Orange Is the New Black Season Six

Orange Is the New Black just kicked off its sixth season after leaving a heart dropping cliffhanger that would change the environment of the show. Season five took a dark twist when Litchfield Prison became a privately-owned facility instead of a public. The guards tormented the inmates by abusing their power, living conditions became less than moderate with poor working conditions, and the inmates began to rebel for it. They protested and did what they could to make themselves heard to a deaf corporation. In the end, Poussey Washington was accidentally killed during a protest which lead to the uprising and season finale.

The inmates are still mourning the loss of beloved character Poussey, the guards are now the prisoners, and the prison has become an asylum. The season starts after revealing the fate of the guard who caused the cliffhanger last season and that’s when things start spiraling out of control. Upset by the response in regard to Poussey’s death, the inmates hold the warden and several others hostage until certain demands are met with the help of the media. Instead, the inmates see how society views people in prison, their worth as human beings and how that needs to change. This season is unique among its previous ones for several reasons.

In the first season, Piper Chapman was the focus of the show, but her exposure this season is minimal compared to the others. The focus of this season is on Poussey’s best friend, Tasha Jefferson or Taystee. Another reason is this season only happens during the time frame of a couple days instead of different times. The final reason is this season introduces the audience to the response of a riot inside the prison and it’s a bloody response. Warden Joe Caputo tries desperately to keep it from happening, even making a point by saying both inmates and hostages get killed in the process of retaking the prison.

This season is par compared to the others story wise, but Danielle Brooks (Taystee) did a fantastic job standing in the main spot. The show starts closing a lot of doors throughout the episodes and giving great backstories on several characters just like it always has. The downside to this season is it seem to go nowhere for a few episodes and some people may not like the outcome for certain characters this season. It only gets darker in Litchfield and there’s no sign of light at the end of the season. There will be more questions left at the end of this season and the main one is, “What now?”

Orange Is the New Black is the show that put Netflix on the map and it’s trying hard to meet that bar that was set back in the first season. The show exposes a lot to the audience who may not know what happens when the inmates take over the prison and what happens in response. The show was filled with powerful messages created by painful heartbreaks that will connect with the viewers who’ve been paying attention to current events. The bad news is they’ll be wanting answers they won’t get for another season; my advice is take your time watching this season. If you watch it all at once, then you’ll be just like me waiting for football season, you’ll feel like you’ve been waiting forever.