Orange Is The New Black: Top 10 Moments Of Season 3

7. Red And Healy Hit It Off

Humanity is a central aspect of Orange Is The New Black, a show that has precious little variation in terms of setting and scenery, and thus must rely solely on its limited cast of characters to carry the show and give it meaning. One of the more interesting dynamics that emerged from this aspect of the show in Season 3 was the unlikely pairing of Red and Healy, the prison counselor who seems to mean well while being quite possibly the worst person in the world for the job. On Red€™s end, the line between manipulation and sincere interest is blurred enough so that even the viewer is left ambiguous on Red€™s true feelings for the man at times; Healy, with his struggling mail-order marriage, seems similarly confused in terms of his emotions for the razor-sharp Reznikov. While in a lesser show this might be a reflection of the show€™s own confusion in terms of its characters, here it seems to have clear artistic purpose. Nothing in Orange is cut-and-dry, and every interaction and relationship has multiple dimensions that (usually) don€™t rely on trope and cliché, instead fleshing them out to encompass a wide breadth of emotion. This is portrayed well in Red and Healy€™s interactions, both amusing and heartfelt in their turn. Towards the end of the season, the arc is resolved for the viewers; like ships passing in the night, it seems that Red and Healy, for all of their mutual interest, are just never to be meant to be. There is a sense that at another place and another time, fortune may have been kinder to the pair, showing a tenuous relationship forged in the most unlikely of places that is prematurely severed by unfortunate circumstance €“ somewhere that we all have been, portrayed masterfully in the scenes between these two characters.