Orange is the New Black season 5 episode 2 review: Frieda teaches us to always be prepared

Losing Poussey Washington on Orange is the New Black last season really lit a fire in the women of Litchfield. The conditions at the prison have been deteriorating for a while now and the guards brought in to care for them haven’t been trained properly (as we saw with Poussey’s death and how badly they are handling the riot). While we have some of the ladies looting and reveling in the chaos, there are others that are using this riot as an opportunity to change the conditions at the prison. Add to that the fact that Taystee uploaded a video about Poussey’s death and the cover up of the guard responsible and this has the potential to become a lot bigger then just inside the prison.

Even though the main storyline this season is the riot, this is still Orange is the New Black and it wouldn’t be complete without some new prisoner backstories. This episode is giving us some insight on someone who has been a bit of an enigma through out the show: Frieda Berlin. We know that she is ruthless and has killed when necessary, but how did she get to this point? Even from a young age she had a way of making people fear her, but we also learn that she’s always been someone that can take care of herself in any and all situations – like when her father leaves her alone in the woods to find her way home with just some water, a knife and a sewing needle. When she gets back home to her father we see that he has them living in a bunker, getting ready for when the Russians attack and that is something she’s carried with her into her adult life after we saw that she fashioned a bunker at the prison where she’s been stockpiling supplies for a “just in case” scenario… like now with the riots. As the Girl Scout motto goes “Always be prepared”.

When it comes to the riot, Maria wants to get the ladies organized, and even though Daya doesn’t have the gun anymore, she’s playing it off that she does. Once all the ladies are in the auditorium, Maria gets everyone up to speed on what the plan is (which is really no plan at all) while getting everyone riled up about the changes they are going to make. Really Maria just seems to be swimming in the power of it all. Things get very dark when Maria brings out the guards, blindfolded and tied up and start stripping them down and abusing them in front of all the other inmates. This was uncomfortable to say the least, and not the Orange is the New Black we used to know and love when it first started.

We have been waiting for someone to stand up and say something, but with the mob mentality that’s going on it’s a scary time to be the voice of reason. After seeing the guards stripped down and violated on stage, Alex decides she’s had enough, telling Maria that she’s not going to be part of this and doesn’t want to go down for more crimes because Daya shot a guard. After she leaves, Gloria realizes that if she doesn’t take control of this Maria is going to just keep racking up the charges against all of them without an end game, so they decide to round up all the hostages, starting with Caputo.

Taystee was hoping that the video she posted was going to go viral, but with only 19 views, she has to think of another way to get the word out there about Poussey’s death. When Daya shows up to get Caputo, Cindy ends up being the voice of reason, saying that if they all work together and show a unified front that they will have a stronger voice that will be heard. Taystee agrees and after rounding up all the guards, they take a picture of their hostages… but what the end game is, well that’s still unclear to everyone there as well as to us watching.

This episode was very uncomfortable to watch and for a show that was originally giving us a lighter more humorous side of prison, the past two seasons of this show have changed the tone entirely. We are guessing that now that Orange is the New Black is submitting as a drama during awards season, they thought that going darker was the way to bring home the gold since there’s some really tough competition in that category, but it’s not really working for us. The reason this show was popular was because it was something different to offer then other prison shows we’ve seen, but now it’s starting to feel like a female version of Oz with the forced tattooing on Piper by the Aryans last season and now the riots that are turning into torturing and abuse of the guards. At least in Oz their riot scene was a way to have things change at the prison, so far there have been no demands by the prisoners – so what’s the point of all of this? Episode grade: C+

What did you think of this episode of Orange is the New Black? Leave us a comment in the box below. If you want to check out some more reviews and scoop on Orange is the New Black season 5 then head on over to the link here. (Photo: Netflix)