The Netflix original series, Orange Is The New Black successful satisfies its season 4 cliffhanger in season 5. The whole season revolves around the riot that begun at the end of last season after the murder of Poussey Washington by a prison guard whose death calls for justice. Inmate, Dayanara holds a gun to the head of another prison guard and that is where the story left us.
Jumping into season 5, the inmates all join their sides of the fight. Some are afraid of serving more time and take the peaceful route outside. Some are taking justice into their own hands, torturing the guards who have made their lives miserable every day and others are fighting for the rights of the prisoners.
The most standout story in the season is Taystee’s character that won’t settle for anything less than justice for her best friend Poussey. She is the leader of the negotiations with the outside, standing up for indecencies in their current prison. While others said they will only listen to a white, rich woman, Taystee makes herself heard and doesn’t back down for a second.
This season brought together groups of women who normally wouldn’t interact but were fighting for the same cause whether it was to see their kids again or a common feeling of unjust living conditions. Although there was fighting amongst inmates, the, who season gave the feeling of a family. All locked in one building together, they helped each other and were united together against the system.
The usual flashbacks, reflecting on each inmate’s past and how they got there are used however seemed much less frequent. The only really important one was the flashback of guard, Piscatella and perhaps how he became so evil and abusive. Perhaps they have used all there ideas and need some new faces to create new stories which seems more than likely given the cliffhanger that this season has ended on.
With the end of the riot, I won’t say how exactly the season ends but it is another cliffhanger. It has the promise of a lot of new characters and stories but how the show will work will be interesting to see.