Watched the first episode of Season 6,and if there’s gonna be 12 more hours of wHERE’S ALEX? then warn me now so I can move on to something else.
After his first couple episodes, I enjoyed watching him (remember, our first introduction to him was his reaching for the lotion and his belt after he met Piper). But the best character arc should presumably NOT be the white dude not in prison… Shouldn’t I be rooting for one of the ladies?
I mean, I’m glad I liked his arc and have for several years, but I should be like “You go girl!” instead of “ugh, not this shit again” for most of the prisoner scenes.
Move On.
What? No. I mean no.
Really? You weren’t sick of the “Where’s Alex” whining by the end?
I’m with you on the “should” here, but Caputo became an interesting character with depth. I wasn’t really invested in the new characters and with interesting actors like Lea Delaria “gone to Ohio” and too, too much of MopeyDopey Daya, my focus moved.
Complicated thinking, brain tired, forgive if not elegant: in minimum security I felt more connection to/empathy for the inmates, many were there for crimes I could have been nabbed for in my much younger days or easily fallen into committing for money or due to a bad peer group. Piper’s story actually made me a little paranoid – a “but for the grace of God, there could I have so easily gone/hey, just what is the statute of limitations?” I could so easily have been a Piper/Pennsyltucky/Boo conglomeration.
So I felt more empathy for the characters and the injustices of the prison, especially as expressed through race and class. This season’s focus on much more violent (and far less interesting) offenders just didn’t resonate with me and I had increased identification with Caputo and his futile fight against a rotten system.
I had zero empathy for and little interest in Badison and her ilk, hoped Daya and Ruiz would get shivved and disappear, Piper would be “Ohio’d” and found Daddy and company disgusting. In my universe, the season would have very, very closely focused on Taystee, Red, Boo, Nicky, Gloria, Alex, and the older women they jettisoned (nun and yoga lady).
Jenji Kohen pulled similar tricks with “Weeds,” which is when I stopped watching.
No, because it was only a few episodes.
Sick of Piper whining? Who isn’t?
But the Alex thing is resolved after a couple of episodes. (Although I’m up to number 8 so far.)
I didn’t find it irritating – there’s actually not a lot of time devoted to the whinging.
Even if I don’t disagree with them being in prison, MOST of the min sec ladies were sympathetic, if outright “oh man, that’s not fair.” Yoga probably did nothing wrong but grow her pot her entire life until that “deer” came along. Claudette’s victim was straight out of Chicago: it was a murder, but not a crime. Piper was involved so minimally so far in the past it was really overzealous prosecution and a bitter ex (I will NEVER get behind Piper/Alex.) Even stupid, stupid Flaca just made a mistake and LSD laws are batshit crazy. I don’t want to see violent prisoners. If I did, I’d watch Oz.
I hate how it ended up for another reason because I’ll be standing around and realize “Huh, I guess that’s the end of the story for Janae. Or Leanne. Or Norma.” I liked the calm, min security prisoners and their relatability. I bet it was getting expensive to have such a large cast on hold for so many years, but Daddy isn’t going to fill the void left by Yoga.
The person I most relate to now is the poor girl who keeps getting her nose broken.
I happened to watch the trailer from back when the series started. In addition to how some of them have changed physically (hey, who among us hasn’t) the difference between the whole feel of the show then and now is considerable. It’s almost a different entity. Not that that’s a deal breaker, it just means I now adjust my expectations. I really miss the world of OITNB’s first three seasons but I also think there are a lot of good possible story lines for the future if JK can maintain good writing and casting.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Taystee: I had already read about her fate but it didn’t soften the blow one damn bit. I must admit that during last season’s riot, I sometimes got tired of watching her but those few minutes showing her at the trial and then sent back to prison just hit like a bomb.
The Barb & Carol story was just weird but I did enjoy seeing Mackenzie Phillips (I for one think she looks pretty good)and the actress playing Carol is scary as hell. I’m glad it ended the way it did and hopefully it puts an end to the whole cell block feud.
Is Taylor Schilling leaving the show? I think the Piper character could be bearable if her scenes are limited and she goes back to being a vapid civilian. I think she can be funny when she’s in her spoilt rich girl world; in prison she’s annoying and worse than that, the character is unbelievable.
If I were to guess, I’d say her role in the final(?) season will be showing us a contrast to Elada’s life on the outside. She won’t be hustling weight powder. She’ll be writing her book.
Finally finished season 6. Taystee and Caputo are the only characters I really care about on the show anymore. Well, and I like Suzanne. But other than them, the show is not great. I would vow to not watch S7, but by the time it comes out I’ll probably forget what I thought of S6.
A little late but watching in smaller chunks depends on the program. I was catching up with Shameless and multiple episodes of characters making self destructive decisions got old. Spacing helped. I had a similar experience with Sons of Anarchy but the repetitive nature - another gang taking our territory -was too much and I didn’t finish. On the other hand, a strong narrative flow like The Americans I was able to binge.
So Luschek made some bank. And he buys that???
And he can go where he wants with it???
The season finale wrapped up so many things in odd ways. Nope, that wouldn’t happen that way. Nope, nor would that. Yeah, maybe that one but still it’s a stretch. Etc.
The problem with the show has always been Piper. I don’t see that changing.
See, I think you watched it too fast. Alex showed up pretty early. Not that the helped, but it wasn’t “where’s Alex” till the end.
Just got done with season 6. Eh, it was alright.
OITHB has way too many characters. I spent much of the show going “Hey, whatever happened to Soandso?” even after watching the opening recap. They really short changed a lot of the characters that were regulars as they had to make room for more new ones.
Really wish they hadn’t gotten political with the immigration stuff at the end. Since Piper got out I might head-cannon that as the series finale and just be done with it. Even this season I felt like I was watching it mostly because I was in too deep investment-wise, and not because I *really *enjoyed it.
Finished season 6 today. I enjoyed it! I thought the new characters were a nice/needed change, and they kept enough of the old characters for me to stay a little emotionally invested. I did totally miss Boo, though; I think it would have been fun to see her interact with Daddy.
I found the escaped Pennsyltucky storyline kind of pointless and annoying. I stopped rooting for her and Charlie after he raped her.
Piper’s no more/less annoying than always.
I was sad to see Daya become an addict. Not surprised, I guess, but sad.
I was concerned enough about Lorna’s early labor without seeing the blood on her pants! If she miscarries at 7 months, there will go any remaining threads of her sanity.
YES. I did not see that coming at all; I cried, too. Then my sad tears turned to happy tears watching Sophia and Piper get released.
Amen. 