Orange is the New Black Season Two

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AshB: Sep 16, 2007

Probably my favorite post from the season one thread:

zoux posted:

OK, Orange is the New Black:

I have no idea what this show is trying to say. One one hand, it seems to be trying to be about a priviledged white girl coping with prison and how it changes her, but the message that comes across is that priviledged white girls are just as tough as anyone from the wrong side of the tracks. The show has no tension, everything is either immediately resolved for no reason or solved with some Pinterest arts and crafts bullshit from Piper. The racial divide that the show sets up in the beginning is quickly melted away and Piper is able to make friends and connect with just about everyone in prison. The characters are flat, aside from a few straight up villians, all the inmates have hearts of gold and everyone is wiling to come together to solve problems. It's extremely patronizing to minority and class issues, and shows all the depth on these issues that you'd expect from a few tweets, not a real exploration of these complex problems. Piper never feels alienated, abandoned, threatened or afraid, even though the show's dialogue tells us that she does. The whole thing smacks of white-people tourism, a quick drop into the slums that the person tells her friends at a later party gave her a real perspective on how the other half lives. The real drama and conflict is relationship drama, which is an odd choice for a show set in a prison, which offers a much more rich source of conflict and drama than a love triangle. This is a brief sketch of my issues, and I can cite examples if challenged, but I wanted to be broad so that this whole post wasn't spoiler text'd. But I do have to mention one scene, from the finale, that is among the worst I've ever seen: The loving Christmas pageant. This gets beyond just white patronizing minorites, it's just cliched bad TV. It had not one, but two "wow she turns out to be a great singer" moments. The mute character, who you knew would say something meaningful and important at a critical time, turns out to have a beautiful voice! and starts singing in the pageant for NO reason other than it is mandated that at some point a mute character say something meaningful and important. Three black women sing gospel versions of carols, because that's what white people think black people do. The whole thing is just so condescending and twee that I loving hate it. Look, people get all over Girls for ignoring minority issues entirely, but if this is what happens when priviledged white girls try to write about poor, black people, I'd rather they just kept on ignoring minority issues. The tone is also weird, it's just too upbeat a comedy for such a bleak setting. Either the comedy needs to be alot blacker or it needs to stop trying to be serious about issues.

The show's not all bad though. It's generally very well acted, and the characters are mostly likeable, if not realistic. Sophia, the transsexual inmate, in particular is a very interesting character, and the episode where they explore her backstory is probably the closest the show says to saying something meaningful. It's medium funny, the pacing is fine and as long as you don't think too deeply about it, it's fine. On the whole I'd give the season a B-, and will probably watch season 2.

Hoping to see a follow-up review of season two.

What's with the Piper is Walt meme? Is that a thing?

# ¿ Jun 5, 2014 19:36

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:57

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

Wolfsheim posted:

I actually really wished Alex's plotline ended with her getting murdered by the drug dealer, meaning she had actually steered Piper right before second-guessing herself. It would turn the fact that she screwed Piper over on its head instead of what felt like a plotline that just played out the way it is to have more ~relationship drama~ when she returns to prison in season three.

It would also show that not everything gets a nice, tidy resolution that returns things to the status quo.

On the other hand, now we get something conclusive to show how horrible and selfish a person Piper actually is, and it'll be even more apparent when she continues playing the victim card. It's pretty incredible how much she complains and acts like a victim compared to the other characters who are serving sentences at least four times longer than hers.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 04:57

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

That just means Piper's a hypocrite. It doesn't really mean she's not selfish. She basically admits she's a super into herself when Nichols calls her out on it in season two. When you step back and look at Piper's interactions in the prison, she comes off as incredibly self-righteous--far more than any other character.

And she tried to sell Soso for a blanket.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 06:02

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

I'm starting to agree with some people in the thread that the show is trying to tell us that the Daya-Bennett relationship is supposed to be bad by showing us how stupid these characters are and how implausible their relationship is. The only reason I'm hesitant is that they sometimes play lighthearted lovey-dovey music during their scenes together, as though it's supposed to be cute. But it's actually rape.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2014 06:38

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

Just to add something during the lull, Kimiko Glenn (Brooke Soso) did an Ask Me Anything on reddit yesterday. She rambles as much in writing as her character does on scene. It's pretty adorable.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 17:39

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

Depending on the terms of her probation, yes, there is such a thing as searchable probation allowing parole officers to conduct a search without a warrant. Alex shouldn't have been carrying a gun as the law would have it. But morally, it's a less clear question because she was being actively pursued by murderers and police were doing pretty much nothing to protect her. Does that make Piper is less awful for reporting Alex with vindictive intent to get her thrown back in prison? No.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 23:57

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

NESguerilla posted:

I personally was under the impression that piper mostly did that to protect Alex. Obviously there were some selfish intentions because she wants Alex stuck back in prison with her after losing pretty much everyone, but I didn't see the move as vindictive or anything.

I dunno, it's unclear what Piper's motives were. She never talked with Alex about her going back to jail for safety. Given that Piper's been lonely and pissed at Alex all season, I think her motivation was partially anger at Alex for getting out and partly selfishness in wanting Alex to be with her.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2014 07:52

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 20:57

AshB: Sep 16, 2007

NESguerilla posted:

But she could have probably pulled off the same scheme even if Alex wasn't actually skipping town and she didn't seem to have any interest in revenge. Seemed to me like the thing that triggered it was finding out that she was in danger.

I'm not sure what you mean. Alex wasn't skipping town. She violated her probation by carrying a firearm and pointing it at her probation officer, not for skipping town. In any case, I'm leaning more to the "Piper is being a selfish little poo poo" motive rather than the revenge motive. Mostly because she leaned on Alex once she finally realized things were over with Larry for good. The show literally told us at one point through Alex that Piper's just using people as comfort blankets to hold onto. Moreover, one of the themes in season two is, as Red said, you have to do whatever you can to survive in prison, even if it isn't the cleanest moral choice.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2014 17:23

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Orange is the New Black Season Two