Review: Orange has Never Looked Better, "Orange is the New Black"
Adam Reynoso ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
The show starts off with an episode that sets the tone for the season and almost feels like another version of the pilot. However, it’s clear that Taylor Schilling‘s Piper Chapman isn’t the same, doe-eyed inmate as she was in the beginning of the show. She’s smarter and hardened, and it’s clear that her time at Lichfield has brought out this survivor that fought for her life and lost control at the end of last season. And while she spends the episode at a coed prison, one of the best moments of the episode occurs when she finds out that a male inmate was actually a hitman. She lets out a sigh of relief and is thankful to find he’s a murderer instead of a rapist.
The first episode also deals with her relationship with Laura Prepon‘s Alex Vause, as well as explaining her absence for the majority of season two. It was nice to get some sort of resolution between the two characters, well, before that went out the door at the end of the episode. Aside from the first episode, Alex appears in a couple of more episodes toward the end of the season. Another part of the premiere offered a better understanding into the trial that Alex and Piper are both a part of and complicating their relationship even more. It also introduces a threat in the form of the drug kingpin behind Alex’s drug smuggling business. While he has some presence throughout the season, it’s safe to assume that we’ll see him more next season with Alex being back at the prison and possibly seeing their history.
As for the other highlights, the audience is able to get a better look at Poussey and Taystee’s friendship and their backgrounds. They were both excellent in the first season so it was rewarding to see them have a stronger presence this time around. The same can be said of for Red, as she really became more of the protagonist this season. She’s always been the one to care about the girls and she’s doing her best to protect her family from the likes of Vee. Just as well, it was a great decision to see her son and a look at her early days in the prison. And her redemption arc definitely had the right pacing and a great payoff in the end with her family dinner.
The show’s sophomore season has lived up to the hype and is hard to not binge in one weekend. The cast has continued to do an excellent job at bringing these rich stories to life and the show has proven that it has a few tricks left up its sleeve. If the show can continue to reinvent itself as it has this season, it has a bright future ahead of itself. And with the stories already told, one can only hope that next year will bring stories that can make a jaw drop like Lorna Morello’s real relationship with her “fiancé” Christopher, which was both haunting and sad.
Overall Season Grade: A-