EPISODE 304: “Finger In The Dyke”
In the scope of episodes so far this season, “Finger In The Dyke” stands out as being exceptionally well-written in comparison with the last three. Most of this comes through in the episode’s backstory flashbacks, this time around centering around Carrie Black, A.K.A “Big Boo.” Fans have been waiting a long time to see Big Boo’s history, and episode writer Lauren Morelli rewards us for our patience.
One of the best things about the backstories in this show (mostly) is that they serve purpose towards the character’s development and arcs, rather than just existing to eat up run time. They become part of the narrative and go hand-in-hand with the story taking place in the present. And here, in Boo’s story, that couldn’t be more true. As we learn about her childhood and her adult life before she became a criminal, we understand wholly why she is the way she is, and why it’s so important to her that she remain that way. She’s always been an eccentric character, but Morelli has complimented her eccentricity with meaning and definition.
With this exceptional writing also comes a star performance from Lea DeLaria. We’ve always known that DeLaria is a good actress, but here she shows us that she is a great one, and her performance serves the narrative passionately. There’s an argument to be had about gay characters in television and film – many complain that a character’s gayness should not define them as a character, because a person’s sexuality does not make up who they are as a person. In most cases, that would be true, but DeLaria shows us it can be the opposite, without the risk of being offensive or too showy. Boo, just as DeLaria does herself, wears her homosexuality on her sleeve, and it makes up everything that she is. It’s part of her exterior (she does have an arm tattoo that reads “Butch” after all). There’s an interesting moment during one of her flashbacks where she tells a girl she meets at a bar “I wish I had a sob story to explain everything. There ain’t no dramatic backstory here,” and she’s right. Why should she need an explanation? It’s just who she is, unequivocally. Big Boo is the role DeLaria was born to play, and seeing her branch out into new depths in playing the character is a pleasure that has be to seen to be believed.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to Boo’s arch that comes toward the end of the episode – the purpose of the flashbacks in the episode serve as an add-on towards the present story, as they usually do – here, Big Boo is making an attempt to act “straight” so she can join a Christian church and steal their money for her commissary. Watching Boo attempt to break her mold is entertain and funny, and a worthwhile feature. Then, at the end of the episode, when a priest from the church uses a few anti-gay slurs, and takes some jabs at the homosexual community, Boo flips, and her plan goes under. In terms of both story and character, this doesn’t make any sense. What was the purpose of showing all those great flashbacks that served Boo’s character juxtaposed with her trying to break her mold for a scam, just to throw it all away? Would it not have been more effective to continue with this story and further explore why it’s so hard for her act like someone she’s not? People have called her names and used worse homophobic slurs against her before, and she didn’t react like she does against the priest. The show created a window of opportunity for itself and slammed it shut as soon when they could have opened it further. This doesn’t make the flashbacks any less great, but it does stick out as odd choice on behalf of Morelli and the other writers.
You know, we never really found out what happened to Vee (Lorraine Toussaint). We can assume she died, and the characters say she died, but we never really found out for sure. There’s a scene towards the end of this episode where Tasty (Danielle Brooks) and Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba) share an emotional moment in their cell block together. When Vee becomes a topic among inmates, it effects them both deeply and they cry on each other’s shoulders. We know what the characters are feeling, and we know what they think, but somewhere, deep in the back of our minds, there’s the looming doubt that Vee might be lurking somewhere out there. The ambiguity is nicely done.
Revelation, change, and evolution have always been running themes in Orange Is The New Black, and, concerning Piper (Taylor Schilling) specifically, they run rampant in this episode. Towards the end, Piper gets a visit from her family. What begins as a normal visit from her family for her birthday transforms into a backlash, essentially resulting in Piper telling her parents, brother, and sister-in-law to fuck off, and that she doesn’t need them in her life any more. She tells her parents that she “has a girlfriend”, even though this was never officially discussed beforehand, and it’s followed by a tender scene between and Alex (Laura Prepon). After the last two episodes consisted of them coming clean to one another, it was inevitable that would eventually “officially” get back together and seeing it finally happen brings a smile to one’s face. It also brings up the idea of characters evolution – Alex hasn’t changed much, but Piper is completely different person in comparison to the kind of person she was when she first arrived at Litchfield in Season 1. Her shunning of her family and her acceptance of Alex’s character flaws are all things that were absolutely necessary for this reuniting of lovers to take place. Larry who?
OVERALL RATING: 9/10
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