Over a year has gone be since we left off from last season of Orange Is the New Black. The end saw the CERT team storm the prison, separate the inmates on outgoing buses, accidentally kill Piscatella, and just before the team gets into the underground pool bunker, it faded to orange. Season 6 has now come and gone, and we have seen the consequences of the riot. In just two days, I watched the entire season and now I'm wondering where things will go in Season 7. In the mean time, I'm going to delve into my feelings on Season 6. We start off with many of the inmates in Litchfield's Maximum Prison.
If I'm being honest, this was my least favorite season yet. I don't think it was terrible by any means but there was something about it that I just didn't connect with. Usually, I get used to new characters fairly quickly and embrace them. Season 2 brought us Vee, Lolly, and Soso. Season 3 introduced us to MCC, Danny Pierson, Linda from Purchasing, a few new guards, Stella, and Judy King. Season 4 brought us Piscatella, more new guards, and a lot more inmates, such as Ouija, Sankey, Zirconia, and Skinhead Helen, among others. This season we were introduced to Madison, Daddy, and the Little Debbie Killers, sisters Carol and Barb. I didn't vibe with any of these characters. I'll break down the new characters first before I get into the events of the season.
Carol and Barb
In seasons past, Freida had mentioned that she couldn't go back to Max and we learned why when we were introduced to Carol and Barb Denning, sisters who have been there for well over 30 years. After unsuccessfully trying to commit suicide, Freida is released into Gen Pop and walks past Carol and looks scared. 30 years prior, Carol and Barb were already in Max with Freida, serving out their sentences. The sisters were always fighting with each other over a stupid joke, something that each claimed was their own. A fight broke out between the two and they were separated into C and D Blocks. Both sisters' crews went to war with each other and Freida was supposed to be there for their kickball game. Instead, Freida chose to implicate the sisters so she could get transferred to Minimum, making big enemies of both, especially Barb, who got another 25 years added to her sentence. Years later, Carol is running C Block and Barb is running D Block. They're still bickering with each other over something stupid.
We find out that they were known as the Little Debbie Killers, in that they killed their little sister Debbie over petty jealousy. In a flashback scene, we see them arguing with their parents, as well as being jealous of Debbie's accomplishments. Together, they lock Debbie in a car and push it into a frozen lake. We also find out that the joke each claimed as her own was neither of theirs to begin with. They both concoct a plan in which their gangs attempt to kill each other on the reinstated kickball game, thanks to Piper, who brought it back. Meanwhile, they meet in a closet and change into clothes resembling that of B Block, or Florida, where Freida is, in an effort to blend in when the inmates come back into the prison, and eventually kill Freida. When they realize their plan didn't work, thanks to Piper being released and Maria convincing McCullough to change the teams, they kill each other. As sick as it was to kill their sister, they didn't portray the scariness associated with such an act during this season. They came off as silly to me and I was glad to see them die so I don't have to watch them anymore.
Daddy
Daddy is an inmate in D Block working under Barb. She is known as being a drug pusher and has a control over some of the women, one of which ends up being Daya. She ends up getting Daya hooked on drugs and they develop a relationship. Meanwhile, Daya took a plea to endure a life sentence over her involvement in Humps' death. However, while she did shoot him, we know his death was actually caused by Kukudio blowing into his IV, which caused a stroke and then death. In order to cope with this, as well as getting beaten by the guards, it's easy to see why she ends up on drugs. In flashbacks, we see Daddy was similar before prison as well, being somewhat of a pimp, as well as a drug pusher. Under her care, one of her girls dies. We're under the impression this happened several times. She was okay but I just didn't connect with her character either.
Madison
Early into Season 6, we meet Madison, an inmate with a ridiculously over the top Boston accent, who harasses inmates. Her new victim is Piper but Alex is able to intervene a few times. She tries to come off funny and tough by naming herself "Badison" but no one respects her or takes her seriously. She's working directly under Carol in C Block and tries to bully others. In flashbacks, we learn that she got this way because she was bullied in school. However, her actions show her not being a victim at all, yelling at her parents, and continuing her ways and reacting from bullying even in Military school. One of her pranks backfires and she accidentally sets another girl on fire. We're not sure exactly what got Madison into prison, though. She is by far the worst character ever created on this show. I don't want to hear that she's a good character because I'm supposed to be annoyed by her. She was annoying, in that I didn't even want to watch her scenes. They felt unbearable and the accent was way overdone. She was supposed to come off as a villain but failed across the board. Even though we all cheered when Vee got killed, she was at least a convincing villain. If any character deserves to die or be written off this show, it's Madison for sure.
Lack of other inmates
A few episodes in, we learned that several inmates were sent to a prison in Cincinnati, OH. We got a quick glimpse of Skinhead Helen, Oujia, Boo, and Linda. Just after Linda's head was shaved due to a lice infection, leadership finally figured out that she was in MCC after all. Other than the 30 seconds these characters were on screen, we didn't see many inmates. Such notables missing from this season were Maritza, Yoga Jones, Janae, Norma, Gina, Soso, Sankey, Brandy, Allison, and several others. I hope we see some of these others in Season 7, if only to get a little closure. I even missed the resident Meth heads, Leanne and Angie, which I never thought I'd say. We also didn't see some guards, nor did we get closure on Bailey's situation. I also could have done without the game the guards played regarding the inmates. It was sick and unnecessary!
For all its faults, we did see some positive as well. Piper and Alex got "married," with Nicky in full Rabbi attire, which was quite amusing. Piper did end up getting released but seemed conflicted after leaving, probably worrying about Alex. I liked that we seem to be seeing somewhat of a redemption story for Maria. Though she got ten extra years due to Gloria blaming her for the riot, Maria ended up taking a step forward. She sought brief counseling in the form of religion and seemed to turn over a new leaf at the end during the almost killer kickball game. It was also interesting to see McCullough dealing with PTSD from the riot. Though I'm not happy about the way she got released, I was happy to see Sofia get out to see Crystal. I also thought the relationship between Blanca and Diablo was adorable. Suzanne bonded with Frieda and Pennsatucky as well. Speaking of Pennsatucky, I'm so glad she came to her senses and left Donuts the rapist. I understand why she turned herself back in, as there as a manhunt for her and if he continued to run, the consequences would no doubt be severe.
Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Again, it wasn't horrible by any means, but it just didn't do much for me. While I may not like it, I understand Taystee going down for Piscatella's murder, even though she didn't do it. I also understand why it looks like Blanca is about to get deported. They are characters we really care about and these things happening to others may not have as much impact. It's the same reason we lost Poussey. I still hold out hope for Taystee because there's a bunch of things that could come up. Daya seemed to have given up, and is now addicted to drugs, some of which is her mother Aleida's fault, who has been helping Hopper smuggle them into the prison.
For all its faults, we did see some positive as well. Piper and Alex got "married," with Nicky in full Rabbi attire, which was quite amusing. Piper did end up getting released but seemed conflicted after leaving, probably worrying about Alex. I liked that we seem to be seeing somewhat of a redemption story for Maria. Though she got ten extra years due to Gloria blaming her for the riot, Maria ended up taking a step forward. She sought brief counseling in the form of religion and seemed to turn over a new leaf at the end during the almost killer kickball game. It was also interesting to see McCullough dealing with PTSD from the riot. Though I'm not happy about the way she got released, I was happy to see Sofia get out to see Crystal. I also thought the relationship between Blanca and Diablo was adorable. Suzanne bonded with Frieda and Pennsatucky as well. Speaking of Pennsatucky, I'm so glad she came to her senses and left Donuts the rapist. I understand why she turned herself back in, as there as a manhunt for her and if he continued to run, the consequences would no doubt be severe.
Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Again, it wasn't horrible by any means, but it just didn't do much for me. While I may not like it, I understand Taystee going down for Piscatella's murder, even though she didn't do it. I also understand why it looks like Blanca is about to get deported. They are characters we really care about and these things happening to others may not have as much impact. It's the same reason we lost Poussey. I still hold out hope for Taystee because there's a bunch of things that could come up. Daya seemed to have given up, and is now addicted to drugs, some of which is her mother Aleida's fault, who has been helping Hopper smuggle them into the prison.
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