Prison hit pushes characters
True confession: It took me an exceedingly long five days to devour all 13 instalments of Orange Is the New Black’s third season, which was released in its entirety last week on Netflix.
I’m not proud. I had truly believed I was a world-class binger. Sure, I could make excuses: great weekend weather, the beer fest, Jurassic World, cleaning the fish tank, bashing the atom — did I mention the beer fest? But that would be wrong, and mostly a lie.
Hell, I devoured Seasons 1 and 2 of House of Cards, Seasons 1 and 2 of Orange is the New Black, Bloodline, The Fall and Happy Valley, each in nearly a single gulp — about a day. And there were other distractions and even decent weather then as well.
The aforementioned series all had something in common: almost every episode ended with a cliffhanger — even the two seasons of Orange. Each had compelling plot lines, be it a ruthless politician smiting those getting in his way, a serial killer or driven gumshoes. True bingers just couldn’t stop watching those shows, even at the expense of food, sleep, ablutions and interpersonal dynamics.
This is not to take away from Season 3 of Orange. It still features the finest, largest and most multicultural ensemble of players around. The acting is superb, and the writing razor sharp. What is missing, though, is a plot line carefully threaded into each instalment and that flows seamlessly into the next.
The glue to Season 2 was the villainess Vee (Lorraine Toussaint), a manipulative sadist and heroin dealer who had prisoners — and guards — sleeping with one eye open. What passes for plot line in Season 3 is thin: it relates to the women’s correctional facility going from public to private ownership and the impact on staff. Not exactly a great attention-grabber. More minuscule plots have the inmates involved in an illicit used-panty trade and the African-American prisoners boning up on Woody Allen and Seinfeld in order to convince authorities they are Jewish and, as such, are entitled to more nourishing and substantive kosher meals. But the fact is, the series has become more character-driven than plotdriven.
Almost every episode focuses on one of the women in the prison and a flashback to what got them there. The series, created by Weeds mastermind Jenji Kohan, is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. But while her character (played by Taylor Schilling), still figures prominently and still has issues with her lady love Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), for whom she had run drugs — which got her into this hoosegow in upper New York state — Piper must now share the spotlight with the other ladies.
Viewers get fascinating insights into the tangled lives and loves of such enigmatic inmates as the mute Norma (Annie Golden), the relatively more chatty Chang (Lori Tan Chinn), burgeoning porn novelist Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), the conflicted Poussey (Samira Wiley), ex-meth-head “Pennsatucky” Doggett (Taryn Manning) and frustrated and friendless idealist Soso (Kimiko Glenn).
Their prison operates as a parallel universe. The same issues that dominate on the outside do so on the inside — even with armed guards on the prowl. Viewers will have to show patience. The season starts slow, but finishes with a flourish — and an unpredictable one.