The only seasons I like are the first two, especially the second one. In hindsight it should’ve stopped there. Even without a proper conclusion, Orange Is The New Black would’ve been a damn good show. Season 3 brought a sudden and significant drop in quality the series was never able to fully recover from.
my vote : Season 2
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 2 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/51003.jpg "video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 2 ]")
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/84037.jpg)
This is the final season of Orange Is The New Black, a Netflix series that started off good then lost its way. The first half of this season is a return to form; it’s the best, or at least the longest, consecutive episode run since Season 2; but before long, it too drops the soap.
That’s about the time Lolly; the show’s most annoying character after Suzanne, whom she takes care of chickens with here; shows her face and loose ends start to tie. Cue the reemergence of more faces you haven’t seen in a while, including dead ones in flashbacks.
The focus ultimately goes back to Piper, appropriately enough considering the series began from her perspective. It’s a shame her story, having to do with her adjustments to the free world and her romantic feelings for Alex, is among the most mundame.
my rating : 3 of 5
2019
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 4 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/58942.jpg)
The best part of this season has to do with Maritza’s backstory as a car thief. It’s a short bit that has little to do with the overall story arc, but it’s perhaps the only one that provides a sense of genuine suspense. Season 4, while better than 3, isn’t on par with 2 and 1. The series is merely coasting, barely interesting enough to keep watching.
The worst parts are the lame comedy attempts and any time Lolly talks. The psychotic Ellen-lookalike is now, hands down, the most annoying character. She’s even worse than Suzanne and Piper. The show would do better with less of them and more of sexy Latinas Maritza and Marisol. Where can I purchase a pair of their smudgy panties?
That side plot isn’t abandoned, thankfully. This fourth season of Orange is mostly a silly soap opera. Then something dramatic happens near the end. It’s a bad thing for the women of Litchfield but a good thing for viewers seeking drama and tension. The ending, reminiscent of Do The Right Thing, entertains. But it’s a case of too little too late.
my rating : 3 of 5
2016
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 5 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 6 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 3 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/51077-1.jpg)
Well, the first two seasons were good. This one represents a sudden and significant drop in quality. It’s the dialogue and storyline that can’t, for even one episode, rise above mediocrity. The comedy is mostly lame and the drama arcs are silly in comparison to the ruckus Vee, now dead, brought in Season 2.
Inmate Piper Chapman and her baggy eyes have become almost completely unlikeable. The fact that “transsexual” men are still men is (finally) addressed and the plot makes practical use of the women’s dirty panties, but there’s not much else to compliment about this disappointing season.
my rating : 3 of 5
2015
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 4 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 5 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 6 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]
The first episode is an odd departure. After it, the series goes back to normal or at least as normal as it gets at Litchfield. If there does exist a real-life prison with a cast of characters enveloped in a neverending drama storm this entertaining, their story isn’t shot and edited this brilliantly.
Forget Piper Chapman. Her mess of a love life is overshadowed by the other, more interesting people around her; the familiar ones from Season 1. The new inmates are more caricatural than realistic, but Vee at least provides the plot with a major source of conflict and Soso is cute to look at.
my rating : 4 of 5
2014
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 3 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 4 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 5 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 6 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 1 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/50932.jpg)
Piper Chapman is bisexual. I don’t think that word is ever said during the entire season, but that’s what she is. She’s not “straight” nor a “lesbian”. She’s into girls and guys, or at least one of each; her fiancé Larry and her girlfriend Alex. It’s an important distinction because the theme of Orange revolves around sex and romance. It’s a prison soap opera filled with constant drama. The analogy is high school because what’s petty in the real world is serious enough to fight or kill someone for in prison. There are also plenty of laughs. It’s the combination that entices as you find yourself coming back to follow not just the lives of Chapman and her two partners, but also her fellow inmates; one of which really is a fellow.
Why a man, albeit one who alters his body to be like a woman, is sent to a women’s prison is never addressed, though the scenes sometimes cut from current time to backstory. Each episode focuses on one or two characters, and that does wonders to humanize them, but it’s not consistent. Certain people are covered more than once while others are completely overlooked. Also, the initial idea to end each episode with a wild cliffhanger is abandoned after only three. Soon a show that started-off great has settled into an inferior comfort zone. The drama is sometimes over-the-top and the comedy occasionally misses the mark; the Michael Jackson bit comes to mind; but the show is both zany and endearing on the whole.
my rating : 4 of 5
2013
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 2 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 3 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 4 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 5 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 6 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]
