Orange is the New Black: Season 5

     If you were to put season five of Orange is the New Black next to the first season, you'd see familiar faces but completely different characters. The show has gone into quite a different direction from where it initially seemed to be headed - for better or for worse. Warning: Spoilers ahead.

     I finished watching the new season of OITNB in about three days. I just lucked out that the weekend it dropped was also a weekend I didn't have to work. *praise hands*

     The show has definitely taken a turn from its initial light-hearted nature. The first few seasons maintained a balance,  being dark and violent but also funny and light. They had contentious drama-filled scenarios, but also minutes of pure laughter and hilarity. This new season maintains that but not quite the way it used to. This season was easily the most political one yet - and reasonably so given how our country is doing. A plot-line present throughout all thirteen episodes is Taystee seeking justice for Poussey's wrongful death. There is an emphasis on the idea of "saying her name." This proves to be both moving and disorienting throughout the season. The quest for justice is a well-motivated one and feels all too personal given the police brutality here in USAmerica, but it's also because of this that the season becomes a bit confusing to watch. Taystee's cause feels almost too modern, and between her and the conversation Flaca and Maritza have basically discussing the concept of influencers, the show only falls deeper into the ambiguous and unclear time space it inhabits. Is it present day? Is it 2014? Earlier? Later? The show doesn't seem to ever clarify and the new season only makes it muddier.

     The new season also moves really slow. In my opinion, it doesn't really pick up until the eighth episode. Up until episode eight, things have been happening at a somewhat steady and even pace. Episode eight feels like a turning point. Episode eight feels like a game changer. Part of that is because of the incredible performance given by Uzo Aduba. If she wasn't already, Suzanne becomes a favorite this season. Not only that, she becomes a cause for real concern, not taking her involvement in Poussey's death and her loss of routine due to the prison takeover very well. I found myself physically responding to her turmoil and verbally hoping she'd be okay.

     Something I really appreciate about this season (and a bit of the last one as well) is the relationship between Pennsatucky and Doughnuts. Before you grab the pitchforks, hear me out: I don't want them to be together. In fact, I don't think anyone wants them to be together. Doughnuts is a fucking rapist, there are absolutely no ways around it. But the presence of this relationship is extremely important because it shows just how complicated things can be for a survivor. Everything is not always black and white, and even though your abuser did something awful to you, you can still have feelings for your abuser. It's something that's not discussed enough, especially in the mainstream media, and I think it's a conversation we need to open up. The conflict Pennsatucky feels is human and real, and I thank all involved for giving that life.

     Another motif of note is the ever-present theme of people being thrust into positions of leadership. Daya, Alex, and Taystee are all thrust into positions of leadership in their own respective ways and they all deal with it differently. Daya is thrust into "top bitch" position just by holding the gun. This doesn't rest well with her, and after she shoots Humps, we watch her quickly unravel mentally. Alex is thrust into a leadership position after somewhat confessing her murder and being the only one to stand up against the prison riot, and neither she nor Piper wants it. Even when Alex tells all her followers that she's just trying to live her life, they don't leave and insist that they're just doing the same. Taystee is thrust into leadership as she has to navigate the negotiations for ending the prison riot and getting justice for Poussey. And to be 100% honest: she fucks it up. Big time. She doesn't know the game that she's playing and she holds out too long. Because of this, she loses everything for everyone, and an onslaught of violence ensues. Each woman deals with their newfound power in different ways and NONE OF THEM does it perfectly. That's what makes it so perfect.

     Two things that can suck my taint: Officer Bayley. He was given too much screen time and too much sympathy. It was clear from the way his scenes were written and shot that we should care about him and sympathize with the emotional stress he's under. I ain't buying that shit. This isn't because of him killing Poussey, either. This is because he's full of shit. He spends all this time skulking around, crying, saying he wishes he could make things right. He even has the audacity to visit Poussey's father to try and bring himself some peace.

     Fuck that. If Bayley was truly concerned with making things right and trying to enact change, he would do something. He would stop trying to get himself arrested (which is CLEARLY not working) and fight for a damn cause instead. He could get involved in the prisoners' riot, find a way to lobby their protest, offer support, spread the word about the gross conditions at Litchfield. This riot is all over the news and the internet, there is no damn way he doesn't know about it. But instead of contributing, instead of helping enact change and using his personal experience as leverage in making things better at Litchfield so that an incident like his never happens again, he spends his free time drinking pet dye and crying to whoever will listen. Hell no. Bayley gets no sympathy from me.

     The other thing that can suck my taint: Piscatella's death. It was too safe. Maybe I'm vindictive, but I want a death that means something. His didn't. It was happenstance, it was random. If anything, it was done as a courtesy to the audience. It was the product of an undertrained guard (am I sensing a theme?) not knowing what they're doing and because of that, not too satisfying. I would have liked it better if we could have watched Red take him out with a cheese grater. But maybe I'm a little too vindictive. I'll talk to my therapist about that.

     Overall, it was a pretty decent season. The final scene left more to be desired in my opinion. It was dramatic but not cliffhanging. I wasn't left begging for more. I can wait until the next season.

     Before I close, one scene stood out to me more than the others, and that was Suzanne's face washing scene in episode ten. As she cleans off the offensive white makeup put on her face, she says:

"Love the face God gave you, Suzanne. Black is beautiful. From your hair to your derriere, your nose to your toes. You make all the colors pop! Wash your face or you'll get acne. Don't pick the acne or you'll get scars!
Your skin is beautiful. Like walnut wood and soil. And western coneflowers. And old metal. And dark maple syrup in brown jars. But wear a hat, or else your skin will get darker. And always, always moisturize."

     Word. Your skin is beautiful. Always moisturize.