Orange is the New Black: Review

Orange Is the New Black is a Netflix original American comedy-drama series created by Jenji Kohan and first released on Netflix on July 11, 2013.

The main focus is on a thirty-something year old woman called Piper Chapman, portrayed by Taylor Schilling, who by all appearances has her life together. She is suddenly sentenced to a 15-month prison stay at Litchfield Correctional Facility in Danbury, Connecticut, for transporting drug money 10 years prior by the request of her ex-girlfriend Alex (Laura Prepon). Once behind bars, Piper struggles not only with the "fishbowl" of prison life, but the challenges of maintaining a long-distance relationship with her fiancé, Larry (Jason Biggs). The show is based on the real experiences of Piper Kerman, it is not a docudrama whatsoever, however her real-life experience does come through in the series. Without giving too much away, here is my review of the first series.

One would think that a series about women-behind-bars would get dull. Each episode offers the "backstory" on one of the female inmates. Some of the story lines are so far fetched and unrealistic that i cant help but believe that they were inspired by the true events. You just cant make this stuff up! Every one of them is flawed and complicated. The show is less about Piper’s journey while behind bars which you would expect, and more about the fascinating people, good or bad, who she meets there. There are so many fascinating female characters written in this one show, that even I was caught a little off guard.

One character that sounds out in the first series is of the supporting cast includes ‘Red’ (Kate Mulgrew), who is the inmate who runs the kitchen. Her back story is probably the most interesting, since she has obvious mafia connections, but it’s not completely drawn out as to how she wound up behind bars which I hope to find out in the second series. Red is defiantly a vicious, tough-as-nails broad who is really vulnerable and human at the same time. Also, ‘Nicky’ played by Natasha Lyonne, is the one character who’s automatically likable as well as inmate ‘Sophia’ (Laverne Cox) who is a male-female transgender, who is one of the best characters in the series. Not forgetting ‘Alex’, who put Piper in there, Alex relies on Piper just as much as Piper relies on her, but you’ll have to watch the series to see how there relationship pants out.  Even characters who seem like they’re not that pivotal to the story are. In each episode, we explore a different character’s back story, and they’re all vastly different, and extremely fascinating.

However my all time favourite character has to be a mentally unstable inmate who develops an obsession with Piper. Suzanne or well known as 'Crazy Eyes' is a lesbian who, according to her prison counsellor Healy, has been a problem in the past, with a violent history. She refers to Piper as "Dandelion" and together are a "Chocolate and Vanilla Swirl", follows her around the prison. After 'Crazy Eyes' puts a request in to bunk together, Piper confronts her and turns down her advances. This causes her to retaliate by urinating on the floor of Piper's cubicle while she is sleeping.

Another thing i love about the creators approach is that she's not scared to show the ugly side of prison. Odd guards and sketchy prison counsellors rule, and every inmate is in a gang - the blacks, the whites, the Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, old people, teenagers. There's a mother and daughter, both there for different crimes involving the same man. And a prison guard is carrying on an affair with an inmate, which is surprisingly one of the happiest plots in the whole show.

I was very surprised at how dark Orange is the New Black  got in its later episodes. Because of this, the show only becomes more interesting the longer it goes on. I truly enjoyed being around these characters. Each episode was more interesting than the last, and it truly ended with a bang. The series probably covered three months of time in its first season, so clearly this show will run for a while. If it continues to be this good, it should go on for as long as possible. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

If you're considering watching this series, I would encourage you to do so. However, just be aware that it's a very raw & gritty series that is totally uncensored & they take full advantage of that. So, with that in mind, if you're in the mood to fade to orange, put on your jumpsuit to join Piper & the girls!