Photo by Baili Bigham
Baili Grace Bigham – Head Entertainment Columnist
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Spoilers are throughout the article, so read at your own risk. You’ve been warned, inmate.
Jenji Kohan, the creative mastermind behind “Orange Is the New Black,” has created quite the monster. This poignant and complex comedy-drama has fans looking behind corners only to find more twists and turns. Luckily for us, “OITNB”has been renewed another three seasons, giving more time for these characters’ stories to unfold in its entirety (or be cut short). The fourth season brings darkness that fans may have not seen before but sure saw coming. The show is no stranger to creating a knot of conflicting emotions within its viewer, so let us walk through some of the moments that left us in shock.
The first episode throws us for a loop early on when Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) is being strangled by the hit man she knew was coming throughout former seasons. Lolly (Lori Petty) strolls into the scene and goes straight for the man’s throat, pummeling the attempted killer, saving Alex and killing the assassin in the process. But how does one hide a body in a prison without being caught? In a truly “OITNB” way, Alex and Lolly try and cover their tracks in a masterfully comedic way, despite the grimness of the situation, that leaves viewers wondering what else could possibly go wrong.
The season continues to hone in on the repercussions of the murder that kicked off the season. Viewers, from the safety of their couch, watch helplessly as Lolly and Alex’s sanity quickly fades throughout the rest of the episodes as they grapple with the experience. Though this is gruesome, this is the least of the troubles that the inmates face throughout the rest of the season. It seems like the lives of the inmates are going steeply downhill from season to season as they countdown the days until they are released — which may or may not happen.
Meanwhile, Piper has gotten too big for her britches in the panty business she has been building from the ground up. Her mob-like approach to business served as an obvious foreshadowing for trouble ahead, and sure enough her precious monopoly is too good to be true. The creators use her business and its subsequent troubles as a platform to correlate “White Lives Matter” and white supremacy. From here, the season proceeds to use its prison setting to comment on recent real-world events — commenting on brutality in law enforcement and the prison system and, at one point, interjecting references to Eric Garner’s death at the hands of police officers.
There is a strong undertone from the Black Lives Matter movement that is brought forth at various times throughout the season, and especially during the season finale. The episode is meant to provoke and direct the audience’s fervor towards the horrific reality that it is substantive, not just written in a script. It is intended to inspire outrage not just at the hardships of the inmates, but also at those of real people who are being brutalized by police every day. These inmates, like those targeted by police brutality, are still fully human, despite being treated in inhumane ways.
For those who make it through the season and still think they can handle more, the fifth season is already in the works and “it’s bananas,” according to Kohan.
