A NEW KIND OF TRAGIC
by Yaaseen Pinetown
Season Five of Orange Is the New Black displayed chaos at its best, at its finest.
This season, personally allowed me to imagine what it would be like to be a prisoner with helpful skills and humanity, and ultimately, a sitting duck in the moments of pandemonium.
Yes, OITNB has its moments, providing common melodrama that makes a television a show, but at its crucial moments, also kept factors realistic, which is how I came to adore the show. OITNB not only provides comedic relief in a rather tense series, but it still manages to convey that prisoners— these people are still humans. They are people, who have needs, who want better.
Renowned for its flashbacks, Orange Is The New Black had been rather lax (yes, that is also a word they use a lot this season) thereof this time around, with only a handful of characters— of some we know, some we do not— offering insight into their past, the most poignant being, Alison Abdullah, most recent member of The Ghetto.
As much as I loved this season, moments found its way to annoy me. I would have absolutely loved to see more of Sophia Burset. It would have been nice to see her throughout the season, and how she would fare within the chaos of a riot. I’m not sure if Pennsatucky, A.K.A. Tiffany Doggett is just a generally dense character, or naturally forgiving since befriending Big Boo (who may seem outwardly brutish, but with layers upon layers of pure, valuable reasoning and wit) but one thing I do not approve of is a rapist being treated fairly in this universe of criminals, when they themselves are literally discriminated against. A few plot holes emerged within the season, some of them managed recovered immediately, some sustained throughout the season, but the most bogus episode was the ode to a slasher film, which was rather uneventful, and so aptly named ‘The Tightening’, a play on The Shining (1980).
Season five is definitely the most tense and time-condensed season, with many hair-tugging moments. Most notable was where the season picked up from last time, whether Daya would actually pull the trigger, and the terms of negotiation for the hostage situation at Litchfield. But the most frustrating of all was surely a finale. Not only did things so quickly and disappointingly implode, rendering the entire season a waste, every character’s efforts a waste, leaving the entire-but-so-near-successful revolution a waste, but the event also ended at another cliffhanger!
In the end, the prison had been successfully purged of majority of the prisoners, most probably sending many of the characters we so know and love to (maybe, most probably) various other prisons, and daringly so, splitting my favorite comic relief, Maritza and Flaca, duly named Flaritza. Other characters, Cindy, Taystee, Piper, Red, and Nichols are finally shown surrendering with their dignity in an empty pool as the screen once more, fades to orange.
The season overall had been a blast while it lasted. It had its sweet, sincere and outrageous moments— what the show is known for— that actually inspired hope that something good could come out of all-bad. But we should have read between the lines. Nothing ended well for anyone, as there was a lack of even the smallest victory. It had been hinted at over, and over, and over that no prison riot has ever been successful. Season Five was just another example of that.
So, what happens now to the inmates of what was formerly known as Litchfield?
What happens next?
Stream Orange Is the New Black on Netflix
Images from various sources.
PINETOWN & BHEMBE 