They’re still having a riot
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Netflix
AS we go back behind bars for a sixth series of the comedydrama set in a women’s prison, it’s all change for the ladies of Litchfield.
Not least because they’re in big trouble. After the fatal events of last season ( following a riot, two guards ended up dead), now comes the fallout.
Favourites including Piper, Daya and Red are all in new highsecurity cells, solitary confinement or psych evaluations.
“Crazy Eyes” Suzanne is struggling with her mental health, caught in a web of her own hallucinations and the very real lies she needs to tell to protect her fellow inmates.
It’s no wonder Uzo Aduba has been nominated for two Golden Globes for this role.
What started in season one as Piper’s story (it’s based on the true tale of a goody-two-shoes who ended up in jail) now belongs to a wider group.
We see imaginative fantasies and flashbacks as we learn what’s happened since that riot. We become immersed in their new environment – which is so brutal even the showers have handcuffs.
And we definitely feel their pain: the opening scenes contain stylish narratives about self-harm, abuse and emotional damage.
“Everything is just fine,” says Russian matriarch Red, but her prison family is in more danger than ever. It’s a good job there’s so much heart and humour to offset the darkness.
And the writers make everyone so human, including the new guards, who casually play rock, paper, scissors as they decide how to torture the prisoners next.