As good as Schilling is in the role — notice the way her eyes have deadened as Piper’s optimism has faded, the way her cheekbones appear to have been sharpened like shivs — there exists a not-uncompelling argument that Orange might be better off without her in it. After all, the ensemble is strong enough without her. (It goes without saying that it would be better off without Jason Biggs’s Larry, Piper’s vestigial nebbish.) Interestingly, the season’s second episode tackles this criticism head-on. With Piper still waylaid from the events of the premiere, the hour is wholly devoted to catching up with all our old friends, from mouthy Nicky (Natasha Lyonne, still dispensing premium vinegar) to silent Norma (Annie Golden). Though Piper’s presence lingers — dandelions don’t blow away that easily — I can’t say she is much missed. At least not at first.
Instead, it’s almost dizzying to be reintroduced to so many phenomenal personalities so quickly: There’s Red (Kate Mulgrew), wallowing in her reduced circumstance! There’s Daya (Dascha Polanco) being battered back and forth like a pregnant pingpong ball between two mothers — Aleida, her real one (Elizabeth Rodriguez), and Gloria, her surrogate (Selenis Leyva)! There’s even room for a new character, Vee (Lorraine Toussaint), a heroin queenpin who arrives with a mysterious connection to Taystee (Brooks has a deservedly enhanced role in Year 2). Though fierce, often bloody conflict fuels the show’s plot — beware the return of Taryn Manning’s feral terrier Pennsatucky — it’s the genuine warmth that provides nearly all of its pleasure. Orange’s best moments are often the emptiest: Poussey (Samira Wiley) pissing off Black Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore) in a heated game of charades; Sophia (Laverne Cox) squeezing into a cocktail dress at a job fair. Denied the world, these women are forced to improvise their own, often with surprisingly tender results.