration knowing. Is that a growing trend?
- Sophia and Suzanne gave the best answers to the "What is love?" question.
