First things first: Sofia's back!
While she isn't in a lot of the episode, Lavern Cox's return is certainly memorable -- will she get revenge on Caputo? More importantly, will she get her saloon up and running again?
And now to the meat -- two story-lines that don't seem that related and then end up weaving their way together.
On the one hand, you have Sam Healy (Michael Harney) trying to kill two birds with one stone -- forcing celebrity inmate Judy King to start a cooking class strips her of status while also providing a venue for the increased number of inmates with nothing to do.
On the other, you have the car-crash-in-slow-motion which is Lolly (Lori Petty). Paranoid after spying a drone hovering in the yard, she believes the NSA have discovered the dismembered corpse in the garden and proceeds to lose her mind. Meanwhile Alex and Red are trying to stop Frieda (Dale Soules) from killing Lolly.
Other plot lines do get a look-in: Piper continues to try and thwart Maria's rival panty business. Aleida (Elizabeth Rodriguez) learns that she is eligible for early parole, and has to deal with the dual tasks of learning how to live in the outside world AND try to get her kids AND Dya's baby back.
Tiffany's confrontation with Charlie Coates has been a long time coming. Coates is a twisted little shit, and watching him to try to justify his actions is... extremely uncomfortable. Thankfully Tiffany stays her ground. Amazing how much her character has changed over the course of the series -- it was only a couple years back that she was a religious zealot trying to exorcise a kid.
Best one-liner: “Outside he’s in Side Boob. In here, he’s the head boob.” Sam Healy, master of the dud joke, finally lands one. And no one cares.
Flashback: Sam Healy. For such a shit, I can't help but feel a little empathy for him.
Every time we learn a little bit more about his past, you really get a sense of how lost he is. Every time he tries to one-up somebody, or even when he tries to do something good, he can't help but get in his own way.
This flashback was particularly poignant. We learn that his mother ran away because she was sick of the electro-shock treatment she was getting. We then jump to the mid-nineties (signaled by a poster for Welcome To The Dollhouse), where Healy, a social worker, tries to form a relationship with one of his clients by taking her to a movie. You realize how trapped and stunted this guy is that he feels he has to abuse his position to try and make a connection with the opposite sex.
The night ends with him treating a homeless woman to a meal, thinking she is his long lost mother. When he realizes his mistake, he tries to force the woman to stay to keep him company. In the end, Healy is alone.
Final thoughts: Really interesting episode. The Alex-Lolly story line was pretty tense, especially when Freida and Red become involved, but the heart of the episode was Healy's past. He's a terrible human being in so many respects, and yet every now and then, as with this episode, he manages to act like the man he clearly wants to be.
The scene at the end when he helps Lolly evade the psych ward is unexpected, but makes sense when placed against the scene with the homeless woman. Underneath it all, Healy is just a scared little boy waiting for his mom to come home.
That's a mawkish way to end this review, so back to Sophia. She floods her cell, starts a fire and BOOM. Back in gen pop. And we get a cameo from Natasha Lyonne's Nicky Nicholls. Yay! On to Episode Five!
For previous episodes
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Flashback: Sam Healy. For such a shit, I can't help but feel a little empathy for him.
Every time we learn a little bit more about his past, you really get a sense of how lost he is. Every time he tries to one-up somebody, or even when he tries to do something good, he can't help but get in his own way.
This flashback was particularly poignant. We learn that his mother ran away because she was sick of the electro-shock treatment she was getting. We then jump to the mid-nineties (signaled by a poster for Welcome To The Dollhouse), where Healy, a social worker, tries to form a relationship with one of his clients by taking her to a movie. You realize how trapped and stunted this guy is that he feels he has to abuse his position to try and make a connection with the opposite sex.
The night ends with him treating a homeless woman to a meal, thinking she is his long lost mother. When he realizes his mistake, he tries to force the woman to stay to keep him company. In the end, Healy is alone.
Final thoughts: Really interesting episode. The Alex-Lolly story line was pretty tense, especially when Freida and Red become involved, but the heart of the episode was Healy's past. He's a terrible human being in so many respects, and yet every now and then, as with this episode, he manages to act like the man he clearly wants to be.
The scene at the end when he helps Lolly evade the psych ward is unexpected, but makes sense when placed against the scene with the homeless woman. Underneath it all, Healy is just a scared little boy waiting for his mom to come home.
That's a mawkish way to end this review, so back to Sophia. She floods her cell, starts a fire and BOOM. Back in gen pop. And we get a cameo from Natasha Lyonne's Nicky Nicholls. Yay! On to Episode Five!
For previous episodes
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
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