Pepper? Pippa? Diaper? What’s the name of the main character in Orange Is The New Black? It doesn’t matter, it’s not her show anymore. This show belongs to the ensemble.
So much so that when we’re reintroduced to Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) several minutes into Season 3’s first episode, her appearance almost feels like an afterthought.
Continuing the trend which it developed over the first two seasons, the show methodically explores the backstories of its vast ensemble, making even the dullest inmate seem as complex as Don Draper. That ensemble has expanded further this year, adding roughly half a dozen new characters and bringing the total somewhere just short of the cast of Too Many Cooks.
The inevitable side-effect of such a deep cast is we don’t spend as much time with some of our favourite characters this year. Looking at the six episodes made available for reviewers, you could fit all of Laverne Cox’s dialogue on a small napkin. It’s possible her role expands in the back end of this season, but it does feel like a waste when you consider she was Emmy-nominated last year. Similarly, audience favourite ‘Crazy Eyes’ (Uzo Aduba) appears fleetingly, like a parent that only has visitation rights on the weekend. I suggest the show’s writers’ room could do with a visit from Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin to kill off some inmates and free up some screen-time.
Despite the excess of mouths to feed, each episode manages to pack a lot in, and time devoted to characters such as the enigmatic Chang (Lori Tan Chinn) is well spent. Thus far her character has been limited to fairly inconsequential appearances in the commissary, but an episode which delves into her criminal past proves to be one of the season’s highlights.
Australian viewers may be curious to see how Ruby Rose fares as new inmate Stella, especially since her IMDB credits thus far are limited to performances as “herself” on Ben Elton’s Live from Planet Earth and a character called “Ruby Rose” on Mr & Mrs. Murder. So how does Ruby Rose do as a character that’s not called Ruby Rose?
Yeah, she’s fine. She doesn’t appear until episode six, with her role at that point largely confined to longing glances between herself and Piper. This coquettishness will bring back memories of smouldering looks exchanged between Colin Farrell and Jared Leto if you’re one of the three people who saw Oliver Stone’s Alexander. Unlike fellow Australian cast member Yael Stone, Ruby Rose speaks in her native accent and, therefore, is the second best Australian in the show. As for Stone’s character Morello, she seems to have moved beyond her stalkerish ways, which is bad news if, like me, you derive enjoyment from her pronunciation of “Christophuh”.
Absent from Season 3 on account of being run over by a van is Season 2’s antagonist Vee. Her power feud with one-time kitchen queen Red (Kate Mulgrew) created that season’s most dramatically charged moments, but this season focuses less on power struggles and more on the emotional attachments created within Litchfield prison. So if you’re hoping someone will be hit by a van this year, I wouldn’t put money on it. Motherhood is a recurrent theme, most notably with mother-to-be Diaz (Dascha Polanco) whose pregnancy is becoming increasingly problematic for the prison officer baby daddy Bennett (Matt McGorry).
Throwing a spanner in the works is the mother of former prison officer ‘Pornstache’ Mendez who believes the baby to be her grandchild and proposes to adopt it. This role is played by the wonderful Mary Steenburgen who, if she should ever ask you, is probably as good a person as any to give your child to. She strikes me as a gentle influence. Please, give her your children.
The season’s first episode, appropriately, is themed around Mothers’ Day with the inmates preparing for the annual visitation from family members. As funny as the show is, and there are certainly some laugh-out-loud moments this year, the show consistently manages to remind us how the prisoners’ daily reality is vastly different from the outside world. A moment when a siren sounds and all the inmates are ordered to get on the ground creates a jarring visual as their children stand awkwardly and tug at their mothers to get up.
Although the show is moving further and further away from its once-central premise of a white middle-class girl coping with prison, the show loses nothing and continues to find new ways to explore the dynamics of life in confinement. Unlike Netflix’s other centrepiece show House of Cards which feels like it’s almost run its course, Orange is The New Black continues to amuse, move, surprise and, with any luck, will run for many years to come.
All 14 episodes of Season 3 will be available for streaming on Netflix from 4.00pm EST on Friday, June 12.
Foxtel’s showcase channel will marathon screen the entire third season of Orange is the New Black from 2.00pm EST on Friday, June 12
