Last Friday at 5pm, Orange Is The New Black came back into our lives.
For many, the next two days involved bingeing the entire season. (No judgement here peeps, in fact, only respect and, from some, a little bit of jealousy.)
And then, an emotional rollercoaster like no other.
You saw Piper announce that she was Gangsta with an ‘A’. You watched a race war break out. You watched a man being hacked to pieces. You watched a couple fall in love. And you watched one of our favourite characters die in an horrendous evocation of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sorry, you may only be up to episode 2. If that’s the case, better look away now.
Super OITNB fan Meri talks to Rosie and Laura about OITNB:
The thing that makes OITNB a show unlike any other is that it takes the stereotypes you see everywhere else on television and spits at them.
Women don’t look one way, or feel one way. Everyone has a back story that explains, but doesn’t excuse, how they ended up in Litchfield. Even the guards.
No-one is 100 per cent ‘good’. No-one is 100 per cent ‘bad’.
Race isn’t something that’s whispered about, or ignored.
Trans people aren’t freakshows, bisexuality isn’t a fetish.
Flashback to that time there were no uniforms at Litchfield. (Post continues after gallery.)
Top Comments
I think this season and especially the final episode also deconstructed the notion of morality. It shows very candidly that even good people can do bad things in some circumstances. The season puts forward the notion that there is no such a thing as a "good person", we are all complex beings. It also shows the human side of violence. That you don't have to be a 'bad' villain to kill (CO Baily, Alex Vos, Lolly for example). The show cleverly challenges what it even means to be bad. I think after the last season, the show has taken a turn for the better with stronger storylines and great acting as usual!
I just watched the last episode of Season 5. Samira's character was so sweet and her smile at the end of the episode was heartbreaking.