At the moment is there nothing Netflix can't do right? Although I haven't seen it yet, Stranger Things is getting great reviews. You then have all the Marvel TV series like DareDevil, Jessica Jones and the forthcoming Luke Cage series. The one that started it all, House of Cards is a political thriller that keeps impressing and is Kevin Spacey putting in a superb performance.
Then you have Orange is the New Black. I have just finished season 4 and this show (like all the others) keeps getting better and better.
Now I recently read an article about reviewers essentially just telling you what the show/film is and then spoiling it if they don't like it.
Well firstly, there is no chance of me trying to spoil anything for you as it is fantastic. Secondly, I'm hardly a traditional reviewer or critic. I am just trying to analyse stuff that might have made it through the cracks (not that would really be OITNB).
I however, don't want to give away the best parts of the show, although if you want to look them up they will be online somewhere.
If you know nothing of Orange is the new Black, then the basic premise is it's a show about a womans prison. Taking that a small step further it initially follows Piper Chapman (the character that is loosely based on the novel by Piper Kerman) and her reasons and existence in the prison system. This by season 4 is still a factor, but as Piper Kerman acknowledges is well off her own actual life history, and it now follows the entire prison population. It looks at all the groups that make up the very dysfunctional community, this includes the guards and their interactions with the inmates.
Each season has it's own tests and tribulations that hook you and by season 4 this is no exception. Each main character is fantastically portrayed and the creators of the show have made even those that would appear unlikeable, a human. By this I mean, you feel for their situation, why they behave the way they do. You empathise with them and although certain actions are, at times, reprehensible they are understood. With Piper for instance you see her journey and start to see why she has ended up in prison and how she tries to compensate for that, which at times is more destructive. With avoiding the need to spoil her storyline, she is a character that tries to be liked by everyone. She comes from the well brought up social background that would hate to be called racist. The prison however has communities and stereotypes that are a defence mechanism and a survival trait for many of the people within the groups. This is one of the points of conflict, and as we see develop through Piper trying to approach a situation with her rationality, that is taken and warped by others. It is this that helps expand stories and the natural conflicts of the situations that arise.
In one way, some characters have evolved out of what they were and are now something more (I guess as their popularity changed). Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren is a prime example of her slowly losing some of the crazy that defined her in season 1. That being said by season 4 there are few moments of her regressing back to her former self, but because you are now more invested in her (Uzo Aduba does a fantastic performance) that craziness that once kept her as a character you didn't care for so much, she is now one of the focal characters.
With this sort of ensemble work, it is hard to have focal characters as each episode will focus on either a flashback to one character and their now changed prison life, or it will look at a group as a whole and how that functions within the entire prison.
The great thing about prison as well is the fact that new characters are easily brought it and old characters that are "released" from prison can still be followed or end up back in prison. It looks at how people deal with the institution and their place in society because of it.
This show is fantastic and goes towards what makes Netflix worth its monthly fee. The fact the invest in shows like this that may not have been picked up traditionally, but have an outlet for the quirkier or more intriguing programs that have a slow burn. By releasing all the episodes at once, they can have a slower episodes that connect stories together and help make the explosive episodes more so. This does happen in "normal" TV I know. However I think they have been able to write and produce shows like this with more freedom and it has served them well.
If you have missed Orange Is The New Black, well this is your call to start it as soon as you can. If it is one you might have been going to get to, trust me, once you start it you won't be able to put it down. In my house we take it in turns to choose the series we are watching. I picked season 3 of this and as it was only 13 episodes long, my wife and I just kept going through season 4 as well. We had forgotten about it and were 2 seasons down, and in the space of 2 weeks we watched both series. It's addictive and good television. It has heart and characters that are worth investing in. It is well written and fantastically performed. This is one to watch if you have missed it. If you have missed it, what have you been doing.....?
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