Orange Is The New Black – Season One: Blu-ray Review
Orange Is The New Black follows engaged Brooklynite Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), whose wild past comes back to haunt her and results in her arrest and detention in a federal penitentiary. To pay her debt to society, Piper trades her comfortable New York life for an orange prison jumpsuit and finds unexpected conflict and camaraderie amidst an eccentric group of inmates. Created by Jenji Kohan.
The Show: What can I say about this show that you may or may not already know? I’ll give you three words. Go watch it. The title says it all, it’s a show about life in prison but there is just so much more depth that I did not expect. The story starts off with Piper turning herself in. Of course all the questions pop in your head as to why is she doing this? What did she do? According to Piper and her book reading, you should never ask why you are doing time. Because you know, the How to Survive Prison book knows it all! It’s these small details that just got me. Many of us know nothing about the prison life so of course we would do what Piper did and find a book to educate ourselves. But some things can’t be taught via a book. We do, however, get an insight on many of the characters. There are many flashback moments within each episode where the writers take us on a ride give us more of their history. You get a sense of realness for these ladies. Convicts or not, they are all human and all made mistakes at some point in their life. Some are nastier than others, but all in all the group of characters are so complex that you get lost in each of their story and gain an understanding. There are many heart felt moments, drama, but the comedy in this show helps brighten the somber situation that the females face, which is hard core prison time. There are so many situations that these women encounter that you can honestly relate to…does that make me a bad person? (hopefully not) I think in the end, we all can understand that we don’t all get dealt a good hand and sometimes the smallest mistakes can change our lives forever. I cannot wait to see Season 2 and witness the characters continue to grow. Kudos to the creators of this show because of its realism and light hearted-ness (made up word d’oh!) because not many shows can pull that off.
My Likes: Everything! No but honestly, I completely love that we get a bit of a back story on each of the ladies. It helps us understand them better and become more involved in their journey. I also Taylor Schilling who is the perfect Piper. Really, this whole cast is beyond amazing. I can’t say enough about each character because my review can only be so long!
My Dislikes: This one is a tough one. I have nothing to say really. Really! Season One was a home run for me and I was a fan after two episodes. Sorry guys, nothing to read here lol
Special Features:
“New Kid on the Cell Block” featurette – Great insight on the character and back story of the author Piper Kerman. Seeing Piper speak and knowing that this story is based on her life is pretty powerful. I gained a deeper understanding and appreciation for this show.
“Mother Hen: Red Runs the Coup” featurette – Interview with Kate Mulgrew and details on the development of her character Red. I love these types of features because its always great to hear how each character evolves.
“It’s Tribal” featurette – Discussion over the division in prison and how you have to stick together to survive.
“Prison Rules” featurette – There are prison rules and then there are unspoken prisoner rules. Breaking either can be detrimental.
Gag Reel – Hilarious. Maybe because the show has so many serious moments that its nice to see the characters out of character (forgive the pun). I really enjoyed it!
Episode Commentary “I Wasn’t Ready” with Producers Jenji Kohan, Tara Herrmann and Mark Burley
Episode Commentary “Can’t Fix Crazy” with Producers Jenji Kohan, Tara Herrmann and Mark Burley
