Orange, Black, or Bleak S2 E13: “We Have Manners, We’re Polite”

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.

This is the last episode of Season 2, so that means that next week I will be starting Season 3. Get ready!

If you have not watched OITNB before *Spoiler Alert*

Some Things About Season 2 Episode 13 "We Have Manners, We’re Polite”

OITNB S2 E13 “We Have Manners, We’re Polite”” is about:

* Investigators show up to look into who tried to kill Red. Vee convinces her remaining team members and some of the Latinas to tell the investigators that Red was attacked by Suzanne. Vee also convinces Suzanne that she did it and steals and plants her lock to complete the frame job. Meanwhile, Poussey and Taystee start to convince Cindy and Janae that Vee will turn on them soon too.

Vee finds out her heroin got stolen (by Nicky) and almost kills Cindy over it (irrationally). This convinces Cindy that Vee is anything but a reliable partner. With no more allies, and with the investigation turning against her, Vee escapes through the tunnel in Red’s greenhouse.

* Caputo agrees to stop Chapman’s move in return for Chapman agreeing to give him the goods on Fig’s embezzlement (this also means Maria and Sister Ingall’s are also not moved). Being allowed to stay at Litchfield means that Alex can visit (more on this later) but when Alex visit’s it turns out that she is in bigger trouble outside of prison than she was inside the prison. Piper starts manipulating Larry and Polly until she gets them to call Alex’s parole agent about Alex having a gun (in order to get Alex back into prison where she is safe).

Anyway, despite the massive evidence of embezzlement, the warden chooses to let Fig resign and does not bring charges (more on this in a second). Caputo gets Fig’s job on a temporary basis (and all hell breaks loose).

* Nobody shows up for CO Healy’s ‘Safe Space’ group and he goes to look for Doggett and finds her talking with two of the inmates he hates most in the world (Boo and Sophia). Even worse, from his crazy perspective, Doggett tells Healy he was responsible for her making friends with Boo. Despite all of that, Doggett does thank him in a way that softens his terrible anger.

* Gloria and Norma make a Voodoo concoction to make Vee go away.

* The nuns finally show up to support Sister Ingalls hunger strike. CO O’Neill is forced to spend time babysitting them even though he hates Nuns. Sister Ingalls tries to convince Red to turn Vee in for attacking her and eventually, Red agrees but Healy won’t let her turn Vee in. Sister Ingall’s and Doggett (indirectly) convince him to do the right thing and save Suzanne from being unjustly charged with murder.

* Bennett admits that he is the Father of Daya’s baby but Caputo tells him to shut up and never mention it again. Instead of forcing the issue, as Daya wanted, he agrees to bury it.

* Rosa goes for chemotherapy and finds out both that the chemotherapy isn’t working and that the cancer is spreading rapidly (and that she has only a few weeks left to live). As they return from the treatment, Morello purposefully leaves the keys to the van inside so Rosa can have one last joyride. As she is driving away from the prison, Rosa sees Vee on the side of the road and swerves purposefully to hit her with the prison van at high speed. Adios Vee.

Believe it or not, on the way back from Chemo, they are listening to the song Breakfast at Tiffany’s by the band Deep Blue Something. I hate the song and the music of the band, but I actually know them. They worked as student helpers in the Department of Communication at the University of North Texas while I was also working at the University of North Texas (before the song hit big). Nice enough folks (not my kind of music).

We have manners really refers to Rosa’s feelings about Vee. But it is a comment that Suzanne makes to the investigators during an interrogation (the main reason she hates Vee is that she is “incredibly rude”). An aside, Suzanne calls Red Heat Miser which was a joke in Season 5 also (totally forgot that it was used before).

Stop The Insanity

There was a bunch of total nonsense in this episode. Not sure if the prison consultants took the week off or the writer’s just outvoted them for this episode.

Absolutely ZERO chance Alex Vause would either be cleared to visit while on parole (even if she was a direct family member, which she is not). There is also ZERO chance her parole agent would allow her to visit even if, by some impossible miracle, the BOP allowed a parolee to visit (which they would not).

To explain a bit more, they don’t even allow former prisoners who have graduated from parole and probation to visit you in prison unless they are immediate family members. There is zero chance a parolee would be allowed in (especially not a parolee who has been incarcerated in that same correctional facility).

Also, and I cannot say this loudly enough, there is no way this embezzlement could ever have happened, no way that Fig could get away with it, no way the Warden could bury it (see basic rules of Federal Accounting), and certainly no way the Warden would feel confident in his burying of it (since the evidence was turned in outside of his office).

Total nonsense.

"Treating Her Like She Isn’t a Person Doesn’t Suit Me"

Nicky says this when she is being interrogated by the investigator’s and they refuse to refer to Red by her nickname. But you can tell by how they treat the investigation that they see the entire exercise as a waste of their time (because Red is an inmate and below their concern).

This is very accurate. So many people in power in the prison chain of command treat inmates as if they are subhumans who are mostly annoyances and often just something to smash beneath their feet.

The looks on the two investigator's faces throughout every interrogation scene remind me of the looks that I saw from medical personnel, correctional officers, therapists, parole board members, parole officers, probation officers, even judges and my own very well paid lawyer.

Here is what I have to say to all of them.

I am a human being, every time you treat me or anyone else like they are beneath ethical consideration you make yourself a worse person.

I agree with Nicky, it doesn’t suit me.

Everyone in prison, no matter what they did, are my brothers and sisters.

“You Were Kind To Me”

Piper is 100% telling Joe Caputo exactly what he wants to hear to get what she wants when she says, “You were kind to me when I first got here” and “you are a nice guy.”

Joe Caputo thinks of himself as a nice guy but he really isn’t (he is just a little nicer than the other terrible people working at Litchfield). If you remember, right after Caputo was “nice to” Chapman when she first arrived, he closed the door to his office and then masturbated thinking about her.

In addition, Caputo decides to let Fig give him a blowjob despite knowing that Fig only does it because she thinks it could save her from him turning the evidence of embezzlement (which he already turned over) to the warden.

Anyway, this episode reinforces that Caputo is not anywhere near as nice or competent as he thinks he is and also that Piper is really manipulative (she also gets Alex thrown back in prison both because she wants Alex safe but also because she misses Alex).

Well, I will kind of miss Vee, she was a horrible person but brilliantly acted by Lorraine Toussaint. In fact, so brilliantly acted that I have no problem believing that Suzanne is heartbroken about Vee’s departure despite Vee working overtime to have her take the fall for the attack on Red.

Suzanne and Vee are two of the best performances I have seen on the entire show period.

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).

Today's Comment Question is:

“If there were no new cast members, who would you want to be the main villain in Season 3?"

Leave a comment, let people know.  Or, if you have questions, I respond to 100% of my comments!