I adore "Orange is the New Black." It has consistently delivered in its diverse storytelling and sympathetic portrayal of its mostly female cast. I liked a lot of things about season 6: the continuous themes of injustice in the justice system, Taystee's story arc, the always witty Nicky, and a lot of other things. However, there are also a lot of things I think should have been different in this season. The overall decline in quality is a clear indicator that the show will be coming to a close in the near future.
1. Way too much Piper
I love how far Alex and Piper's relationship has come. But I don't know how much of Piper's whiny voice asking, "Where's Alex?" I can take. Frankly, she needs to pipe down. I know Piper is the protagonist, but personally, I would be perfectly fine with less Piper. Now that she's gotten early release, hopefully that's what we get.
2. No news from our favs
That's right! Since the women of Litchfield Minimum have been split into different prisons, we don't see how things are down in Ohio. Sadly, that means no Big Boo, Soso, Martiza, Allison, meth heads, and more! It's really a shame since so much time was spent building up these characters.
3. Not enough scenes with the original supporting cast
Even though most of the original supporting cast is there, they don't feel THERE. I was craving more dialogue from Sophia, Pennastucky, and Lorna!
4. The new characters are BORING
I'm sorry, there is no way you can get me to care about Badison.
5. The feud is dumb
I may have just been too stupid to understand what they were fighting about.
6. Maximum security does not feel menacing
Even though the CO's are absolutely deplorable, something about max feels too comedic? I just wasn't feeling the fear that the inmates felt from the Little Debbie Killers. I found Vee to be much scarier.
7. Taystee's storyline
I know, I know, I just said I loved her arc this season. But there's one thing I did not like about it: there's too much focus on Joe and appeasing his guilt in relation to Taystee.
8. Name dropping Piper's memoir
It just felt too obvious and cringey.
9. Too much setup for the next season
It just felt like too much exposition and setup and not a lot was actually happening.
Once again, I love this show and I cannot wait to see what's to come. This is just my opinion about some of the flaws this season.
