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

2. The References

Who doesn't love references? Through them the show makes clear that we share a special connection, which allows us to fully understand what it's trying to convey. The coolest reference in this season is Blanka's make-over, clearly alluding to the bet scene in She's All That - underlying the show's high-school spirit wrapped around in a prison exterior.

Looking for the right woman to turn into a beauty queen - since Piper, the stereotypical middle class character, wants to gentrify the prison and this includes the inmates as well - Maritza and Flaca search around the yard, simply rejecting uninteresting, bland women, until they settle on the unhygienic Blanka.

Other references include classics like Karate Kid (only this time it's the African-American training the Asian) or Spartacus. The most elaborate however is in episode nine, when Piscatella acts like Jason Vorhees and starts kidnapping prisoners one by one.

In that episode there's also a really funny reference to The Shining. The way the episode is constructed makes it fun to watch, despite its overall griminess. It's another instance of the writers' extraordinary talents to combine seriousness and humor. And speaking of the latter...