'Orange is the New Black' binge recap: It's not all fun and games

Spoiler alert! The following contains spoilers for Orange is the New Black season 3 episode 10. Already on to episode 11? Read our recap here.

Are you binge-watching season 3 of Orange is the New Black? We are too! You can read all our recaps here.

Amid all the silly Crazy Eyes erotic stories and the potential for a celebrity to come to Litchfield and Piper's latest annoying drama, it's sometimes easy to forget that this show deals in themes far more serious than ratatouille and Ramen packets. And so when an episode culminates with three assaults and two sexual assaults, it can be a sobering wake-up call, especially if you've been binging the previous nine episodes for the past two days.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about "A Tittin' and A Harrin.'" Portraying sexual assault on television is a dicey game that I've written about before, but OITNB at least made the story of Pennsatucky's two sexual assaults about her, and not about her attackers (the camera unflinchingly stays on her face as tears stream down it during the second assault). In fact, the episode goes to great lengths to give us Pennsatucky's entire history with sex, something she's had a less-than-healthy relationship with since her first period. But seeing the same woman assaulted twice, one right after the other (yes I know one was a flashback) was just a lot. Was it necessary for the plot? Will the aftermath be handled appropriately? Will the show refrain from dipping back into this well too often? That remains to be seen.

But that was not the episode's only foray into violence. Two of the conflicts that have been churning all season -- Gloria vs. Sophia and Alex vs. Lolly -- came to a head simultaneously in two separate bathrooms. Sophia uses the wrong bathroom and Gloria, who has been boiling over ever since Sophia's wife stopped giving her son a ride, confronts her about the boys. What looked like it might just be a very loud argument turned physical when Sophia pushed Gloria into a tile wall. Sophia tries to apologize but the damage is done.

In the other bathroom, Alex runs in crying after blowing up at Piper for hanging out with Stella (which is totally valid because Piper DID cheat on her with Stella). Inside is Lolly, just being there as she has been ever since she got to Litchfield. They fight, Lolly pulls the glass shard, only it turns out she wasn't hired by Alex's old boss. Nope, actually she's delusional and thinks Alex is in the NSA and spying on her. So I guess there was another explanation for that diary.

The third assault is also probably the most tragic. What seemed like Morello's twisted but ultimately innocent version of speed dating with her many pen pals turned violent when she convinced one of them to attack Christopher -- the man she stalked that got her put in prison in the first place. It was clear last season when Morello took the van and broke into his house that she is not over the mental illness that led her to be obsessed with him in the first place, and it seems Nicky's move to Max has not helped the situation. Hopefully it doesn't get worse.

The season is clearly moving toward a big finish, and there are a lot of loose threads to tie up. But we can do it. 10 down, 3 to go.

And in case you missed it, you can read our recap of episode 9 here.