JasmineChi: Orange Is The New Black Series 1-2 Overview

I haven't finished a TV series like this in a long time. Having a feeling of complete satisfaction. Orange Is The New Black has taken me from tears to laughter within seconds which is something which rarely happens to me through the medium of TV and film. With its witty, sharp script, amazing ensemble and bleak but truthful stories, it will make you almost want to take a trip down Litchfield to see all the goings on for yourself.

There are not many programmes that feature such a high amount of women. Ok, granted there's The L Word, Sister Sister and Girlfriends but rarely has an American comedy drama shown such a diverse group of women all at once. What is the perfect medium to do this?

A female prison, of course.

Binging on both seasons in the space of three days tucked in my bed was no easy feat. Damn you Netflix. But, it was made effortless by the brilliant endings to each episode setting you up for the next. We're taken into the corrupt world of prison by Piper played by the brilliant Taylor Schilling in Nick Caraway-esque way of being 'in but without'.

The show strives in telling the stories of Piper and her fellow inmates through glorious flashbacks which thus create the best and most developed character development I've ever seen in TV. If you've ever seen British drama 'Bad Girls' (if you haven't, change that), you'll know how immersive the setting of a female prison is. The estrogen, the competition and the sisterhood and cliques that evolve. However, Orange Is The New Black takes the bleak topic of the loss of freedom and imprisionment, alongside countless 'shots' and threats of mind-numbing solitary confinement and manages to make it light hearted at at times where you never would of thought a laugh would of been possible.

Kudos to Jenji Kohan and the writing team and cinematography crew who seamlessly tell a story and shoot so beautifully an otherwise, unappealing environment. Managing to make us care or at least, think of such a disenfranchised section of our society is a notable feat. Big props again to Shilling who works as the initial cog in the machine constantly ebbing towards total narcissm. Other breakout characters that impress are Suzanne 'Crazy Eyes', Black Cindy, Taystee, Poussey.. To be honest, all of the cast are knockout. I can't single out one performance without thinking about another to match it.