Have to agree with you about the slightly self congratulatory social commentary of the flashback. It just seemed to really beat the viewers over the head with it. DeLaria's performance definitely overcomes the writing though, and she sells the absolute crap out of it.

Yeah. She's really come a long way. Taryn Manning has been crushing it this season.

Personally I would switch the two grades around and give Nicki's episode the A- and Boo's episode a B+.

Young Boo was spectacular. Great job done by casting.

Gotta love how decidedly unsubtle OITNB can be about its themes sometimes.

Soso definitely became more tolerable as Season 2 progressed. I think she being used pretty effectively towards the end of the season.

I feel like I've always had a higher tolerance for the Piper/Alex drama than most viewers here - especially because Prepon and Schilling have great, believable chemistry and sell the crap out of their material - but even I'm at my wits end with their story.

Miss Claudette's was one of the most jarring for me personally. She just sort of….disappeared from the show's history after she got shipped of to max.

i appreciated the story they tried to tell about Vee, about how sociopathic people can abuse the system to prey upon and take advantage of the weak but, in spite of Lourraine Toussants incredible performance, the character just fell flat for me.

I think the flashback absolutely treads new ground. I'm really gonna have to disagree with Myles on the grade for this one. Previously Nicky's relationship with her mother in her other flashback was portrayed as a somewhat cliched neglected child backstory with a mother whose oblivious to her daughter's drug problem.

Couldn't have summed up my feelings better. I completely agree. I thought she was one of the most defined, fully realized characters on the show given her screen time due in no small part to Natasha Lyonne's incredible performance.

Donaldson truly is the stealth MVP.

She's so criminally underrated as an actress. Far and away the best thing about American Pie almost salvaging that dreck on her own.

Yeah. I definitely agree. I think the Season 1 flashbacks worked to setup her addiction backstory as well as portray the neglectful life she had from her mother as well the struggles she went through to get clean. We ostensibly "on her side" the entire time for the flashback, especially regarding her mother.

I despise Healy, but the only character I might despise more is his wife. Healy may be a misogynistic, MRS-spouting, homophobic piece of shit, but at least we've seen him try to be attentive to his wife at home, learning Russian trying to connect with her on some level while she just turns up her nose, acts like she's…

I'm hella pissed if she's gone. I love Natasha Lyonne and I thought she did a phenomenal job with a character that often ceded the spotlight for other characters.

I love Soso if only for all the other characters' reactions to her.
Sister Ingalls is having none of Soso's bullshit.

I can't judge yet cause I'm just at episode 3, but it seems like nothing more than a slightly slow start. I've still quite enjoyed all 3 episodes thus far.

People hate the season? Wow I hope that's not the case. It might not be as focused as the central villain we had with Vee, but I've still really enjoyed these past episodes (though I could always do with less Bennett)

Well clearly no one's going to address the elephant in the room so I'll do it:
Emily Bette Rickards just isn't a strong enough actress to anchor those dramatic scenes. She's fantastic with the comedic one liners but her idea of emotional or dramatic always boiled down to one thing: cry talking.