This week I’m writing about the Orange Is the New Black episode “Fake It Till You Fake It Some More.” It’s another standout episode for Season 3. This one focuses on Flaca Gonzales.
The episode opens with Taystee finding Poussey just sitting around with nothing to do now that the library is essentially empty. She says there’s a new job that pays $1/hour. Poussey is skeptical and says Taystee should be critical of any opportunities in here after the job fair. Taystee reminds her she got two cherry Pepsis out of that job fair. Poussey says she’s going to have some hooch. Taystee asks why she’s dipping already and Poussey says, “It’s always five o’clock in prison.” Poussey discovers all the hooch she stashed away is gone.
In the kitchen, the Latina girls speculate about the new job. Daya says she heard it was a call center. Flaca excitedly says, “With my sexy voice, I’ll be making mad commissions.” Gloria says none of them is applying for that job and they should be grateful they’re not scrubbing toilets anymore. Maritza worries it’ll turn out to be picking up trash. Flaca says that if they’re paying that kind of money, it’ll take smarts and skills. Maria asks what she expects to wow them with: her eyeliner skills or her knowledge of how many things rhyme with “bleak” in emo songs. Flaca says, “At least I got ambition.” She and Maria start to physically fight and Gloria has to break it up. She tells Flaca to go scrub some pans. Flaca says that Maria started it, but Gloria still tells her to go. Flaca says, “I’m so done with this depressing-ass place.”
We get a flashback to Flaca in high school. She has purple streaks in her hair and a Depeche Mode poster on her wall. It’s so beautiful. Flaca FaceTimes with her boyfriend. She asks when he’ll let her sell drugs with him. He says that he can help her pay her bills. She says that she wants to make her own money. Her mom calls her out of her room and says she has to help her sew a dress. Her mom tells her that she’s going to sew a Calvin Klein label on her dress. She tells Flaca, “More often than not, people believe what you tell them.”
Flaca tells Maritza she’s going to go for the job no matter what Gloria says. Maritza says that it’s good that they’re all together in the kitchen right now. She worries about who will replace Flaca and says, “What if she’s mean or likes Coldplay or something?” Maritza is an absolute treasure. Flaca says she’s better than putting on a hairnet and scrubbing pots and pans. Maritza asks, “Are you saying you’re better than me?” Flaca says, “No, you’re good too. All I’m saying is that I got aspirations. I always have, even in here. You know when I wear that apron in the kitchen, I’m really wearing it ironically.” Ugh. They’re both too perfect.
In a flashback, Flaca tells her friend she’s decided she’s going to make knock off drugs. Her friend asks if she can do the chemistry to make acid. She says not even, she just figured out how to print out clipart and wet it. She says she’s already sold out her first batch. Someone tells her that he tripped out and saw leprechauns on her stuff and they want more. Flaca happily tells her friend, “People will believe what you tell them.” Her friend warns her that eventually someone will come back pissed and ask for a refund. Flaca tells her that if someone comes back, she’ll say they need to open their mind to the possibilities and then they’ll come back because they think they didn’t do it right. She proudly says, “Girl, I thought this shit through.” Her friend calls her a mad genius and she happily agrees.
Flaca arrives to try out for the job and immediately becomes anxious when she realizes it’s a written test. She says that she sucks at tests and can’t think straight. She looks so deeply upset. My sweetie. Flaca answers the question “I believe people are basically moral” with “agree.” Blanca says you’re supposed to answer the questions honestly. Flaca says that she really does believe people want to be good deep down. She gets frustrated as she flips through the papers, complaining that she thought they’d be interviewing them, not giving them a weird-ass brain test. Eliqua tells Flaca to stop talking and makes her leave before she finishes her test.
In a flashback, Flaca sees one of the boys she sold fake acid to on the roof of the school. He’s freaking out and decides to jump.
When the job is posted, Lorna congratulates Flaca. She’s thrilled that she got the job despite not even finishing her test. She runs to the list to look at it for herself and walks away smiling.
Flaca tells everyone in the kitchen that she got the job and she starts in a few minutes. Gloria says she’s turning her back on her family. Flaca says that they should be proud of her. Maria says that she heard some of the questions from the test and they weren’t even about anything. Flaca says, “They were obviously about something and I got them right.” Gloria asks, “So now you’re better than us?” Flaca tells her, “That’s right, I am better. Better than all you bitches. Maybe I got Cs in high school because my personality is too complex for mainstream academics.” Maritza is silent through all of this but when Flaca walks away, we see that Maritza is crying.
In the final flashback, Flaca’s mother is working on sewing dresses when the cops arrive at their apartment to tell her she’s under arrest. They say that the kid who jumped off the roof of the school is in critical condition and she sold him a controlled substance. She says that she sold him plain paper with nothing but water and print on it, it was all fake. The cop tells her, “His reaction to it was very real and it’s a crime regardless.” The cop tells Flaca’s mom that she’s under arrest for fraud and endangerment, then they cuff Flaca and take her away.
Daniel Pearson greets the women who were selected and leads them into a room. It’s full of sewing machines. Flaca stares at the sewing machine, tearing up as she shakes her head.
Photo Courtesy of Netflix
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