Orange Is the New Black Review: Killing Time (Season 6 Episodes 5-9)

On Orange Is the New Black Season 6 Episodes 5-9, violence escalates between the warring gangs. The new inmates begin to find their footing in Max.

The pervasiveness of drug abuse and the lucrative drug trade are front and center on Orange Is the New Black. Addiction is a way to subjugate inmates, guaranteeing power stays in the hands of those who distribute the “joy.”

This storyline factors heavily into the character development of both Badison and Daddy who rely on delivering the product to remain in the good graces of their respective bosses.

Junkies are like background noise on Orange Is the New Black, but Barbara’s (Mackenzie Phillips) interaction with Nicky in the infirmary yields a pretty prolific revelation:

What’s the point of being sober in here, huh? Nobody wants to feel this.

It’s been difficult to see what threat Barbara actually poses, but now that she’s on the road to getting clean, we may finally see her live up to her scary reputation. So far, it feels as if the sisters have failed to deliver as credible threats. Carol’s gang is comprised of actual golden girls.

Aside from drugs, another precious commodity in prison is time. Alex and Piper grapple with the complications of staying together, and a quiz in a women’s magazine opens the door to a whole lot of self-actualization.

Everyone is so busy getting by, the moments when the inmates begin to look beyond the bars are rare.

Gloria faces the onset of perimenopause — a difficult transition for many women — but even more so for Gloria because she’s spending the prime years of her life behind bars.

The longer their sentences, the fewer opportunities there are waiting for them when the women are released. Aleida becomes the poster child for recidivism.

Aleida has no choice but to take shortcuts to get ahead in a society where the odds of achieving success are not only stacked against ex-cons, but minorities, women, the poor, and those with limited educations.

It’s more noticeable in Orange Is the New Black Season 6 how the women are forbidden, discouraged, and rebuked from embellishing any outward feminine characteristics (long gone are Lorna’s red lips and Flaca’s and Alex’s dramatic eyeliner).

Stripping women of every trait that sets them apart from men — empathy, intuition, softness, sensuality, gentleness, sensitivity, patience, beauty — is more punishment than what they deserve. How can it not contribute to the cruelty and violence they inflict on one another?

This holds true for Barbara and Carol who have spent most of their adult lives behind bars. The sisters view family (or any emotional attachments of any kind) as a burden. Red who feels abandoned by both her biological and surrogate children is also adopting this stance.

Female prisoners are denied the opportunity to either act as caregivers to their existing children or to procreate (Flores’s attempt to beat her biological clock with Nicky’s help provides one of Season 6’s comedic sub-plots). Their children wind up in the system, perpetuating a cycle of abuse and neglect.

There’s also the lingering resentment offspring feel regarding their parents’ abandonment which we see not only with Aleida’s kids but with Red’s as well. This raises the question of whether women pay a higher price for their crimes than men who arguably find it easier to maintain both their masculinity and a family life outside of prison.

It’s amazing how Doggett emerges as Orange Is the New Black’s empowered female, and she gets some good karmic payback for recognizing her worth.

The old gang reunites as Sophia joins Frieda and Suzanne in “Florida.” Unfortunately, the cushy berth keeps them out of the action, paving the way for more screen time for Badison and Daddy.

Badison is bad news. a former victim of bullying who’s flipped the script. She constantly craves attention and approval, and her bravado does an adequate job of masking her deep-seeded insecurities.

She’s successfully driving a wedge between Alex and Piper, using Piper as leverage to take advantage of Alex’s considerable sales expertise.

Piper keeps putting herself in the line of fire, and her cluelessness is getting old. She’s as guilty of dragging Alex unwillingly into dangerous situations as Badison.

Daddy’s proving to be a more vulnerable character than we might expect, but she’s still an opportunist who views women as disposable commodities. Her affection for Daya may seem real, but Daddy’s ultimate goal is survival.

Daya’s downward spiral is an example of the peril we face as a society by inflicting punishment without the benefit of rehabilitation. Like an abused animal, she shows unswerving devotion to the first person to throw her a bone.

Daya lacks any strong female role models which is just another negative byproduct of her new living conditions.

Piper and Taystee are both doing their part to make prison a better place, even if it’s Taystee who’s doing all the heavy lifting. Piper always emerges from her darkest moments with her Pollyanna-esque view of the world somewhat intact, while Taystee understands it takes years of being pelted with lemons before you can even begin making lemonade.

Going into the final four episodes, we are looking at the possibility of a kickball bloodbath, an almost immaculate conception, Aleida rejoining her daughter in prison, and the end of Cindy and Taystee’s friendship. That is if Taystee’s outspokenness about abusive guards doesn’t put her on the wrong end of a baton.

What did you think of Orange Is the New Black Season 6 Episodes 5-9? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Orange Is the New Black Season 6 is streaming on Netflix.

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