Welcome everybody to the Orange is the New Black Season 6 9 Deuce discussion! I have split this into 2 parts. I will provide a link to the other part a little further down. My name is Kent, and I am the guy who came up with the questions. I also leave comments in bold every once in awhile. I have 3 ladies here to help me out, start up a bit of a conversation. So thank you to Cece, Kristi, and Jamie for taking time out of your schedule to help out. While I do enjoy the show, I am by far the most negative person here, to nobody’s surprise. If you have any thoughts on these questions or just want to voice your opinion, please leave a comment. I’ll read them and respond. Without further adieu, let’s do this.
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The First 9
- Piper and Alex are finally “prison married”. Did you feel that they progressed in any capacity, or did this feel like the same old story and same old mistakes?
Cece: I think these 2 are still my least favorite characters in the show, however, even insufferable cunts need their good moments. (Excuse my language) (Woah woah woah, we don’t say insufferable around here. Shame!)
Kristi: Same old story. Same old mistake. Alex can do way better. Piper is my least favorite character by far. Fingers crossed her being out means less of her. (I would be so happy if Piper was out or just had very small cameos.)
Jamie: In previous seasons Piper was trying to be the badass and this season she brought back more of trying to follow the rules. Where Alex was coming across like she was being good but was getting pulled into all bad. (Really, isn’t that Alex’s MO at this point? She gets dragged down by those around her, which sucks because she’s not a bad character otherwise.)
Kent: For a main character, Piper is horrible. She isn’t my least favorite character on the show, hello Daya, she is easily top 5 least favorite. This was the same old nonsense, in my opinion. They were doing things without communicating and kept getting deeper down the rabbit hole until Alex was going to start working for Carol for drugs. Seriously? 6 seasons in, she should be smarter. I like Alex, but Piper brings her down to a point where overall I am fine with not seeing Alex.
- We met a lot of new characters this season. What new characters stood out for you in a positive or negative way? Please feel free to insult Badison as much as possible at this point in the blog. Did the Carol and Barbara rivalry seem foolish?
Cece: My new favorites include: Daddy, probably. The Barb/Carol saga was fun but I’m glad they’re gone.
Kristi: I do like ‘Daddy’. She was kinda a badass in her life and I dig that. Badison needs to go away. Unfortunately, with Carol out, she will probably end up trying to take over. Sister rivalry is one thing but then taking each other out at the end was pretty dumb.
Jamie: The story of Barb and Carol was a crazy story and you could tell they were gonna end up trying to scheme together i was surprised how quickly the story was wrapped up from beginning to end. Badison WORST CHARACTER EVER annoying and completely pointless, and she should not have been treated like a lead at all! I really liked Daddy although she obviously is easily manipulated. I think i just have a soft spot for the lesbians lol
Kent: Aside from the fact that Carol and Barb’s sister was named Little Debbie, I struggled getting into any of the new inmates. I loathed, hated, despised, couldn’t stand Badison. I hate her accent with a passion. I had that accent anyway, but then add her character to it and I wanted her to have a train pulled on her. Barb and Carol were irritating, although I didn’t mind their younger versions as much. I don’t understand why there is such support for Daddy. I found her almost as awful as Badison to be honest. I thought her backstory was shitty, and she was a shitty person. The only good thing about Daddy is that she got Daya fucked up on pills. The best new characters were the prison guards, especially the bigger lady and the guy who was the commissioner of their fantasy league.
- CO McCullough was still feeling the effects from the riot. Did you feel that they gave her story arc a proper story or did it feel unsatisfying by the end?
Cece: Meh. Like, realistically she should not have step foot back in the prison without proper therapy and stuff. This is not cool. This makes her ultra sensitive and that one time she got triggered went against her character.
Kristi: I think it made sense. She whined a little too much for me but I get the reason. PTSD is no joke. I did like that she finally stood up at the end. Hopefully, she has regained some strength from that.
Jamie: I feel they did well with her story displaying the PTSD she was suffering from.
Kent: I thought it was probably the best story arc of the whole season, and it didn’t feel overly forced. While I don’t feel that she would have been allowed back so quickly, the little bits and pieces throughout the season were very nice. It was a proper story with a slow build, starting about needing the extra money and not being able to sleep to the cutting and the anger. I cannot think of a story arc this season that was better.
- Red had a very difficult season, she was betrayed (at least in her opinion) by her prison family. Then she joined allegiances with Carol. In the end though, she let her rage toward Freida consume her and blew her opportunity to see her grandchildren and son. Did you feel that this made sense for her character based on everything we know about her?
Cece: Red has always been a fighter. She’s always been one of my absolute favorite characters, as well. I think she really let herself go since Piscatella got the best of her. It’s a shame.
Kristi: No way. I hated that. She literally cried all season about wanting to see her grandkids and completely blew it. It made me dislike her and she has been a favorite for me.
Jamie: Red’s family has turned into her prison family so i really wasn’t completely surprised . Red just usually had in the past, other people do her dirty work. But roles have obviously changed her. (Good point about how her role change really affected her mindset just as much as anything else.)
Kent: Kristi basically summed up my thoughts. She has been consistently in my top 3-5 favorite characters, through everything, and this season, i didn’t even like her. She brought most of this on herself and it wasn’t a case where I can justify it. Very sad what they did with one of my favorites. I found it uncharacteristic of her to throw away such a valuable opportunity.
- Speaking of Freida, she was heavily featured for another season, but this felt different. She was more vulnerable, less in control, and often scared for her life. Did you like seeing this desperate side of her character?
Cece: This made me see another side of her, which was interesting. She also sort of annoyed me though, because she kept playing mind games with Suzanne all for her benefit.
Kristi: Not so much. She was a bit too cautious for me. I would have liked to see her fight, rather than hide all season. I did like when she figured out the mole but the rest of the time, she was just hiding out. And it pissed me off when she told Suzanne she wasn’t her friend. Suzanne is the sweetest person on the show and that was some bullshit.
Jamie: No Not at all!! I fell in love with Frieda’s character last season. Showing her past prison experience made a lot of what she did make sense.
Kent: I love Freida, another personal favorite of mine the past 3 or so seasons. Love her matter of fact, logical way of looking at things. I wish we could have had more of that, but when I reflected on it, she did the smart thing. It just wasn’t good TV. Doing the smart thing isn’t always the entertaining thing, which is true of the inverse. Suzanne was the perfect person for Freida to manipulate. Freida is getting some hate, and Cindy deserves even more, which we will get to. Freida is a smart survivor above all else, which means making tough decisions. Still among my favorites.
- Tastee’s story revolved around her being held responsible for her actions in the riot. Given her circumstances, would you have gone to trial or accepted the deal they offered her? Was there a single doubt in your mind that she may not be found guilty? Did this story take up too much time of the season?
Cece: I think she did what was right and had herself a fair trial. The fact that she fought for something she really believed in, shows that she has a lot of drive. We all know she didn’t do anything, so, it was hard to see her get hit with the guilty conviction.
Kristi: I wanted her to take the deal. The way this show has been, I think we all knew she would be found guilty. I was hoping for the not guilty result but wasn’t surprised when it was guilty. I don’t think it took too much time. Better than having to see Piper or Badison!
Jamie: I think she made the right decision going to trial. Especially because this was a cover up situation and we know she didn’t do it. I was hopeful Black Cindy would come around sooner or Suzanne would be capable to come to her defense. I wasn’t completely shocked she was found guilty once it all played out. I didn’t think we were going to find out the jury’s decision by the end of the season so i did not feel it was dragged out.
Kent: I don’t know what show these ladies above me are watching, but shit, Tastee is a fucking idiot in my book. She is the one that should be despised. She blew, absolutely BLEW the negotiations at the prison during the riot. If she wanted to be a leader and have everybody’s best interests in mind, she wouldn’t have done what she did. I’m glad she was stupid enough to go to trial. You ain’t winning that case, no matter how self righteous you’re feeling. She was wrong, wrong, wrong every step of the way. Of course this show wasn’t going to have someone who was somewhat representative of the black struggle win because that’s not what this show does, right? This show only paints victims, which is part of the decline in quality. Not everybody is a victim. Some people deserve to triumph, and they do in the real world. This is just propaganda.
- Cindy lied to Tastee for the majority of the season, got in Suzanne’s head, and did a radio show with Flacca. Should Cindy have really felt THAT guilty over what she did? Did you like the whole radio show concept? Did you miss Maritza’s presence with Flacca?
Cece: Cindy should have felt guilty the whole time. She should have actually told her the truth and try to really rectify it. I liked the radio show. Cindy is a great personality and so is Flacca. Maritza is a good pair with Flacca too but this gave Flacca some time with someone else.
Kristi: Abso-f@$king-lutely. That was not ok! They are supposed to be girls. You don’t do that. The radio show was just whatever to me. I don’t really have a strong feeling either way. I did miss Maritza a bit. They are better as a team. A little annoying, but their characters are better together.
Jamie: Yes she should’ve felt guilty she had an innocent woman in jail knowing that she did not do it. I loved the radio show and yes I did miss the duo of Flacca and Maritza.
Kent: Cindy is trash and has been for awhile. Her backstory is annoying, like she wasn’t a good human being. Yes, she is funny sometimes, but she is a pretty lousy character. Cindy shouldn’t have felt guilty over trying to save her ass in prison. It was one of the realest aspects of the season was Cindy looking out for herself. The reality is, most of us would do the same damn thing. I know, you’re reading this thinking “No, not me Kent. Ride or die mother fucker.” Stop it. If you can save yourself years off of a prison sentence, you do you. I missed Maritza big time. Flacca was perhaps in my top 3 characters this season behind Caputo and Suzanne. I love that Flacca got to reveal that most of what she does is an act. That was compelling to me.
- Daya got hooked on drugs and started a relationship with Daddy, while we spent SO MUCH TIME on her mom, Aleida, on the outside who ended up help bring drugs into prison, via her boyfriend/CO. Which of these two characters annoyed you the most?
Cece: Daya. She is really acting childish and impulsive. Aleida didn’t really annoy me too much.
Kristi: Daya for sure. I know she is upset about the whole life sentence thing but she’s acting like a child. And how do pain meds result in heroin so quickly? This season was what, 3 weeks in real time? I don’t know how the progression happens but it doesn’t seem realistic for me. (Yeah, the realism was lacking, in my opinion. It usually is, but that was a giant leap of faith.)
Jamie: Daya annoyed me more than any of these characters she has completely given up. I feel like she needs the attention so bad and wants to get what she wants and that’s it. That’s how she ended up in there to begin with. (I love everything you just said.)
Kent: I am choosing Daya, which most of you know, is my least favorite character on a season to season basis. With that being said, the ladies above me have done an excellent job calling her out, so let me bitch about Aleida, who is played by the great Elizabeth Rodriguez. I think she is a wonderful actress. Anyway, so you get out of prison, and are just incompetent on the outside. Seriously, she bought into the stupid saleswoman with the shakes? Come on, Aleida’s character is supposedly smarter than that. She was pretty smart on the inside, so a con like that shouldn’t have worked on her. I hated that she was okay with doing something despicable like bring drugs into prison while seeing what a mess her daughter has become. Yes, Daya is a lost cause, but the whole idea of making money via drugs in order to get your kids living with you, so frustrating as a fan!
- Gloria Mendoza and Maria Ruiz had their time to tell their stories that intersected at times. Which of these two lady’s stories were better, in your opinion?
Cece: Honestly, I have always really liked Gloria, however, I don’t think they used her right this season. It was nice to see Maria try to do right by everyone though. (I totally agree that Gloria was not utilized properly this season.)
Kristi: I actually liked Ruiz’s story better this time. Last season I was for Gloria and was pissed but I’m leaning towards Ruiz now. She tried to actually move on and try to better herself. Gloria just wallowed in her shit. I just respect that. Forgive and probably not forget but at least try to not be a royal bitch.
Jamie: Gloria’s she told more of the truthful part of what had happened. i feel bad for Ruiz but she definitely wasn’t thinking of her baby during the riot when she wanted to be top dog. (Maria totally lost perspective in her quest for top dog. Isn’t that true in every prison show? Hell, it may be even true in real life. How much are you willing to sacrifice of your former/outside life, to gain power in your current situation. That is a theme in Wentworth constantly.)
Kent: I wasn’t feeling either character this season. I typically like Gloria better, but the past 2 seasons haven’t been very strong for her. I will admit, I kinda liked Maria’s ruthless aggression from the past. She was good in that role, even if she wasn’t likable. I think I like Maria’s arc better this season.
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