Entertainment

This 'OITNB' & 'Black Mirror' Mash-Up Is Everything

by Mary Grace Garis

If you’re still in mourning over the loss of one of Litchfield Prison’s most beloved inmates, this Netflix webisode titled Orange Is The New Black Mirror may brighten things up. Merging Black Mirror with OITNB, this installment has Taystee Jefferson and Poussey Washington reuniting in heaven... or something like it. Sending up an homage to Black Mirror’s '80s-set episode “San Junipero” Taystee and Poussey are gearing to make fans simultaneously laugh and cry within the span of two minutes. Slight Black Mirror spoilers ahead (and, uh, slight Orange is the New Black spoilers behind).

In the video, a sleeping Taystee dreams of being magically transported to Tucker's, the bar in the episode. Poussey is there waiting for her, and the duo is dressed in the exact same outfits as Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis). Apparently Poussey is hanging here now, and though Taystee is more than a little bit skeptical of her surroundings, she's happy to live it up with Poussey like back in their Litchfield days. Getting down to Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" seems delightfully in character, but thank god the drinks up in Tucker's are way better than Poussey's prison hooch.

Sadly, though, Taystee can't party with her bestie forever and wakes up in bed mumbling, "Man, the '80s were stupid."

There’s a sadder subtext if you know the twist of “San Junipero.” The episode is named after a virtual world in which a dead person’s consciousness is uploaded, and they have a simulated afterlife as younger, happy versions of themselves. Yeah. Dark.

And it hurts even harder, because this does flash us back to the glory days of the Litchefield ladies, especially our sweet, gone-too-soon Poussey. Her tragic death in the series penultimate episode was as powerful as it was absolutely devastating, and the second she flashes that luminous smile at her bewildered BFF, you get a heavy pang in your heart. I can only thank the heavens that Orange is the New Black is so flashback intensive, so we might get some more glimpses of Poussey back in happier times this season. But damn, that wound still really hurts.

Nonetheless, it’s worth watching Taystee and Poussey joining forces once more — and in outfits far more outrageous than a beige jumpsuit. So, check it out above if you want to catch a fleeting moment of happiness in spite of our loss.

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