Orange is the New Black

While Season 6 never attained the operatic heights of years past, it was a relatively solid advancement of this story.

Fans who hated the fifth season should mostly love the sixth, which is a return to normal, or as "normal" as "OITNB" ever gets. But the end does feel a little bit closer.

The series has always treated its characters with indiscriminate humanity and nuance, and it regards its new characters in a similar fashion. ... These characters are a refreshing addition to the series, but audiences may be left wanting for more information about all the other Orange Is the New Black regulars who were sent to a prison in Ohio.

The show is also confident enough to blow up its framework (in this case literally) and thrust the characters into an entirely new environment--a largely successful shift brings fresh energy and some standout new characters to the prison dramedy’s sixth season.

Season six isn’t as messy as the show’s fifth season--which took place over just three days and chronicled a prison riot--but it’s also nowhere near as ambitious. It’s just good enough to make me interested in watching season seven, but not good enough to make me want to see anything beyond that.

The series’s sixth season, which debuted in its entirety on Netflix on Friday, is the same kind of grab bag: Some episodes are dazzling, some sloppy, but Orange and its creator, Jenji Kohan, are still pulling off tricks and twists that few other shows dare attempt.

The story that propels the 13 episodes is more focused and on a smaller scale than what was attempted last year, which isn't entirely unwelcome. But it's not always clear which big issues and ideas the writers set out to address in the new season. As it stands, Orange Is the New Black remains a show so full of rich characters, ripping dialogue and great performances that I can focus on those things and not the characters or storylines that don't work.

Orange Is the New Black remains a worthwhile series, retaining its place as one of the strongest Netflix dramas. But the show’s commitment to telling all of its stories has become wildly overgrown, like a tree desperately in need of pruning. It has everything it needs, but it also has way, way too much.

Season 6 is indeed a marked improvement on Season 5. In fact, it’s even pretty good. But it also ends up highlighting the series’ overall weaknesses, making it more clear than ever just how frustrating it is when a show with this much promise loses sight of what could make it great.

Season 6 is a return to what works for the show, but it's an effort that falls flat as we watch our girls fall into the same self-destructive habits--but this time with an auxiliary cast that we're not emotionally invested in.

When both are in balance (Season Two’s arc with Vee), the series feels special, and like nothing else even within Peak TV. When they’re not (as was the case in the riot season), it can be hard to see how the two halves are part of the same show, for quality reasons as much as tonal ones. Season Six is in that more uneven vein.

there’s still a lot of value to be mined from this jumbled American collage, as profane and clumsy and poignant as life in the world can sometimes be.