(This post obviously contains spoilers about Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black.”)
Ever since “Orange is the New Black” creator Jenji Kohan casually mentioned there would be a Martha Stewart-inspired character on the prison drama, viewers have been speculating where this storyline could go. However, it’s probably safe to that say no one expected that the character’s journey would go … well, the weird places it did.
In Season 3, viewers saw brief glimpses of Judy King (a famous chef, lifestyle expert and TV personality convicted of tax evasion) through the eyes of the Litchfield inmates, who watched her trial on television and prayed that she would get sent to their prison. Judy wound up at Litchfield at the very end of the Season 3 finale; except she arrived during complete chaos, when the guards walked out and lots of inmates escaped to the lake.
Season 4, which debuted on Netflix on Friday, picks right where everything left off. As Judy patiently waits to be let into prison, warden Joe Caputo and the new guards scramble to control things, and only sleazy correctional officer Joel Luschek is there to greet her. Almost immediately, Luschek realizes Judy isn’t what he expects, as she informs him that the man who drove her to prison is in fact her boyfriend, and her husband is at home.
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“Look at you!” Luschek says, impressed.
“Well just don’t look too close, darling,” Judy says flirtatiously in her Southern accent.
When Judy first revealed her Southern accent last season, viewers realized that she could also be a spoof of embattled Southern chef Paula Deen. As the season goes on, it appears Judy is a combination. Although her backstory and presence in prison is similar to Stewart’s, she also faces a Deen-esque scandal when footage from the 1980s surfaces of her putting on a racist puppet show.
Judy insists that she was an idiot like everyone else in the 1980s and meant no harm; although during her time at Litchfield, she also says offensive things, such as her requirements for her cellmate: “No fatties, Nebraskans or anybody with too much hair.” The actress who plays her, Blair Brown, recently told the Hollywood Reporter that although Judy is politically incorrect, she wouldn’t call the character racist.
“No, I don’t think she’s racist at all, it’s that certain Southern quality that is different. I’ve known a lot of Southerners who are like that, in particular Judy’s age and older, who did say things that for me, with my Northern sensibility, I blanched at,” Blair said. “But I knew they would say it in front of one of their African American friends. That’s the way Judy is.”
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Blair echoed the same thoughts to Vanity Fair: “Whether it’s race or sexual preference or ethnicity or religion. Everything is fair game for her, I think, because she is not a prejudiced person. It’s interesting to play a kind of unabashed politically incorrect person,” and then she added, “Though I’m just glad, I have to say, my poor mother is not alive to hear me say these things.”
Share this articleShareThroughout the season, Judy gets all kinds of special treatment from the prison, as board members are terrified about the potentially negative publicity if anything bad happens to her. So while the prison is suffering from major overcrowding, they set Judy up with a private room, with only the hippie Yoga Jones as her roommate. And when Caputo thinks she’s facing backlash after the racist puppet show incident, he orders a guard to follow her at all times.
[Review: ‘Orange Is the New Black’ returns, darker and more relevant than ever]
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Although Judy at first appears quite proper and humble and kind to the inmates who want her autograph (including Poussey, who is so starstruck that she can barely speak around her) and even teaches a cooking class, she reveals herself to be just as outlandish as anyone else at Litchfield. For example, when Taystee decides to snap a covert photo of Judy in prison and sell it to the tabloids for big money, Judy isn’t horrified when she learns of the plan. In fact, Judy doubles down, and plants a big kiss on Cindy — so the public will think she’s having a love affair with a black woman, sure to help her reputation after the puppet scandal.
Later, Judy gets Luschek to sneak the photo to the tabloids, which brings up the most unexpected part of Judy’s journey — her odd relationship with Luschek. He’s definitely terrible, but considering the pure evil guards that show up in Season 4, he actually appears to have some sort of conscience. He strikes up a friendship with Judy, and confesses that he feels quite guilty about sending Nicky to maximum security last year when it was kind of his fault she got caught selling drugs. Judy uses her celebrity powers and high-priced lawyer to help get Nicky out of max … and all she wants in return is sex with Luschek, who is at least several decades younger.
Flustered, he agrees. Still, that’s nothing compared to the penultimate episode, where Judy persuades Luschek and Yoga Jones to have a threesome with her in their private cell, which they all seem to regret the next day, except Judy.
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So as usual with “Orange is the New Black,” a storyline took some very strange twists and turns. Although the Season 4 finale ended with Judy almost leaving prison, she got caught up in the huge protest after a certain major character’s death, so there’s no telling whether she’ll return for Season 5.
Read more:
Why Ruby Rose became the breakout star of ‘Orange is the New Black’ Season 3
‘Orange is the New Black’ star Matt McGorry would really like you to stop calling him a deadbeat dad
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