If your anything like me and didn’t understand the hype of “Orange is the New Black,” then I’m here to tell you that you need to hop on the bandwagon before it’s over. I’ve recently binged all the episodes and one that kept me from watching the show was that I heard the show was basically lesbian porn, but its way more then that.

1. Lolly

This character really helps you understand what it’s like for a person to have delusions and schizophrenia.

2. The SHU

I don’t know if this in real life but in OITNB the SHU was a section in the prison that they took prisoners if they were way “out of line” or if they got too many shots (doing stuff that was against policy). Basically, in the SHU they sat in a room with a mattress on the ground, and a door that has a little window that blocks what’s happening on the outside and they have another opening to give the food to the inmates. The lights in the SHU never turned off so the inmates lose a sense of time and they are kind of just stuck in a daze until they are let out of the SHU.

3. Families

In OITNB they bring the concept of how in prison people separate into groups of people that are the same race; they call these groups “family.” These “families” are basically their family in prison, those are the people they vent to and know their story the most.

4. Basic human rights

A lot of times throughout each season a prisoner will bring up how they have rights and the response to them saying that is either “you're in prison, you have no rights” or “you gave those rights up when you did your crime.” It gets you thinking about how a person in prison rights are always being violated and that the people in charge of them don’t think they have rights because they are in prison.

5. Poussey

For me, this storyline was about police brutality but not only did they show it from a victim perspective they showed it from an offender perspective. And it showed watchers that even if they did the crime and people are trying to cover it up that some of them might really feel bad.

6. DEA taking kids away from Ceasar

This scene was one of the saddest. To watch people get snatched from their kids is really tough. Thinking about the effects it has on the kids especially at a young age not really understanding what’s happening is tragic.

7. Stop and frisk

Stop and frisk isn’t just a thing that happens in prison. But in OITNB they make it very clear that it was only for a certain race for them to stop them and check if they have contraband.

8. The riot

The riot they have in season 4 and 5 really makes you think about how hard it is for people in prison. They do a crime, get caught and get put into this building that is gated by the real world has many restrictions. These people are basically sitting around thinking about how they ended up there over and over again and they stuck in this sorrow until they are told they can go. They don’t get respected by the workers and they don’t get accurate care, like bathroom, showers, food, health. They are sexually harassed and grouped by guards and nothing is done about it.

9. Religion

A lot of times God is brought up in the show. But when we get to season 4 we’re introduced to the Jewish religion which really catches your attention and makes you interested in learning more about their beliefs.