It’s been called “Oz” with chicks. Or the 2013 erotic answer to “The L Word.” And it’s been the subject of too many adulating BuzzFeed posts. But it’s really so much more: it’s singular, it’s addictive and it’s spectacular. “Orange is the New Black” is the new everything. So if it wasn’t already the Netflix pick of your summer, it best be the pick of your week.
Created by Jenji Kohan of “Weeds” and based on a real–life memoir, this Netflix original series follows Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling, versatile boothang of Zac Efron in “The Lucky One” and Ben Affleck in “Argo”). A stereotypical privileged yuppie, things are looking up for the Smith grad whose line of artisan bath soaps was just picked up by Barney’s (!).
Except the show opens with her turtleneck–loving journalist fiancée (Jason Biggs, what’s up?) dropping Piper off for a yearlong stay… at LITCHFIELD FEDERAL PRISON, thanks to her scandalous past as a drug mule (it was one time!) for sexy lesbian lover Alex Vause (the incomparably eyebrowed now–brunette Laura Prepon of “That 70s Show”).
Thus “Orange” is born, and Piper dons the titular jumpsuit and becomes subjected to such classic prison motifs as cavity searches and embarrassing “fresh meat” lunchroom blunders. It’s all fun and games, but “OITNB” moves beyond clichés by really showing life inside the facility. While many movies cart off the villain to prison, this show paints a fascinating portrayal of the ladies of Litchfield––and the in–jail scenes are way more interesting than Piper’s fiancée’s whining.
Piper is the lead but by no means the crux of the series; her sometimes-annoying deer–in–the–headlights conventionality is a “home base” from which other different, more engaging characters can blossom. And they do. The show’s brilliance lies in the phenomenal supporting cast, including such standouts as no–nonsense ex–druggie Nikki, hilarious queen of one-liners Taystee, Poussey (Samira Wiley, accent a droite), transgender in-house hairdresser Sophia (real–life male–to–female trans actress Laverne Cox) and Yoga Jones.
You may end up missing a class or two from your addiction to “Orange,” which also smartly employs flashbacks explaining the individual inmates’ criminal histories, helping highlight the show’s sharp writing and stellar acting.
Amidst the many devastating moments behind bars, it’s a joy to see the (admittedly racially segregated) girls sometimes laugh and have fun. You’ll almost want to join them! Or maybe not… Regardless, it’s a guarantee you won’t want your sentence at Litchfield to be over when you reach the climactic season finale––oddly quickly after you started binge-watching.
Grade: A
