House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are the two series that have put Netflix on the map in regards to television series. A look at women in jail using both drama and comedy to tell the women’s tales. The central character is Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) who, after getting into trouble due to drugs, has to leave her comfortable suburban life for some time behind bars. Piper finds herself in difficult situation after difficult situation. With their use of over the top melodrama, top notch directors like Jodie Foster and a huge and talented ensemble cast Orange is the New Black continues to be a show that is heavily discussed around the water cooler.
Episode 1: Thirsty Bird: Piper is woken up in solitary and then without an explanation loaded onto a bus then a plane. She has no idea where to.
Episode 2: Looks Blue, Tastes Red: The prison is hosting a job fair. Red (played by Kate Mulgrew) has to deal with being alone.
Episode 3: Hugs Can Be Deceiving: Morello (played by Yael Stone) has her heart broken. Upon her return to the prison Piper meets a new prisoner named Soso (played by Kimiko Glenn).
Episode 4: A Whole Other Hole: Piper and Big Boo (played by Lea DeLaria) come to an agreement. The female inmates learn about their bodies.
Episode 5: Low Self Esteem City: Piper gets some really bad news. Gloria (played by Selenis Leyva) and Vee (played by Lorraine Toussaint) butt heads over the bathroom.
Episode 6: You Also Have a Pizza: The inmates are excited about the upcoming Valentine’s Day party. Larry (played by Jason Biggs) asks Piper to be his prison mole.
Episode 7: Comic Sans: Piper starts up a newspaper club. Bennett (played by Matt McGorry) finds himself being blackmailed.
Episode 8: Appropriately Sized Pots: Because she is receiving special privileges Piper is facing some backlash. Capulo (played by Nick Sandow) feels pressure to toughen up.
Episode 9: 40 Oz of Furlough: Piper leaves the prison on furlough but on the outside has some trouble with her family. Pornstache (played by Pablo Schreiber) is back and life at the prison gets exponentially harder.
Episode 10: Little Mustachioed Shit: The guards come down heavy on the inmates in order to stop the smuggling going on. A Piper-Polly (played by Maria Dizzia) secret is revealed.
Episode 11: Take a Break From Your Values: Soso’s hunger strike garners plenty of attention. A change in her status shocks Piper.
Episode 12: It Was the Change: A power outage in the prison causes a rise in the tension level within. Piper finds herself in a precarious position and has to think quickly.
Episode 13: We Have Manners. We’re Polite: Vee brutally injures Red and the SIS comes to check things out. Piper gets some detrimental visits.
