Season 6 of "Orange Is The New Black" is coming July 27, and I am ready to binge again. For those of you who haven't jumped on the bandwagon, you must know that this show is probably one of Netflix's greatest achievements. In the beginning, as we first went into Litchfield, it was like "Oz" but with women. As the seasons went on, you start to see an entirely different side of the characters. First off, we get some deep backstories that give us all the feels for even some of the less likable characters. And after seasons 4 and 5, the OITNB fandom will never be the same.
First off...and I will say SPOILER ALERT, although if you haven't seen it by now, you deserve the spoil...Poussey's murder was more than just a murder. For several years, America has been stricken with the senseless act of police brutality resulting in the murder of unarmed citizens. So what did the writers of my favorite Netflix series do? They took the most innocent--to say the least--inmate who caused no trouble and made her the reminder of what we saw every day. In the middle of a riot, she was trying to calm the situation and wound up suffocated by a guard who put his knee on the back of her neck. She repeated, "I can't breathe," in the same manner as Eric Garner.
The riot which led to the inmates taking over the prison gave us some amazing acting by Ms. Danielle Brooks, who can make you feel every emotion she felt as Taystee. She fought hard for Poussey so everyone would not only know how she died but also the injustices they dealt with as female inmates at Litchfield. The politics hit hard this past couple of seasons.
These women were treated like animals, being sent to the Shu, or more clearly explained the Security Housing Unit, for no reason, beaten, harassed, and forced to deal with not having the most minimal of living necessities like enough beds. These women weren't just looking to be treated like royalty or for their sentences to be reduced. They just wanted to do their time fairly without having to worry about being treated as less than human.
Now, after a series of events, everybody got sent to maximum security. They split up Flaca and Maritza. How's that work? Daya already had to make the choice of giving up her baby to someone who technically had no relation to her, and now she may never get out after shooting the guard. She wasn't even trying to kill him; he just lost a lot of blood. There's so much happening. If they thought they had problems before, what are they going to have to deal with in Max? And Nickels already had a run in that place; she wasn't trying to go back.
I'm telling you, I cried last season and I might have a heart attack this season if they keep going the rate they're going. However, this drama has a whole lot underneath that we have to remember. These women have a reason to be who they are. But no matter what happens, at least they got a little taste of freedom when the fence went down.
