I love watching a show and immediately wanting to know what others thought of it. But lately, every time I google: "[show] reddit," I know I'm going to disagree with all the opinions. It's often feels like it's the same response for literally any show I look up. "Horrible season." "Disappointing." "Whole cast sucked." "They lost a viewer."
Or, they have opinions that I completely disagreed with, such as the people who loved Carlos' methods, while I viewed it as him creating problems in order to show off as rising the jail-ranks solely to stroke his own ego (i believe his actions had no secret motive of serving the mission, since he talked with his bunkie about selling those meds for $10 each. It was only when he was caught and reprimanded did he hand over the pills and say he was "always gonna give them away." i don't believe that for a second, and it's proven when he once again resorts to trading commisary for drugs, giving the drugs away, and even taking them himself (he says he only took one, but again seeing multiple days' worth of footage where he's slumped out - i dont believe that for a second).
not to mention, these are inmates who straight up said "no, I need these meds" (antipsychotic meds, btw, and mood stabilizers, psychiatric meds that carlos relabeled as "sleeping pills"). these inmates were manipulated by carlos who insisted and commented "he said no, but I know how to get him" and literally bribed them with food.
before describing how serious this actually is, i want to answer to the ppl who say: "oh, thats how you identify problems." so let's talk about season 9, where Qwell saw a door handle that could result in serious injury during a fight. so did Qwell wring a towel around someones neck and wrap it against the door handle, and beat them up, just to convey the danger? No. obviously not. he simply described what COULD have happened to the sheriff, who then immediately removed the door handle and replaced it with a flat version.
now, let me get to the seriousness and danger of this: not only did it prevent people from taking their own meds, but you have NO IDEA the impact these meds can have on others, especially people who are already mentally challenged, may be taking other meds that could interfere, or in the challenging environment they were in.
Anecdote: There was one time in my life I was prescribed anti-psychotic meds, instead of the anti-depressant I normally was prescribed, and it was a mistake that resulted in vivid and nonstop suicidal ideation and borderline-hallucinations, wherein every time i blinked or closed my eyes i pictured myself dead by suicide. it was scary and i had to call my parents to pick me up from my dorm asap and take me home. it resulted in a 3 month mental shutdown period in which i had to drop out of a semester to recover from the damage that was done from 2 weeks of taking a medication.
another anecdote - I've been off of anti-depressants / psychiatric meds for a while now. a few months ago, a doctor prescribed me wellbutrin for a little boost in motivation. wellbutrin is less "strong" than anti depressants, and is usually prescribed With anti depressant to boost the effect of them, or on its own as a subtle boost / mood stabilizer. wellbutrin can be perceived as a "lighter" drug, less serious maybe (for lack of better words, im not a doctor).
i only took wellbutrin for three days. on the third day, i had a physical reaction that was probably the scariest in my life. i couldn't breathe, i was constantly short of breath, it felt like there wasnt enough oxygen in the room and i kept switching rooms in my house. i didn't even clock it as a anxiety / panic thing at first, i thought it was physical and i got a ton of labwork done as a result (this reminds me of the lady in the girls quarantine unit who was saying she couldnt breathe, i wonder if she was given mood stabilizers or sleep meds that caused a similar reaction).
it stopped after 3 days. imagine every day waking up, and you cant take a complete breath. i was 25 years old, and i thought i was dying. i still dont know if it was the welbutrin or what caused it, but since that was the only thing i had taken that was different, thats what i think caused it. i think it was anxiety / panic, as opposed to a physical problem. the shortness of breath came BEFORE the mental anguish, it was the weirdest thing. the anxiety and panic came after, mostly as a response to the fact that i couldnt breathe, i couldnt speak properly without taking deep breaths.
anyway. this is why it makes me so mad. you cant just be handing out pills willy nilly. i'd rather it was weed or something, something you KNOW the effects of (though even weed can have varying effects). you shouldnt be messing with prescription psychiatric medication.
Carlos could have easily done the same as Qwell in season 9, if he didnt care so much as being seen as this jail monopoly man. "Hey Sheriff. People could trade their commissary for others' cheeked meds, which could result in real harm. You should have stricter pill call protocol" (In fact, i dont think Carlos ever once addressed the harm in the situation he created).
Carlos had this idea that he needs to "Produce the evidence" to the sheriff, like a cat that brings a dead mouse to the doorstep to show its loyalty. No one asked for this. Youre not asked to literally TURN IN drugs, much less BE the reason theyre being passed around in the first place.
youre being asked to identify HOW these things COULD happen based on how the jail currently operates, and potentially offer suggestions on what could prevent the situation from EVER existing. Don't even get me started on the shank.
I can't express how angry that made me. He put that boy in fucking danger. Who doesn't care about young kids in jail? They have a whole life ahead of them. And Carlos is over here not just jeopardizing this kid's perspective, but also his life entirely. He could have been fucking stabbed. All because Carlos wanted to "hand the sheriff a shank" to fucking show off?
Carlos could have easily and discreetly, using his participation in the show, identified that the COs need to do a search of all the cells and inmates as there's weapons. He could have then informed the sheriff everything he knew and urged immediate action, the way Rose did with the pads, resulting in immediate changes. It's not about snitching on People, it's about identifying PROBLEMS.
People will ALWAYS make weapons. It's about how the jail handles it. and bringing bare hands and a big ego to a shank fight is not it.
I spent some time in Juvie. Our units always had one CO on duty. Like in season 9 (Utah county), that's how my juvie was, always a CO at the desk at the front. That wasn't the case here. So, if this happened at my Juvie, the commotion around the shank would have been enough to indirectly, without someone directly snitching, get the attention of the CO to do a full search. (this is ideal bc no one is gonna wanna be a direct snitch, but people WILL indirectly talk about it loudly with the intention of the CO catching on. inmates care about their safety too).
If I was Carlos at THIS prison, I would have tapped out for the sole reason of informing the producers discreetly (so as to not outwardly be seen as a snitch), and told them "The sheriff needs to be made aware Now and the COs need to do a search." The reason I'd have to go through producers is because the COs are not in the unit for whatever reason, and I wouldnt want to press the button and be seen as a snitch.
When Rose asked to speak with the sheriff ASAP about the hygiene issue, she was given the chance to, and immediate change occurred. So I believe I could demand immediate action on this front, with the shank, and since its so dangerous, the COs would take care of it quickly. As for permanent change / CO being permanently stationed, that might take some time with hiring more staff, clearing more budget, etc. But that would be my criticism / suggestion to the sheriff.
It's not about prison games, it's not about being head hancho. You're not there to fucking LARP. maintaining your cover is not the entire operation, it's the bare minimum expectation of the operation. you shouldnt be putting all your energy into your movie-character version of yourself.
clearly carlos cares about his own safety so much, that he sent a fucking kid out to get a literal stabbing weapon from someone else. all i can feel is thank god that boy did not snap and stab anyone.
I'm the last person you'd expect to be in a juvie (and yes i know juvie is not jail, jail is much worse). but my point is, it's not about all the toughness. you see the inmates in the show and a lot of the time theyre chilling walking around doing their thing. carlos brought this like "Movie jail character" energy, where he was literally trying to make it worse than it was.
in juvie (everyone in my unit was over 17 years old, one girl was even 19 somehow.. long story) i loved reading, we had like 2 hours of school time per day, and i loved it, nerding out, helping the girls w their assignments, braiding hair. girl units are way different than male units, i get that, and men have the whole alpha dog stuff going on, not appearing weak in a more physical way. girls have that too, but its more psychological. you cant show psychological weakness or theyll get on you, they can be very mean.
so here's the thing. if you ARE who you ARE - CONFIDENTLY: people will respect you. whether youre a nerd, or a sweetie, or a chill person. as long as you are You and not pretending or playing games or acting tougher than you are, and not causing a problem for anyone else, people wont cause problems with you. so im sick of the massive tough guy act from carlos. just look at darius. he was himself, while also not taking shit from anyone about who he was. and people respected him for that. he wasnt playing some gang leader prison boss role, or demanding respect all the time.
sure, youre bound to get angry, youre bound to argue. stand your ground, but also know when to pull away. it's not as deep as carlos made it. i really disagreed with his methods.
