Orange Is the New Black: Orange Black or Bleak: S2 E10 “Little Mustachioed Sh*t” (Netflix)

Orange, Black, or Bleak S2 E10: “Little Mustachioed Shit”

As a formerly incarcerated person, I have decided to do a deep-dive into the Netflix show Orange Is The New Black to help explain some of the things that folks watching the show without a felony background might not catch.

Also, a reminder, I am not covering Season 5 (or watching it) until it is officially released by Netflix. When Season 5 starts, I will start writing contemporary recaps (and I will return to the retro pieces after I finish S5). In other words, I am not rewarding the OITNB hackers.

In other words, you should be able to read my first "Season 5" recap on June 10th.

If you have not watched OITNB before *Spoiler Alert*

5 Things About Season 2 Episode 10 "Little Mustachioed Shit"

Orange is the New Black S2 E10 "Little Mustachioed Shit" is about:

* Vee (Lorraine Toussaint) and her crew consolidating power as they start to move from just cigarettes into dealing drugs. This ends up badly for Poussey who ends up beaten down by Suzanne (Uzo Aduba)

* More of the backstory of Piper (Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Laura Prepon) falling in love before prison which ultimately wraps around into a story about Piper getting revenge on Polly (Maria Dizzia) for her betraying Piper's by sleeping with Larry (Jason Biggs). Oh, and the story culminates with Polly getting a flaming bag of poop left on her porch.

* Christopher arriving for visitation and publically outing Morello (Yael Stone) to the entire visiting room for being a stalker (A really brutal scene where, while you can understand Christopher's legitimate anger, he really takes it way too far).

* Healy (Michael Harney) continuing to try to get better at counseling by word-for-word copying whatever his new therapist tells him to Doggett (Taryn Manning)

* Nicky's struggle to not use the heroin that she got from Taystee (Danielle Brooks).

* SoSo (Kimiko Glenn) finally starts to crack the other inmate's opposition to her hunger strike

* The firing and arrest of Officer George "Pornstache" Mendez (Pablo Schrieber) for the rape of Daya (Dascha Polanco).

"Little Mustachioed Shit" is a reference to what Caputo (Nick Sandow) calls what he thinks is Mendez' baby (he actually calls the baby "a little sadistic mustachioed shit."

5. "Honey, it's not Guantanamo"

So, it finally makes sense, SoSo was refusing to shower to protest the sewage in the showers. When she was forced by the CO"s to take a shower, she decided to move her protest from the showers to a hunger strike.

As annoying as she can be, I have to agree with her on this one, sewage in the shower is pretty ridiculous.

As you already know, I think this whole subplot is ridiculous, there is no way that Fig (Alysia Reiner) could embezzle millions of dollars from a Federal facility.

Anyway, SoSo starts to crack the wall of opposition against her protest as Yoga Jones (Constance Shulman) recognizes the importance of what she is trying to do while Sister Jane Ingalls (Beth Fowler) starts to realize that she should be involved too.

4. "Jackpot"

The CO's do a surprise sweep of the "ghetto" and find Watson's cigarette stash. As punishment, the CO's put Watson (Vicky Jeudy) in SHU causing Yoga Jones to align herself with SoSo's protest.

As Watson is being carried off by the CO's, she looks at Vee as if she was looking for Vee to intervene and take the heat for her. This would obviously never happen, nobody expects anyone else (especially not someone like Vee) to take the heat for them.

In all actuality, pretty much everyone will take some heat for someone else if the alternative is giving up information to the CO's.

Yoga Jones is absolutely right when she calls out the CO's saying, "I am tired of the guards using the SHU as some kind of toddler time-out."

If you have ever been in solitary (and I have), it is torture. Straight up, it leaves you mentally desperate and entirely alone and makes time meaningless.

In total honesty, it makes you start to question the value of life itself (and I am not a suicidal type of person at all). People are not meant to be radically alone.

When I was "down" (in prison) I met people who spent over a year in solitary confinement...this is so brutal, I cannot even really imagine it (and I have a basis of comparison).

3. "I'm Not Risking My Freedom For Your Byline"

Reporter Andrew Nance (Richard Gallagher) wants Piper to get paperwork on Fig and Piper tells him he has to be fucking crazy. On the way out he runs into Fig which tips Fig to the fact that Piper is meeting with a reporter.

Piper is 100% right here, inmates don't have access to Assistant Warden's offices. I have no idea what the hell Jenji is trying to suggest here. Nobody would ask an inmate to get paperwork from an Assistant Warden.

Seriously, no reporter would ever ask this unless he knew the person worked cleaning the Assistant Warden's office (Piper works in electrical) and even then it would be an extremely risky proposition.

And, as I mentioned weeks ago, even a face-to-face meeting with a known reporter would be extremely dangerous because it would have to be approved by the prison and Fig would find out (given that Fig knows Nance is investigating her).

An Assistant Warden has a TON of leverage with the guards and this whole thing would put Piper in SERIOUS risk of physical harm. No reporter would be that stupid.

2. "Congratulations, You've Officially Ruined a Man's Life"

Fig asks Daya if she led Mendez on and Daya admits that she did (because she clearly feels both guilty for setting Mendez up and also because she wants Bennett to take responsibility for her like Mendez does).

But let us not feel too sorry for Mendez.

Please remember that Mendez basically was 100% responsible for the death of Tricia (Madeline Brewer), was selling drugs to the girls (including addicts), and was extorting sexual favors for drugs.

I believe all people are redeemable, but I also believe that we are responsible for the harm that we do to others. In this case, Mendez, Daya, and especially Bennett (Matt McGorry) have a LOT to answer for here.

Yes, what Daya did is wrong but Mendez has a lot to answer for and Bennett allowing Mendez to take the fall and get arrested for the crime that he himself committed is spectacularly unethical.

No angels here.

Also, and this is important, what Fig says about the inability to consent as a prisoner is correct. Any relationship between a CO and an inmate cannot be consensual because the inmate is never in the equal position necessary to create the conditions necessary for meaningful consent.

Anyway, Fig's statement is absurd here. Mendez ruined Mendez' life.

1. "Get The Fuck Out Of My Bunk"

Regardless of what you think of Taystee turning on Poussey (Samira Wiley) after what appears to be years of friendship, the one thing people don't generally test is people's right to their own bunk space.

You don't have much in prison, and people will certainly steal from you (especially if you are seen as weak or have a bad cell or cube) but most people respect people's bunks.

I guess what I am saying is that if someone said, "Get the fuck out of my bunk," most inmates would leave the area.

Unlocking The Gates

I am a member of a Criminal Justice Reform organization called Nation Outside (The Voice of the Formerly Incarcerated) but I am not speaking for Nation Outside in any official capacity.

If you are interested in criminal justice reform or are formerly incarcerated yourself, please consider joining the fight (if you are a Michigan resident - you can sign up by clicking on the hyperlink above).