'Orange Is the New Black'

When it comes to original TV shows, Netflix is one of the pros at producing them. One of its more popular series is Orange is the New Black. The show initially revolved around Piper Chapman, who is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a women’s federal prison. As the series progresses, we still follow Piper’s story, but we also get a look into the other inmates' lives.

It has won countless primetime Emmys and other awards throughout its seven-season run and has garnered a very loyal following of viewers. With the seventh and final season having been released this year, I thought it was appropriate to write up what I thought of the show throughout each season.

What did I like?

• The Characters: Seeing as this show is based around an array of characters is really a good thing that the different characters who come and go are interesting to watch. Whether, it’s a guest appearance, a one series regular, or one of the main seven across the whole show, each character is written in detail, and given as much of back-story as their narrative arc allows.
• Some of the standout characters would be Taystee, Cindy, Suzanne, Nicky, Gloria, and Poussey; these are some of the main characters from the show, and they have such fleshed-out stories that I felt like I knew them as actual people. From dramatic to comedic, their stories were so interesting to watch and develop, even if there was utter heartbreak along the way.
• Hard-Hitting Topics: The one thing that kept me coming back to this show was its ability to tackle really tough topics; from racism to suicide. There were some moments where the topics were slightly trivialized from my perspective, but these were eclipsed by the moments where the show slowed down, and dealt with the matter at hand.
• Although, there are moments that are so horrible to watch, it was still important to watch and learn from what was happening, as it simply reflects what is happening in real life. One such moment was the death of Poussey at the hands of a prison guard. This pretty much makes up the whole of the fifth season, with repercussions continuing into six and seven. It was heartbreaking to watch, but really gave the characters something that changed them entirely.
• Good balance of comedy: For all the moments of seriousness and emotion that this show is full of, it also intricately balanced with funny moments. Where some characters have heartbreak, others will be there to bring some light relief to the situation: whether it is for the character who is suffering, or for the audience hoping for some sort of light at the end of the tunnel.
• Cindy ‘Black Cindy’ being one of my favourites from the show, someone who is able to jump from scene to scene with a spontaneous energy that seems to calm all around her. Of course, she does have her moments of drama, which, due to her sunnier disposition, make them even more heartbreaking to watch unfold.

Series by Series…

Series 1

Obviously as the first season, this was the one that kept me going throughout the whole series. From the get-go I found the show to be entertaining and funny, and unlike anything I had watched before. This was a great season to see how some of the inmates ended up in prison; it was also the only season that I actually enjoyed watching Piper’s storyline; especially with the violent end to the series suggesting an interesting path for the character.

Series 2

Continuing from the first season, I was still encouraged by the entertainment of this series. The dark themes that were present in this series remained; if anything they started to ramp up more. Here we are first introduced to a series-long villain in Vee. The conflict that arose with this introduction was great, and really threw the characters’ initial introductions down new and interesting paths. It was also interesting to watch the guards and those who run the prison keeping certain events under wraps to avoid judgment from the public.

Series 3

Ah yes, I actually had to Google what happened in this series. That says a lot really, just from reading what happened, it turns out I can’t remember this series very well, because not a lot happens. One part of this series that I remember is the inclusion of Ruby Rose as a recurring character; this is entirely because I did not enjoy her being in the show—the character was a pain, and just kind of annoyed me.

Series 4

This is where things started to pick up again. This was a great season that went back to where it began. We see the prisoners dealing with a stronger and more dominant threat from imposing new prison guards. Here we see the introduction of Piscatella, a ruthless and downright evil guard. Weirdly, I really enjoyed this character being in the show—he was absolutely barbaric, but was completely right for showing what prison guards can truly be like. Then there is the ending—I’ve never cried so hard when Poussey was killed, more so from Taystee’s reaction to it all. It was such a jaw-dropping ending; superbly acted, and expertly handled by the writers.

Series 5

Now, this is my favourite season of them all. It seemed to be where all the storylines of the past series were leading too. With the death of one of the shows most beloved characters acting as a driving force for the riot that takes place across the series; it is by far the most intense and heartbreaking series to watch. The writing for this series was absolutely superb, and took on so many big topics and nailed each one. It was also this series where Taystee really comes into her own; heartbroken by the loss of her friend, she is trying to bring about change within the prison to stop anything like that happening again.

Series 6

The penultimate season of the show was a good breather after the drama of the last season. Still intense and hard-hitting, it feels like a more precise narrative that deals with the effects from the past season. The inmates have been split up and a plot to blame them for the death of a guard is being plotted. This was a gripping season that dealt with the injustice that inmates can face, with prison guards acting more brutal and aggressive towards the prisoner—more specifically towards Daya, physically beating her for nothing. Once again the ending doesn’t hold back; a grave injustice is brought against Taystee, who is found guilty for killing a guard, something she didn’t do. The look on her face when she is found guilty is almost as heartbreaking as her seeing Poussey’s dead body.

Series 7 – THE FINALE:

Such a fitting ending to a brilliant series. For me, I wasn’t sure how they’d be able to realistically end the show. They couldn’t all just be released from prison—that’s not how it works. Thankfully they didn’t go for this. Some inmates were released (Piper being one), and the show explores how they cope with the outside world; some thrive and manage to move on, others struggle. Then there were others left in prison, either making the most of their time inside, or some just reverting back to old ways and dealing with the consequences. In essence, this ending should have been rather unimpressive however, the characters’ arcs had come to an end in such a way that this was the only fitting solution. Of course, the credits were filled with good-bye bows from the cast and crew both new and old, it was so lovely to wave goodbye to these wonderful characters.

Overall

I was thoroughly impressed with this show. Yes, there were moments when I found a series to be boring, or some plots were just a bit bizarre to comprehend (the chicken plot being one that comes to mind). I was drawn in by intriguing plots and impressive writing, and I stayed for the characters; wonderfully written and full of life, whether they were good or bad, or somewhere in between, I couldn’t help but love them all.