Orange is the New Black - TV programme for Netflix

★★★★★

5 word summary:

Shawshank with women (and better)

5 sentence review:

I started watching this because Netflix wouldn't stop promoting it and I had seen a lot of positive things about it online so I caved, and I'm so glad I did because now I'm re-watching it because it was so good.

It has a lot of obvious positive traits, such as a large female cast  (of different shapes, sizes and races), gay characters, social commentary, transgender character, etc. and this is actually  what made me hesitant to watch it in the first place because I though that was what everyone loved, rather than the programme itself.

I was pleasantly surprised that not only were there diverse female characters, but well written ones; storylines were interesting and heartfelt; the humour is on point; and everything about the programme draws you into their world and the characters' lives so that you care and are interested. 

The plots are slightly extreme to add to the humour and drama, such as the chicken story, however they never go too far into the realms of the unbelievable that you disengage (I now really want to read the book to see how close to the original authors version it is).

I couldn't really recommend this programme enough, because there is a little something for everyone and it's only 26 hour in total (2 seasons with 13 episodes) so if you're really committed you can watch it in just over a day (although it took me 5 I think).

5 good things:

1. The characters (my favourites are Nichols, Morello and Poussey) 

2.  It's funny

3. Hair and costuming is amazing (looking at how the prisoners look outside of the show)

4. Most of the back stories are so good and well integrated within the main storyline (I normally don't like dual narratives but they make this work very well)

5. 'Scatter the nuns!' - my favourite quote

5 bad thing:

1.  Not enough of Nichol's back story (I forgot it had even happened until I re-watched the programme)

2.  Some of the lines are incredibly cheesy and overly metaphorical

3.  Vee was quite cliché, pantomime villain, compared to all the other nuanced character she stood out a bit.

4.  I don't think many people care what is happening outside of the prison, and yet they keep showing us and making big stories happen outside.

5.   This kind of makes me want to go to prison....