WORDS Eva Short
If the success of Netflix’s latest original series venture Orange is the New Black (OITNB) could be summed up in one word, the word would be “unprecedented”. The show doesn’t have the cast of familiar faces that Kevin Spacey and David Fincher’s House of Cards had, nor was it supported by a rigorous ad campaign as the Season 4 reboot of Arrested Development was. In spite of all this, OITNB has set the internet ablaze with excitement – fans have quickly consumed the entire series, one episode after another, and now await the second with bated breath. At it’s back, the show has a distinctively quirky and sharp brand of humour as well as a bevy of talented female actresses, though we’ve come to expect nothing less from its creator Jengi Kohan (otherwise known as the creator of critically acclaimed Showtime comedy, Weeds). This show is yet another string in Netflix’s bow as the online streaming service continues to venture into on-demand network territory, and amid discussions with the likes of The Weinstein Co. and The Wachowskis, it seems Netflix has no intention of slowing its momentum.
It has set the internet ablaze with excitement – fans have quickly consumed the entire series, one episode after another, and now await the second with bated breath
OITNB revolves around New York twenty-something Piper Chapman (Taylor Schulling) as she is forced to leave her iPhone and artisan bath products behind to serve time for a crime committed a decade prior. Throughout the series Piper learns, most often the hard way, about the pecking order in Lichfield Correctional facility – and by the end of the first season, she seems to be finding her footing. Whilst audiences are initially endeared to Piper by the encounters that contribute to showing just how charmed and sheltered an existence she has hitherto led, she ultimately becomes quite difficult to sympathize with. The way Piper handles her problems – ranging from her struggles to maintain relationships with people on ‘the outside’ to on-going tension with also-incarcerated old flame Alex Vause – only demonstrate how flawed a character she really is. She constantly teeters on the edge of anti-heroism, and in any given episode she can seem whiny and entitled one moment before going on to show surprising new-found resolution in the next.
Luckily, around the time that Piper begins to grate on viewers, the show shifts focus to the vastly more interesting other inmates. Episodes are interweaved with flashbacks showing the lives of the women pre-Lichfield and the ill-advised choices they made that landed them in their sad situation. We meet characters such as fan-favourite Taystee, a vivacious young woman who runs the prison library (Brooks Hatlen’s more spirited female cousin, maybe) and at one point hilariously proclaims that Ulysses is “bullshit”. There’s Janae, a once-promising track star that gets caught up with a criminal boyfriend. There’s Claudette, Piper’s no-nonsense Haitian roommate with an air of mysticism to her. All of these characters are impressively portrayed by the actresses at the core of the show, many of whom claim that OITNB has been their first “big break”. Performances to look out for include Danielle Brooks (Taystee), Taryn Manning (Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Dogget, meth head and Christian zealot) and transgender actress LaVerne Cox who plays transgender inmate Sophia. The only rub is Kate Mulgrew’s at times choppy accent in her role as fiery Russian, Red.
This is not a show solely about female prisoners – the staff of Lichfield are an equally captivating bunch. Corruption is rife in how government funding is allocated and how correctional officers handle their positions of power, to the point that the staff seem just as, if not more, morally ambiguous than the women they’re claiming to rehabilitate. This serves as a nice contrast to the prison life as well as adding a degree of parodic social commentary and humour.
Credit has to be given to Netflix, whom have adopted the HBO approach to commissioning shows; they take out long term contracts of one to two seasons and then step back, allowing creators the breathing room they need to develop their projects. The sheer size and variety of the show’s cast can be attributed to Kohan reportedly writing in extra roles to accommodate the number of outstanding audition tapes she received and to afford opportunities to upcoming young actresses attempting to break into television for the first time.
The show has been written in such a way that it is clear the first season is intended to be the first of many – the finale ends with various plot arcs still in the air and other potential plots not yet explored. This is perhaps because even before Orange is the New Black was released, the show was renewed for a second season. With good reason, all involved have faith in this firecracker; it’s funny, witty and eminently charming. It’s yet another win for Netflix – and perhaps, a reason to believe that Netflix and companies like it are where the future of television lies.
Season One of Orange is the New Black is available to stream on-demand on Netflix Ireland, with Season Two due to hit laptop screens in early 2014.
