Channel Surfing: Orange is the New Black - "I Wasn't Ready"

Left to right: Samira Wiley, Taylor Schilling, and Dascha Polanco

Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.

Before choosing to watch Netflix's latest original series Orange is the New Black, I hadn't dedicated an ounce of energy to their programming. House of Cards sounded appealing, but besides my love for David Fincher, I didn't have a draw. As I previously stated, I am probably holding off on Arrested Development for the foreseeable future. I am skipping Hemlock Grove because, well, I am waiting for the big sell. So why would I choose to watch this series on a women's prison?

I have a love-hate relationship with creator Jenji Kohan. Her most popular series, Weeds, was a show that I enjoyed watching through thick and thin until season seven, when suddenly something turned off. The suddenly shift of the Botwins into peril didn't leave me interested in the final season. I will admit that the show in general was addictive and it may be a result of burnout. However, the thing that keeps me going back to Kohan is that she draws the line between drama and comedy in a sincere yet menacing way. In Weeds, the characters were all living in a comical way, but the insistent danger blended well with the occasional moment when the family just got together and laughed. To say the least, Kohan was an original voice and one that I felt appealed to telling more urban stories where everything was more lax and cursing and sex wasn't taboo.

Which is why it couldn't hurt to give her first post-Weeds show a shot. I'll admit that the trailer poorly sells it. It almost feels like Enlightened at a prison, which just sounds false on every note. But as anyone who has paid attention to any form of media will know, a trailer isn't always the most accurate sell. Sometimes critics from Hitfix and the AV Club can sell something more successfully for far cheaper. In fact, the Firewall and Iceberg podcast was my exact reason for perusing this show:

Not being that familiar or interested in prison shows, I had no idea what to expect. At very least, I would expect Kohan to apply her cynical wit to the show. It comes through in spades and by the end, it leaves a sense of promise. We don't know any of these supporting characters, but they feel established enough to promise interesting plots down the line. The notable supporting character is Larry (Jason Biggs) who connects her to the outside world as her fiance that chose an ironic time to propose. At this point, their relationship seems surface level, but it feels like it won't just stop there.

The most striking thing about the first episode "I Wasn't Ready" is how it reveals the story. We meet our protagonist Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) naked in a prison shower being harassed to get out. This is immediately followed by the harasser complimenting her breasts as being perfect. This small moment sets up the entire show almost tellingly. The entire episode is based around Piper's first day and how through a series of events, she discovers how the prison system works. She is essentially naked, yet everyone doesn't care. They're considered to be like a tribe that looks out for each other. In a way, the benefit of Orange is the New Black is that it already feels like a structured universe.

Beyond the prison walls is Piper's life beforehand. There's her fiance Larry, who is the sweetest Jew that almost seems too faithful. There's even a person from Piper's "lesbian" phase that is the whole root of the show. Her girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), had her involved in a drug deal in which she transported money internationally over a decade ago. Piper admits that she was young and naive and that she chose to surrender herself without court or anything. These moments are spliced in between the prison scenes in which a phrase or action almost recounts a moment of her life.

This shift is sort of genius and rarely feels overbearing. It helps that Taylor Shilling is really good at playing a character who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown for most of the episode. As stated by a character: "This isn't Oz." What this ends up feeling like is a concrete jungle where women form cliques and barter goods off of each other. Don't piss off the cook, though, or you'll get a bloody tampon sandwich. It is also great because the inmates seem a lot more reasonable in behavior than the wardens, who almost do their job like impersonal clockwork.

It is this great shift between perception and reality. Not being familiar with prisons, I can only assume this show's accuracy. However, there is plenty of mileage taken from Piper spouting that she has read the rules and regulations of prison life, to which everyone appropriately laughs. It is far scarier, at least at first. There's plenty of disgusting habits and even a softcore sex scene towards the end of the episode. The show even tries to make the concept of lesbian sex lose its taboo nature by consistently claiming that it happens, but you don't have to do it.

Jason Biggs

It is hard to really tell whose opinion to trust on the show as of yet. However, by the end, everything is set into place and it leaves some questions. We want to know more about Piper's life and how she will survive in the prison. How important will Larry and the free range characters be to the narrative? Will there be this big payoff involving Piper and Alex's relationship? There's plenty of building blocks in place that makes me intrigued to just pop on the next episode and find out. It also helps that Kohan is really good and making cynicism work as humor. It has been awhile since a show packed so much personality into their characters with memorable lines in the pilot episode. I can only hope that they continue to expand. Most of all, I would just enjoy finding out more about these characters.

The cast is pretty stellar for the most part. While they may come across right now as caricatures, they are quite intriguing caricatures. There's even someone dubbed the Killing Nun (Beth Fowler). As the show proposed, Piper is only schedule for 13 months in the slammer, but I am curious what the long term goal is. Just like Community needs to move beyond the community college, I feel like Piper will be free. Will we just focus on a new character, or will we have a story established enough to overlook the specificity of the title? I am getting too ahead of myself. I just want to see more.

I am not saying that Orange is the New Black is the best new show based on "I Wasn't Ready." What I'm saying is that it already seems to be one of the more promising hour-long shows that I have seen this summer and more specifically year. Kohan continues to prove why she brings an authentic voice to the serialized narratives. It's addictive and fun, and potentially going to impress on a narrative function with slow reveals. This show may have started off naked, but I'm sure that it will bare more before the 13 episodes are over.