25 of TV’s messiest meltdowns

Piper Has Enough of Pennsatucky — Orange is the New Black

Piper Chapman isn’t a perfect protagonist. To be fair, she’s kind of the worst character on the show. She’s selfish, stubborn, and mostly oblivious to her own privilege. However, I’ve never felt closer to her than I did in those final moments of the season 1 finale when she completely lost her stuff and beat fellow inmate Pennsatucky to a pulp.

Pennastucky was pretty awful, too. Earlier in the season she cornered Piper in the shower and threatened her with a razor blade. At the time Piper snapped, she was wielding some crude weapon, waving it around like she was going to stab Piper with it. So, it’s not really a matter of “she deserved it,” it’s more a matter of seeing Piper reach her limit, drop her pretenses, and act like a human. She was so buttoned up and uptight, that the fight between her and Pennastucky marked a turning point in her character. She was suddenly emboldened, and it took this violent outburst to do it for her.

I would (probably) never really beat someone almost to death, but the freedom to let your rage go unchecked is awfully seductive. That’s what so interesting about Piper’s particular meltdown. Until this episode, she was a shrinking violet, mostly trying to stay out of trouble and out of the line of fire of the other inmates. In this moment, you see her click off her inhibitions, and let her basest instincts take over. Watching her take out all her pain and frustration on Pennsatucky makes me feel like exhaling.