THE RIOT ACT
Prisoners battle guards, each other in ‘Orange’
Ariot story seems obvious and inevitable for any show set in a prison. It’s all the more frustrating when “Orange Is the New Black” takes the idea and spins out its most frustrating season, scattered, occasionally scary, far too often silly.
The Netflix dramedy’s fifth-season opener picks up from last season’s cliffhanger, with Daya (Dascha Polanco), enraged over the senseless death of Poussey, holding a gun on a pair of guards. Most of the other inmates cheer her on.
The gun goes off — because of course it must — and the 13 episodes, in a break from the usual, cover three days of rioting as the women of Litchfield Federal Penitentiary turn on the guards and sometimes each other.
As the prison goes all “Lord of the Flies,” some people want to get high, some people try to make peace and others want a piece of the action. It’s a chance for many inmates to manhandle the correctional officers as they have been abused. When one inmate objects, another says, “Don’t be stupid. He’s a guard, not a person.”
Romance blooms, bad things happen and, yes, some people you may care about die.
Piper (Boston native Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Laura Prepon) would just as soon plan their wedding, but they keep getting drawn back into the chaos. Red (the always-fabulous Kate Mulgrew) seeks to humiliate a guard. Brook (Kimiko Glenn) becomes obsessed with protecting the library’s books. One inmate’s survivalist training and her improbable bunker (perhaps the single most implausible element of the season) becomes vitally important as the episodes grind on.
The fallout, partly because of the size of the sprawling cast, partly because of the tonal shifts, sometimes within the same scene, can be jarring.
“Orange” nails the dramatic moments. It’s the comedy that ranges from banter to slapstick and back that feels out of place, especially as the rioting wears on. One body is given the “Weekend at Bernie’s” treatment, and it’s a joke that gets old in one episode, much less half the season.
The finale ends on another cliffhanger, not nearly so dramatic, but one that warns that if the show returns for another season, it will have to be far different.
Netflix reportedly guaranteed creator Jenji Kohan seven seasons, but given the way the streaming giant has been pulling the plug on some great series lately (“Sense8,” “The Get Down”), anything is possible.
If this were to be “Orange’s” last season, the finale holds up as a series closer. “Was it worth it?” Alex wonders aloud. Viewers will be left with the same question as “Orange” fades to black.