Spoilers ahoy, as we dissect season 5 of Orange Is The New Black…
Traditionally, US TV shows cover about a years time within the fictional world of the series.
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The format can work.
But does it work forOrange Is The New Black?
The problem is, the backdrop of this season is a prison riot.
This is a very serious situation and not the place for anything but the blackest of gallows humour.
IfOrange Is The New Blackhad really embraced that more consistently dramatic format it might have done better.
The situation is too serious and the story too continuous for such an odd one-hour tonal shift to work.
There are other problems with this season as well.
It stretches credibility to what might, for some, be breaking point.
Season 1 ofOrange Is The New Blackwas loosely based on Piper Kermans non-fiction memoir and was correspondingly realistic.
This has apparently been there for years how long has the pool been empty?
Does no one ever check it?
Why dont the SWAT teams find it at first didnt they check for people hiding in the lockers?
Wasnt Frieda in Max for murder originally how long has she been at Litchfield?
How did she smuggle an entire computer in there?
The flashbacks are also not quite as well deployed as they have been in past seasons.
More recently, weve also been given more insight into the guards through flashbacks as well.
All this sounds very negative, but this season is not a total disaster.
Its also interesting to see the shows usual tribal units along race lines start to break down.
The consequences from all of this will have to be tremendous for the show to maintain any credibility whatsoever.
All in all, this season ofOrange Is The New Blackis far from a disaster.
Perhaps starting with a six-year time jump is the best way to go!
