I was right, wasn’t I? I’m always right. Orange Is the New Black got dark with “Doctor Psycho,” and the show was better for it. Where “Power Suit” and “(Don’t) Say Anything” were significantly lighter, they didn’t do much to advance the plot. “Doctor Psycho” takes care of that nicely, and it speaks volumes about OITNB‘s mastery of tone that this latest, darker episode doesn’t give the viewer whiplash.
Much of “Doctor Psycho” concerned itself with mental health or unwellness, but more than that it shed a light on just how terrible Sam Healy is. Credit is due to Michael Harney, who imbues Healy with a more insidious, odious kind of entitlement, different from that of his other most famous character, Steve from Deadwood. While Healy isn’t blatantly racist like Steve was, he’s no less terrible.
Quite frankly, Healy is gross, and “Doctor Psycho” – the title refers to Healy, naturally – doesn’t shy away from that fact. He’s manipulative and entitled, with some seriously backwards views about women. He uses his position of power to “help” the women of Litchfield, and in doing so expects something in return. He gets personally offended when inmates don’t fall down thanking him or sleeping with him – look how he gave the cold shoulder to Red, or how he refused to allow Brooke to change counselors.
This happens again with Judy King, when she’s less than enthused about her new assignment: teaching a cooking class. She wants another assignment, and suggests electrical, which Healy shoots down right away, because, well, Judy likes Luschek more than she likes Healy. At least Judy has the foresight to go to Caputo and ask to change counselors. “She says you creep her out,” Caputo tells Healy, “and you have power issues.” Flashback to Healy as a social worker with a dumb soul patch, taking a reluctant client out on a date to see Welcome To the Dollhouse. This is a man who abuses his power, and he will eventually cross the line. His ego is massive enough that when he tells Whitehill “I know everything that goes on around here,” he says it without a trace of irony. Consider “Doctor Psycho” a warning. Healy is a time bomb.
Caputo isn’t much better, but at least he has the excuse of having bought into his new position with the MCC. His continued imprisonment of Sophia is becoming downright Kafkaesque, even moreso when he lies to Sophia’s face and says that her wife agrees that it’s best she stay in the SHU. Laverne Cox’s performance flirts with melodrama in these scenes, but it’s truly striking to see her stripped of her signature locks. As she floods and then sets fire to her cell, the sequence becomes a commentary on the inhumane conditions in the American penal system, especially in solitary confinement.
The biggest gut punch of “Doctor Psycho,” though, comes courtesy of Doggett and Coates. Doggett admits that she’s keeping an eye on him to make sure he hasn’t assaulted Maritza: “I just wanna make sure you’re not raping her, is all.” Coates is taken aback, and this leads to one of the most harrowing, honest exchanges I’ve seen on this show. The silence here is practically thunderous.
COATES: But I love you. I said it.
DOGGETT: So?
COATES: So it’s different.
DOGGETT: It doesn’t feel any different.
Jesus, Taryn Manning should just submit this scene alone for Emmy consideration.
“Doctor Psycho” is the best episode of OITNB‘s fourth season since the premiere. It tapped into the darkness at the heart of the show. Orange can be very funny, but it’s arguably at its best when it’s at its darkest.
A Few Thoughts
- Nichols sighting! Hopefully that means more Natasha Lyonne this season.
- Aleida’s pending early release, and her objection to it, is very indicative of how the prison system only teaches inmates how to live in prison. “Why even try?” she laments. “I’m fucked.” I’ve never been a big fan of Aleida, but these scenes really work.
- Good lord Watson is such a buzz kill.
- “Dick Van Dyke is an American hero” – Healy’s father.
- Biggest laugh of the episode: Piper defiantly telling Blanca, “I understood most of that.”
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