Jackson Ball reviews the sixth episode of Orange Is the New Black Season 2 …
Valentine’s Day has descended upon the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary, but there seems to be very little ‘love’ to go around. Old friends and new enemies clash as the season of romance ushers in a fresh supply of drama and comedy into the prison.
Warning! Spoilers Ahead – You have been warned!
Episode 6 continues the second season’s trend of fleshing out supporting characters with previously unseen an untold back-story. This time around it is the character of Poussey (Samira Wiley) that is on the receiving end of the flashbacks, revealing her past as a military brat stationed in Germany. There, she engages in a whirlwind lesbian love-affair with the daughter of a high-ranking (and of course, homophobic) officer, which results in her and father being sent back to the states.
This little series of events confirms to us three things about the character. Firstly, it is clear that Poussey is a hopeless romantic at heart, something that adds a new layer to her ‘platonic’ friendship with Taystee (Danielle Brooks).
Secondly, her backstory seemingly confirms what we’ve always suspected; that Poussey is far more intelligent and cultured than she would heave her fellow inmates believe. She’s fluent in German, well-read, and able to recite great works of poetry from memory. Is her ‘ghetto’ persona just a prison-born defence mechanism or merely a way to relate to her inmate chums?
Finally, Poussey’s backstory confirms for us that she was in fact a lesbian prior to her incarceration, and has not simply ‘turned’ to make her time in prison easier – or as Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) so delicately put it, she isn’t ‘gay for her stay’.
Elsewhere in the episode, some majorly long-term plot developments are creeping into proceedings. Vee’s master-plan is starting to take shape quite nicely; she’s already won the affections of her crew, and has now revealed her intention of smuggling tobacco into the prison. Surely it’s only a matter of time before her quiet menace boils over.
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