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 6 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/75360.jpg)
They say the worst part of serving a lengthy prison sentence is the beginning. The same goes for this sixth season of Orange Is The New Black. The first episode is bad, especially during an annoying hallucination bit that takes place within its first few minutes, but things get better from there. The series is treading toilet water, but it’s a soap opera that’s at least interesting enough to keep watching. If you can tolerate the two worst main characters, Suzanne and Piper still; Lolly is back too but just for cameos; it settles into a decent, albeit hit-and-miss, balance of comedy and drama.
Then there’s the end, which comes as a surprise. Not in the sense that anything particularly surprising happens in relation to the build-up but that it doesn’t. To be clear, this season ends the way the whole series should end. To continue the story further, considering the way it began from Piper’s perspective as a middle-class white woman trying to adjust to a new life in prison, turns it into some kind of extended epilogue, which throws the concept off balance. Forget trying to tie loose ends. The final words here are, “So what are you gonna do now?” The answer should be left to our imaginations.
my rating : 3 of 5
2018
![video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 5 ]](https://marcellee.com/posts/67722-1.jpg)
This fifth season of Orange Is The New Black starts promisingly enough. The first few episodes, which bring back the suspenseful zeal of the first two seasons; the story continues at the cliffhanger from the end of the previous one; are a pleasant surprise. But before long, the show loses its focus and slips back into the piss-bowl of mediocrity it’s been swimming in for a while. Part of the problem is that, in an attempt to stretch a few days of rioting into a whole season, the tension wears thin. By mid season, the soap opera has once again become mundane.
Lolly is gone and that’s a big relief, but it also means more screen time for, thus more annoyance from, Suzanne. At one point, she almost dies. I wish she would’ve. Cruel as that may be, it’s not as cruel as what some of the women (inmates) of Litchfield do to the guards they manage to capture. It’s humiliation and “torture”, but is it justified? Perhaps. This is a show that takes pleasure in breaking your moral compass. Is it entertaining? At least more than the overall plot arc, which focuses on Taystee’s strong-willed efforts to get justice for Poussey.
Remember, Poussey died. She was killed by a guard. This season is the immediate aftermath. It’s supposed to be anarchical drama. Again, the first few episodes get it right. The rest drag. The closest thing to an exception is the finale, in which men in riot gear finally bust in with smoke bombs, electrified shields and (peppered) bullets. Chaos ensues and the level of watchability rises, but loose ends are tied too conveniently. The ending suggests next season will be a lot different, which could be just what the show needs to get back on track.
my rating : 3 of 5
2017
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 6 ]
video review : Orange Is The New Black [ Season 7 ]
