For the fourth season of Orange Is the New Black, Spencer Kornhaber and Sophie Gilbert are discussing the series via recaps, taking turns to analyze one episode at a time. Spoilers abound; don’t read further than you’ve watched.
Episode six, “Piece of Sh*t”
Read the review of the previous episode here.
Well, Nicky is (almost) back at Litchfield, thanks to Judy King’s lawyer, Judy King’s money, and Luschek discovering a conscience amid a few month’s worth of mail. The segue between Piscatella telling Ruiz he was recommending she get an extra three to five years for her panty smuggling operation and Judy telling Luschek she’d solved his problem was perfect. First scene: “You know what we do with gang leaders, Ruiz? We make examples of them.” Second scene: “Oh, honey. A little money and a good lawyer go a long way.”
That Orange Is the New Black is able to make such blistering points about racism, sexism, prejudice, privilege, power, and corruption, but do so underneath the veneer of a screwball ensemble comedy is pretty bananas. The show has never been shy about depicting guards forcing inmates to give them sexual favors (it was actually the coda to this very episode, when Nicky decided to go back on drugs), but in Judy’s case, an inmate was able to do a favor for a guard and force him to repay it. “I took care of you,” she said, sweetly. “Now you take care of me.”