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“Orange is the New Black” recap (4.13): A Broken Eulogy

I couldn’t even bring myself to fast forward through the opening credits.

Sweet Baby Poussey is on a very sketchy bus that is carrying a duck as well as her friends. She’s just about to leave for Amsterdam. Her friends are on a mission to convince her to stay in America; they’ve got one night to prove their case.

Back in real time, Piscatella is coaching the story he plans to pitch to the press while her body remains unmoved. It’s all so calculated the way they dehumanize. Caputo rightfully defends her citing her size and track record. Piscatella is hearing none of it; he didn’t even have the decency to call the police. He’s reminded that the inmates are people, and you have to treat them as such; the situation escalated quickly from peaceful to fatal, and things must be handled with care. Caputo also hints at some background what landed the hot-headed Piscatella down in a women’s minimum security prison from a men’s maximum facility, doesn’t sound too pretty. Despite being sent home, this is likely far from the last time we will see Piscatella, how fortunate.

Bayley has holed himself in a linen storage where Caputo brings him a few pills and asks what happened. Shock has erased the events from his mind; he doesn’t even know that she’s dead.

Taystee once again represents all of us when she bangs on the CO’s window in the dorms. She wants answers, and the silence they offer won’t satisfy her anger. Tovah mirrors her sentiments and tries to calm her down and walk her back to her bunk. Watson can’t bear to stomach sleeping in the bunk she shared with Poussey to give them all the closeness they need Tovah clears the unnamed inmates for them to commune. Taystee paces to and fro as Suzanne looks to bury herself beneath a pile of books, Poussey’s books from the library. Reality is setting in harshly for all of them.

Once more Caputo is directed not to call the police. He’s frustrated, but MCC has instructed him to simply wait. Do they mean three to five business days? Which we all know is more like five to seven. Her body still hasn’t been moved.

In the white dorm, they discuss their perceptions of death prior to seeing it and after viewing it first hand. Red seems to have finally gotten the rest she needs. Norma’s voice mimics an Angels as she cradles a weeping Soso. Everything seems so normal otherwise. That is until Piper sees Bayley in the hallway, still disoriented by shock. He’s on a quest to apologize to the Black girls; Piper tells him not to disturb their grieving. Sound advice.

CO Dixon is doing a horrible job consoling Bayley on the ride home. He resorts to war stories, implying that frustration led to many a criminal and immoral act. When that doesn’t work, he’s told to “get over it” because he’s a good kid and he’s got so much life to live. This truck probably reeks of privilege. Just outside of his parents’ house, Bayley is warned about the dreams that will follow, very helpful.

The morning after opens bright and early with the kitchen crew. Red and Ruiz trade thoughts on protecting their own respective crews and whether or not the score between the inmates and guards is square. CO McCoullugh discovers that they still haven’t moved Poussey’s body. Blanca steps in the gum Piscatella spit out about a foot from her body. He is the scum of the earth. Red reminds the CO that death comes with a smell after a while, and they’d do best to remove it sooner rather than later. The radio startles Caputo awake; he still hasn’t received a call from MCC.

They serve breakfast out on the courts instead. Nicky reveals the sobering nature of the previous night’s events in regards to her detox process. If Red is proud of her progress, she certainly doesn’t show it. She plans for a family meeting in the former garden. Nicky is affronted by the implication that she’s going to steal the juice on the way, however, Red cites her doubts with Nicky’s knack for making situations awkward with her talking. Times like these all care should be taken.

Watson vents about the lack of care taken in the situation under the picnic shelter. Beside her and the other Black girls is a pile of gifts from various inmates; she takes out her frustration on one of the cards. Tovah and Abdullah take an account of all that’s been given so far; Abdullah is sure to note the fanciest gift wasn’t hand delivered by Tovah’s faux lover but Yoga Jones. Taystee continues her quest to end Suzanne weighing things to place on top of herself. She can’t handle the reminiscing and instead decides to resume her post in Caputo’s office. Watson shouts her demands for justice from the higher ups with tears in her eyes as Taystee walks away.

MCC’s legal team is delving into Poussey’s personal file trying to find anything that will label her a violent threat and help their case. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to help make that claim; she truly was a sweet cinnamon roll that was too good for this world. The police still haven’t been called, and her body remains unmoved. Caputo’s concerns are ignored, they have to avoid liability, and this is the only way it’ll get done. The tragedy of this situation is that you can see this very pattern happening in real time with Black victims of police brutality it’s all chillingly calculated. Pushing it aside as an accident, which in this case it was, only further amplifies the pointless nature of this death. Despite being in charge of the prison and its happenings, Caputo is at his lowest point as far as the power structure. In light of the Public Relations nightmare, Judy King is scheduled for early release, complete with backdated paperwork and a briefing clarifying the tale of her whereabouts in the previous days.

Poussey, her gelled mohawk, and her friends realize they’ve traveled all the way to the city for a band that doesn’t have Questlove on the drums. They’ve been duped by a terrible cover band. Her phone is stolen at the club, and she’s split from her friends in pursuit.

Back at Litchfield, the CO’s backtrack to the previous day’s events. All of the rumors that have been birthed thus far all coming from people who were feet away. Humps sets off the metal detector with the gun strapped to his ankle; this will not end well. He claims it’s for their own safety and that in times like this they have to stand together. All of them seem like the type to spam their social media with that horrid erasure of a hashtags #BlueLivesMatter.

Caputo finds Taystee attempting to keep it together at her desk. He has the horrible task of telling her that nothing has been done to move her body. He’s trying, but it’s not enough. They haven’t even called Poussey’s father; he doesn’t even know the only family he’s got left is now gone.

Pennsatucky and Big Boo roll in with a laundry cart to put up privacy blankets and nearly roll over the unmoved body. CO Coates is in tears as he stops them before she’s further desecrated. Big Boo’s grudge holds strong however Pennsatucky smoothed it over with one of her childhood tales of drugs in her family. Emotionally, Coates is not cut out for this post.

Red is hosting self-care for the family out in the garden with a reading juxtaposing their very location with all facets of life. However calming this scene may be, this entire situation doesn’t directly involve any of these characters and yet so much time is spent on their well-being. The sentiment comes after Red reveals that Poussey gifted her the book when the garden first started. She wants to restart the garden after all of this mess is solved, they debate the location of the new plot, and she delegates various activities to get it back up and running. It’s all a ruse to keep the girls busy and hopefully out of trouble.

Morello ponders over Poussey’s heritage and is blindsided by the moves Nicky is planning up until she’s pinned to the shed. She’s still resistant to re-enter this level of friendship that Nicky has still failed to understand. Nicky dashes Morello’s dreams of pregnancy and is met with a mouthful of insults about her sobriety. With a few tears in her eyes, Nicky pushes her into the gate and demands answers about Morello and her wild delusions. Despite seasons of evidence to the contrary, Morello is actively aware of the stretch conclusions her mind comes to as far as fidelity. They’re both messed up, and they need each other.

Piper and Alex are checking out the greenhouse looking for any loose windowpanes. An episode after a pivotal character dies and there’s nothing I want more than the opinions of characters that rarely interacted with her. Alex tries to hide a slip of paper in the dirt but is caught by Piper. The CO on duty is preoccupied with his phone and doesn’t notice the scuffle. Alex has been hiding little snippets all around the prison naming the murder mystery CO in hopes that the other guards will find it.

After running numerous blocks, Poussey fails to retrieve her phone from the there and asks around trying to use a phone. Baby Bayley walks past with his friends, and this fictional universe shrinks even more. The patron saints of drag come to her rescue; in exchange for phone time, they take her on an adventure to meet one of their other drag friends. She follows them into a psychedelic dance command party, and I need confirmation that something like this actually exists. She reconnects with her friends over the phone. Seeing her so happy helps to heal the massive wound.

Yoga Jones implores for Judy King to use her cell phone and call the police. Her pleas fall on deaf ears as Judy King rushes to pack her things. In her inaction she dares call Poussey her friend, friends wouldn’t sit idle like this when they have the opportunity to help.

Out in the yard behind the library, we find Soso sniffling into a bag of Poussey’s hooch stash. Now more than ever it is apparent of how alone she truly is now. A noise startles her, and she heads back inside to discover an overturned bookshelf with Suzanne underneath.

CO Coates and Pennsatucky feel sorry for Bayley and reckon that he shouldn’t have ever worked in that facility in the first place. He decides that he’s going to quit and free himself. Pennsatucky tells him she would miss him and kisses him to convince him to stay. They reveal their attractions with one another but settle on not returning down that path to keep their renewed relationship in tact.

The other CO’s are trying to solidify a story with Caputo and Luschek choose instead to place a gender on flavored coffee. They’ve all decided on the story that there was a knife involved, likely a tale passed down to them from Piscatella or just the one that Humps keeps repeating.

Caputo comes back to his office to get the real story from Taystee. It sounds a lot like he’s asking if she deserved this. The trauma Taystee is suffering is triggering. She reminds us that calling it an accident doesn’t make it hurt any less.

Suzanne is wheeled out of the library on a stretcher; Soso briefly stops crying to claim her victory as a savior. Leanne and Angie pick up on Soso’s intoxication and venture to find the hidden hooch.

Caputo’s savior cape may be ripped, but he’s still trying. He bursts in on MCC’s crisis team and demands they call the police and the coroner. They’ve since discovered the pristine record and background of Poussey despite her imprisonment and decide to shift the blame to Bayley and villainize him. Unfortunately, this decision doesn’t sit well with Caputo, he argues that Bayley was a good kid and fear took over. On one hand, it’s great that they’ve stopped going after Poussey, but it’s terrible that this was their solution. Being able to finally call the police and the coroner is a small victory that came with a hefty price.

The magic of New York’s subway is captured here. Mostly it’s the rarity of it all, no one I know has ever had a subway ride this peaceful. It’s got music, laughter, drinking from a flask, Goodreads, bit of kissing, an underground paradise if you will. It reminds you of all the lives you subtly touch just by being in the same environment as someone else. Upon exiting the size of the city is dwarfing our girl. Luckily a group of roving monks on bicycles comes to her aid.

Sophia and Gloria sit out on a blanket in the yard. Gloria thinks that after all of this maybe some things will change; Sophia brings her back down to earth with the reality that nothing might happen at all. Hearing the bigoted comments from the losers of the civil war is something we could’ve dealt without perhaps. It’s nice to see the friendship betwixt Sophia and Gloria mending itself, but I do wonder if she’ll ever be accepted with the other black girls.

Blanca offers her condolences with paper roses. Tovah, Watson and Abdullah wonder about the hooch Poussey kept stashed and the whereabouts of Soso. Apparently, Suzanne’s original mission was to find Soso; they’ll be thrilled to find out what she did instead. They reminisce on Poussey’s singing voice and her “she-wee” idea. Sadly the chuckles are replaced once more with tears.

Blanca returns to the circle of Dominican girls who decide to cook for the wake. She levels that it truly could have been any of them in Poussey’s place. Finally, an ambulance pulls up, and the body bag is transported into the van.

We all knew the unity between the different racial groups was going to be short-lived, but you’d think people would speak better of the recently deceased–though you can’t expect that much decency from white supremacy. Watson isn’t having it; her rage takes over and she punches Sankey in the jaw. To be honest, I replayed that part several times as a part of self-care. With this encounter, we’ve set up more beef than the racial tension sparking within the two groups. Abdullah calms Watson and Tovah by revealing the cherry red dreadlocks she’s hiding under her hijab and the laughs return.

Up in the bathroom, the daughters of the confederacy are riled up and ready to attack at the sight of blood from their leader’s nose. Helen and Brandy tell Sankey that they’ve got weapons, and they need to be prepared. Flaca and Martiza overhear their entire encounter. With faces covered in a face mask concoction, they practice making sad faces for when the cameras eventually come.

Down in laundry Leanne and Angie are dealing with the effects of a whole bag of hooch. In their drunken rambles, they decide to tear down Lolli’s time machine, citing that it’s bad luck for all of the inmates.

Alex sits with Piper in her bunk amid a couple dozen-paper scraps. She’s got an awful lot of guilt about his family being in the dark about his death seeing as his only mission was to come and kill her. Her reasoning is that before he became her would be murderer he was a friend.

Suzanne is rolled into the infirmary right next to her former lover who’s still suffering from their fight. Who would’ve thought we’d start the season with the two of them running away and ending with them both in hospital beds?

Video cameras are set up in Caputo’s office for his announcement. Linda comes in to provide moral support. In a move to confirm the inmates have no contact with the press, he’s ordered to lock down the prison; Taystee hides behind her desk. A photo of him dressed as Rambo for Halloween hypes the tale of Bayley being a horrible person. Caputo leaves and makes the tough call to Poussey’s father to inform him.

Poussey shares a joint with the monks down on the riverfront and reveals how she was blackballed from West Point after her almost shooting her ex-girlfriend’s father. In turn, she finds out they aren’t actual monks, and it’s all just performance art. Her life had so much promise before she was locked up, even with all of her mistakes.

Back at Litchfield, Caputo is in front of the media giving his speech. He goes off script and MCC’s crisis team is on edge. We flash to Aleida watching from her new home in the Bronx; Healy knitting yarn in the psychological facility he checked himself into. Judy King is finally up for release and Yoga Jones can’t even stand the sight of her. He forgets to mention the most important person involved in all of this to save Bayley from criticism.

Taystee leaves her hiding spot and starts yelling in the halls about how Bayley isn’t fired. She’s riled up, and all of the girls and they take to the halls in protest. The Latinas equip themselves with various shivs before making their way out of the dormitory. Leanne and Angie drunkenly recruit all of the white women to the fray with shouting and banging on walls. Scenes like this force you to remember the number of women held in this facility.

Linda sits oblivious on the toilet, as the chants grow closer to the bathroom. Piper and Alex are still on their mission to rid the prison of all the confession papers she’s strewn about. They burn them in a trashcan before the mayhem reaches them.

Judy King makes her final walk down the halls only to find her stuck in the middle of a four-way traffic jam. Jumps reaches for his gun and is immediately pushed over by Maritza. Daya picks up the weapon and points it directly at Sankey and her crew. She orders CO McCollough to lie on the ground and points the gun in the middle of Humps’ face. The inmates are all riled up, begging her to shoot him.

We end the season with the imagery of a sweet smiling Poussey looking directly into the camera and the last few tears fall from my eyes. This season was a true test of wills. We lost a wonderful woman and gained a few that are less than desirable. Tweet me your thoughts on the whole season, or just the episodes I’ve recapped @uhitsveronica. Nothing is a spoiler unless you’ve got the inside scoop from the writers room and if you do I’d like to pass on a few suggestions for next season.

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