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

1. The Unnecessary Flashbacks

There are nine flashbacks in the season, but only two seem actually necessary. The first is in the second episode, which shows how Freida was able to create her safe room - it's all based on her girl scout days and her father being obsessed with the Russian invasion. The other, in episode ten, shows how Piscatella became the sadist that he is today.

There are others which are OK as well, like Taystee and Poussey meeting for the first time, or the one showing Linda's ruthlessness hiding under her presumed confusion. However, there's no justification for those presenting girls as they were young. Janae Watson's encounter with the rigged system could've just been skipped - I think we can agree that institutional racism exists - just like Red's and Daya's past.

Granted, thanks to the flashbacks we learn who/what is the central character/theme of a given episode, and it's been the show's mainstay since forever, but it should only be used when necessary, otherwise it just diverts the attention from what's going on in Litchfield.

What did you think of Season 5? Share your thoughts down in the comments.