I just downloaded it and haven’t see it yet, but after reading the season 2 thread (and not clicking on spoilers), I thought I’d start this thread.
I wasn’t sure whether to go open or closed spoilers, but then I thought of the TBBT thread, where there are no spoilers and we can just discuss what happened. I think we should follow that. And some else can start the threads for subsequent episodes, m’kay? 
I can’t say I was surprised that Alex screwed Piper over in the end; my only question is was that her plan all along, or did she really just change her mind at the last moment. Also what was up with the weird coed pod setup in the Chicago jail? :dubious: I know some prisons in the US house mail & female prisoners, but aren’t they strictly separated into separate wings?
The one drug lord guy seemed pleased at Piper’s testimony so it seemed plausible that he did present a legitimate thread if she testified against him. On the other hand, Alex has been presented as savvier than testifying against someone she thinks will be able to kill her. I could see it as her screwing Piper over.
Ultimately though, the episode was fairly unsatisfying. Felt like an hour long excuse to write Prepon out of the show. I knew she was leaving the show so they’d have to address it somehow but I don’t know if it needed a travel montage, new prison facility dynamics, the court bit, etc. The season didn’t feel like it really started until Episode 2.
My wife and I couldn’t remember if Piper had some connection to Chicago. I don’t think she did but the music and scenery clips made it feel like she was coming back to someplace meaningful for her.
She hates deep dish.
In that case, she needs to be locked away permanently for the betterment of society. 
Well, there’s the non-fiction book and this series. I don’t know if you’ve read the book, but “Piper” was taken to Chicago to testify against the kingpin. IIRC, that was where she ran into Alex, not in Litchfield. There was a lot about the different prison system and this excursion.
No, this wasn’t a particularly satisfying episode. On the other hand, I can appreciate the dramatic impact. Piper was getting pretty comfortable at Litchfield. She knew the inmates there, the procedures, and her place there. Now she’s in a state of “I don’t know anything.”
In my opinion, this episode would have been a lousy season 1 episode 1. It’s not a bad season 2 episode 1 IF you’ve watched the first season. This is a series that needs to be watched in order.
I’m a sucker for Brian Haley so I was happy to see him there. It also took me a minute to recognize Lori Petty - she’s still cute but she looked a lot older than I would have thought.
Yeah, sucked that Alex screwed over Piper there but it’s always seemed like Alex has had some scheming just seething under the surface. Piper is not smart for listening to her.
I haven’t read the book but, even allowing for a real trip to have happened, it still seemed like a bit much for an entire episode. And with no real conclusion from it than “So now Alex is gone”.
I found it strange that no one would tell her why she was being transferred. How is she supposed to contact her attorney and prep for court if no one tells her that she’s going to court? She only knew because Alex told her (which means that someone between Litchfield and Chicago told Alex what was going on but absolutely no one would tell Piper?)
That’s a good point. Is there something else in the system that would alert her attorney so he can go to Chicago to be there for her time on the stand?
I assume they contacted her attorney directly ? She definitely did see him before trial. Besides, she was not on trial herself, she was merely a witness so the need for prep time wasn’t super high, particularly when the only question she was there to answer was “do you know this guy, yes/no ?”. And there was ample time for her to call her lawyer herself once she was in Chicago anyway.
I mean, yes, it seems weird that nobody told her on screen but :
But speaking of Alex, I have dim recollections of her already doing the “Piper, you have got to do a thing”/“I can’t do the thing !”/“But you HAVE to do the thing !”/“No. I will not do the thing.”/“FINE.”/“Alex, I love you, I did the thing for you”/“Oh, this is awkward, cause I sure didn’t do the thing” dance once back in season one, but I couldn’t tell you about what. Am I remembering wrong ?
I liked the episode, it was a nice break from the format of the show. I also I think was intended to show how frightening and difficult prison transfers are for inmates. It’s not just that you are going from one place to another: you are going from one dangerous environment to another – perhaps an environment that is much more dangerous than the one you have managed to survive in before. The episode conveyed that nicely, as Piper does something very natural … stepping on a cockroach … that creates all sorts of problem for her getting along with her cellmates. You’ll recall that in first episode something similar occurred:Piper innocently bitched about the food in front of Red while Red was in charge of the prison kitchen and caught hell for that.
The other dramatic intent for the episode I think might have been the toughening up of Piper. She comes to understand that she must rely on herself alone as she is casually ripped from her old location and transferred to a new one. Note that no one told her why she was being transferred, where she was going, etc. That too, is part of normal prison procedure.
Her problem with going to the bathroom was ALSO part of normal prison procedure. Prisoners are often denied water and food prior to trips so they don’t NEED to go to the bathroom, but if they HAVE to go there are no facilities on the bus and some of those bus trips can be long, and sometimes prisoners have wet themselves for that reason. At least we were spared that.
I suspect that Kohan’s reason for that episode was a little social commentary, all folded neatly into the drama, so that no one noticed.
Piper called What’s-His-Name (her ex-fiance) and told him she needed to talk to his father because she’d been moved to Chicago and she had no idea why. The prison/court system didn’t call him that we know about. When she sees him, she already talked to Alex so we don’t know if Piper told him about the case and he went into it from there or if he knew from some other way.
OK, so Alex testified against kingpin in return for an early release. That part I get. What did Alex gain by convincing Piper not to testify against kingpin? It seems unrelated to her own deal. I see no reason for the prosecutor to make that part of the deal; it would be entrapment if they did and then tried to charge Piper with perjury.
If Alex just wanted to screw Piper over for personal reasons or some kind of revenge, that’s pretty disappointing. The writers should have come up with a better reason. It just seems contrived.
At the time when she was talking to Piper, Alex intended not to testify out of fear of retribution, and she convinced Piper to do the same. But afterwards, Alex’s lawyer persuaded Alex to reverse her plan, which left Piper twisting in the wind.
I also wonder if Piper’s lawyer didn’t have it in for her. Surely he must have known that testifying against a drug kingpin had its dangers, yet he calmly assures her that the drug kingpin is going away for a long time, and she has nothing to fear from testifying. Yet as Alex discovers, testifying against drug kingpins is dangerous. The kingpin does not get convicted, and Alex is in MUCH more danger than Piper all of a sudden: she fears for her life, and with good reason. Alex is still in prison, but she does not have angry drug kingpins to deal with, she is relatively safe.
So, why did Piper’s lawyer not acquaint her with that possibility? It seem to me that if he truly wanted to protect his son’s ex-lover, he’d warn her about that danger, but he did not. We know he’s no fan of Piper … maybe he was looking to get her out of his son’s life without taking any blame for it.
The kingpin only walked because a technicality led to a mistrial, which Larry’s Dad couldn’t have foreseen. I think his advice was given in good (well, lawyerly :)) faith. Absent the mistrial, Alex would have been in a much better position than Pipes.
I do wonder why, outside of Because Drama, the prosecution didn’t offer Piper the exact same deal as Alex, if only to deliberately create a prisoner’s dilemma and likely ensure either of them would talk.
It seems in poor form to have offered the deal to one and waiting for her decision before possibly approaching the other.
We don’t know for sure. I think you could argue either side. Alex was very upset at Piper and the close of last season and perhaps she intentionally gave Piper bad advice just to screw her over. On the other hand, maybe Alex thought it was good advice except that Alex herself is a flake and obviously not someone to take your cues from.
As Kobal2 points out, I don’t know that early release was an option for Piper. Isn’t that the sort of agreement you’d make before the trial? But it never figured into Piper and Alex’s conversation in the van heading to court. Larry’s dad just warns her about perjury, not that she’d ruin any pending deals. I can’t imagine that they’d wait for Piper to give the “correct” testimony and then say “Surprise! You can go home now!”. Likewise, it has to take some time to set up a deal like that so I can’t believe Alex and her lawyer did it all from the coatroom waiting Alex’s turn on the stand.
I wonder if Alex got early release from her testimony, or rather got moved into protective custody or something.
Also, saying “I don’t recall” isn’t enough for perjury conviction, I’d imagine. The only person who did know that Piper recalled the drug kingpin and refused to say it is Larry’s dad & perhaps Alex - but I don’t see Alex saying Piper and I talked about what we were going to say.
This is exactly my take on it. Alex screwed Piper through flakiness, not malice.
I think there’s some selfishness to it as well. Selfish as in looking out for herself and herself only. Alex is not out to run Piper over really but dangit if Piper didn’t get in the way.