Orange Is The New Black (Season 5)
With this, its fifth season, Jenji Kohan’s Orange Is The New Black remains one of the most inclusive series on Netflix – having a cast of phenomenally talented women and men, and a ten-strong writing team for 2017 that boasts seven women. Having launched in 2013, based on the memoir of writer Piper Kerman, this Netflix Original series continues to hold pride of place as one of the streaming platforms biggest successes in original programming.
The reason for that success is its evolution. It began life focused on the character of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), as she was convicted of a ten-year old crime of carrying drug money for her ex-girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon). Sentenced to 18 months in a women’s prison, the first season was largely driven by the idea of culture shock, while introducing a host of brilliant, complex characters as fellow inmates.
It’s that early investment in those other characters that has led us to the current state of affairs, where Orange Is The New Black is a true ensemble show, in which every character gets to shine. From Danielle Brooks’ Taystee Jefferson, to Selenis Leyva’s Gloria Mendoza; from Nick Sandow’s Joe Caputo, to Kate Mulgrew’s Red Reznikov. Every episode is filled to bursting with standout performances.
But, this 13-episode fifth season in particular is an outstanding achievement, because it picks up immediately after the closing moments of season 4 – which saw a stand-off between inmates and officers in the aftermath of the death of Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley). In the opening episode of season 5, that stand-off escalates to a full-scale riot, with the inmates taking over the facility. A core group of Poussey’s closest friends use the riot to demand better treatment and a proper, public investigation into her death, while others take the opportunity to seize power.
The entire season consists of this scenario playing out, with each character progressing in response to the crisis – and this makes for truly compelling television. As each inmate, prison officer, and bureaucrat wrestles with the social contracts, issues and implications of the situation, the drama is driven forward like a freight-train – with director Erin Feeley’s episode 9 (“The Tightening”) in particular bringing elements of classic horror and suspense to the darkened hallways of Litchfield Women’s Prison.