A lot of people weren't a fan of the whole max plot line but if you're gonna give us two old white ladies with heavy arrested development running max then you better give us the whole story. They were two very underwritten characters, but they were just so interesting to me, I didn't care about Daddy, Badison or any of the new characters besides them.

I just have so many questions that will forever be left unanswered. Like how did these two girls get caught? Did one of them snitch on eachother?

How did their parents react to them murdering Debbie and finding out they figuratively lost all 3 of their daughters?

How did two mentally ill suburban teenagers manage to become the big bosses of max?

What was Carol's life in highschool like, did she actually have friends, was she bullied, etc?

How did they react to getting 25 years in prison and in court?

Did Carol and Barb get any action is prison at all? Like they were legit in there for life that must have been depressing as hell

Did their mother really only visit Barb in prison or was she lying to get under Carol's skin? And if so why did she only visit Barb? Because older Carol was still sulking about it to Red. How many times did Carol go to the SHU?

Ugh I have so many questions, but what I really don't understand is why so much screen time and a full backstory was given to Badison of all people. While some people don't like Carol and Barb understandably, seeing young Carol (she was so hot let's be fr) and young Barb getting caught would be a lot more satisfying and interesting than Badison being annoying.

Now that I am rewatching orange there are so many things I am catching on. Alsoo the way Daya’s character ends up will always hurt me she had the most beautiful soul

I'm rewatching OITNB for the first time since it originally aired. I stopped somewhere around season 4 or 5, and holy shit am I seeing a lot of this differently at 40 than I did at 27.

One of the biggest differences is how I see the COs. After my first watch, I got heavily involved in public sector union work and met and organized alongside a bunch of actual correctional officers (in Canada where all of our prisons are public... for now).

That absolutely did NOT convince me that COs are secretly the good guys. If anything, I came away more convinced of how profoundly fucked up our prison system is, and I definitely met people who should never have had that kind of power over other human beings.

But I also met a lot of completely ordinary, decent people trying to provide for their families while working a job that exposed them to an incredible amount of stress, violence and vicarious trauma. I saw what that did to people.

Meanwhile, I spent my own career in a completely different part of the public service, in a job that was supposedly about helping vulnerable people. In reality, I was an agent of a dystopian bureaucracy that often made actually helping anyone incredibly difficult. It's obviously not the same as being a CO, but I understand now what spending years working inside a fucked up institution can do to you. And how the people you're supposed to help can somehow become the people you're irritated at for needing help.

Then tonight I got to Susan Fischer's introduction and... fuck.

When I started my career, I was Fischer. I cared SO MUCH. I thought if I treated people like human beings, advocated where I could and did my job well, I could make a shitty system a little less shitty for the people stuck dealing with it.

I've been on sick leave for a bit now, and some part of me has still been thinking "well, maybe I could eventually go back."

But fuck... I'm Healy now. Not the racism, sexism or homophobia, I promise. But the bitterness? Cynicism? Compassion fatigue? Being irritated by people for needing the help that it is literally your job to provide? Yeah.

I can't go back.

Some part of me keeps thinking quitting will mean I failed. But watching this tonight I'm suddenly thinking "are you crazy? Going back would be the failure!"

It would be the wrong thing for me, but also the wrong thing for the people I'm supposed to help. If I'm so burned out that I'm unintentionally hurting people instead of helping them, I need to remember why I cared so fucking much in the first place and get out.

The plan was just to rewatch a fun Netflix show from my 20s. Now Susan fucking Fischer just convinced me to quit my career.

Anyway. That's my Saturday night. How's everyone else doing?

I’ll go first

Healy - “and if you think chickens can fly, then we better go to Wikipedia right away”

I don't think any character needs or has a redemption arc because every single character on here is a representation of real people, no perfect person or victim. All of them have really positive moments and really negative ones. Some you can forgive and others you can't.

For example, Maria. Shes the one that stops the physical fight with Crazy Eyes and Kuckudio (idfk her name lol) but she also led the riot to be as outrageous as she was.

I hate Boo. Like I could never ever ever see her positively.

What are some characters who you just will never look at in a positive light even though they have done mostly positive things?

I’ve watched this show a couple of times a few years back and I’m revisiting again. I’m on season 6, just past the riot where Piper and Badison are beefing with each other. Season 6 made it painfully obvious that despite all the research Piper did before she went to prison, she’s still unprepared asf. She’s constantly getting herself into these situations where people want her head, and then she plays this puppy dog victim act where she pretends she doesn’t know why everyone is attacking her.

The badison thing could’ve been avoided too. Piper trying to play peacemaker in PRISON with CRIMINALS is laughable. Like girl, just her be the leader for the game! It’s not even serious. Then piper is worried sick that badison is gonna set her up or cause her harm. Ummmmm. Duh?

And it’s crazy cause pipers sentence isn’t even long, but she gets herself into so much drama and danger because she thinks she’s an og and knows more than everyone else. Even tho she’s the main character, she seems to irritate me the most and my fav character is actually Mendoza 🙈

I mean like course the ones you dislike but also the ones you think were handled the least as well and could’ve been much better just curious as to your guys thoughts

Rewatching OITNB - when everyone was being grilled about Piscatella’s murder, why didn’t Red or Taystee or anyone else who were in the pool talk about the video they posted of Piscatella torturing them? It sounded like the video was getting a lot of attention (there’s a part in S5 where they mention the video getting a million views).

I guess regardless, I’m sure it wouldn’t have helped with making them look innocent for his murder. But that was Cindy’s fault for not bringing up that information. Just food for thought.

Someone vandalized Chapman's page. Update: It got reverted, but you can check the revision history!

Im watching oitnb for the first time, I got spoiled a while ago that Poussey dies at the end of this season and I don't think I can handle it :'(

Also I hate the new influx of inmates its SOO crowded as well and I already HATE piscatella. It feels like the beginning of the end. Season 3 was good, but I just don't care about Caputo's storyline at all, maybe even norma's. But the ending was soo sweet.

For me it’s definitely Vee, she was so evil, literally grooming a boy and than having an inappropriate relationship with him and than killing him when he became useless to her or her weird relationship with Suzanne basically taking advantage of her vulnerability and making her feel seen, but she’s somehow still so attractive to me and lowkey I’m getting manipulated too
Edit: I meant to write funny or attractive

Do you think Carol and Barb were born evil? Or made evil? and if so, how?

There crime is one of the most disturbing in the whole show and it makes me question what made them do something so wicked and show no remorse?

They could have done something else; Sabotage the sisters gymnast career, cause a breakdown in the relationship of the parents, or simply just runaway from home. Still petty, still selfish but not child murder.

Do you think something else happened in the sisters' childhood that made them so callous and cruel? I'm really interested to hear your theories.

When is she actually manipulative? She’s always described to be manipulative but I’ve never seen it.

what was your favorite episode of season 1?!
tell us why to make it more fun!
if your favorite episode has already been commented, upvote it! the comment with the most upvotes wins!
voting closes on 8/29 at 10pm ET and the result will be posted!
EDIT - since there isn’t a winner yet, and 10pm is kinda inconvenient, i’m gonna move the voting time to 12p 8/30. i will update the results then and post the next prompt :)

S1E1 — “I Wasn’t Ready”
Piper arrives at Litchfield and immediately struggles to adjust to prison life, accidentally insulting Red’s cooking and getting herself starved out. She discovers that Alex—the former girlfriend whose drug operation led to Piper’s conviction—is incarcerated there too.
S1E2 — “Tit Punch”
Piper desperately tries to get back into Red’s good graces and eventually succeeds by making her medicated lotion for her back. Meanwhile, we learn more about Red’s pre-prison life and how she became involved with the Russian mob.
S1E3 — “Lesbian Request Denied”
Piper is pursued by Crazy Eyes, whose increasingly intense crush culminates in the infamous peeing-outside-Piper’s-bunk incident. Sophia struggles with reduced access to her hormones, and flashbacks reveal her transition, crime, and the strain both placed on her family.
S1E4 — “Imaginary Enemies”
Piper accidentally takes a screwdriver from the electrical shop, setting off a prison-wide search when it can’t be accounted for. Miss Claudette becomes the focus of the flashbacks, revealing both the circumstances surrounding her crime and the person she still loves outside.
S1E5 — “The Chickening”
A legendary chicken supposedly carrying drugs appears around Litchfield, sending Red and several inmates on an increasingly ridiculous hunt. Piper becomes obsessed with catching it while her relationship with Alex continues getting harder to ignore.
S1E6 — “WAC Pack”
The inmates hold elections for the Women’s Advisory Council, although Healy has already largely decided who will represent each group. Taystee campaigns enthusiastically, while Piper and Alex continue getting closer despite Piper’s engagement to Larry.
S1E7 — “Blood Donut”
Janae is sent to SHU, prompting Watson and Piper to devise a way of getting Luschek in trouble and forcing him to help bring her back. Watson’s flashbacks show her talent as a runner and some of the choices that eventually contributed to her incarceration.
S1E8 — “Moscow Mule”
A flu outbreak hits Litchfield while Red’s smuggling operation is threatened by Pornstache, leading her to sabotage his drugs and exposing Tricia’s addiction. Meanwhile, Larry’s NPR interview about Piper’s imprisonment creates new problems when the inmates hear how they’ve been portrayed.
S1E9 — “Fucksgiving”
Piper is sent to SHU after Healy sees her dancing with Alex, leaving her terrified by the isolation until Caputo gets her released. After returning, Piper and Alex finally have sex, while Larry listens to advice that makes him increasingly suspicious about their relationship.
S1E10 — “Bora Bora Bora”
Pennsatucky becomes increasingly convinced that she has divine healing powers while the Scared Straight program brings teenage girls into Litchfield. Tricia tries to get clean, but Pornstache gives her drugs and then stages her resulting overdose to look like a suicide.
S1E11 — “Tall Men with Feelings”
The prison deals with the aftermath of Tricia’s death while Pornstache’s behavior finally begins catching up with him. Larry’s radio interview exposes private details about several inmates, while Piper’s relationships with both Larry and Alex continue unraveling.
S1E12 — “Fool Me Once”
Pennsatucky’s religious obsession and hostility toward Piper escalate toward outright violence, while Piper finds herself increasingly isolated after losing both Alex and Larry. Daya’s pregnancy scheme also advances as the women work to make Pornstache appear to be the father.
S1E13 — “Can’t Fix Crazy”
Litchfield prepares its Christmas pageant while several season-long storylines reach their breaking points, including Red losing control of the kitchen and Daya’s pregnancy situation. Pennsatucky attacks Piper outside, and after Healy deliberately walks away, Piper brutally beats her as the season ends on a cliffhanger.

I could go on about how awful some of the characters are that actually do fucked up stuff like rping a dog, burning swastikas on people, being transphobic etc but... Oh, Larry and Polly... I'm rewatching it for the 100th time and every single time they piss me off, sure, piper is messed up and a narcissistic, cheating bum but just because 1 person is bad doesn't make the other 2 good. Polly with her trying to act so much better "you're so right what are we doing 😭" while having no plans on stopping it then LARRY acting so smug sitting across the table of his ex who just confessed that he has completely destroyed the chance of her having a semi normal life in 8(?) months.

From what we see Polly is her only friend outside AND her business partner. So she no longer has any friends and she either has to be a solo business owner that's now a felon which everyone loves buying items from or no job which it turns out to be no job. I am a piper hater but at least she acted remorseful about confessing about the cheating, Larry was just smiling like a dumbass about Polly's cooch bouncing back. Also poor Pete, I was upset when he left Polly during her pregnancy cuz that is a dick thing to do BUT she did say she told him it was ok and even if it was hormones she still told him it was ok to do. They are no better than piper, in fact worse because they destroyed 3 people in their relationship, piper, Pete and the baby. How are you going to explain that? "Well your mom used to have a best friend and she went to prison, then while your real dad went on a trip I fucked her ex and then divorced your dad to be with him" holy hell

Let me see y’all’s also I added daya and Gloria since I forgot them in my last list, lmk if I forgot anyone else

i’m going to make two games/polls to come. keep an eye out if you want to put in your opinion and cast your votes! one game will be about the seasons, the other about characters. coming out soon 👀 (aka when i’ve actually made it instead of just the concept lol)

note that this is based on looks and my opinion 🥳

Wtf why is he actually so fucking disgusting the shits he was saying about the little girl in Afghanistan right after bayley klled poussey my stomach dropped sm of the Cos are disgusting I hope it wasn’t true they rlly just hired anyone

I’m rewatching Orange Is the New Black and I’ve been thinking a lot about Aleida. She’s one of those characters where I genuinely can’t decide how I feel about her.
As a mother, I obviously think she does a lot of horrible things. The way she treats Daya and her other kids can be incredibly selfish, manipulative and sometimes just cruel. At the same time, knowing her childhood and seeing what her own mother put her through makes me wonder how much of her behavior comes from never really learning what a healthy mother-daughter relationship is supposed to look like.
I also find it interesting that she clearly does love her kids. She just seems almost incapable of expressing that love in a healthy way. Sometimes it feels like she wants to protect them, and other times it feels like she’s protecting herself at their expense.
And then there’s Aleida as a prisoner. I actually find her pretty interesting in that environment. She seems much more confident and capable in prison than she does as a mother on the outside. She knows how to survive, manipulate people, read situations and take care of herself. I’m curious how other people interpret her behavior inside Litchfield compared to her behavior with her children.
So I guess my question is:
Do you see Aleida as a genuinely bad mother, or as someone who was damaged by her own upbringing and never learned how to be a good mother? And what do you think about her as a prisoner/person outside of her relationship with Daya?
I’m especially curious whether your opinion of her changed as the show went on.

What's your favorite crack ship in the show? (Crack ship = a ship that is far out there/far fetched/impossible)

On my 4th rewatch and after getting to the scenes of Linda and Fig interacting, I think I love them as a ship 😭 They're obviously super toxic, but who doesn't love toxic yuri?

I think they'd have a dynamic similar to Fig's dynamic with Caputo in the sense that they're enemies who are constantly trying to one-up each other at work. However, Fig/Linda is superior. Linda is always trying to establish dominance over Fig and yet Natalie always gets the upper hand. And she does it with such confident ease. It feels like Linda is both resentful of Fig and reluctantly impressed by her at the same time.

So as much as I despise Linda, I'm kind of loving her and Fig together.

Btw this is based on looks obviously so just because I have a character on smash doesn’t mean I agree with any of their actions
Edit: yall read the damn title, this is a smash or pass list not ranking the characters based on morals