I’m assuming you didn’t spend your whole night binging the new season of Orange Is the New Black if you’re reading this sentence. That’s all right, enjoy your freedom to have jobs or obligations, unlike the ladies of Litchfield. But bingers, this is the riot season of OITNB, so clear your other weekend obligations and start hacking away at your fav “prison dramedy.” (Oy vey, that genre.)
Unlike you, I toiled away watching Piper and Big Boo and Poussey, and compiled this spoiler free list of things you can expect. The show may meander a bit, but it’s still rewarding. Remember to pace yourself, however, because it’ll be at least a year before you get any more of it.
The women at Litchfield Penitentiary finally take control this season, but what happens after the overlords are overthrown? Even though the show is a prison dramedy, season four ended on the drama side of the genre, with one of the darkest moments in the show’s history. With Poussey dead and a gun showdown with the guards, viewers knew season five would begin with a bang (literally). But don’t be scared; the early part of this new season of OITNB returns to its clever (and often problematic strange) comedic roots. The show itself contains this season by hyper focusing in on the days of the prison riot, which is exciting and boring, depending on the episode.
but people definitely slip in blood.
Someone has to die, right? Even if that season four gun battle finale is resolved with zero casualties, how does the show maintain itself without killing off at least a fifth of its cast? A killer virus needs to wipe through a wing of Litchfield for the sake of narrative clarity. (Meh, they’d probably all survive it anyhow. As Judy King says in the season five opener: “It’s not so easy to shake this mortal coil.”) BUT I WON’T TELL YOU IF SOMEONE DIES because this is a spoiler free preview. So, I’ll just say this: there will be people slipping in blood.
Way, way long ago, when OITNB was a silly online thing and seen as more of an odd experiment than game-changing Emmy magnet, the show first picked up press for its depiction of queer/lesbian/pick-your-gay-term relationships. Ladies banging ladies in prison AND it was funny? The gall! This season is the same but with more prison nooky. Turns out prison riots can get a little boring (who knew there’s so much downtime during a siege?), and the inmates get frisky.
OITNB has one of the largest casts on TV, which is often the show’s saving grace. Jenji Kohan, the pioneering creator behind Weeds and OITNB, tempers her propensity for wacky, two-dimensional characters by adding way too many of them. In the early seasons, it wasn’t clear if this was going to work. Now in season five, this tactic has proven to win over viewers.
Flashbacks have been the main vehicle for character development over the course of the show, and season five is no different. Thought you new everything? Surprise! You forgot about all those characters who haven’t been given their own flashback episodes yet.
Every inmate has their own feelings regarding the meandering riot of season five. Some are hatching their prison break. Some are in it for the drugs they can steal. Perhaps most tragically, Taystee Jefferson, played by rising star Danielle Brooks, wants to avenge the death of Poussey. Her tactic? Going viral. But Taystee may just discover what everyone on the internet already knows: tweeting is hard. Even throwing a prison riot doesn’t guarantee followers. Womp womp.
