Orange Is the New Black

Netflix has been in the spotlight recently with their releases of both House of Cards and Arrested Development in full seasons. After finishing both I couldn't wait to see what else they had lined up and once I heard that Jenji Kohan was on board I was sold. Being a fan of Weeds I expected nothing less than well written strong female roles and tons of F-bombs being dropped to come from Kohan's next project. Orange is the new Black is about Piper Chapman and her untimely sentence to an all female penitentiary. She must deal with adapting to her new prison life while also having to maintain a relationship outside with her recent fiancé. I had just finished the first season and was taken back and how well so many of the characters were developed in just 13 hour long episodes. In the beginning it does feel like the show doesn't quite know it's own tone, but just around 4 episodes in it becomes a fun drama with plenty of unique characters. A definite recommendation to anyone who is looking for a summer series to watch!

(Updated after Season 7)

The story of your average early-30s female yuppie who gets sent to prison for 15 months for a crime she committed 10 years earlier. Season 1 Episode 1 shows her checking into the prison, and the rest is what goes on inside, plus the effects of her incarceration on her friends and family.

Initially I thought it was going to a female version of Oz, but it is far better than that. Multi-dimensional: funny, sensitive and sometimes dark. There is heaps of depth to the characters. Clever use of pre-prison flashbacks to show what motivates characters in certain situations, and how they got to be in jail. Very sensitively done, it often shows how their personalities were shaped.

This also serves to show that you can't simply judge people by their current actions - everyone has heaps of baggage.

Superb performances from a spot-on cast.

So different to what I expected, and very pleasantly so.

Season 4 continues the good work and was the usual mix of powerful drama and biting comedy. Maybe a bit darker and deeper than previous seasons due to covering issues of insanity, depression, guard brutality and prisoners' lives once they get out of prison. Some characters who didn't get much focus in previous seasons get more of the limelight, while others get less. One of the casualties is Pennsatucky / Doggett (Taryn Manning), which is a shame as she is one of my favourites - multi-layered and funny. On the plus side, Lolly (Lori Petty) gets much more screen time and she is great: funny and sad, all at the same time.

The last two episodes of Season 4 are incredibly powerful and moving.

Season 5 picks up where S4 left off and shows that the writers had certainly not run out of ideas. At a point when most series start to feel jaded, Orange is the New Black was as strong and fresh as ever.

However, Season 5 does mark a turning point, as the show moves from being predominantly character-based to more plot-based. This is a negative thing, as it was the characters and their stories that make the show so engaging.

Season 6 is where the novelty starts to wear off and the writing starts to show signs of weakness. The setting and situation were new: the Max side of the prison, complete with the more limited freedom it presents, plus grittier, more dangerous characters. This made for some interesting possibilities and the writers used these fairly well.

However, the character engagement, usually OITNB's strongest feature, is now largely missing. Tasha Jefferson is the only character whose story is worth following, and this gets drawn out to the nth degree. Piper Chapman, being irritating (though I think this was more due to Taylor Schilling's performance than anything else), was never worth supporting and this season is no exception. She does, however, provide the most emotional moment of the season.

The lack of engagement in the season is largely due to some previously-likeable/interesting characters being made into irritating characters. The over-the-topness of Red and Lorna's dialogue and general drama constantly made me tune out whenever they appeared.

There are a host of new characters but none are worth supporting. Their introduction also dilutes the impact of the characters and stories you do care about.

Overall Season 6 was watchable but it did feel like a chore at times.

The downward trajectory continues in the final season, Season 7. By now it is all plot-based and the engagement levels are close to zero. The plots themselves feel like retreads of old ones: there's very little new under the sun. The transformation of previously-likeable characters into irritating characters continues. Lorna is particularly annoying.

There was quite a bit of potential though: several of the ex-inmates are now on the outside, so you get to see how the US deals with ex-cons. This was reasonably interesting, as you see how badly ex-cons are treated by the system and how the odds are stacked in favour of them going back to jail. Unfortunately, the central character in this is Piper, and she's irritating, as always.

The other area that had potential was the sub-plot involving deportees and ICE, as this shows how the US treats illegal immigrants (short answer: not very well). Unfortunately, the writers ruin this by massively overegging the pudding: extreme cases, out-of-the-blue soapbox speeches and political finger-pointing. Rather than address the issues with sensitivity and subtlety, they're rammed down your throat. So preachy.

Season 7 was quite an ordeal to get through. I only put myself through it to see the series through to the end. Even then the writers don't make it easy: 13 episodes with a 1.5-hour final episode! In total that's about 14 hours of my life wasted.

Season ratings: Seasons 1-4: 10/10 Season 5: 9/10 Season 6: 5/10 Season 7: 3/10

Orange is the New Black is every bit as good as everyone says it is and it's definitely worth watching. While some seasons are better than others, they're all worth watching. It also has a very satisfying ending which we all know is hard to do with a good show. In fact the whole last season is one of the best. Bottom line is I was entertained throughout the entire series. This series won a ton of awards throughout its run and for very good reason. Having said that, I think Wentworth is the better show about a women's prison. If you haven't seen this yet do yourself a favor and go check it out.

Hated the latest season, couldn't even finish watching it! Some of the characters are really good and nuanced. The last season seemed to be going nowhere & similar plots just going round in circles. I hated watching one character fall in love with her rapist so not good to depict that. Too much normalising of porn, even tho in reality so few women watch it. Too much objectification of both men and women. Though I was glad to see nudity featured all sorts of body types and not always in a sexualised way.

The first seasons were good, fun, addicting. But what happened?! Especially season 6, like wth I can't even... This bs 'war' between Carol and Barb?! No one gives a sh*t and it was too childish for words. And not to mention this awful annoying character 'Badison'. From her face, her background story to her freakin' annoying way of talking: I think most people hated her to the core.

Also, most of the original cast disappeared. And of the ones who remained: Piper and Alex' lovestory became boring a long time ago, and what was the role of Flaca even?! Doing some radioshow that wasn't even funny? I was glad Blanca got a bigger role tho, she's always been funny as hell :)