‘Orange Is the New Black’ Recap, Season 3, Episode 10: Pennsatucky’s Tragedy

#Orange Heads, I want to make one thing clear: the evolution of Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett during Orange Is the New Black‘s first three seasons has been nothing short of extraordinary and, in my opinion, she is by far the best, most developed, complicated, and realistic character on the show. Pennsa initially was an extremely demented religious zealot, who, while funny, was also manipulative and dangerous. She has since evolved into a complex human who has softened, developed a strong bond with Big Boo, and emotionally wrestled with difficult life decisions with grace, humor, and quirky wit. And the flashbacks in this episode reveal more heartbreaking layers to her character that show she is, above everything else, a gahtdamn survivor. Pennsatucky has overcome so much, the writers have been brilliant with her, and Taryn Manning deserves an Emmy nomination for her work with the quite difficult material this season. Don’t believe me? Then let’s talk about all that happened in “A Tittin’ and a Hairin’.”

We open with a Pennsatucky flashback. She gets her period at age ten, and her mom gives her a sex talk that is terrible.org: “You’re going to be a tittin’ and a hairin’ and boys are going to be looking at you different…just let them do their business with you. Hopefully, they will be quick like your daddy:”

So horrible, but also so realistic. The way that women are taught to value or more accurately undervalue their bodies and their self-worth is huge problem in the world, and it’s fantastic that OITNB is taking this on without being preachy. Simply presenting the facts is enough and, in this case, the fact is that this advice from Pennsa’s mom sent her daughter on the track towards destruction and life-long struggle with finding her purpose as a woman. And, as we learn, she believes her purpose to be not much. She will pretty much have sex with anyone who will give her Mountain Dew or drugs. This cycle of sadness ends once she meets a guy named Nathan, who treats her like a person, likes her personality, and makes it his mission to pleasure her during sex. Pennsatucky is so vulnerable during these scenes that it only makes what follows all the more tragic.

Nathan has to move with his family, but he promises to come back for her. They exchange “I love yous” and he leaves. Before she can fully enjoy saying “I love you” to a significant other, one of the dirtbag guys in her neighborhood sexually assaults her, and once again her vacant stare returns. Being treated like a human by a man was but a fleeting moment, which brings us to the present day.

Any viewer can see that CO Charlie, while maybe a bit of a doof, is unhinged, predatorial, and not a good guy. Because Pennsa is so used to being treated like, well, a dog, she still views him as a good guy and believes he has good intentions for her solely because he gives her donuts and a half-assed apology for kissing her without her permission because he likes her. She even tells Big Boo about Charlie the way a school girl talks about a crush. This is all the more devastating because Charlie gets reprimanded at work and, when Pennsatucky sees him and tries to calm him down, he rapes her.

There has been too many rape-happy shows like Games of Thrones who do it for shock value or soap operas like General Hospital that had Laura marry Luke, her rapist, and tried to reframe the sexual assault as a man who was deeply in love with a woman and simply just lost control. Everyone can learn something from OITNB about really showing what happens to women when they are violated in such an evil way.

Because of this heavy storyline, the rest of the plots in this episode kind of take a backseat. But we still get to see Crazy Eyes being a popular erotic writer. One of the other inmates, Maureen, has developed a crush on Crazy Eyes and wants to hook up. The only problem is that Crazy Eyes is a virgin, so she’s too nervous to take Maureen up on this offer. While I loathe yet another romantic relationship blooming on this show, I do think this is a worthy exploration. Seeing Crazy Eyes develop into something more than just a punchline has been a welcome change, and seeing a woman take control of her sexuality and discover what it means to her would be fascinating. With the season practically winding down at this point, I’m not sure this is going to be handled properly, so we’ll have to see.

The most disappointing plot has to be the reveal that Lolly is merely just mentally unstable and is not planning to kill Vause. Lolly is convinced that the government is trying to frame her for treason.

Seriously, WTF?! We wasted all this time when it turns out Vause’s life was never in danger? Completely moronic. Speaking of idiocy, the fact that Piper is not only cheating on Vause, but doing so publicly (Red caught her and Stella making out in Piper’s cube), comes completely out left field. Apparently, Vause rightfully thinking her former drug-dealer boss was attempting to kill her was a major boner-killer for Piper. Fuck Piper. I’m done with her character eating up screen time. Similarly, I’m done with spending any recap time on her.

Finally, there is the matter of the Gloria/Sophia showdown. This has been brewing for a while as the two mothers have been thinking the other’s child is a bad influence. Not to mention Aleida has been stirring the pot, so by the time Glo and So get ready to throw down in the bathroom, it’s earned. I’m wondering how the prison is going to treat Sophia after they learn she assaulted Gloria. Being a transgender woman, she doesn’t have a crew at Litchfield, so who’s going to have her back when the Latina crew seeks revenge? I’m scared for her, y’all! And I’m scared for Pennsatucky. And I’m scared that Crazy Eyes will never get to the place where she can experience physical and romantic love. Damn, OITNB really stepped it up with this episode. And it just might have restored my faith in this show.

Phoebe Robinson is a stand-up comic and writer who’s been on Late Night with Seth Meyers, is a consultant for Broad City, and whose debut book, You Can’t Touch My Hair, comes out Fall 2016. Her website is blaria.com.

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Photos: Netflix