As the show devotes more and more time to the inner workings of Litchfield, a broadened thematic scope begins to develop. Save for one embarrassingly on-the-nose Statement of Theme in episode two, Season 2 deftly complicates the relationship of the prisoners and the authorities by focusing on the system itself, and the compromises it forces those running it to make. In this regard, it’s displaying the same kind of social consciousness that The Wire did, just on a smaller scale. A subplot that leads Piper on an investigation into misappropriated prison funds is just one small part of the tapestry Season 2 weaves as it tries to understand how those with power can justify monstrous behavior, but still sleep at night.
Save for one individual in particular, that is: among the few pieces added to OITNB’s playset this year is Yvonne “Vee” Parker (Lorraine Toussaint), a former prisoner of Litchfield returning from a stint out in the free world, who quickly upsets the balance of things in the prison. For the first half of the season, the character seamlessly integrates herself into the proceedings, exposing a generational gap in the prison’s hierarchy that brings the Golden Girls, a previously fringe group, into the fold in some interesting ways. Toussaint does a lot with the role in the early stages, as Vee’s adaptability, resources, and history with some of the other inmates sees her move up the big house food chain with guile and cunning.
Unfortunately, the character’s purpose becomes more transparent in the season’s backhalf, which takes the show down a more plot-heavy road that it’s not capable of handling nearly as well as it does its characters. The conflict that Vee inspires often creates a daisy chain of collateral damage that exposes the residents of Litchfield in new ways. Sometimes this involves bursts of bloody violence that seem out of place for the show, especially when a simple shove of the shoulders provides the season one of its most emotionally raw moments. But the character herself, even in flashbacks, winds up feeling like a relic from the old way of making TV, a suddenly-appearing Mephistopheles that sets many things in motion, but ultimately proves lacking in the depth we’ve come to expect from everyone else in Orange is the New Black.
Yet, even as the season’s back half finds itself weighed down by plot logistics and a fair share of contrivances, the show is never less than light on its feet. Piper may be taken more seriously this year, but the show still knows how to skewer the large portion of its own audience that she’s meant to represent, thanks to new inmate Brook Soso (Kimiko Glenn), a Piper 2.0 that provides something of a meta-commentary on the show itself. OITNB can also still talk dirty with the best of them, proving that Silicon Valley’s monopoly on filthy, elaborate genital humor was only temporary. There’s a lot less Sophia (Lavern Cox) this year than one would hope, but she is responsible for what might be the season’s funniest, and most anatomically educational setpiece gag.
Having only just finished an uninterrupted marathon viewing of the entire season in the “binge” format Netflix seems to encourage, getting a read on the season as a whole can feel a bit like leaving SHU: your perspective is distorted, time is a blur, and you really want nothing more than a good night’s sleep. Still, I’m comfortable in saying that while Season 2 of Orange is the New Black doesn’t reach the heights of pure consistent pleasure that the first did, know that its flaws are merely a reflection of its greater overall ambition. This is a show that still has so many stories worth telling, and so many characters worth spending time with, that you can forgive each individual beat or plot that doesn’t quite work out, because there are five or six others that sing. Even in its errors, Orange is the New Black makes every single piece and minute matter, because the bad is too vitally connected to the overwhelming good to be worth losing.
