"Orange is the New Black" Netflix series...any fans

I thought they were starting to lose control of the show's tone this season -- shades of Jenji Kohan's last show, Weeds. Too many broad scenes designed for effect rather than realism or truth. The absolute low point as far as phony moments went was Piper's faux-inspirational speech to her employees. And speaking of that storyline, maybe it's some people's thing, but all the talk about dirty panties was just gross to me.

They probably want to be vague about the timeline but I thought there should have been some mention of how much longer Piper's sentence is supposed to last. Wasn't she only supposed to be in for a year?

 

The way time passes in the prison it is about a 3-4 days per episode it seems. They don't go forward to fast which makes sense at it is prison. There is what like 40 episodes so far so we at like 5 or 6 months.

 

She's been there at least nine months -- the entirety of Daya's pregnancy occurred after Piper arrived.

 

They're also doing that TV thing where they start softening characters who were once extreme. Doggett has gone from threatening psycho to lovable eccentric. And remember when Crazy Eyes was aggressively pursuing Piper? Now a woman shows interest in her and she's a blushing virgin.

 

Season three begins with Mother's Day, so we know it starts in May. Not sure when season three ends.

Daya's pregnancy is a pretty good measure of how much time has past. She got pregnant at roughly the beginning of the show and gave birth at the end of the third season, so one season roughly equals three months, on average.

Given that, I see one of two things happening:

a) Piper completes her sentence at the end of season four and the show continues to follow her outside of prison in season five as she re-adjusts to life on the outside, but it still cuts to the supporting characters in the prison.

b) Piper does something to extend her sentence, like getting caught for the panty business.

 

I expected that to happen by the end of the last episode but I guess they're saving it for next year.

I'm looking at Wikipedia for signposts. They're being pretty consistent -- it was Thanksgiving in episode 9 of season 1, and Christmas in the last episode, and there was a Valentine's Day episode part way through season 2.

Piper's sentence is 15 months, not a year... I don't recall any discussion about her sentence being extended and she seems like the kind of inmate (rich white girl) whose sentence would end early... but were there consequences from the fight with Doggett? She also committed perjury in the episode where she and Alex went to the trial of the drug boss.

Maybe their goal is five seasons for the fifteen months... though the show is such a draw for Netflix I'm sure they'll want to keep it going as long as possible.

 

I liked seeing Rosa in one of the flashbacks. With hair even!

 

I'm confident they can keep the show going even after Piper is released.

 

She's long since become just one of the ensemble rather than the lead, but I still feel like since her coming to the prison was the show's starting point, her leaving should be the end.

They could follow her into advocacy for prisoners like the real Piper... but I don't know if the show's Piper would even take that path. (I also wonder what Piper Kerman thinks of the direction they've taken the character.)

 

I thought the third season wasn't quite a good as the second, but enjoyed the focus on different kinds of relationships over another cartoonish villain.

I really wouldn't miss Piper or Alex if they went away. They are easily my least favorite characters on the show.

 

I was half expecting the Star Spangled Banner to be played underneath while she gave that speech. The season's low point for me though was the ending in the lake.

 

There's no major storyline for season 3, the whole Vee drama of season 2 was the show's highlight. Now it just seems that characters are getting dumber.

 

Really? Caputo trying to save the prison and dealing with MCC seemed like pretty solid glue to hold to season together for me.

 

Seemed like season three was more setting up for a (hopefully) major storyline in season four, especially with the cliffhanger at the end. I agree though, it was the weakest of the three seasons so far, and it didn't even have Larry in it!

 

I made the post halfway through the season. The Caputo storyline did tend to take root more in later episodes. Still a much weaker season with that stupid 'cult of Norma' and several characters having complete personality changes from how they were initially set up.

 

I agree. The final episodes in Seasons One and Two had me wanting more. Not Season Three.

 

I thought some of the back story stuff worked (especially Pennsatucky's), but the cult of Norma was a danger sign for the show. I thought the prison panties story line would have worked if it had taken up no more than 10 minutes of the season. Instead, it continued long past the point of diminishing returns.

I'm not sure where the show goes from here. The show is structured around Piper as the protagonist, but she is no longer one of the more interesting characters (for my money, Taystee, Pouse, Red and Caputo are more compelling).

I really liked the first three seasons of Weeds, but the show should have ended with the fire. By the end, I thought it was nearly unwatchable and I only finished the last two seasons out of some weird compulsion.

 

I felt like season three was also too preachy at times, in a very ham-fisted, circle-jerk kind of way that was only preaching to the choir to score some cheap points.

The cliffhanger with Alex at the end was dumb. If they were going to kill her, she would have died right there. They're not going to leave you hanging and then in the season four opener go, "Oh yeah, she was actually killed." So she's obviously alive. I think she'll either be saved at the last minute or possibly kidnapped and smuggled out of the prison, giving us an "outside" story for the next season.

I think season four has potential, because there will be a lot of new characters and the old characters will have to deal with the overcrowding.

Anyone else get the feeling that we may get to see inside of "max" next season? Three characters are now there: Miss Claudette, Nicky, and Justin Bieber (I can't even remember her character's real name).

 

Finally finished Season Three. Man, that was a slog. My wife gave up on it midway through, and I can't say I blame her. Crazy Eyes in love?! The girl who stalked and peed in Piper's cell two seasons ago?! Piper becoming Walter White-lite? Alex dead or not? (Guess that one depends on whether Prepon signs on for another round...). Norma Christ?! Just a ridiculously bad season, IMO.

 

I just finished the third season as well. I agree with many of the criticisms here that it was weaker than the previous two seasons. The Norma thing gets way out of hand, IMO. I kind of like Piper's turnaround to Walter White lite though; I didn't like her much before. But I've found the show has always been kind of inconsistent with quality. Some of the episodes are hysterically funny and some of them are just kind of stupid. And all those flashbacks for various characters in the final episode of Season 3 were kind of pointless. I kind of liked the flashbacks when they would just focus on one character; but a short scene for so many of them made it kind of confusing. I'm hoping Nicky will be back for the fourth season....

 

I liked season 1 a lot and looked forward to season 2.
I liked season 2 a good deal, not as much as season 1, but enough, and when it ended I was looking forward to season 3.
Season 3...I kind of pushed myself to get through it. If this were it, that would be fine with me.

 

Orange Is the New Black renewed fro 3 more seasons, not including the one this year! My mind is boggling at the moment. I'm on the verge of dropping it after witnessing an accelerated downward trend in the show's appeal since it started.

In fact, I enjoyed season 1 quite a bit. Season 2 was still pretty good, but with a noticeable falloff compared to S1. And season 3 was just plain awful. Another 4 years?? It would have to drastically improve for me to be interested.

 

We bailed on Season 3 after only 3 episodes.

 

I don't get it. I thought that season three was as strong as any. And they made us care about Doggett, which is major. Eh, to each their own.

 

Didn't make me care, I was annoyed! I saw it as a poor attempt to whitewash her previously vile nature in an attempt to make her seem softer and more cuddly. Why? It undercuts her character. But that was only one of many, many poor choices that the writers took. But as you say, to each their own.