Orange Is The New Black Season 5 Review: 7 Ups And 4 Downs

3. Suzanne

Mental health issues are a serious problem and a rather delicate topic, but not when they're presented in such an exaggerated and convenient manner like in the case of Suzanne. Hate her or... tolerate her, you can't deny that she has turned into a plot device rather than an actual person. Thanks to Uzo Aduba's superior acting, she's able to be convincing and at times interesting, but still, this is just the surface. Underneath it is a character who only appears when the writers find her useful.

Suzanne's insanity is not presented or explored, but rather used as a source of frustration to other characters, who have to step away from their regular activities and cater to the "crazy one's" needs.

Her observations are intended to be confusing, but she was able to sneak a valid observation here and there. Not in this season - here, she's just talking gibberish and is too imbalanced, even by her standards, to be taken seriously. She feels more like a parody of Suzanne from the previous seasons. Case in point: the moment when she's punching the ceiling in order to get to heaven.