Orange is the New Black Season 4 Episode 7 Review: It Sounded Nicer In My Head
Elizabeth Harlow
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Shit just got real.
Things took a dark turn on Orange is the New Black Season 4 Episode 7, things are always darkest before the dawn, right? Let's hope that Piper's abduction is just the pinnacle of rising drama for Act II of this season. I don't think I could handle things getting much bleaker.
There have been some heartbreaking back stories on Orange, but Lolly's may be the saddest yet. Here is a woman who was failed by almost every individual in her life, and then by every institution that is supposed to look out for her. The argument could be made that Lolly is just one person, but all the inmates of Litchfield are really proxies for larger issues.
Lolly and Healy's relationship has not only provided a way for us to understand more about her mental illness, but it's finally given Healy a person to not screw up with. Sure, he's still using an inmate as a surrogate to work out his mommy issues. But he's also genuinely helping her, without any expectations in return.
Lolly is finally able to express to him what his mother wasn't, and it's changing (some of) his attitudes about the inmates. He's starting to see that helping doesn't mean fixing. Lolly may be schizophrenic, but she's also pretty insightful.
Healy: People are after you.
Lolly: Yeah, and they're not trying to give me hugs.
Healy: Where is the evidence?
Lolly: I don't need no evidence. My life is my evidence.
Piper also ended up owning up to some of her mistakes, just not soon enough to make a difference. Nicky's return meant the return of her conscience; the prodigal daughter may be messing up her life with drugs again, but she has a way of cutting through everyone else's bull.
Piper's abduction at the hands of Ruiz's gang seemed extreme, but in hindsight, it was an obvious conclusion to her actions. Sure, she didn't mean for Ruiz to get more time on her sentence, but she still set her up. And worse, instead of clearing the air, she started hanging out with Skinhead Helen and her crew.
As much as I want to pity Piper, I'd feel worse for her if her decision to break from the proto-Aryan Nation was motivated purely by a recognition that this was not an ideology to associate with rather than a realization that nobody liked her anymore. If there's one thing Pipes should work on, it's her need to be liked. It keeps getting her in trouble.
Hapakuka: You're not scare?
Piper: No, I'm scared, but I'm pretending that this Kool-Aid has alcohol in it, and that kinda helps.
Caputo is facing some similar issues as our original protagonist, but with further reaching consequences. I simultaneously feel bad for the guy and want to smack him upside the head.
Seriously, who thinks that a for profit prison company has any interest in reducing recidivism? Were you not just joking about the next prison "gold mine?" I admire his desire to help the inmates, but man, get a clue.
Short of turning whistle-blower, I don't know how he's going to get himself out of this one. I also don't know how much longer he's going to be able to control any misconduct from the guards. He's admitted that he's up in a tower, but I don't think he's figured out that he may be a prisoner there himself.
Everyone wants to go back in time sometimes. To go back to the moment when everything was still possible, before they made a wrong turn, so that they could go on the right path. But it's not possible. All we can do is make the most of right now.
Healy
Another story that has been breaking my heart is Aleida. Yeah, she's normally a hard nosed bitch, and she likes it that way, but she also genuinely wants her kids (and grandbaby) back with her when she gets out.
Her rant about being set up by the system was so heartfelt, and I just hope that she can make it through with her nail salon idea. I have some doubts, since she'd have to get an cosmetology license, and one thousand hour course seems like it may be beyond her patience level.
It makes you wish that these were the kinds of vocational classes Litchfield was offering, instead of Construction 101, which will serve women so well on the outside, what with construction being a field with high gender parity. Setting inmates up to fail helps corporations like MCC though, so of course it would be the norm.
Aleida: They tell you to get the GED like it's gonna change anything. How's a GED gonna make me not a felon?
Gloria: It show's you're making an effort.
Aleida: Yeah, and I go from unemployable to unemployable with a pat on my back.
Come back and catch TV Fanatic Amanda Steinmetz's coverage of Orange is the New Black Season 4 Episode 8! If you need to catch up (or just re-binge,) you can watch Orange is the New Black online.
We can't wait to hear what you thought about "It Sounded Nicer In My Head" in the comments below!
Elizabeth Harlow was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She left the organization in October 2018.
