If you have been following the sometimes irreverent comedy/drama “Orange is the New Black” on Netflix than you are familiar with the cast and characters. If you are not, it doesn’t matter as these inmates have a story and personality all their own no matter when you latch on to the series. The fifth season is now on DVD and Blu-ray for anytime home viewing and the raucous and chaotic show gets side splitting, intense, heartfelt, speaks about issues and gets jaw dropping at times.
Just to bring you up to date season four ended with the accidental killing of Poussey Washington by Baxter “Gerber” Bayley and it has led to the inmates rioting. In this season the riot is in full swing and with a gun in the possession of inmate Daya Diaz. The inmates urge her to shoot Corrections Officer Thomas Humphrey and because the gun jerks, she misses his private parts and the bullet enters his leg.
Now with a wounded CO the inmates are a little skittish as to the outcome so they try to get him some help from inmate and former firefighter Sophia. When that doesn’t go so well, the girls try to figure out the next step leading to more chaos and miscues. Its twelve hours of more drama with several inmate backstories and further trials and tribulations of lead inmates Piper and Alex Vause.
The titles of the thirteen episodes are a wild as the content they bring to the home screen. The opening show is called “Riot FOMO” followed by “F**k, Marry Frieda” with a backstory about Frieda Berlin as a young girl under the thumb of her caretaker father. “Pissters!” is a further adventure of hostage Linda Ferguson masquerading as new inmate Amelia Von Barlow in order to save herself., “Litchfield’s Got Talent” finds the Correction Officers giving their all in a talent show for the inmates.
Well without going into much more her is a list of the rest of the titles. “Sing It, White Effie”, “Flaming Hot Cheetos, Literally”, “Full Bush, Half Snickers”, “Tied to the Tracks”, “The Tightening”, “The Reverse Midas Touch”, “Breaking the Fiberboard Ceiling”, “Tattoo You” and “Storm-y Weather”.
BONUS FEATURE
Upon completing the whole 12 hours you can re-watch episodes “Tattoo You” and “Storm-y Weather” again with commentary by the likes of Executive Producer/co-writer Tara Herrmann and Co-Executive Producer/Director Mark A. Burley, Co-Executive and Producer/writer Lauren Morelli
“72 Hours in 6 Months: Stories of the Season” (15 min.) The stars of the show get to comment on their work and include: Lea Delaria, Yael Stone, Adrienne C. Moore, Selenis Leyva, Natasha Lyonne, Jessica Pimentel, Danielle Brooks, Laura Perepon, Taylor Schilling, Amanda Stephen, Emma Myles, Julir Lake, Uzo “Crazy Eyes” Aduba, and Kate Mulgrew,
“Gag Reel” (5+ min)
The series “Orange is the New Black” is not rated on Blu-ray/DVD, but contains language, sexual innuendos, drug use, violence and brief nudity. Be cautious when deciding to allow immature children see the show as it does have some scenes that are very inappropriate for youngsters.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A cool and sometimes touching season with a lot of interaction. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Taylor Schilling, Natasha Lyonne, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Jackie Cruz, Lea Delaria, Michael J. Harney, Selenis Leyva, Taryn Manning, Adrienne C. Moore, Jessica Pimentel, Dascha Polanco, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Nick Sandow, Yael Stone, with Kate Mujlgrew and Laura Prepon
Director:
MPAA Rating: Not Rated contains violence, language, brief nudity
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Running Time: 12 hrs. 5 min.
Video Release Date: June 12, 2018
Original Theatrical Release Date:
Language: English (changeable to French or English Descriptive Audio)
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Video: 1080p HD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 3 discs
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Released in: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
