When Orange is the New Black was originally conceived, it was not meant to be a show for Netflix. It was created in the traditional television mold. And while it certainly lent itself to binge-watching better than most shows, it was still easy to imagine it airing on HBO or Showtime. This season was however, completely created knowing that people would be binge-watching.
And thus it's reflected in the first two episodes, something that would not happen if it was shown week-to-week. It's too daring, too risky to completely isolate all your interesting characters for one episode and then ignore your main character in the second episode. Granted, Piper is essentially a supporting character in 80 percent of the episodes, but still this would not happen if it wasn't on Netflix.
And that risk - and it's still a risk even knowing your audience can immediately watch the next episode - pays off. The first episode is a master class of tension and unease. Piper's not interesting to me, but finding out what the hell is happening to her definitely is. And then we get dropped into a new prison. Piper in that prison is a show I would want to see too. (Though it was not perfect - the weird rodent game her bunkmates forced her to participate in didn't really work for me)
Then in the second episode, we ignore Piper. It feels like a normal episode still. Vee gets introduced through flashbacks and then in a twist at the end. I kind of like what they did with Vee in that it takes a while to figure out if she's good or bad - relatively speaking of course (though I was pretty sure early on, it's still ambiguous for a while). The introduction to Vee was also beneficial because the rising tension between two - three really - factions of the prison was one of the things present in this season that wasn't there in the first. I'm a sucker for well-written escalating tension throughout a season.
The other positive about Vee? It forces Taystee, Poussey, and Crazy Eyes to re-play out how they got there in the first place: Taystee's need to feel like she has a family, Poussey being in love with a woman she cannot have, and Suzanne not fitting in because of her mental illness. I'm honestly not a huge fan of what they did with Suzanne's character for most of the season, but I'd be lying if I didn't enjoy the conclusion and it was a good place to take her character even if it wasn't fun to watch. Poussey though? Damn, I liked her before and now she's probably my favorite character.
Not all the characters though managed to become more awesome. Morrello for instance became much more terrifying. Not to spoil anything, but let's just say what she does is the stuff of nightmares. Somehow, you still feel sorry for her though even though... and hopefully she's improving going forward. She's definitely gaining more self-awareness throughout the second season at least.
Looking back, it's hard to believe how little actual stories came from most characters. Piper got her few episodes and actually became much more likable - that is until the end when Alex got involved. Let's just say this show needs to learn to stop writing about characters who have long been past their expiration date. I was actually infuriated for about 10 minutes in one of the later episodes because it was 10 straight minutes of characters I could not give a fuck about. It was Piper and Alex (ugh seriously Piper is likable... until Alex gets involved - then I hate every second on screen) and then Larry and whatever Piper's best friend's name is. I refuse to learn it. I do not care about her, I have never cared about her, and she serves no purpose in this show whatsoever. And as far as Alex is concerned, without spoiling, let's just say Piper has been given a very declarative reason to stop talking to her and yet somehow that reason is seemingly forgotten by the end.
With my little rant out of the way, one of the positives of this show is that it gives minor characters backstories that aren't necessary, and yet completely appreciated. Did we need to know Miss Rosa's backstory - she's the one with cancer? No, but I will say that it does pay off. Speaking of old people, I like how the show ended up reflecting on the older women at the prison.
You have the old lady with what is probably Alzheimer's - whose story provides a few laughs until it takes a dark turn. The others remind you that these women probably did much worse things than the other ladies - after all, they probably didn't just get into prison but have spent their life there and got transferred to a low security prison from good behavior. I just really enjoyed them getting some life injected into them from joining with Red.
Speaking of Red, she had her downfall last season, and this is her slow rise back up to the top. Her rivalry with Vee is actually a major plot point for this season and I did enjoy their scheming against each other. Her former "family" doesn't get to do much unfortunately - Morrello's character gets viewed in a clearer picture and Nicky gets to give good advice every episode - it somehow didn't feel like it suffered. This season was largely Red versus Vee and Vee versus Poussey and it's reflected in the time the other characters are given.
The "third faction" leader, Gloria, is also given some perspective and her transformation from weak-willed to being a badass who doesn't back down is essentially what they did to Red, but it's still satisfying. I can't say I liked the Bennet-Diaz story too much - Bennett says something insensitive, Diaz gets mad, rinse, repeat. Sorry, still not really buying that they love each other.
Enough about the inmates, I have to say that the work that they did with the guards was also pretty great. Healy isn't exactly redeemed, but his futile attempts to make a difference at least made me feel some sympathy for him. I don't remember my feelings towards Caputo last season, but hell if his laughing in the face of Pornstache and Natalie Figueroa don't make him instantly endearing. O'Neil becomes a fun side character, Luschek is funny, and Fischer's story actually has a nice arc of sorts.
What's amazing about this series is that it seems perfectly cast - like the young representations of the characters we know and the characters themselves seem like they couldn't be played by anybody else. Now go look at the IMDB history of the actors. Nearly every actor is in barely anything else except for the men. I don't know who the casting director is, but give that person a raise. I applaud them and sadly a lot of it has to do with the underrepresentation of the women in movies and shows. (And specifically minorities, overweight, unattractive, or even unconventionally attractive women.)
I mentioned above that Piper became more likable this season. She seems more hardened and she also has a mirror image of who she used to be - or at least the naivety. Soso, the new Asian inmate, is excited and talkative and she slowly gets drained by the end of the season, spurred a bit by a self-imposed hunger strike. She's a bit one note and not fully formed, which is fine - most of these characters were that until they got a backstory episode. Plus, her purpose in this season seemed to essentially be Piper 2.0 and any attempts to further her character would have lessened that parallel.
It's hard to say if this season was better, worse, or the same as last season. Last season, it took me until about episode five to get really into it and then I was sucked in. This season, I was already fully committed to the show. I haven't revisited the first season either so I don't know if that's because the show started slow or because I hadn't gotten used to it yet. Either way, I'm going to give it the same grade - this season may have been marginally worse, but I enjoyed more of it than last season - and it gets knocked a little for having the awful Alex-Piper and Larry-what's her face scenes.
Weeds - Kohan's former show - had a reputation for declining soon after her first season. I've seen the first season, but not past it, and I can't comment on that show's decline. But the fact that this show has maintained its quality into the second season and not lost any of its luster is extremely promising. And whereas Weeds was somewhat limited in its storytelling, Orange is the New Black is limitless in what it could tell. There are no boundaries and it could continue airing for years theoretically. Right now I'm probably overly optimistic about this show, but I hope it does. The second season was great and there are no signs this show will ever lack a story to tell.
Grade - A-
Playlist
1. "If So" - Atlas Genius
2. "Shout (Parts 1 and 2)" - The Isley Brothers
3. "Tight" - Mix Chopin
4. "Fluorescent Adolescent" - Arctic Monkeys
5. "All for You" - Sister Hazel
Showing posts with label Jenji Kohan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jenji Kohan. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Friday, August 23, 2013
Orange is the New Black Review
Orange is the New Black is the best thing Netflix has ever done. It's kind of important to note I think House of Cards was ok and ultimately disappointing and Arrested Development had individual moments that paralleled the original but was mostly not terribly funny. (I'm not even going to mention Hemlock Grove). If it feels like that note is meant to somehow tamper your expectations, it's not, this is a great show.
I sort of think this show is worth checking just for the fact that it's one of the most unique out there. Nearly every character is female, about half of the women are minorities, one of the characters is a transgender woman, they portray a bisexual relationship in a way that doesn't feel exploitative (well in the early episodes it does), and then there's the source material, a show about a low security women's prison. Nearly everything about this series is original.
But it's a damn good show on its own merits, ignoring the previous paragraph. The show gradually gets better and better until you find yourself unable to stop watching. For a show that doesn't really relate to me in anyway possible, I found myself engrossed in these character's lives. These are sharply-drawn, memorable characters that you can't really help but to root for. Yes, they are criminals, but this is a low security prison, so none of their crimes are the sort where you instantly think they are awful people. The show doesn't shy away that these people are guilty, but shows how and why they are guilty through flashbacks.
OITNB was created by Jenji Kohan, also the creator of the popular Showtime series Weeds. I have never seen Weeds and was well aware that certain people may have been turned off by this show because of how bad Weeds became. While I have not seen Weeds, I say with a fair amount of confidence that this is considerably better than Weeds. I mean it pretty much has to be judging by what I watched and what I've heard of Weeds. So don't let the fact that she made Weeds spoil this for you, and hey if you liked Weeds, this is most likely a better although very different show.
Looking back, I'm kind of blindsided by what the characters became. To use a specific example, there's a character named "Crazy Eyes" who is a caricature in the beginning, but begins to actually form a unique and sympathetic identity. That's why it gets better as it goes along. The characters usually start as a stereotype or caricature, and after they get their own flashback episodes, it creates depths and two-dimensionality that you never knew was there.
The show's character that leads us into this world is Piper Chapman, played well by Taylor Schilling. She's not really that likable to me personally - not that it matters a whole lot. She's rich, privileged, and selfish although to the show's credit, it acknowledges all that. Larry, her boyfriend played by Jason Biggs, is cut in the same mold, although he's a bit more frustrating because prison doesn't "change" him or make him at least aware of it like Piper is. Throughout most of the season, Larry is the least interesting part of the show, and I don't think it's Biggs faults, it's just a whole lot less interesting than the inmates and mostly nonessential to the plot.
It doesn't really help that I'm not that invested in the love triangle of Chapman, Larry, and Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon of That 70's Show fame. She's alright in this role. She certainly improves as a character as the show goes on. But the love triangle isn't all that interesting to me.
When The Wire starting airing, the world was exposed to some previously unknown African American actors who got a shortage of jobs due to lack of good roles. Well, OITNB does the same thing for women, African American women, and one transgender. Let me go through the cast of characters for you:
Poussey, played by Samira Wiley, and Taystee, played by Danielle Brooks, are one of the funniest comedic pairings ever. They also strike the right note when they need to get serious and are genuinely touching in certain scenes. 'Crazy Eyes' as mentioned above is played by Uzo Aduba, who I really just can't praise enough for making this character into an actual human being. There's Nicky, played by Natasha Lyonne, who may just have stole every scene she's in.
"Red," played by Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek fame, is the Russian chef dictator of the prison. She's not actually that good at cooking, but if you tell her that, she'll starve you. There's Pennsatucky, played by the always reliable Taryn Manning (incredibly typecast, but she doesn't seem to mind here). Lastly, there's Sophia, played by Laverne Cox, who is an actual transgender. She's very good in this and helps gain exposure for transgender women.
There's also more prison inmates, prison staff and prison guards that would make this post altogether too long. A special shout-out though goes to Pablo Schreiber, who plays a character named "Pornstache." He's about as sleazy as he sounds, but he has probably the most memorable one-liners on the show (a large number of them where apparently ad-libbed by Schreiber.)
OITNB benefits from Netflix's structure in my mind, because it's a show that can and will be binge-watched. So future warning to people who have things to do: wait a little to watch this show. When you have a decent amount of time on your hands, you'll finish it within the week. Actually, I don't think this really happened until the middle episodes, but I think a fair warning is necessary. It's addicting.
Certain TV shows I like to review I think of as advertisements for the show in that I really do want the people reading this to watch it. This is one of those shows. I wholly encourage you to watch it as soon as you can. It takes a little to hit its stride, but when it does, it doesn't stop until the season is over and you're wondering when Season 2 will come out. (It'll be quite a while I suspect.)
Playlist
1. "Black Water" - Timbre Timbre
2. "Still D.R.E." - Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dog
3. "The Party & The After Party" - The Weeknd
4. "Whirring" - The Joy Formidable
5. "Accident Murderers" - Nas ft. Rick Ross
I sort of think this show is worth checking just for the fact that it's one of the most unique out there. Nearly every character is female, about half of the women are minorities, one of the characters is a transgender woman, they portray a bisexual relationship in a way that doesn't feel exploitative (well in the early episodes it does), and then there's the source material, a show about a low security women's prison. Nearly everything about this series is original.
But it's a damn good show on its own merits, ignoring the previous paragraph. The show gradually gets better and better until you find yourself unable to stop watching. For a show that doesn't really relate to me in anyway possible, I found myself engrossed in these character's lives. These are sharply-drawn, memorable characters that you can't really help but to root for. Yes, they are criminals, but this is a low security prison, so none of their crimes are the sort where you instantly think they are awful people. The show doesn't shy away that these people are guilty, but shows how and why they are guilty through flashbacks.
OITNB was created by Jenji Kohan, also the creator of the popular Showtime series Weeds. I have never seen Weeds and was well aware that certain people may have been turned off by this show because of how bad Weeds became. While I have not seen Weeds, I say with a fair amount of confidence that this is considerably better than Weeds. I mean it pretty much has to be judging by what I watched and what I've heard of Weeds. So don't let the fact that she made Weeds spoil this for you, and hey if you liked Weeds, this is most likely a better although very different show.
Looking back, I'm kind of blindsided by what the characters became. To use a specific example, there's a character named "Crazy Eyes" who is a caricature in the beginning, but begins to actually form a unique and sympathetic identity. That's why it gets better as it goes along. The characters usually start as a stereotype or caricature, and after they get their own flashback episodes, it creates depths and two-dimensionality that you never knew was there.
The show's character that leads us into this world is Piper Chapman, played well by Taylor Schilling. She's not really that likable to me personally - not that it matters a whole lot. She's rich, privileged, and selfish although to the show's credit, it acknowledges all that. Larry, her boyfriend played by Jason Biggs, is cut in the same mold, although he's a bit more frustrating because prison doesn't "change" him or make him at least aware of it like Piper is. Throughout most of the season, Larry is the least interesting part of the show, and I don't think it's Biggs faults, it's just a whole lot less interesting than the inmates and mostly nonessential to the plot.
It doesn't really help that I'm not that invested in the love triangle of Chapman, Larry, and Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon of That 70's Show fame. She's alright in this role. She certainly improves as a character as the show goes on. But the love triangle isn't all that interesting to me.
When The Wire starting airing, the world was exposed to some previously unknown African American actors who got a shortage of jobs due to lack of good roles. Well, OITNB does the same thing for women, African American women, and one transgender. Let me go through the cast of characters for you:
Poussey, played by Samira Wiley, and Taystee, played by Danielle Brooks, are one of the funniest comedic pairings ever. They also strike the right note when they need to get serious and are genuinely touching in certain scenes. 'Crazy Eyes' as mentioned above is played by Uzo Aduba, who I really just can't praise enough for making this character into an actual human being. There's Nicky, played by Natasha Lyonne, who may just have stole every scene she's in.
"Red," played by Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek fame, is the Russian chef dictator of the prison. She's not actually that good at cooking, but if you tell her that, she'll starve you. There's Pennsatucky, played by the always reliable Taryn Manning (incredibly typecast, but she doesn't seem to mind here). Lastly, there's Sophia, played by Laverne Cox, who is an actual transgender. She's very good in this and helps gain exposure for transgender women.
There's also more prison inmates, prison staff and prison guards that would make this post altogether too long. A special shout-out though goes to Pablo Schreiber, who plays a character named "Pornstache." He's about as sleazy as he sounds, but he has probably the most memorable one-liners on the show (a large number of them where apparently ad-libbed by Schreiber.)
OITNB benefits from Netflix's structure in my mind, because it's a show that can and will be binge-watched. So future warning to people who have things to do: wait a little to watch this show. When you have a decent amount of time on your hands, you'll finish it within the week. Actually, I don't think this really happened until the middle episodes, but I think a fair warning is necessary. It's addicting.
Certain TV shows I like to review I think of as advertisements for the show in that I really do want the people reading this to watch it. This is one of those shows. I wholly encourage you to watch it as soon as you can. It takes a little to hit its stride, but when it does, it doesn't stop until the season is over and you're wondering when Season 2 will come out. (It'll be quite a while I suspect.)
Playlist
1. "Black Water" - Timbre Timbre
2. "Still D.R.E." - Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dog
3. "The Party & The After Party" - The Weeknd
4. "Whirring" - The Joy Formidable
5. "Accident Murderers" - Nas ft. Rick Ross
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