Orange is the New Black: Favorite Moments from Season 2 

This summer would not have been complete without a serious binge-watch of Orange is the New Black. Not quite a drama and not quite a comedy, this is a show that will really make you think. In fact, the night I watched the first episode, I dreamt that I myself was being driven to prison for a stay of fifteen months. Season 1 got us interested and let us start getting to know Piper Chapman. But Season 2 showed dramatic character change, more back story on supporting cast and some incredibly memorable moments. Here are a few of my favorite moments from Season 2.

1. That Moment When Piper Says She Might be a Killer (Ep. 1)
The last time we saw Piper, she was wailing on Pennsatucky. So when Season 2 begins, it’s not surprising to see Piper stuck in the SHU. We aren’t sure how long she’s been locked in there, but she certainly seems to be losing it a little. When guards arrive to take her away, we hope she’s going back to camp but quickly learn that’s not the case. Instead, she’s taken aboard a plane with other prisoners, and no one tells her where she’s going or why. She’s worried, terrified and worst of all, she really has to pee. Yet again sporting a bright orange jumpsuit, Piper easily befriends the prisoner next to her—easy-going Lolly. Piper seems relieved to finally open up to someone about Pennsatucky and breaks down in tears as she shares her story.

Lolly: “Did you kill somebody?”
Piper: “I don’t know. I don’t know. This girl, she was coming after me and she was not gonna stop […] And I completely lost it. I just, I just went there […] that dark place. That place that let me just keep hitting her and hitting her and hitting her. I couldn’t stop.”
Lolly seems to be both sympathetic and frightened, barely managing to respond with, “That’s some shit, man.”

2. That Moment When Piper Returns to Litchfield (Ep. 3)
Morello is showing a new crop of inmates around, including the doe-eyed Soso, when Piper returns to Litchfield. With her head held high and her eyes cold, she carries her linens down the hallway as everyone reacts to her return. One inmate exclaims, “Oh shit! She is risen.” Sister Jane does a double-take and smiles, then scurries off in the other direction. Even Suzanne a.k.a “Crazy Eyes” seems to be afraid. But there are hugs all around when Piper is brought back to the bunks. I love this scene because Piper has changed so dramatically since Season 1. This is her second time arriving at Litchfield and it’s a stark contrast to her first arrival—which is really comparable to the doe-eyed Soso.

3. That Moment When We Realize Morello is Crazy (Ep. 4)
Morello is one of my favorite characters. She’s cute, spunky and one of the first prisoners to make Piper feel welcome at Litchfield. She talks often about her fiancé, Christopher and about planning their wedding. But early in Season 2, we realize that Christopher doesn’t exactly return Morello’s love. It’s in episode 4 that we get Morello’s backstory. While she remains likable, we learn that she only encountered Christopher once before becoming utterly obsessed with him. When she learns that Christopher is marrying another woman, Morello escapes (easily, since she drives the prison van) to Christopher’s home. She arrives to an empty house and snoops around, finding the wedding dress of the bride-to-be. But rather than stopping there, Morello shows her instability by taking a bubble bath wearing nothing but the veil. It’s such a bizarre scene, but it almost makes me love Morello a little more than I did before.

4. That Moment When Red Gets Her Family Back (Ep. 9)
Poor Red. She lost her kitchen and her prison family in Season 1 and she’s been trying her best to put the pieces back together. Red is another one of my favorites—probably because she balances being tough with being the “mother” figure for many of the other inmates. In a final effort to win her family back, Red uses her resources to put together a family feast in the garden shed for her girls. They are hesitant to forgive her but she finally does something shocking: she apologizes. This is especially significant for Red, since in season 1 she told Piper, “I can’t do shit with ‘I’m sorry.’” But for her family, this is just what they wanted. I loved seeing Red come to this realization, and even more, I loved it when everyone raised their paper cups as a gesture of forgiveness.

5. That Moment When Rosa Runs Vee Over With The Prison Van (Ep. 13)
Seriously. I wanted Vee gone from the start—though I guess that made her a fantastic villain. She was so mean, so cruel and so manipulative. After claiming a truce with Red, she sneaks up on her and nearly kills her, leaving her unconscious. And it seems like she may just get away with it when she escapes from Litchfield.

Meanwhile, poor Rosa is dying of cancer, but what’s more depressing is that she’s going to die in prison. But then comes my favorite part of this entire season. Spunky, crazy Morello is always the one who drives Rosa to chemo and this time, she leaves the keys in the van when they get back to Litchfield. She hops out of the van and tells Rosa not to die in there. Rosa is surprised and asks, “What do I do?” Morello’s answer? “Go fast!” And that’s just what Rosa does. She takes off in the van, nearly running down a group of protesting nuns and heading out on to the open road. As luck would have it, Vee is emerging from the woods and onto the road just as Rosa passes by. In a split second, Rosa swerves off the road, still driving fast and sending Vee flying into the air. “Always so rude that one,” she says, pleased with herself.

This was a really satisfying moment. If anyone should get a last adventure, it’s Rosa. And I’m not sure I’ve ever been so glad to see a character killed off than I was in this scene. I actually laughed and applauded when it happened.

I won’t lie, it was tough to pick out just a few favorite moments from this season. There were so many great ones! So tell me, which ones am I missing?

Season 3 of Orange is the New Black returns in 2015 on Netflix.