TV Review: Orange Is The New Black

It took me some time to jump into this one, but once I did, I was pretty glad to see where they’ve gone with it. Orange Is The New Black is the newest series made in-house by Netflix, who has already won my heart through the David Fincher led House of Cards. I was leery, since this show was created and produced by the mind behind Weeds, which I didn’t care for despite the immense popularity. For some reason I buy a woman getting thrown into prison for 15 months over drugs than I do a housewife running a drug cartel through her suburban house for 8 seasons. But what do I know? 

Drugs aside, Taylor Schilling's performance as Piper Chapman (her name on the show, as opposed to Piper Kerman; the show is based on Kerman's memoir) is quite exhilarating  I’m not going to say it’s the best thing (not) on TV right now, but she brings a dynamic to a show that simply transcends what others are doing right now. The believability of these characters is what keeps things interesting. Once I got past the obvious focus on lesbianism at the start of the 13-episode series, I binged on the rest of the episodes just because I wanted to see what the girl would do next. The best performances came when we saw flashbacks of who she (and other inmates) were before their life behind bars, and the show has a way of displaying just how much an experience like this can change you.

The full cast of characters is an excellent addition to the show.

The chemistry between Schilling and the other inmates is often fascinating to watch, and other times it’s just downright chilling. What do you do when you walk into prison and the first person you meet decides you will be her wife for the foreseeable future? Even when she runs into the woman who may or may not have given her name to the feds (no spoilers here) and reignites a passionate affair with her (Alex Vause, played by That 70’s Show veteran Laura Prepon), the moments between the two are heavy with thematic material. True romance is hard to come by on TV these days (at least from what I’ve seen), and Schilling and Prepon have it down pat, all the way through the roller coaster that is Chapman’s first months in “the clink”. Another particularly memorable character is Red, the prison’s lead kitchen help. From the beginning, we see her go from the queen of the kitchen, to getting her boots shaken and her life turned upside down. Again, the best times are when we learn where she came from.

What kept me watching up through the very end was gunning for Chapman, wondering if she’d figure out exactly what was going wrong and how to fix it. I don’t want to compare Orange to Breaking Bad, since it’s taken Walter White four seasons to become the man he is now, but it seems like the creators and writers wanted to show how far down someone can get when their life turns into one massive screw up. They’ve done it well.

All 13 episodes of the first season of Orange Is The New Black are streaming on Netflix now. Note: the show has garnered an MA rating, so be forewarned of foul language and sexuality. What are your thoughts on Orange Is The New Black? Give your opinion in the comments below, on Twitter, and Facebook!