Orange is the New Black season 5 episode 7 review: Lorna’s lasagna in the oven
After trying to give the ladies on Orange is the New Black a soft bribe of tampons and Cheetos, the response to the Governor is clear: They are not ending their riot for some snack food. They want all of their demands met and to show that they are serious, the ladies burned up all the snacks in protest.
If you want more Suzanne then this is the episode for you! There are very few characters out there that are as complex as Suzanne, who while emotionally stunted (and battling mental illness), is a good person that wants to do the right thing. When Suzanne ends up having an episode, Cindy and Alison realize that Suzanne needs the routine of prison to help her get back on track and come up with a plan to make that happen for her. Using the hostages, they create a pseudo prison routine for her so that she feels a bit of normalcy, with Alison and Cindy playing the guards. This does the trick and we have some classic Suzanne moment like circle storytime with the hostages.
Just in case you’re one of the viewers out there that’s really interested in the blossoming Linda/Boo relationship they have taken it to the next level. Originally, we thought that Linda was just using Boo as protection against some of the other inmates, but now it’s turned into something else. We’ve seen Boo basically doing her best to wine and dine Linda as well as win her affection by protecting her against other prisoners and now their relationship has become sexual. This isn’t something that’s going to last since once the riot is over Linda’s going to leave the prison, but for the time being it’s nice to see Boo have some sort of relationship. Have we mentioned how much we love Boo?
After being dumped by Nicole, Lorna calls Vinnie for support and he tells her that he’s coming to the prison to get her, which she is crazy excited about because she thinks she’s pregnant (but in true Lorna fashion, hasn’t taken any kind of pregnancy test). Lorna decides to create a giant sign telling Vinnie that she’s pregnant since she’s not able to get out of the prison to tell him. After she lifts her pregnancy sign high in the sky that screams “lasagna in the oven” Vinnie bolts. Guessing this baby isn’t going to have a dad, which is kinda weird for the Vinnie character. He is married to her, is willing to wait through prison to be with her, but a baby scares him off?
Red is still on her mission to get Piscatella to admit to murdering that other inmate. She has a phone belonging to Humps, but can’t figure out the password to use it to lure Piscatella inside. This leads to a melt down of epic proportions, but really we think she’s going through drug withdrawals since she’s been taking all these “vitamins” that Blanca has been giving her. Once Blanca gives her some crushed up powder to sniff, Red is better. We suspect that she’s going to have a tough time detoxing once the prison is back under control. Watching Blanca try to flirt with the nurse in order to give Red enough time to get Humps fingerprint to open up his phone was easily the best Blanca moment of the season. After unlocking the phone, Red is able to send a message to Piscatella pretending to be Humps and asking for his help as a ruse to bring him into the prison.
For us this was a bit of a throw-away episode with not a lot really happening. We were hoping for more movement on the demands, but it was mostly just a bunch of the ladies playing bean bag toss in Freida’s bunker, getting makeovers from Flaca and Maritza and opening up a makeshift prison cafe. Lots of fun, but nothing like what we thought would be happening, since we thought that once the gun and Judy King left the prison a team would be sent in to take control. The one thing we were very happy to see was that even though Poussey’s death may not have been avenged it was at least memorialized in a really beautiful way by Soso. She created a library of books throughout all the hallways for people to enjoy reading as much as Poussey did. What was really great about this is that it gave Soso some peace for the first time since Poussey’s death. This is something that a lot of the inmates at the prison really needed, but it’s also something that us as the viewers needed too. Thanks Soso. Episode grade: B-
What did you think of this episode of Orange is the New Black? Leave us a comment in the box below.