The time has come. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we’ve been graced with the first look at Orange is the New Black’s third season.
So at first glimpse, it looks like the gang’s all here: Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett has taken over Lorna Morello’s campus prison tours, Maritza and Marisol are still best friends, Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren is writing smutty poetry, and Taystee, Poussey and Cindy are still the institution’s Holy Trinity.
Oh, and Alex is back.
That’s right: according to the two-and-some minutes of beautifully edited trailer, Alex Vause has returned to Litchfield, where she’s been reunited with ex-girlfriend Piper (who doesn’t seem all too pleased). With her, she also brings Lolly – played by Lori Petty – whom we met briefly in season two, and who we left behind when Piper was transferred from Chicago back to upstate New York. And it looks, according to her fight with Alex, like she’s bringing a fair share of baggage along with her.
Not that any villain can trump last season’s sociopathic Vee (played by the brilliant Lorraine Toussaint) – but I think that’s a good thing. A big part of the season two narrative was reserved for the power struggle between Vee and Red (and the loyalties between those who followed Vee and those who dared stand up to her), which gave us a look into the psyches of those involved in the conflict, and the backgrounds from which they came. We spent more time with Poussey and Taystee’s relationship and explored various definitions of family – leaving characters like Suzanne in the middle of a battle she had no business being in.
But now, with Vee dead, Larry gone, Mendez imprisoned and Caputo lined up to be the warden, Orange is the New Black has opened up entirely new story lines and even bigger questions: how did the inmates react in the wake of Vee’s death? How will the tension between Lolly and Alex affect Piper’s relationship with the latter? According to the trailer, Daya and Bennett (reminder: he’s a correctional officer) are basking in the warm glow of PDA – so when will that relationship come to light? And more specifically, why do we only see Nicky in plainclothes, in an apartment?
And perhaps most important question of all: how is Sam Healy still employed? (Like, in general?)
