Netflix Now: Orange Is The New Black - Season 3 Reviewed

Kirsten broke out of a highly guarded women's prison to write this review. 

"Bitch, don't you know who I am?
I'm Tank Girl damn it!!!"

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two years, you'll have heard about the widely talked about Netflix Original, Orange is the New Black. Directed by Jenji Kohan, this series is based off of the original book Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman's Prison written by Piper Kerman, based off of her own experiences. She also is the main writer for the TV series. 

Season three was designated to come out to Netflix on June 12th, 2015. Although the highly devoted and attention paying fans, were pleasantly surprised with an early release around 10:00pm on June 11th. Word spread quickly as thousands of people cancelled their Thursday night plans to stay in and start their binge. 

Each season brings in new characters, which is also one of the strongest values of the show. Not one character is boring, even if they're not your cup of tea, they're all very well written. In every season they call attention to the backstories of certain characters, to help explain why they are the way they are. Yet, they don't give it all away, to keep a certain mystery. And it's not just the inmates that they write well, the guards are a big part of the show too. In this third season they focus a great deal on the guards and what's going on with them. This brought something new and interesting to season three and let audiences see that they're people going through things too. 

This series is very LGBTQ friendly, having all sorts of queer characters in it that bring some of the best and slickest one liners. If you blink, you'll miss them. In my opinion, I think Orange is the New Black does a damn fine job at staying true to real life issues that we all go through. Laverne Cox, or "Sophia" on the show, hands down has the hardest struggle not being judged in the prison. Laverne is a real life trans. Her actual twin brother, M. Lamar Cox, plays Sophia in the flashbacks before her transformation. While she has definitely made a place for herself in the prison as the best hairdresser, she still gets a lot of heat from close minded inmates. 

"Could you speak up?
I can't hear you through this wall."

Although Orange is the New Black does a great job at paying attention to a lot of other stories going on within each season, Piper goes through a different behavior pattern in season three. In the first season, she's going from her "perfect" life with her fiance Larry, (Jason Biggs) to Litchfield Prison, where her whole world is turned upside down. She is very ignorant to how things are actually handled there and despite making some mistakes, she still has her inner innocence. In season two, she knows how the game is played and she's accepted her time and does her thing. In season three, she's dehumanized and we see a totally different side of Piper no one has seen. It shows how after you've been stuck there, you can lose track of the outside world and who you are. Her relationship with Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) is toxic and can relate to any bad relationship, hetero or not.  

The season overall was enjoyable, attention holding, and keeps you looking forward to next year. There's something bittersweet about an entire series getting released at once. It's great because you don't have to wait a week until the next episode, but it's also bad because you can watch the entire season in two days and then have to wait another year for the next episodes... just to watch it in another two days.

 
-Kirsten Anderson