Orange Is the New Black Review: Happily Never After (Season 6 Episodes 10-13)

On Orange Is the New Black Season 6 Episodes 10-13, Taystee’s trial comes to an end, D-block and C-block prepare for war, and several inmates get unexpected news.

Orange Is the New Black Season 6 concludes on a bleak note, proving that happy endings aren’t in the cards for all the major characters either by destiny or design.

The abuse that exists in the prison system once again emerges as a major storyline. This isn’t a fictional problem, and the series treats the subject matter with the brevity it deserves.

The series explores the multiple ways prisoners are not only physically, emotionally and mentally mistreated but also used and manipulated for personal gain (the Inmate Fantasy game, COs smuggling in drugs), and for the benefit of companies who see incarceration in terms of a healthy bottom line.

Caputo experiences a reawakening as he throws his energy into saving Taystee. The former mediocre middle executive finally embraces his inner activist. But he underestimates the depth of the problem. PolyCon (nee MCC) is able to rebrand itself, engage in a PR dog and pony show  — one in which the inmates willingly take part — and use its vast resources to squash his rebellion.

Orange Is the New Black offers insight into how and why the prisoners end up where they are. It’s not meant to excuse their behavior but to show them as people: people who weren’t born criminals.

This doesn’t mean Orange Is the New Black gives every prisoner a free pass. The series also acknowledges that given a choice, some people will follow the wrong path.

If inmates have any redeeming qualities going into prison, they lose them given enough time. A sense of hopelessness sets in and serves as an excuse to not see themselves or each other as people anymore.

The chasm that exists between the COs and the prisoners is more deeply explored in season 6. It’s the first time the show really delves into what things look like from the other side, and the view isn’t pretty.

McCullough: They are horrible people who have hurt me, and they’re regular people who just want to play a game. Or get through the game. Or feel human. And I get so messed up when I can only see the horrible, which is pretty much all the time.

Sadly, there aren’t nearly enough guards like Ward , McCullough, and Blake to combat the toxicity brought by Hellman (Greg Vrotsos), Stefanovic (Josh Segarra), and Hopper (Hunter Emery). Hopper rationalizes letting the inmates mistreat each other as an act of self-preservation:

Because when they’re [the inmates] swinging at each other, they’re not looking at us.

The irony is totally lost on Hopper who tells McCullough not to forget who the good guys are as he tightens the lid on a container he used to smuggle in heroine. Like Taystee says to the reporter: the inmates may be the one in cages, but it’s the guards who are the animals.

Season 6’s framing of Taystee for Piscatella’s murder is pretty outlandish, even by Orange Is the New Black standards. Viewers have endured some ridiculous plotlines over the years, so to start pulling at this particular thread probably isn’t a great idea.

It would have been preferable to watch her continue to be an advocate for prisoner’s rights. Those are the powerful scenes, but Danielle Brooks never disappoints, no matter how ludicrous the material.

Other standout performances include Selenis Levya (Gloria), Natasha Lyonne (Nicky), and Adrienne C. Moore (Cindy). Gloria and Nicky are this season’s unsung heroes, and Moore evolves her character into someone beyond the sidekick.

Orange Is the New Black Season 6 manages to go left when we expect it to go right. Barbara and Carol put their differences aside to exact revenge on Frieda, only to wind up killing each other (presuming Carol survives that shiv in the back) over petty grievances so old, they don’t even remember the details.

The giant kickball showdown on Episode 13, “Be Free,” turns into nothing more than a spirited game once Ruiz intervenes. After a season of trying and failing to find peace and forgiveness, it’s the sight of a bird — knocked down by a rock thrown by Daya — that manages to take flight again that inspires her to seek redemption.

On Orange Is the New Black, there is no joy without sadness, no action without consequences, no freedom without a price, no love without hate, no gain without loss, no friends without enemies, no anticipation without disappointment, no choices without regrets, no pleasure without pain, and no victim without a perpetrator.

This means there’s no such thing as a truly happy ending because endings mean beginnings, and those are scary as hell.

Other thoughts:

• Orange Is the New Black does a great job of using humor to address hot-button political topics: Trump’s response to Charlottesville, the Time’s Up and Me Too movements, and even the Bush-Gore election.
• How will the show proceed without Piper? Will the series explore her life outside of prison? Could there be a time jump? Is there a chance she’ll wind up back behind bars?
• Suzanne and Sophia are underutilized this season. Laverne Cox deserved more screen time the past two seasons.
• It feels like many of the characters stories have come to an end. Does the show have enough fresh ideas for another season?

What did you think of Orange Is the New Black Season 6 Episodes 10-13? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

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

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!