What to remember as you prep for your OITNB binge
At 12am PST in the wee hours of Friday morning (or 3am EST, grumble) our bae, Netflix, is bringing us 13 brand new episodes of Orange is the New Black. Can we go ahead and consider this a federal holiday? That’s how it feels, and hopefully you’re up to the task of consuming a baker’s dozen of episodes all in one sitting. Or a few sittings, or just over the entire weekend, no judgment. All binges are not created equal.
Before you start watching OITNB season 3, there are a few things you should keep in the back of your mind which will then mean less during-episode Googling later. Here’s a quick little refresher to bring you up to speed.
Season 3 picks up right away
While the events don’t pick up immediately following the end of season 3, it’s just a short while later. While it feels like these ladies have been locked up forever, not much time has actually passed. Season 2 largely took place during the late winter and early spring. Season 3 starts just before Mother’s Day.
Vee could be dead, or she might be coming back
I saw Vee get hit by Rosa’s getaway van, didn’t you? I thought she was dead. I assumed this whole prior year that she was dead. However, she might not be, and we’ll all find out at 3am/12am PST. In one of the OITNB trailers, you can sort of see her hair in the background. Bustle reported that Lorraine Toussaint largely hinted that she might be back. Maybe she’s still alive, maybe she appears in a flashback for Taystee. We’ll find out soon enough.
Larry is GONE
Good because Larry SUCKED. Not you, Jason Biggs. You will be missed. But Larry was the WORST. He cheated on Piper with her bff, Polly, and now the are making a home together (including, Polly’s new baby with her ex-husband). I imagine Piper’s still dealing with some lingering emotions, and they’ll boil over when…
Alex returns to Litchfield
Here’s a short spoiler warning, but Alex winds up back in Litchfield after violating her parole — and it’s Piper who asks Polly to tip off Alex’s parole officer about this. We saw that at the very end of season 2.
Rewinding back to the beginning of season 2, both Piper and Alex find themselves at a prison in Chicago, where Alex agreed to lie on the stand. Piper did not agree to lie, thinking Alex wouldn’t either. Welp. Alex was then released from prison, Piper was not. Now after her parole violation, Alex is back where she started (and is it weird to be happy about this, because Lauren Prepon is just the BEST?)
Bennett confessed to being the father of Daya’s baby
In a pretty bold move, Bennett decided to take control of his future (and Daya’s, and their baby’s) and admits to newly minted warden, Caputo, that he’s the baby’s father. Caputo, the top notch guy that he is, basically told Bennett to keep his mouth shut about it. Why? Well, for starters, Caputo is now in charge of the prison following Figueroa’s embezzlement scheme and everyone already thinks Pornstache is is the father of the baby. Caputo doesn’t want anything else to muddy the waters now that he’s in charge.
Nicky has Vee’s stash of heroin
One of the big conflicts of season 2 was the fact that while Red was using outside sources to smuggle in actual goods for the ladies (makeup and toiletries, and what not) Vee was using those same channels to bring heroin into the prison. Nicky stole the heroin, which caused Vee’s breakdown, which lead to her escape, so on and so forth, BUT OK Nicky still has the heroin. She’s a recovering heroin addict. This is not good.
Tasystee and Poussey might have something going on
In the words of Mrs. Potts, there might be something there that wasn’t there before. These two had a very up and down season. They’re best friends. They kissed. Then, Taystee aligned herself with Vee, leaving Poussey behind. They got into a HUGE fight, and have now reconciled. But what’s next for them?
Now my friends, go forth and binge. See you on the other side.
