Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

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

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 2, 2017

You may have read about the recent hacking of Netflix, which resulted in the unauthorized release of the latest season of Orange is the New Black after the hacker’s ransom demands weren’t met. That may end up getting the hacker a stylish (?) new orange outfit if and when he (or she) is found, but I had to kind of jokingly wonder whether the hacker was simply trying to get episodes that he (or she) assumed Lionsgate wouldn’t ultimately be forthcoming about providing, since I just realized after having received a PR request to review Orange Is the New Black: Season Four that Lionsgate had never sent (nor even sent PR about) the series’ third season (hence this somewhat late review). It’s perhaps notable to realize that Piper Kerman, the woman whose memoirs provided the ostensible source material for Orange is the New Black, spent “only” thirteen or so months in prison for a long ago offense, and so the fact that the series based on her “adventures” is forging into its third season may suggest that a certain amount of fictionalized elements are accruing. Despite the fact that the series may be departing from the actual historical record more and more as it proceeds, Orange is the New Black offers a rather tart and at times quite bracing combination of (sometimes kind of weird) comedy and more dramatic, some might even argue melodramatic, elements that offer insights into the social fabric of the old trope of Women in Cages (so to speak). The series may have lost a bit of momentum in this third season (an element which may help to explain why Lionsgate didn’t indulge in any massive PR efforts when it was released on Blu-ray), but there is still some compelling content here for longtime fans of the series.

For those wanting to catch up on the story thus far, our reviews of the previous seasons of Orange is the New Black 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

Note: Certain plot elements of the series' first two seasons are mentioned in passing below. Those wary of potential spoilers are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.

The series’ penchant for exploring bittersweet elements is evident from the get go this season, with an opening episode that documents the sometimes odd emotions the women at Litchfield go through when Mother’s Day arrives and at least some of the inmates are afforded visits by their kids. Since she’s childless, Piper (Taylor Schilling) isn’t part of this particular aspect, though when she finds out that erstwhile main squeeze Alex (Laura Prepon) is back, she gets her own roiling emotions to work through. Meanwhile, though, there are a number of typically intense little vignettes that deal with everything from the efforts of Caputo (Nick Sandow) to make Litchfield “kinder and gentler” to Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) praying over handmade crosses she’s assembled to document the (many) abortions she’s had. Several other plot points which are addressed in passing, including the pregnancy of Daya (Dascha Polanca) and the smuggling of heroin by Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) and Big Boo (Lea DeLaria), will continue to unfold for several ensuing episodes, delivering both comedy and angst at various moments.

There are a couple of unusual developments on hand this season, aside from the usual drama that intrudes in various inmates’ lives. Several episodes in, Orange is the New Black takes a page from some current economic headlines, by having Caputo lobby to have Litchfield, whose future is in peril, taken over by a private firm, which will (ostensibly) allow the prison to continue running as it has but which will take any profits that are generated. Yeah, right. As will be manifestly obvious to most viewers, the privatization doesn’t exactly go as planned, and the (personal) economies of several supporting characters are negatively impacted. Even more interesting (at least for longtime viewers) is the rather unlikely quasi-romance that springs up between Red (Kate Mulgrew) and Healy (Michael Harney), one that seems to stem from Red’s impatience with Healy’s Russian mail order bride, when Red is enlisted to act as translator for some on the fly marriage counseling.

While the real life Piper Kerman continues to be a behind the scenes contributor (in one form or another) to the series, in a way this third season spends less time on Piper the character than the two previous seasons. While Piper’s roller coaster relationship with Alex is developed decently this year, the series actually finds some of its most resonant emotional material with regard to other characters, especially Daya’s story, which ends up involving a host of other characters, including guard Bennett (Matt McGorry) and, ultimately, the mother (Mary Steenburgen) of Mendez (Pablo Schreiber). This season does indulge in one kind of helpful structural artifice more than previous seasons did—brief flashback vignettes often intrude willy nilly into “current time” narratives, offering disjunctive (supposed) insights into various characters. Some of these are truly outré (the one with Healy as a little boy is like something out of a John Waters film), while others are kind of head scratching (is Bennett’s time in Afghanistan really that relevant?).

Due to that aspect as well as the show’s rather ungainly (and arguably overstuffed) cast, the series tends to feel just a tad fragmented this season. That in turn tends to deflate some potentially emotional moments, like a revelation between two characters as to what actually happened to Vee (Lorraine Toussaint). Despite these occasional stumbles, Orange is the New Black continues to rather artfully balance comedic and dramatic sensibilities and provides a showcase for one of the more interesting and eclectic casts working in series television.

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

Orange is the New Black: Season Three is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This digitally shot series continues to look nicely sharp and generally well defined on Blu-ray with a video presentation that is very much in line with the series' first two seasons in high definition. As I've mentioned in the reviews of those seasons, the garish fluorescent lighting of the prison actually helps to establish excellent illumination that fosters very good to excellent levels of detail and fine detail. Also as with previous seasons, some nighttime or dimly lit sequences can have just a slightly murky look to them that tends to rob some isolated scenes of some minor amounts of fine detail. Again as with previous seasons, flashback sequences are often quite colorful, perhaps even graded or pushed to increase the sense of "difference" between them and the contemporary timeframe. Very little if any noise intrudes this season, despite some long dark sequences.

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

As with the two previous seasons on Blu-ray, Orange is the New Black: Season Three continues the tradition of a fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one which derives decent energy from some fairly ubiquitous use of scoring and even source cues, as well as some of the more raucous moments inside Litchfield, where the sometimes crowded, claustrophobic confines allow for some good surround activity. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly (with the exception of some heavy accents at time, as in the case of Red), and the series' tendency to have skirmishes, both verbal and physical, break out from time to time means that dynamic range is quite wide throughout this season.

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

Disc One

• Gags (1080p; 3:53)

Disc Two

• The Classified File: Getting to Know the Cast (1080p; 8:14) offers some enjoyable interviews with various cast members.

Disc Three

• A Tittin' and A Hairin' - Audio Commentary with Writer/Co-Producer Lauren Morelli and Co-Executive Producer Tara Herrmann


• Trust No Bitch - Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer Jim Danger Gray and Director Phil Abraham


• Sophia: The New Beginning of Laverne Cox (1080p; 10:04) profiles this "transformative" character.

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

This third season of Orange is the New Black continues the tendency shown in the series' second year of emphasizing Piper's travails less and less, offering more time with any number of supporting characters. That's actually a good thing on the whole, since this series is stuffed with some of the most colorful characters in series television. That said, this year tends to feel a little fragmented at times, and I personally found some of the flashback material positively distracting. Technical merits continue to be strong, and Orange is the New Black: Season Three comes Recommended.