When it premiered last year, Orange is the New Black became more than a hit show. It became a pop culture phenomenon. Viewers devoured the episodes. The cast graced the cover of magazines and launched conversations about race and gender identification. The dramedy was unlike anything we’d seen before—prisoners of all backgrounds, races and economic statuses (on the outside) with heartbreaking, believable backstories about how they ended up in Litchfield prison. In a way, the show made you feel all of the clichés—you laughed, you cried, and it kind of changed your life.
All that to say, expectations were extremely high for the show’s big return. With so much hype and anticipation surrounding Season Two, the series made a rather daring choice to make the first episode all about the central protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). There was no Taystee, no Crazy Eyes, no Red, no Sophia and no Pornstache. The absence of the characters we’ve come to know and love was jarring, disorienting and unsettling.
Which is exactly how Piper felt. She’s taken out of solitary confinement, put on a bus, then on a plane, and flown to Chicago. And she has no idea why. No one will tell her what’s going on, and the nightmare she’s experiencing is palpable. Fearing she’s been transferred because she’s being charged with murder, she spends much of the episode thinking she has killed Pennsatucky. She is filled with remorse and horror at her own actions. But you have to wonder if the guilt she feels is genuine or if it exists only because she thinks she’s facing murder charges.
She finds Alex (Laura Prepon) in the same Chicago Federal prison. Alex informs her that she’s not there on murder charges, she’s there because their dealer has been extradited and Alex and Piper have been brought in to testify against him. Alex tells Piper she cannot do this—Piper must lie and say she doesn’t know him. Alex also tells her she’s not holding any grudges but we soon find out that’s not exactly true.
Larry’s father flies to Chicago to represent Piper and advises her to tell the truth on the stand, which, of course, she doesn’t. But you know who does tell the truth? Alex. And apparently the truth sets her free. Piper watches as she leaves prison in civilian clothes. “What did you do, Alex,” she screams. Alex set her up, that’s what she did. (Of note: Prepon will only appear in four episodes this season).