Orange Is The New Black Season 1 and 2: DVD Review

Orange Is The New Black Season 1 and 2: DVD Review

Rating: R16
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

A veritable Netflix sensation, and with a third season just having aired, Orange Is The New Black's first two seasons remain a pop culture phenomenon that really kickstarted the whole idea of binge watching.

Based on the book of the same name, it's the story of Taylor Schilling's Piper Kerman, a reasonably well to do Brooklynite who finds her past back to haunt her and who ends up in a women's prison. The first season is about Piper surviving and getting used to being in jail, as well as acclimatising. The second sees a hardened Piper falling into the routines and the power plays of the prison as newer inmates arrive.

Cleverly written and smartly using flashbacks to flesh out the various inmates and their backstories, Orange is the New Black is an engaging series that works slightly better in its first season than its second, which suffers from a lack of source material.

Schilling is by turns awkward, unlikeable, vulnerable, smart and stupid and makes a good heroine for people to latch onto as the jail set story plays out. Unlike the best prison show ever made, Oz, this series plays a little more on the comedy but there's an equal amount of drama and heartbreak over the 26 episodes - and it's the characters within that make it such a rich tapestry to behold.

Extras: Commentaries, featurettes, gag reels

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