Summary
Orange Is the New Black Season 7, Episode 10, “The Thirteenth” mainly focuses on the famous couple — Piper and Alex — presenting their final test.
This recap of Netflix series Orange Is the New Black Season 7, Episode 10, “The Thirteenth” contains spoilers. You can read the recap of the previous episode by clicking these words.
Well, we are getting closer to the end. Everything is slowly bubbling to the finale, and I am still wondering how this is going to all end. “The Thirteenth” ends with the security staff regrouping after Lorna went missing. They find her where the chickens are, and she is tasered — which was utterly unnecessary.
As for Red in Episode 10, it’s all falling apart for our beloved character. She returns to the kitchen, and as Nicky tries to give Shani a sexual experience, Red cuts herself with a knife. Later on in the chapter, Nicky sits beside Red to hear the news that she has early-onset dementia. And things go from bad to worse for Nicky’s circle; when Lorna returns, she sees that her friend has been in the dark for a while — Nicky is struggling, seeing her family fall apart. I’m not entirely sure how she’s going to take it when she learns that Shani has been granted an “order of removal” from the ICE Detention Centre.
Joe Caputo is making a difference in “The Thirteenth”, holding sessions for the inmates where they discuss their feelings. Warden Tamika watches on and realizes her methods are saving the prison money while also improving everyone’s wellbeing. Linda tries threatening her job, but Tamika highlights all the positives. Later that day, Joe and Natalie go for a meal at Tamika’s house, and with the guilt weighing on his mind, he reveals the #MeToo accuser and recommends that he resigns — Tamika has no choice but to accept his resignation, and Natalie is frustrated Joe has caused his undoing. Joe did the right thing — he couldn’t continue being in the industry where he made someone feel uncomfortable in this way.
But let’s talk about Alex and Piper, the main story in Episode 10. These two have been complicated since the first season. Since the famous Piper quote from season one when she looks into Alex’s eyes and says, “Why do you always feel so inevitable to me?”, we knew as an audience this will be dragged out right to the end. Season 7 is presumably a final test for the both of them, and I’d like to predict it will end with these two, but you never know.
In “The Thirteenth” Piper is loving life and even meeting up with old seeds. She rings her ex Larry and arranges to meet up with him and Polly at a restaurant. Piper brings Zelda with her, a friend she’s gotten close to since leaving prison. Alex is still drawn by Artesian who is shaking up by the prison shut down when Lorna tried to flee. We learn in Alex’s flashback that she is always drawn to someone who she feels she can fix, and Artesian is that person for her at this moment. The anomaly in her life was Piper; in the flashback and the present day.
Scrolling through Instagram obsessively, Alex is scoping out Piper’s new friend and growing frustrated, constantly ringing her while she’s out. She takes comfort in Artesian; her way of imploding before she feels hurt. When Piper finishes her night with friends, there is a feeling of intimacy with her friend. She tries ringing Alex, but she ignores the call.
Orange Is the New Black Season 7, Episode 10, “The Thirteenth” confirms that the honeymoon period between the married couple is over, but will they survive yet again?
Warden’s Notes
- Suzanne finds a dead chicken in her farm and believes it is a murder investigation.
- Tasha continues to teach Tiffany to overcome her dyslexia.
- Daya has a new drug supply to fend off her mother, but Aleida is lurking.
You can read the recap of the eleventh episode by clicking these words.
