At 13 episodes, you can finish the first season of Orange Is the New Black in less than 24 hours — and we recommend that you do watch at some point, if not all in one day. Orange Is the New Black is about a fictional women's correctional facility, and as Netflix's fifth original content series, it delivers on what Netflix has been promising all along: a new kind of show that thrives under the streaming programming model rather than being compromised by it.
When Netflix decided to release its original programming en masse — entire seasons in one fell swoop — it also claimed that doing so was part of a mission to change the way we watch television. This claim has not quite held up. While no one argued that the now Emmy-nominated House of Cards had the makings of a cable hit, it also looked a lot like programming we'd seen before on HBO, Showtime and AMC. And though creator Mitch Hurwitz intended for the fourth season of Arrested Development to be watchable in any order, he caved before the premiere and admitted it was best to watch the episodes sequentially.
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Orange stands apart from these shows. It is a show that might not have worked outside of streaming TV. But it shines on Netflix. This is the show that will make you excited about the future of streaming content.
Netflix certainly has faith. The show was renewed for a second season before the first was released. Orange is based on the real-life memoirs of Piper Kerman's stint in prison. Taylor Schilling, who plays lead character Piper Chapman, is not well-known, and some of its most recognizable stars are more famous for their roles in the '90s, with American Pie's Jason Biggs and That 70s Show's Laura Prepon playing rival love interests. Star Trek: Voyager's Kate Mulgrew turns in a must-see performance as a Russian mobster's wife-turned-prison-cook. The most established force may be creator Jenji Kohan, who was behind Showtime's successful Weeds.
Orange follows a stereotypical middle-class woman who because of her relationship with a drug dealer 10 years prior is sentenced to 15 months. Once she gets to prison, Piper's yuppie world is infiltrated by topics women of her standing in life do not usually have to experience. The contrast between her former life and the reality of "doing time" is smartly presented in flashbacks. Peppered throughout the episodes, the flashbacks serve to remind us that our lives are not so different from Piper's, except for the one mistake that landed her in the brutal conditions of prison.
The series is not interested in glamorizing prison nor does the presentation feel like a cautionary tale. Instead, Orange honestly confronts the issues these inmates face. These are also issues TV audiences don't like. Race issues. Gay and transgender issues. Class issues. Mental-health issues. Issues with the criminal-justice system.
Orange does not treat these complicated problems as arcs that can be introduced and solved in a 50-minute episode. Instead, the ugliest faces of American society are weaved into the fabric of the show, and we are invited not to judge the women — the criminals — who inhabit this prison, but rather to empathize with them. And to laugh with them. Imagine selling a "dramedy" that looks at the seedy underbelly of the American justice system to focus groups. It is possible it would have tanked in the first few weeks of ratings.
A problem with the "traditional" way we watch television is that shows like this one — irreverent, intelligent and controversial — frequently perish, starved by subpar ratings. Consider HBO's Enlightened and NBC's Hannibal, two critically acclaimed shows that have been canceled or are surviving on meager ratings. And then there's Orange's Netflix cousin, the recently resurrected Arrested Development. With its offbeat humor and demanding viewership model, it was canceled while still in its creative prime. And I wonder if, released on network or cable television, Orange would have gone under appreciated and been forced to shut down before finishing its story. But, thanks to Netflix, that isn't a problem for this show.
Joris Evers, the director of global corporate communications at Neflix, told Mashable that Netflix originals do not have to worry about struggling to find an audience: "Because we are not allocating scarce prime-time slots like linear TV does, a show that is taking a long time to find its audience is one we can keep nurturing."
This show is not beholden to ratings, since Netflix doesn't release them. Orange doesn't have to worry about its weekly ratings waxing or waning, because viewers can choose to consume episodes at their own pace. This show isn't concerned about being aired against Modern Family and NCIS. And, perhaps most crucially, Orange is not beholden to the creative whims of those external to its creation.
If Orange had premiered to lackluster numbers, perhaps there might have been pressure to edit the show — to add an extra love triangle, to tone down all that uncomfortable discussion of race. Lucky for viewers, that is not something that's possible with the Netflix model. We get the season as it is, and no amount of lackluster ratings can change that.
These are advantages that did not apply to House of Cards and Arrested Development because those shows did not need them. House of Cards had enough star power to draw in a large audience had it aired on a premium cable network like Showtime or HBO. Arrested Development faced these problems when it first aired, but by the time season four hit Netflix the show was a certified cultural phenomenon. Neither needed to work to make viewers watch or expand its audience. Orange does. It has a hard premise to sell but that makes the show all the more impressive because it pulls off an incredibly hard balancing act of humor, drama and social commentary.
As Orange arrived without much buzz, audiences will not feel the pressure to binge-watch all 13 episodes to avoid being spoiled by chatter Twitter or other social networks. Social media "spoiled" a plot development in the show as I was watching, but what happens in this show is far less important than why, meaning that even the occasional spoiler will not damage the integrity of the viewing experience. That is an important ingredient a Netflix show needs — one House of Cards lacked.
Orange perfectly understands how to use the lack of commercial breaks to its advantage, with the endings of each episode feeling like rich plot-markers rather than cheap cliff-hangers. Finally, this show is so smart that once you have finished the season, you will want to watch it all over again — a healthy sign for a show that does not run months and has a year between its seasons.
At its core, the show is a funny, compassionate look at two of the most complicated dynamics in America: race and female friendship. The sizable ensemble cast gives female performers the opportunity to develop complicated characters, and a handful of male players turn in solid performances as prison guards, administrators and fiancés on the "outside."
Orange is so good and already so well-received that it very well could have succeeded on a different network, despite its fringe appeal. We can not know that, and even if it is true, it does not change the fact that Netflix can provide a new vehicle for wonderful shows that wouldn't have been possible five years ago. One imagines a future where Netflix isn't just reviving fan favorites like Arrested Development — it's creating and sustaining them.
Orange Is the New Black is available to stream now. It's rated TV-MA for mature content.
Images: Netflix
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