Orange is the New Black

[Night Fury]

..Starts again this month! :)

I'm catching up on the last two series before it comes back on. I'm obsessed with it, can NOT stop watching.
God Piper's shit bores me. I would quite happily watch a show centered solely around Poussey though. She is hands down 100% the best damn character in the whole show.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/degrassi/images/d/db/Poussey_(1).gif/revision/latest?cb=20140831214049

I know there have been a couple threads on this show, but they're OLD. So I made a new one to discuss the new season when it arrives! :D

[Jinx]

I have the biggest crush on Poussey. Moar Poussey, please.

[Shauna]

More of everyone except Piper and her related drama. Always the worst part of any episode.

But yes, I am excited.

[charliepanayi]

Just working my way through season 3 now. Great show.

Sure, Piper is annoying (they seem to be very aware of this in season 3, poking fun at her cluelessness about her privileged upbringing), but I have a crush on Taylor Schilling, so I'm OK with her.

...what?

[Slothy]

I don't know, i found piper a lot more interesting by the end of last season when she went full ice cold sociopath on that chick. I should watch last season again maybe before this starts.

[Del Murder]

I wonder when she will go full Heisenberg.

[Calliope]

FREE NICHOLS

[Night Fury]

Can I just admit how much I hate the theme song/opening for this show though? Like I fucking love Regina Spector but I hate that song. Skip it every time.

[Jinx]

I think I'm the only person who absolutely adores it. It's a little corny in the contexts of the show ("you've got tiiiiime") but as a song I think it's so cool.

[Shauna]

I also like the song Jinx. Matt hates it, though, so we are split on the matter.

[Night Fury]

I really hate the close ups of the faces too, it just makes me feel really uncomfortable haha.

[Del Murder]

All of Netflix's opening credits are incredibly long and boring.

[Calliope]

Can't sleep...going to start watching the new episodes now.

[Jinx]

HOW COULD THEY KILL POUSSEY

HOW

HOW

SHE WAS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE CHARACTER ON THIS SHOW

[Night Fury]

There's...... a lot to unpack here.

[Jinx]

I'm actually kind of disappointed with Netflix. I think they could've pushed the release date back a week or two. With the Orlando shooting just last week, I think it was just incredibly poor timing to release this season where one of the most beloved characters--an out lesbian--was killed. Poussey went through so much trout, and she was finally in a loving and healthy relationship with someone who loved her back, her future was looking extremely bright. It just sucks.

[Calliope]

+Nichols
+Reading Americanah
+Showing the awful impact that working in a prison - or in combat - can have
+"All Latinas love Morrissey"
+"My life is the evidence"

-Poussey! Ugh, that was awful and sad
-Burset's treatment and resulting mental health crisis
-Molly's treatment and resulting mental health crisis
-The general control and torture tactics of the prison staff in general
-Doggett forgiving Coates

This season was chilling, calculated, and timely - although yes, perhaps they could have put the show on hold for a couple of weeks; or even just the last couple of episodes. In particular, this storyline has a lot in common with the fates of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland. This season goes out of its way to show how incarcerated persons are "othered", and how those in power do not use it to create positive change. In the work I have done for Books to Prisoners, I have read a lot of letters from inmates that talk about loopholes that result in barriers to access for incarcerated persons in all kinds of care and resources. They are not considered people. In that regard, this season was a success.

[Del Murder]

This season started off nice and cheery but took a turn for the dark. I would have preferred the opposite! Still, for the reasons Nicky mentioned, it was very successful at delivering its message.

[Miriel]

Absolutely emotionally gutted by the end of this season.

As for delaying the show, that would have been super unnecessary in my opinion. This show celebrates lesbian characters on a level unheard of on television. Why should showcasing that kind of richly varied and interesting lesbian characters be delayed?

And in the end, what happened to Poussey was about a smurfed up prison system, a smurfed up legal system that puts people of color in jail while young white men get off with nothing but a warning. It had nothing to do with the character being lesbian other than to show us what a sweet and lovely relationship she had with Brooke and to further wrench our hearts out of our chests with the knowledge of what a genuinely good and kind person we've now lost in the OITNB universe. I was so beside myself after the episode. There was no one they could have chosen for death that would have been as impactful as Poussey. And so now, a day later, I can process it and understand why it had to be her. Who else would have been as heartbreaking?

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

We're back for the seventh and final season.

I was reading an article which had some great points and retrospection about the show's impact as a whole.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/orange-is-new-black-final-season-how-changed-tv-essay-861438/

I agree that back in season 1 Piper's ignorance and privilege as she goes into prison doubles as a trojan horse for the audience POV as we get to learn about the more diverse, interesting, broader stories of the ensemble cast which are really the heart of the show.

It also struck me looking back how this was kind of one of the first shows to get streaming services like Netflix treated seriously as a rival for network television, instead of a glorified movie rental service.

I'm really enjoying this final season. I've only got a few episodes left.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I still haven’t really watched this show outside of bits and pieces, but my wife loves it. She seems to enjoy the final season so far. I’ll probably only watch it if she ever decides to do a rewatch of the whole thing though.

[Night Fury]

I've heard good things about the last season. I'm three episodes in. It's been incredibly heavy so far so it's not really as bingey as some of the other seasons. But I'm looking forward to it.

So sad to see Red going into, what I think, is dementia. I called it on her first scene so I'm worried for her. It reminds me a lot of the inmate with dementia who they just let out of prison with no support system.

[Jinx]

This season destroyed me.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

As I was saying in chat, after powering through the early seasons (5 was my favourite) I've struggled to get through Season 6. However my guess is that a somber/somewhat tragic ending to the series will make the impact of Seasons 5-6 that much stronger.

[Jinx]

Season 6 is a rough watch because it's very topical. The show in general is, but watching the justice system so thoroughly fail someone--especially a woman of color--is so realistic to what happens in the real world. Season 7 is much the same, as it deals a lot with ICE detainees on top of it all.

It's some sad shit, and while I feel like the series has always done a good job of bringing levity, it's not an easy watch when you realize everything being portrayed is really happening right now.