‘Orange is the New Black’ Recap, Season 4 Episode 9: Civil Disobedience

As soon as the new guards show up — not just the Veterans, but also Piscatella who was previously working maximum security — it becomes clear that things at Litchfield are going to get worse. Not that the guards prior to season four have been particularly great (Pornstache, Bennett, Coates all range from awful to unforgivable) but this newer group seems to have some sort of bloodlust. They drink too much during the day, unwind with violent video games, treat the women like objects for their consumption, and now are given permission to “freestyle” punishments since the SHU is getting full and everyone is up in arms about how the photo of Black Cindy/Judy got out. Luschek is tasked with heading up a mission to collect all the cell phones in the jail, and the rest of the guards are getting out of control.

But first, the “Turn Table Turn” episode of Orange Is The New Black provides us insight on one of Litchfield’s most mysterious inmates: Blanca Flores. It also gives us one of the best flashbacks of the season thus far, especially in terms of how it seamlessly weaves into the current narrative. Prior to being incarcerated, Flores was a live-in aid for an elderly woman who didn’t even respect Flores enough to use her actual name. The final straw comes after Flores falls for Diablo (remember him?) and Millie fires him because she doesn’t want Flores to be distracted by men. Flores’ revenge? Having very loud sex with Diablo in Millie’s room, waking up the old woman in the middle of the night. And just like that: Flores is now in control.

We still don’t know exactly what landed Flores in Litchfield — I suspect it involves harming Millie in some way, though I’m not sure if I’d immediately think murder — but the flashback does provide us with key elements that make up Flores’ personality. She is cordial until she’s fucked over one too many times; she stands up for herself when necessary; she has, er, creative ways of taking control; and she doesn’t back down from a fight. In present day, Flores is taking a stand against the guard’s highly invasive (and racist) searches of the Latinas. Once she learns that guards are less likely to search her if she smells awful (jail overpopulation means shower overpopulation), Flores continues to skip the showers and even finds food-based ways to make herself smell even worse. It’s her version of civil disobedience and it’s actually quite clever, in both a funny and gross way. And it makes Flores jump high up the list of my favorite OITNB characters.

Correction Officer Stratman doesn’t find Blanca’s antics as funny and, because he can’t send her to the SHU, has to come up with some other way of punishing her. His response is basically a stand-off, the sort that a new, exhausted mother would have with a stubborn toddler, and he makes Flores stand on a cafeteria table until she decides she’s ready to comply. Stratman is sure that Flores is going to break soon but it actually seems like Flores is ready for the challenge, steeling herself for battle, and even having a little fun. I hope she wins, but I don’t want to know what will happen to her if she does.

Humphrey is another guard who “freestyles” a punishment, though his is way more disturbing. He’s been on to Maritza for a while, suspicious of what secrets she has with the van, and bringing it up while she and Flaca are playing a gross-out “Would You Rather?” game. Maritza no longer feels safe — and for good reason — so she purposely ruins the next delivery and pisses Maria off in the process. That’s not the worst part: Humphrey later brings Maritza’s game to life by providing her with a choice of eating 10 flies or a tiny baby mouse. “You can��t make me do this,” Maritza protests but Humphrey responds by putting a gun to her head.

The scene with Maritza rivals Nicky’s storyline as the Most Devastating Plot of the Day. Nicky, as we all know, is back on drugs and Lorna finally calls her out — and rats her out to Red — after the two get into an argument about Lorna’s quick marriage after Nicky left. After Red overhears Nicky in the shower, I was expecting Red to go full “tough love” on Nicky but it seems Litchfield has officially exhausted Red, as well. She has nothing left, not after Nicky first went to SHU, not after Tricia died (and is buried in the prison cemetery with her name misspelled), and certainly not after Nicky’s relapse. Instead, the two end up crying (and everyone who is watching ends up crying, too) and Nicky has to reassure Red that no, Red didn’t fail her. This is Nicky’s fault, and Nicky’s going to get clean. 

EXTRA NOTES:

• Sister Ingalls got herself thrown into the SHU — on purpose — by punching Gloria. She’s desperate to help out Sophia, even if it means shoving a phone who-knows-where and enduring solitary confinement in order to find out how Sophia is doing.
• There’s a somewhat amusing runner in this episode of Alex and Piper trying to get a Shake Shack burger (even debating giving a guard a handjob for one) but mostly it’s just good to see them getting along and not plagued by relationship dramatics.
• I’m really, really loving Judy and Black Cindy’s “June/October” fake-romance, even if it does upstage Brook and Poussey in the unspoken interracial prison couple power rankings. (I also love how annoyed Yoga Jones is getting.)
• A+ references to Dangerous Minds and the plethora of near-identical USA shows about doctors/lawyers/police officers that took over the network for a few years.

[Watch the “Turn Table Turn” 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.