EPISODE 307: “Tongue-Tied”
“Tongue-Tied” opens with a close-up of Norma (Annie Golden) lying in her bed. We then follow her out of her bunk and into the routine of her day. It’s clear this episode will about her. This season is going out of its way to deeper explore characters who we otherwise probably wouldn’t have thought/cared to explore, and the biggest character expansion we get from this is learning that the reason Norma doesn’t speak is because she has a very severe, and embarrassing stutter. When you think about it, it makes perfect. As many ridiculous and caricature characters this show, there are many people out there in the world like Norm, and its wise a choice on behalf of the writers to apply this relatability factor to a character whom, up until this point, hasn’t been entirely irrelevant, but always just felt a background piece. More of this in the future can only benefit, and it creates an interesting commentary for the use of flashbacks in the show…
In this season’s “Finger In The Dyke,” we saw the perfect use of a backstory for a primary character, and how it relates to a character’s overall purpose. In the last episode, “Ching Ching Chang” we saw a perfect example of how not to execute deeper exploration of a minor character, and here, they display how it can be done effectively, and make it feel important. It’s an interesting to look at the scope of this show’s achievements and compare them to its failures. That right there might a lesson in itself about storytelling for the television medium.
This episode also explores another patch of the Litchfield quilt we’ve never quite seen before – the guards. Caputo (Nick Sandow) has managed to save the prison from being shut down, and there’s an influx of new COs coming in. We follow them through their training, and we look at what its like to be new guard in a woman’s prison. This is a fresh perspective for Orange Is The New Black – we’ve always seen the guards – there’s always there, but, aside from Bennett and Pornstache, we never really get a chance to see things their way. It’s intriguing and entertaining to have this new angle, and, narratively speaking, there’s a lot of potential as to where it could go. However, this is also a program that has much too many times started storylines and not finished them, so they should also be careful.
To top off the episode, we also have a new business venture for Piper. With her new job sewing together women’s underwear for a company called Whispers, Piper decides to capitalize on men with underwear sniffing fetishes and sell this used Whispers underwear to perverts over the internet with the help of…guess who…her brothers, Cal (Michael Chernus)! This is hilarious, but also kind of brilliant. At first glance, this is a funny addition to an already extra funny season, but it’s also sort of another big step in Piper’s evolution. In the beginning of her sentence, she never would’ve thought to start a black market from within the walls of the prison. At this point, she’s almost completely lost it. In a way, it all leads back to Alex (Laura Prepon), and their history together, which only further deepens the relationship they have now. It’s riveting stuff.
“Tongue-Tied” picks up a good momentum in comparison to the last two clunkers, and it’s a relief. The middle half of this season couldn’t be all bad, after all. Here’s hoping it keeps up.
OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10
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