Warning: Spoilers ahead.
I’ve recently regressed back into my habit of binge-watching shows during times in which I should be studying. This was a habit I thought I’d kicked a while ago, but the allure of watching the quintessential lesbian prison show, Orange is the New Black (OITNB), proved to be too enticing.
OITNB has 8 seasons, all of which revolve around a ragtag group of prisoners from the Litchfield Penitentiary in New York, based on the novel by Piper Kerman. The show begins on the day Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) self-surrenders into Litchfield after being named as a co-conspirator of her ex-girlfriend’s international drug cartel. In Litchfield, Piper meets a multifaceted array of characters, including Galina “Red” Reznikov (the manager of a Russian crime front played by Kate Milgrew), Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson (a drug dealer played by Danielle Brooks), Nicky Nichols (a heroin addict played by Natasha Lyonne), Lorna Morello (a serial stalker and almost-successful murderer played by Yael Stone), and most damning of all, Alex Vause (her ex-girlfriend and head of aforementioned drug cartel played by Laura Prepon).
Although the story centers on Piper’s dynamics with Alex Vause, the main aspect I particularly enjoyed from the show are the fleshed-out backstories of the other characters. OITNB is able to take an unlikeable character, show the audience their backstory, and create nuance for each character. By doing so, it shows us that no character is inherently bad, but rather framing the choices they make in the context of a deeply broken society and penitentiary system. An example of this is Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett (played by Taryn Manning), a meth-head murderer who shot up an abortion clinic because of a worker’s snide comment. After receiving legal defense from far-right Christian nationalists, who use her as a martyr and pay for her commissary, she is an insufferable Christian lunatic inside Litchfield. To say that her goings-on annoyed me to no end is perhaps an understatement, but as the seasons went on, the writers introduced a myriad of context and difficult decisions that go in-depth into who she is as a character. That context is precisely what makes the show so compelling: it draws you in even to the most unforgivable characters—not forcing you to forgive them but making it impossible for you not to consider where they’re coming from. The genius of the screenplay is the fact that it allows the audience to come to their own conclusions about these characters. Was Piper jaded because she needed to survive in the prison, or did the prison unleash what was already there? Do Alex and Piper truly love each other, or is it a forced bond? Are any of the prisoners there truly bad? These questions allow for repeated analyses and nuanced takes, tell-tale indicators of a truly well-composed show.
So if you’re in the mood for the quirky characters, layered character backgrounds, or the shared sisterhood under an irregulated and ill-managed prison system, Orange is the New Black will force you to reconsider everything you’ve ever thought about prison (and who gets into it). After all, the joy of watching your two favorite lesbians beats math homework any day.