Orange Is The New Black Season 4: 9 Reasons To Be Excited
Get ready to return to Litchfield.
Given Netflix's recent successes with Marvel properties, it can be easy to overlook their original series that put them on the map.
Orange is the New Black is one of the shows that helped start it all, arriving in the summer of 2013 not long after House of Cards, and it remains not just a major success story for the streaming service, but also one of their very best shows.
The series examines life in prison with an eye few other shows would do; it showcases just how difficult it can be, what these people go through, what they do to survive, the relationships they build and destroy, and also their lives before they got there. That it does this with an incredibly talented cast of diverse women is the icing on the cake. It's dark, violent, and also really funny; few shows can make you wince, cry, and laugh, but this can do all three in the same episode.
The show has only gotten stronger since expanding its viewpoint beyond Piper Chapman, and Series 3 left things in a very interesting place. Things were changing at the prison, both in how it's run and an influx of inmates. It means that Season 4 (which is just around the corner) already has some great building blocks in place, and can take the show even further, and as it gets ever more confident, it could well be the best season yet.
9. The Trailer Looks Great
Although there was a brief teaser released back in January, it didn't give much away (or contain new footage), so it was hard to read too much into it. However, last month Netflix dropped the full trailer for Season 4, and it did a great job of building excitement and teasing things for the upcoming season.
Throughout the whole trailer there's a rather ominous tone, and it looks like various conflicts are going to be brewing and coming to a head in the latest instalment, especially with the arrival of new blood.
Of the more interesting parts to pick out, there's a very upset looking Morello at a couple of different points (full disclosure: Morello is my favourite); more of Poussey and Soso's blossoming relationship; Sophia still in the SHU; and maybe best of all, Taystee has a new job, serving as a receptionist for Caputo and providing some much needed levity.