Orange is the New Black Season 6

After a season or so of faffing about, OITNB looks like its back on track. We may not have thought it possible, but some of our beloved characters actually might get happy (ish) endings. Or they'll at least get endings.

Orange is The New Black has changed a lot since it started. Can we actually believe its been five years since Piper first set foot in Litchfield and had Suzanne piss on her cell floor? Nope, neither can I. It's natural that a series with so many characters would go through fluctuations, have deaths and new people come along. But the last season had a real overhaul. The inmates were literally split in two and we lost half of the girls that we love so much. This is where my main issue with the show's development lies. Yes- actors contracts don't last forever, but the way that women have disappeared and been replaced from the show kind of reflects the issues the programme has raised in the first place. If the show wasn't so popular then it would be easy to believe it was just for the sake of narrative, but it has gone on SO long now that the inmates are becoming as interchangeable to audiences as they are to the real life guards which abuse women daily within the system. SO, maybe that's the point? Or maybe I'm looking into it too deeply. And maybe it's just me being bitter about how much I desperately miss half of the girls.

But I do have a lot of praise for this season as well, which I didn't for the last. The show is ultimately moving with the times, and feminism is becoming a side issue, rather than a primary concern. That doesn't mean that feminism has been forgotten. A very poignant parallel between Merkola and Maria (who you might remember torturing each other in Season 5) reminds us that the problems which women face are just as troubling outside of prison as they are within. Merkola is a female guard surrounded by a lot of testosterone, and her storyline in this season was really touching, while Maria undergoes a convincing journey of retribution from the position of gang leader she's had since Season 3.

This season problems within the justice system are brought to the forefront ahead of issues with incarceration itself. It's clever how the show has got us intensely attached to all these women, only to turn them against each other against their choice. While previous seasons have had villains within the prison, this time the only bad guy is the system. A system which destroys the lives of many for the sake of clerical efficiency. A system which is racist. A system which is broken and can only by fixed by the people who have made it that way. OITNB has always taken a dark turn at some point, but this time it hits home because it's happening every day. It was all very well showing atrocities in a mildly unrealistic prison riot, but there's enough murder trial documentaries on Netflix now to show that this is an issue that goes further than we can ever understand.

Amidst all these current affairs I enjoyed this season a lot more than previous ones. But its really hard to enjoy something that each moment is becoming more of a documentary than fiction.




Image Source : http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/orange-is-the-new-black/news/a862769/orange-is-the-new-black-confirms-piper-return-season-7/