Orange Is The New Black, (2013-2017): The engaging series that turned sour
- Katherine Goodyear
- Jun 19, 2017
- 2 min read
I was a lover of this series from the moment it came out, it drew me in with the distinctive character development of not only Piper Chapman (Taylor Shilling) but with also the development of other quirky characters, their interests and how they became entrapped. The hype for OITNB became so vast, that it was always on the tip of everyone's tongue, word of mouth spread far. Unfortunately, with a series uploaded onto Netflix every year, I was disappointed (yes, very disappointed) with this years series, as the previous one was left on a dooming cliff hanger, with Daya (Dascha Polanco) aiming a gun at officer Humphrey's head, and all the other inmates pushing her to shoot, I had high hopes for the fifth series, I know that everyone will have their own opinions, depending on their taste in Television, Films and entertainment, but I believe that we can all agree on some of the issues that arise.
With any good series, I believe it should serve purpose, and have a moving narrative structure, just like any other drama or whatever hybrid-genre it maybe. On the contrary, there can be some exceptions, this, is not one of those moments to make an exception. Now we all know the series to always be moving from, primarily from character to character, being a character-driven show. However, in this series, it never really moves location or narrative. I understand that this is due to Litchfield prison being in the midst of a riot, but I believed that they could have made it a lot more interesting, one key factor being that they shouldn't have made the whole series about this riot that essentially, doesn't go anywhere, you feel like you are trying to go up an escalator that is moving down, pointless. I really do think that they could have added a lot more to the new series, just like the other series, that relay more purpose. Not only this, but it could be argued that the new series lacks charisma and comedic value. I only say this because it tackles more serious matters, such as the death of Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley) and the abuse that all the inmates seem to endure in. The show does seem to keep the spectator on they toes, but its been made apparent that it is tackling the serious issues, rather than bringing in the comedy.
Anyhow, OITNB unquestionably helps to bond the spectator to the characters of the show, giving us each back story, how they got in prison, and most importantly, showing us their family and their life before prison, which helps the spectator reminds us that they were normal people before. Using this technique helps us make the characters seem a lot more realistic. Even characters that we aren't too fond of, makes them seem more humane. Yet I still can't forget the downhill spiral that the show has gone down, a series filler its what I call it, which disappoints me. Let's just hope that the year wait for the next series won't be a waste of time.
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