Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Orange Is the New Black: Season Five Blu-ray Movie Review

Forget Waldo. Where's Piper?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 12, 2018

It can be a little hard at times to know what to think about the fifth season of Orange is the New Black, but Baby Boomers with a long memory may be prone to call what transpires this season evidence of a “Hogan's Heroes effect,” meaning that the setting of a place of confinement is so increasingly ludicrous (given what happens in the show) that it almost seems unnecessary. Orange is the New Black has wended and weaved its way through innumerable story lines by this time, to the point that what seemed like the show’s initial focus, mainly the disconnect between white collar “criminal” Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) and a somewhat less “privileged” population filling the crowded rooms and hallways of Litchfield Prison, has become almost tangential to the plot proceedings, at least at times. Piper is certainly still around, but once again Orange is the New Black darts off on a dizzying array of not just “current” stories involving many of the inmates, but supposedly revelatory flashbacks which attempt to give insight into their characters. The show started by toeing a rather delicate line between “realism” and near farce, but this season feels like it’s tipped pretty generally into fare that at least pushes suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. That’s kind of an odd reaction, frankly, given that the series continues to mine all sorts of weighty subjects, even while it lampoons certain behaviors.

For those wanting to either introduce themselves to those aforementioned wending plot strands, or who might like a bit of a brush up on some of what's transpired in the series thus far, our reviews of Orange is the New Black's previous seasons can be accessed by clicking on the following links:

Orange Is the New Black: Season One Blu-ray review

Orange Is the New Black: Season Two Blu-ray review

Orange Is the New Black: Season Three Blu-ray review

Orange Is the New Black: Season Four Blu-ray review

In a way, it might have helped if Orange is the New Black had indulged in a certain artifice that was the norm during the broadcast heyday of Hogan’s Heroes, namely a laugh track. The pre-recorded guffaws of people, which sounded almost deliberately “fake” a lot of the time (and which were often outsized reactions in any case, considering the anemic comedic material), added a certain veneer of distance and surreality to proceedings in any number of old sitcoms that Orange is the New Black may well have benefited from. Instead, the series attempts to have its cake and eat it, too, plying the comedic waters for sometimes schtick laden humor while also (and, frankly, sometimes simultaneously) going for dramatic gusto with a series of dysfunctions, violence and misunderstandings. It’s an odd brew from any perspective, and I’m simply not sure if Orange is the New Black elides the tonal changes very artfully this year, something that repeatedly left me feeling a little untethered from the emotions the show is obviously aiming to generate.

One of the conceits of this season is that events unfold over just a few days, even if it takes a baker’s dozen of episodes to get there. The main underlying plot point this season deals with a riot at Litchfield, one that purportedly puts the inmates in even more isolation, but which strangely tends to open up the proceedings, especially with regard to what I’ve considered for several seasons now increasingly intrusive (and often unnecessary) flashbacks. The “tighter quarters” of Litchfield being “run by the inmates” all of a sudden does give certain episodes a bit of energy, and there’s some undeniably effective writing throughout the season, as has always been the case with the series, but the riot angle ends up feeling like a dead end after thirteen episodes and no real catharsis.

It’s probably no mere coincidence that the cover of this season’s release bears the tag line “Stand Up”, which probably refers to the inmates supposedly taking control of their future, but which inevitably and not all that subliminally ends up referring to a certain kind of comedy. And that’s where this season of Orange is the New Black kind of shoots itself in its own foot — you can’t repeatedly offer all the mishegos (technical term) that so many of the characters experience throughout this season and still try to go for some sometimes cheap laughs, as in a brief subplot focused on a “talent show” of hostage guards. I’ve felt for a season or two now that Orange is the New Black has been at least flirting with “jumping the shark” or whatever the penitentiary version of that phenomenon might be, but a more salient metaphor may simply be a comedian bombing before a bored audience.

Orange Is the New Black: Season Five Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Orange is the New Black: Season Five is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While the show continues to offer above average detail levels throughout the episodes of this season, this year is almost relentlessly dark (as in dimly lit), along with frequent uses of "jiggly cam", all of which tends to lead to at least the perception of softness and a lack of fine detail at times. (The season has so many darker scenes that I actually got a little frustrated trying to find adequately lit moments to feature in screenshots.) Once again there's a bit of a disconnect between the Litchfield scenes, especially since the lights are off throughout at least some of the riot, and some of the "extracurricular" moments, notably a lot of the flashbacks. When the show gets out and about, and especially utilizes normal (or close to it) lighting, the palette warms up considerably and detail levels also rise. That said, however, there are some kind of curious (if not unappealing) grading choices made in some of the "outside" material this year, including a kind of blue-green look to some forest scenes that accrue in a sidebar featuring some Girl Scouts.

Orange Is the New Black: Season Five Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Orange is the New Black: Season Five has the same generally excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has been a staple of the series, and this year does feature good, if sometimes claustrophobic, surround activity as chaos descends upon Litchfield. There's discrete channelization afforded sound effects and even snippets of dialogue that really nicely convey the winding halls and nooks and crannies of the prison under seige. Dialogue is routinely rendered without any problems, though occasional lines can get just slightly buried in the morass of sound that tends to afflict noisier scenes. There are no issues with dropouts, damage or distortion.

Orange Is the New Black: Season Five Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 2

• 72 Hours in 6 Months: Stories of the Season (1080p; 14:57) offers brief interviews with several members of the large cast while offering overviews of at least some of the many plotlines that unfold this season.

Disc 3

• Tattoo You - Audio Commentary with Executive Producer / Co-Writer Tara Herrmann and Co-Executive Producer / Director Mark A. Burley


• Storm-y Weather - Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Tara Herrmann and Co-Executive Producer / Writer Lauren Morelli


• Gag Reel (1080p; 5:34)

Note: While Disc 1 "advertises" Special Features on the Main Menu page, those turn out to be trailers for other Lionsgate releases.

Orange Is the New Black: Season Five Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Orange is the New Black already has its "greenlight" for at least a couple more seasons, and so fans of the show are assured more "adventures" for Piper (if you can find her) and her cohorts. I personally am becoming less and less engaged with this show, and wish it would decide exactly what tone it wants to pursue. As it stands, the drama repeatedly sidles up to the comedy in a rather discomfiting fashion, and as a result the season tends to kind of lurch back and forth between vignettes that work and quite a few that seem extraneous. Fans of the series will still probably find more than enough to keep them entertained, and for those folks the good news is the technical merits here are fine.