‘Orange is the New Black’ Recap, Season 4 Episode 4: Just Getting Started

Orange is the New Black has always been a show that is concerned, first and foremost, with telling women’s stories. For the most part, the men in the series are at best, an afterthought and at worst, the primary reason for a woman’s fall from grace. It’s part of what makes OITNB such a groundbreaking and refreshing show: for once, the women come first. This is also what makes “Doctor Psycho” — an episode intent on diving deeper into Sam Healy’s psyche — a standout, though not exactly in a good way.

Early in the episode, Luschek and Judy King accurately summarize Healy’s character by likening him to Wonder Woman‘s comic book character Doctor Psycho: “Oh! The one who hates women!” Healy’s been guided by misogyny since day one but it’s not simply a hatred of women but also a deep-seated insecurity, an overwhelming fear of abandonment, and a whole plethora of mother issues — the latter of which causes Healy to transfer much of his own shit onto the women he’s attempting to “help.” This “help” generally comes in the form of limiting women’s freedoms and abusing his own power. Both of these are on display in “Doctor Psycho,” an episode that digs into the root causes of Healy’s issues. The problem is that we already know the basics of why Healy’s so fucked up and this doesn’t necessarily shed new light.

Doubling-down on this feels repetitive and unnecessary, particularly because everyone would much rather learn more about the women of Litchfield. So let’s just briefly run through Healy’s flashback: his mother, afflicted with (presumably) schizophrenia (and also likely a lesbian) told young Healy that she wanted to stop her electroshock treatments right before disappearing into the night; Healy, as a social worker, takes one of his clients on a date, showing an earlier propensity for abusing his power and choosing to pursue uncomfortable relationships where there is a notable imbalance of power; Healy randomly finds his mother only to later learn he was wrong and it’s another mentally ill woman.

Now, let’s focus on Healy in the present. He has something of a crush on Judy and feels threatened by how she naturally gravitates toward Luschek (Luschek is a weirdo, but he displays an aura of effortlessness and an uncaring attitude that Healy must envy). To get on Judy’s good side, Healy proposes the idea of a prison cooking class taught by her. Judy’s isn’t exactly a fan of the idea which pisses Healy off (he expected praise, as he always expects praise from women, but he gets nothing, as he often gets from women). The class is a success — and how cute is Poussey’s excitement throughout the whole thing! — which should be a victory for Healy but instead it backfires; Judy asks for a new counselor, citing Healy’s abuse of power. It’s a nice sock in the gut to Healy, and it’s good to see an inmate getting a chance to hold some power over Healy. As Caputo notes, Judy may be an inmate now but in six months, she’ll be free and rich and famous — with the ability to sue Litchfield for whatever perceived slights she encountered while locked up.

It’s hard to parse what exactly “Doctor Psycho” is trying to accomplish here. Are we supposed to feel bad for Healy? Empathize with his struggles? Feel sympathy because of how his mother treated him? Sure, Healy had a rough childhood but it’s not really an excuse for his entitled attitude when it comes to the women in the prison. That said, I did like how Healy’s obsession with “helping” mentally ill women —an obsession that lingers because he couldn’t help his mother — tied into the Lolly/Alex/Frieda saga, and how Healy unknowingly failed at something that he prides himself in. Lolly’s paranoia is becoming such a threat that even Red agrees that they have to murder her. Lolly’s about to be thrown into psych when Healy steps in, assuming that Lolly’s confession is just the ramblings of a schizophrenic having a psychotic break, and convinces Lolly that she didn’t actually kill anyone. Problem solved? It’s much, much too easy but I’m sure this has to come back later in the season — after all, it’s pretty unbelievable that no one has even noticed this guard is missing.

There’s a lot happening in “Doctor Psycho” that isn’t Healy-centric. One of the most surprising developments involves Aleida learning that she’s been a model inmate and is actually getting an early release. But like most prisoners, this scares Aleida more than it excites her. She has no idea how to live on the outside: Where will she live? What will she do? How will she even survive? (This is also reminiscent of when Taystee briefly got out but just got herself arrested again.) But she gets a nice pep talk from Gloria who reminds her that there will always be options on the outside and plus, this means Aleida has the opportunity to get back her children — and her grandchild — and take care of them. I hope that when Aleida does get out, the series continues to follow her on the outside because I’d love to see the promise that Aleida has actually get put to use. And, as she reassures Daya, Aleida’s going to find Armaria and take care of her while Daya is in prison.

But easily the best part of “Doctor Psycho” are the glimpses we get of Sophia. Maybe “best” isn’t the right word; it’s absolutely devastating that she’s still stuck in SHU, unable to get Caputo’s attention and unaware of how long she’s even been there. But Sophia has a plan to get out, first flooding her cell and then setting a fire that leads to the entirety of Max being evacuated. “Tell Caputo to go fuck himself,” Sophia says as they’re all leaving their cells, “I’m just getting started.”

EXTRA NOTES:

• NICKY IS BACK which, to me, is the most exciting thing that has happened in this season so far.
• Piper’s panty business wars need to either quickly come to a head or just end entirely. We’re only on the fourth episode and it’s already become tiresome. The big developments this episode? Maritza and Marisol both jump ship to go to Maria’s side, and Piper digs around in a portapotty.
• Doggett finally, albeit softly, confronts Coates about the rape and he, predictably, does not view it at all as assault. I’m still impatiently waiting for Coates to get what he deserves.

[Watch the “Doctor Psycho” episode of Orange Is The New Black on Netflix]

Pilot Viruet is yet another freelance writer in New York City who watches everything from teen dramas to wrestling, hosts monthly TV parties, and started a website solely for a .pizza domain. You can follow them @pilotbacon.