Entertainment
'OITNB' Is All About the Love Triangle
Get ready to spend some time in the Litchfield Penitentiary this summer. Season 2 of Orange Is the New Black hits Netflix on June 6, and according to new reports, the show will continue to deal with the love triangle that new inmate Piper was the center of in Season 1. No, I'm not talking about Crazy Eyes' unrequited love for her "Dandelion" — I'm talking about the triangle between Piper, her ex-girlfriend (and fellow inmate) Alex, and Piper's (now former) fiance, Larry.
At the end of Season 1, Larry and Alex both decided to cut ties with Piper. Piper admitted to Larry that she still loved Alex, which Larry saw as a deep betrayal of their relationship. When Piper comes running back to Alex, Alex rejects Piper, believing her to be untrustworthy and fickle when it comes to matters of the heart. (... and Alex is 100 percent right about that.) Piper is left almost completely alone by the end of Season 1, which sets up the events of the first season's dramatic finale.
This supposed love triangle is an interesting development considering that, according to creator Jenji Kohan, Alex (played by Laura Prepon) will only appear in four episodes of the second season. Without Alex on the show full-time, it's unclear as to how the show will focus on the love triangle plot from Season 1. Without Alex on the show, Larry may play an even larger role in Season 2. According to Buzzfeed, Larry will "help" Piper (read: pursue his own agenda) by encouraging her to investigate corruption within the prison. (Given everything that has happened in Season 1, it shouldn't be all that hard to do.) Though Larry may be helping Piper, there's no guarantee that this means the couple will reunite — after all, Larry wasn't particularly thrilled to hear about Piper's illicit affair with Alex. If these two do end up back together, it's going to be a long road for this couple.
And really, should they reunite? No one within this Orange Is the New Black love triangle is a particularly great person — least of all Piper. Piper has been criticized for being selfish and self-absorbed (both by fans and other characters on the show) and these traits come to the surface whenever she gets involved with someone romantically. Larry may not be the greatest guy in the history of television (he did use Piper's story for his own professional advantage) but learning that your fiancé is cheating on you with her ex while she's in jail is a tough pill to swallow.
On the opposite end, Alex already had her heart broken by Piper after Piper ditched her following the death of her mom. Yes, Piper had her reasons, but her actions aren't going to win her Girlfriend of the Year.
If I were Piper, I'd keep a commitment to singlehood until the end of my stay in the Litch. Piper might be a terrible person to date, but it's not like her options are much better than she is. Considering that Piper's two choices are between a self-serving, jealous guy on the outside and a former drug smuggler on the inside, staying single is sounding better and better. If we're exploring the love triangle in Season 2, let's hope that Piper can make the call to choose herself — and not break any more hearts in the mean time.
