#samira is way too pushy but is also right

[themostbritishamerican]

playing roomates with benefits its the epitome of "girl stand up"

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Orange is the New Black (S05E06) Flaming Hot Cheetos Airdate: June 9, 2017 @oitnb Ratings: @netflix original Score: 8.75/10 **********SPOILERS BELOW********** How fitting that the episode we finally get a glimpse of the woman who left us all in emotional turmoil at the end of S4, is actually written by the wife and longtime partner of Samira Wiley (we love you Poussey Washington!), the incredibly talented, Lauren Morelli. In our last review of OITNB5, we focused a lot on perspective... When it comes to the loss and grieving of the very character that inspired the women of Litchfield Prison to take control of their prison, who better to give us a perspective as to the woman who is literally married to her in real life! Just thinking about life without my significant other sends complete and total perplexing, dramatic psychological turmoil surging through my entire being. No way. But if someone had to write what it would be like to move towards a place where moving on, and simultaneously holding on & letting go of even the character my significant other was playing... I guess the best person for the job would be me. There's a bit of added emotion that I've talked about being missing before, turning this episode from great to one helluva good time! 'Flaming Hot Cheetos, Literally' gives us more than just Soso & Taystee coming to terms with the loss of Poussey, though admittedly these two have had the most dramatically effective storyline in S5. We also get to see how the riot is changing the prison... Not just Litchfield, but the world of Litchfield and everyone's own little world that makes up the sum of its parts. It's easy to laugh when Big Boo (Lea DeLaria) comes in dressed to the nines, playing her 'Law & Order' theme music, claiming 'due process', and telling '2007 Britney Spears on Steroids' Helen (Francesca Curran) to 'best step out of her way' so she can talk to Pensatucky (Taryn Manning)... But the outcome is way more revealing of the heart and human side of these inmates. You see, these inmates who now have control have all been moved aside and dropped into a system where they are lost in privatized, overcrowded prisons... For the most part they may gravitate towards self-segregation, but they all have very key things in common. Boo plays her role well, pushing the women to 'be better than they are'... And she's right. You get locked up in a cage for so long and you start feeling like the animals that you are being treated as... But all these people are human beings and long prison sentences have proven not to work. So what does Boo suggest? A little bit of what my fellow TVTime'r and friend precisely called out as 'Restorative Justice'. In the whole process we get a bit more of the incredibly natural dynamic between Doggett and Boo. They are an incredible force together. The entire scene where Boo is counseling and directing Pensatucky as to how she needs to act, what she needs to say and do... Its just magic. Doggett responds so naturally, rattling off a story about how her mom used to coach her in case of getting caught shoplifting. It's these little scenes that continue to grow these original characters that really stick with me. Same with Soso (Kimiko Glenn) and Janae, the very unlikely duo. They are both grieving and instead of carrying that chip on her shoulder, Janae has a rare moment with Soso where she leaves her heart on her sleeve. I tear up just thinking about it. Janae has seen and felt so much prejudice and racial injustice... And the fact that she's so intelligent sometimes works against her. It's like being too smart for your own good. But with the prison now a barbed wired, locked down 'land of the free', Janae can parallel her feelings towards her racial injustices to her feelings about simply losing a friend... And let go, while still holding on to what makes her, her. Janae has always been a favorite of mine and while she's done questionable things, as we all have, it's easy to understand why. Deep down Janae is exploding with love, she has so much to give, but her intellect and her principles hold her back from sharing that love with all of those around her... That and of course the fact that she's in prison and must keep a certain air about her. With Taystee & Soso and now Boo & Doggett really stealing the show, it's nice to see Janae snag that spotlight because Vicky Jeudy deserves it... She gives so many dimensions to Janae that sometimes I think the writers don't even realize that the character has, that you simply can't ignore her. You can't ignore her plight. Janae is simply such a beautiful character, etched in pain, achievements, and a massive leap where she almost was able to grab the stars... Almost. As you know, 'almost doesn't count'. Speaking of not being able to ignore... Nita Reddy (Gita Reddy, isn't that funny?) has been tasked to help quell the riot. Unfortunately she's only meeting a few of the demands, the shallow ones, the 'Takis' and the 'Flaming Hot Cheetos', and one very necessary one (just not in the big picture), tampons! At first it feels like a win for Taystee and her 'Heads of Litchfield State' but after a phone call with a pushy Nita later on, it's clear that the rest of the demands aren't being taken seriously. Taystee is the last person in Litchfield who should be taken with a grain of salt. She has no ties to the outside, and her flashback gives us an in depth look at why she ended up wrapped tight in Vee's clutches. I've never met my biological father, but I often think about how it would go. Wonder if I'll ever even get an email or call... I think maybe there's a huge part of me that just wants to know that he acknowledges me. Taystee' story shows how that could all go horribly wrong when she is young and ready to be embraced by her real mother, who ends up having second thoughts because she has already started another life with another family. This killed me... I'm rewatching the scene now and I'm completely teared up. My biological father has since moved on from whatever the circumstances were surrounding my birth as my mother was a very young teenager, as was he. He has another son and a daughter. I wonder if they know who I am, I doubt it. In my head, this is more close to reality. There's a great shame in Taystee's mother's soul... She can't bring herself to overcome it and it crushes Taystee. Mia Jefferson (Tiffany Mann) plays this character right, there's a lot of us out there who never have met one or more of our birth parents. The first thing Taystee asks is 'Why didn't you want me?' The first thing I would ask is, 'Why have waited so long to reach out?' Taystee's situation is more difficult than mine, she has no one. I had a mother who beat incredible odds at a young age and a step-father who earned the title of 'Dad'. Still, there will always be a void until that man says something to me, and if he's too afraid to say something or complacent enough in his own life to never reach out, then I'll die with that void... But that will be on him, and I hope it weighs heavy. Little does he probably know that I am one of the most understanding and forgiving people in this world... And that's because I have people to fall back on. It breaks my heart that Taystee doesn't. I understand it, but to know this pain and imagine it multiplied wrecks me, truly. Andrew McCarthy seems to be given the most chaotic episodes. There is so much happening here... The Litchfield Trial of Tiffany Doggett, the arrival and subsequent removal of Hot Cheetos & Takis, Taystee's backstory with her biological mother, Janae & Soso running their pain away together, Lorna (Yael Stone) & Nicky (Natasha Lyons) finally giving in to sexual tensions and then facing the repercussions, Aleida Diaz (Elizabeth Rodriguez) being rushed into prime time news to give her exclusive take on Litchfield and being taken advantage of by a shady producer (Megumi Haggerty), Bayley (Alan Aisenberg) considering suicide because no one will listen to him or arrest the upper-middle class white boy who's in a 'bad place', Piper leaving Alex's backyard sit-in to take a stand, Freida leading all the 'elders' to her giant survivalist utopia, as well as Taystee meeting Poussey for the first time in the library that was always very close to her heart... And let's not forget the 'blaze of glory' finale where our fan favorites and 'Woke' Litchfield Leaders burn those mother fucking Flaming Hot Cheetos and Takis to the ground! Cindy starts the party... 'Flamin Cheetos, y'all!' Janae keeps the energy going, 'Yo, T... Tell this woman what we want!' Taystee plays off her hype women, 'We want to be mother fucking taken serious!' Chaos reigns supreme here, but McCarthy is masterful at balancing it all out. Who knew... Right? Oh wait, we all did! That's why McCarthy is given the tough ones!