In Part 3, we discuss Gloria, Maria, and Flaca’s roles working in the ICE kitchen, Penn’s death, and the jobs of Tamika, the CO’s & Linda. My name is Kent, and I am the guy who came up with the questions. I also leave comments in bold every once in a while. I have 3 ladies here to help me out, start up a bit of a conversation. Please, leave a comment or like this or pass it along to someone you know who enjoys this show.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
7. Gloria and Flaca worked the ICE kitchen as well and helped the ladies try to get lawyers. Maria eventually joined their crew. A) Do you feel satisfied in how things ended between Gloria and Maria? B) Do you feel that they built Maria up for many seasons and then fizzled out with her? C) Were you happy to see Flaca and Maritza briefly reunited in any way? D) Did they make the head guy at ICE (Clitvack) way too over the top of a dickhead or too big of a caricature for you to take it seriously?
Cece: The ladies working in the kitchen were awesome and helping the girls in ICE. I was hoping Maria & Gloria would have had more of an understanding. I mean, I guess they finally did because of their love for their kids in the end. Flaca & Maritza reunited was cool. And Clitvack was a bit of both. Over the top dick, but in an almost funny way. (Yeah, it was a bit tongue in cheek with Clitvack, I agree with that.)
Raylene: Sure it was a decent way to end the feud. I enjoyed the reunions of all the characters. There are probably real Ice agents that big of an asshole. (I’m sure that some agents are that big of a douche, but you can say that about anybody in a position of power, male or female, etc. They always seem to lay it on a bit thick at times.)
Kent: A) I legitimately feel let down with the Gloria and Maria thing because I liked both characters at various stages in the show and was hoping for something a little different. B) Maria felt useless too often this season, which I think is a shame. When she started breaking out, they really had something good. Then they cut back, which is normal, but she simply fizzled out in the final season. And she had a nice amount of screen time, but it felt squandered.
C) I love Flaca and Maritza, one of the best pairings along with Angie and I can’t remember her name. I was happy to get a little bit this season at least. D) I’m sure that there are assholes like this in that position, and pretty much every position of power throughout the world. But if I asked you to guess what the head person of ICE would be like, you’d guess super mean male because that is all too often the OITNB calling card. It was predictable. That’s why Fig always stood out so much.
8. Pennsatucky worked toward her GED and was supposed to get more time to do her test, but Luschek didn’t put in the paperwork. Penn eventually killed herself with an OD. A) Did you think that Penn was in danger of suicide while seeing her flashbacks with her father? B) Was there any redemption for Luschek with him claiming that he was bringing in phones? C) Did you tear up listening to Suzanne and CO Dixon sing the Mountain Dew song?
Cece: Fuck Luscheck. He’s an asshole. A lazy piece of shit. He should have gotten her the extra time. Although, we later see she didn’t need it. But I did not honestly think she was going to turn back to the drugs. She became the most changed character in the whole show (in a positive way), so that really got me when she died. Again, fuck Luscheck. And the Mountain Dew song was so awesome! I don’t think I cried but I loved it. (It’s funny because if we go back a few seasons, Luschek was one of the most universally beloved characters. I’m surprised they did this with him. And yeah, Penn deserves recognition for most changed.)
Raylene: Penn’s death caught me off guard. Luscheck needs to do a lot more to make up for that. No crying for that song. (Luschek is probably going to follow the Sam path of moving on and trying to start anew.)
Kent: A) The suicide really surprised me, and maybe it shouldn’t have. She had evolved so much though, I guess I pictured her trying to find a different path. But she did try that a few times and nothing worked. It made sense but caught me off guard. I will say that I am happy that she got a send-off, even if it was via death. B) I am struggling here. Luschek has consistently done shitty things, but it feels like this season was the breaking point. I am not even sure if this would be a point of contention if Penn doesn’t commit suicide because we seemed to give Luschek a free pass all these other times. 1% redemption as far as I’m concerned. It was something at least.
C) At one point, they nailed the emotional high point, so I thought there would be at least one yes. I was wrong. Definitely one of the better scenes in the show’s history from my very judgemental perspective. I love CO Dixon and Suzanne, so it worked for me big time.
9. Tamika Ward became the warden for awhile and most of the CO’s were useless or dicks. A) Which person in authority did you dislike the most, excluding Clitvack? You have Linda, CO Hopper, Hellman, McCullough, Dixon, Alvarez, Ginger, and I may be forgetting some others. B) Should Tamika have accepted the job of warden when it was offered? C) Was Linda Ferguson (The head bitch) the worst character or was she just doing her job?
Cece: I hate the whole crew, honestly. I’d say of all of them, Alvarez, Ginger & Dixon were the most decent. McCullough was on my top list until the bullshit with Alex. Linda is the worst, too. I’d say I hated Hellman most, though. Tamika was awesome as warden. She shouldn’t have gotten fired just because she HAD NO IDEA the chickens had drugs in them. (I really enjoyed Alvarez, Ginger, and Dixon. I hope to see them all in different things soon.)
Raylene: Linda was all kinds of awful she knew how shitty it was in the prison for them but made no real changes. Tamika tried to do her job the best she could. I’m sure the pay increase helped her decision to take the position. Her getting fired for the chickens was interesting. (Yup, the chicken firing was perhaps a bit much, but anytime that you give an inmate any potential way to bring drugs in, I’d say that is on you.)
Kent: A) Hellman and Hopper were at the top of my dislike list because they were terrible caricatures of men. McCullough is right below them because she could have really been a better person. To quote DeNiro in A Bronx Tale: “There’s nothing worse than wasted talent.”
B) This is perhaps the most difficult question here. I am going to say no, and it has nothing to do with the outcome, but rather the expected outcome when the job was offered. I know that people think that moving up is great. You get to flex your nuts a little more. You have more say. The problem is that you basically still get bossed around and then have to be a shithead that tells people to do shitty things. And the further you rise, the more your mistakes stick out, and it’s a bad ratio with a higher expected failure ratio. Sometimes the pay increase isn’t worth the increased headache and decrease in leniency. She did as good of a job as could reasonably be expected, and actually did better. Just not worth it, unfortunately.
C) At the end of the day, working in that line of work, you cannot be great at your job and be a caring people person without losing your job. And I know that she had first-hand experience living that life in prison, so you say that she should have more compassion. More compassion could very well cost her her job. At the end of the day, you have to decide how much your humanity is worth. There is no right or wrong answer. Badison was the worst character and shame on you ladies for not saying her name.