*Contains spoilers for seasons 1 & 2!! Consider yourself warned.*
The new season of Orange is the New Black comes out TOMORROW! After binge-watching seasons one and two in the span of about four days last summer I’ve been waiting for season three ever since. The show follows Piper Chapman, a privileged white woman whose mistakes of her youth bite her on the ass is thrust into life in a Litchfield Federal Prison. Created by the ingenious Jenji Kohan (you may know her from a little show known as Weeds) OITNB is a special show for a plethora of reasons. It has an extremely diverse cast which allows for many unique viewpoints to be examined, the show discusses issues that are often otherwise swept under the rug (the prison system, drug abuse, stereotypes, etc.) and of course the inmates. What I love about OITNB is the secondary characters can totally hold their own throughout the storyline. The secondary character arcs are usually the most interesting, almost every episode will zero in on a particular character, her backstory, and how she ended up in prison. The Huffington Post recently recapped all the backstories we’ve seen thus far, which can be seen here. So today I thought I’d talk about the backstories I’m hoping to see this season.
First, let’s set the mood…
Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren
Played by the brilliant Emmy Award Winner Uzo Adub, Warren’s backstory was already examined earlier on in the series. The story recounts Suzanne’s adoption by a white family and her struggles to fit in, not only as a black child in a very white world, but as someone who is simply just different. We follow Suzanne up to her High School graduation which appears to be the height of her mental anguish, and are left wanting more. Though we’ve seen how “Crazy Eyes” grew up and the struggles she went through, the show has yet to touch on how she actually ended up at Litchfield. Which I am sure like most things having to do with Suzanne will be both fascinating and heartbreaking.
Carrie “Big Boo” Black
The out-spoken fan favorite played by the hilarious Lea DeLaria has stolen the show on many occasions. Whether she’s stealing a prison-issued screwdriver to use as a make-shift dildo, or getting too close for comfort with her therapy dog Little Boo, Big Boo does not disappoint. While Boo’s onscreen antics are good for a laugh, not much is known about her past. What happened to her in the past that she needed a therapy dog? Where does she get her manipulative edge? And of course, what did she do that sent her to prison?
Brook Soso
Last season’s fresh meat portrayed by industry new-comer Kimiko Glenn was interesting to say the least. Soso’s arc begins as the object of a competition of which inmate can hook up with her first, the competition’s victor Nicky Nichols immediately regrets her win as Soso won’t shut up for the entirety of the hookup (recounting in true millennial fashion that her first time with a girl was at Bonnaroo). The arc ends with self-righteous Soso’s refusal to take a shower resulting in her being dragged off by guards in a practice of “passive resistance.” With an evident background in protest, Soso appears to be your typical privileged social justice fighter whose goal in life is to piss off her yuppy parents. I’d love to see the comedy of errors that took place to land Soso in prison.
Stella Carlin
There is not much known about this new character, other than the fact that she is played by the beautiful, Australian renaissance woman that is Ruby Rose. From what I’ve seen in the trailers Carlin is the hot new inmate at Litchfield who appears to come between the show’s famous OTP Piper and Alex. While I’m sure that plotline alone will generate plenty of drama, fresh meat with the audacity to break-up Piper and Alex warrants some explanation.
Corrections Officer John Bennett
While yes, he isn’t technically an inmate Matt McGorry’s character John Bennett certainly has an interesting storyline. The father of inmate Dayanara Diaz’s unborn child Bennett has a lot on his plate to begin with. Not to mention the other secret he’s forced to keep, that his prosthetic leg is not the result of a military injury acquired in Afghanistan, but instead the result of an infection acquired in a dirty hot tub. Though he didn’t do anything to be sent to prison, I’d love to know more about his military background, how he came to be a corrections officer and even how he’s currently spending his time outside the prison dealing with impending fatherhood.
While I know there are plenty of other inmates that deserve a backstory, these are just the five that I personally found most interesting. Regardless of what backstories we get to see this season I know my fellow OITNB fans are just as excited as I am for the big day tomorrow!
Until next time…
Cupcakes and Adderall 