Orange is the New Black

Kmac: A upper-class woman makes friends and enemies in a women’s prison sounds like the premise for a late night movie, not an hour long drama. But this new show, from the creator of Weeds, certainly makes the most of its premise and makes you care not just about the main character, Piper, who is played wonderfully by the relatively unknown Taylor Schilling, but also about the wide array of racially and socioeconomically diverse prisoners who also make up the prison ecosystem. Netflix debuted three original series this season, and this was by far the least publicized and the most deserving of praise.

Orange is the new Black tells the story of Piper, a well-off white woman, who goes to prison after a college relationship gone awry had her smuggle a suitcase of what turned out to be drug money. Now before the 12 year statute of limitations has run, she is sentenced to a year in women’s prison for her role. Her story, as well as that of the other inmates, is told through flashbacks to their time before prison. This allows the viewer to better see the inmates as people and I enjoyed finding out what everyone did and how it affected their life on the inside. All the characters felt real. If you didn’t find out a back-story, you started hoping for season 2.

And I do hope there is a season 2. This season leaves Piper about midway through her prison sentence at Christmas time. It also ends with one heck of a cliffhanger. Without giving too much away, the show had made a point thus far of saying that women fight more with their words than with actual physical violence. The last episode turns this on its head in a way that is actively terrifying. This is more of the women’s prison that was in my imagination and my imagination was right to want to follow all the rules and never end up there.

The reason the violence comes as such a shock is that the general demeanor of so many of the inmates tricks you into thinking maybe it’s not so bad. As a sociological study it is fascinating to see the rules the inmates set up for themselves that govern their day to day action. For instance they call each other by their last names to keep some separation between their inside and outside lives. Or the complex barter system for commissary goods that can buy you everything from a dye job to a strategic favor. Some are funny, some, like the voluntary segregation of the races, can be uncomfortable, but they all shed light on a different world most people don’t think a lot about. For those wanting to dig deeper, the real Piper wrote a book about her experience that is entitled the same as the series. I know it is number one on my Kindle wish list.

I can hear the trepidation some people will have. Will there be nudity, cursing, and lesbianism? The answer is yes. You could not tell the story realistically without these things. However, after the first episode the frequency of nudity goes way down. It is one of those things that if the story is interesting enough I will look past, but fair warning has been given to the squeamish.

I give this series 4 out of 5 prison khakis and screwdriver shivs.