In season one, Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards. There are comedic moments in the show, sure, but in seasons two and three, and especially season four, the idea of OITNB being a comedy first and foremost, with as many gut-busting laughs as Silicon Valley and Veep, died with you-know-who.
Speaking of you-know-who: the prisoners at Litchfield Penitentiary are still pissed off over what happened in last year’s devastating finale (I’m not over it, either); this season begins where that episode left off, with Daya pointing a gun at a guard’s head. That scene, and the rebellion it inspires, sets the tone for the season. “Did you get what’s going on here?” Taystee asks in the full-length trailer above. “We get beat for no reason, we stuffed four in a bunk like we factory chickens, we’re denied basic humanity.” She later adds, “We wanna be motherf*cking taken serious.” Again, not exactly a comedy.
“It’s so specific and it’s crazy because [our characters] are so intense and have structure,” actress Danielle Brooks teased about the upcoming season (which takes place over only three days). “But now… we don’t have structure and we’re going to see what happens when these women do not have structure and take over.” Find out on June 9, when Orange Is the New Black returns.
