With TV Club 10, we point you toward the 10 episodes that best represent a TV series, classic or modern. They might not be the 10 best episodes, but they’re the 10 episodes that’ll help you understand what the show’s all about.
Orange Is The New Black‘s debut in July 2013, mere months after Netflix evolved from a DVD rental program to a streaming service, helped usher in a new era. If the platform’s first commissioned original, the political thriller House Of Cards, established a norm of releasing all episodes at the same time, then OITNB further popularized binge-watching. After all, it was impossible not to press play on Jenji Kohan’s series, which was equal parts devastating and entertaining. Based on Piper Kerman’s memoir, its nuanced portrayal of prison life was, and remains, unlike anything else on TV.
Launched in a crowded year of shows about flawed men (Breaking Bad, Justified, Mad Men, Hannibal, etc.), OITNB was a breath of fresh air and a promising sign of how streaming could push boundaries. The stories of its messy, complex women struck a chord with audiences, especially as the show expanded well beyond Piper Chapman’s (Taylor Schilling) fish-out-of-water journey. Each season explored in detail the lives and relationships of Litchfield’s inmates, using character-specific flashbacks to show how they ended up behind bars. OITNB‘s dark humor helped viewers process weighty issues surrounding mass incarceration, from privatization of prisons and corruption to guard brutality and racial discrimination.
Striking this tonal balance became essential to OITNB‘s success. The setting inherently provided an opportunity to toggle between tragedy and comedy. For every arc about kitchen wars, a funeral for books, and a Martha Stewart-esque figure, there were nuanced tales of addiction, mental health, rehabilitation, grief, resistance, and finding a community. The show deftly handled both genres, making Emmys history as the first series to be nominated under Outstanding Comedy (for its first season) and Outstanding Drama (for subsequent seasons), following a rule change the show itself prompted in 2015. This shift resulted in fewer nominations for OITNB as the show went on, with the Television Academy rejecting a petition for it to compete as a comedy.
Of course, it remains difficult to categorize a TV show under one single genre. Look no further than FX’s The Bear, a serious half-hour show that’s added to the discourse around what constitutes a comedy on the ballot. Meanwhile, it was OITNB‘s 12 initial nominations that pushed the Academy to reevaluate its stance on this topic and where an hour-long series truly belongs. Despite this upheaval, the Netflix original remained steadfast in wielding its comedic and dramatic capabilities till the end. To mark the show’s 12th anniversary, and in time for a whole new round of Emmy nominations on July 15, we look at the five funniest and five darkest installments that capture how well OITNB walked the line.
One of Orange Is The New Black’s earliest scenes is also one of its most memorable: Suzanne (Uzo Aduba) pops a squat and pees right in front of Piper’s bed, and all her Dandelion can do is stare in wide-eyed shock. Piper, who’d already turned down any notion of a romance between them, shows she has no idea that things are not as simple here. In “Lesbian Request Denied,” directed by none other than Jodie Foster, Piper is still getting the lay of the land and is confused by the fact that she has a “prison wife.” Her pregnant BFF Polly (Maria Dizzia) even expresses some jealousy. Piper and Suzanne’s back-and-forth is a pretty funny escape from the episode’s main plot: Sophia (Laverne Cox) needs her estrogen dosage that has been halved and eventually cut down by the prison doctor. No one, not even her ex-wife or the corrections officer, listens to her pleas. To end the hour on Suzanne’s vengeful act is both absurd and a wise setup of the character arc to come.
“The Chickening” (Season one, episode five)
Can a chicken be a metaphor for freedom? That’s the question raised halfway through season one when Piper spots an elusive bird pecking at grass in the lawn. Having spent a relatively relaxed morning adjusting to a new normal, she gloms onto this sighting as a weird symbol of hope, so much so that she abandons an important work call to chase after it. Her priorities, right or wrong, are finally in order. Maybe, like this chicken, Piper can make the most of her time even if she can’t fly out of here just yet. The hunt for the possibly drug-filled creature acts as an ideal distraction for Piper and the prisoners, who are otherwise engaged in turmoil or infighting. “The Chickening” is not laugh-out-loud funny, but the surreal and broad humor is grounded by the little things that become important while in an isolated setting. The chicken reappears throughout the series, but here, it’s a hilarious way to unpack everyone’s psyche, as evidenced by how Pipes looks longingly at it freely roaming outside of the walls caging her in.
“A Whole Other Hole” (Season two, episode four)
OITNB used comedy as a salve for tragedy in any given episode. The Sian Heder-directed “A Whole Other Hole” centers on the potent reveal of Lorna’s (Yael Stone) backstory and obsession with her “fiancé. To counteract that heaviness, a subplot in this episode is about a female anatomy lesson for the inmates. A device Poussey to pee standing up leads to a necessary conversation among her friends about the urethra. The subplot is not entirely out of left field, considering the show’s openness about nudity and sex. But this episode mines plenty of laughs from how Taystee (Danielle Brooks), Suzanne, Poussey, Piper, Angie (Julie Lake), Leanne (Emma Myles), among others, discuss a topic that’s hardly talked about in society. And in some of their cases, it also leads to self-discovery about seeking pleasure. A similar, almost sitcom-like arc occurs with Big Boo (Lea DeLaria) and Nicky competing over how many people they’re hooking up with and giving orgasms to, which adds levity to an episode that unravels Lorna.
“Empathy Is A Boner Killer” (Season three, episode three)
This Nicky-focused installment unpacks how her distant parents and privileged upbringing set her up to fail, considering she never knew how to take accountability in the past. OITNB uses this episode to address how much display whether or not Nicky has changed in present day, but the primary source of laughs comes courtesy of a brand new Litchfield entrant: Counselor Berdie Rogers (Marsha Stephanie Blake), who opens up a drama club, offering inmates a safe place to express and channel their emotions. Berdie hopes the power of acting will help free them, and she’s proven right when Piper and Alex use a class assignment to come clean about their feelings for each other despite a lack of trust. The performances that take place during the drama club are not only hilarious, but also used by Berdie to encourage Suzanne and Black Cindy to embrace their artistic side. After two seasons of CO’s like Pornstache or even Bennett (Matt McGorry)—who has ditched a pregnant Daya (Dascha Polanco) at this point—it’s heartwarming to witness Berdie bond with the inmates.
The entirety of season five takes place during a tumultuous three days in the aftermath of Poussey’s murder, with the inmates holding the MCC employees hostage until their demands are met. On one end, Taystee takes control of negotiating with Caputo and Fig (Alysia Reiner), while hellish officer Piscatella (Brad William Henke) makes it his mission to kidnap, torture, and mentally destroy the prisoners who dared to rebel for basic human rights. Amid all this, it’s a relief that OITNB squeezes in “Litchfield’s Got Talent.” A lot of stuff goes down in this hour. Meth heads Angie and Leanne get control of the gun, and they use their newfound power for the funniest possible thing: They make the MCC hostages put on a talent show that ranges from singing to a Joseph Smith reenactment. Perhaps the most out-there performance comes courtesy of CEO Stratman (Evan Hall), who performs a strip tease and lap dance to raucous applause and cheers. For a brief moment, Litchfield becomes a dimly lit fun zone. Also of note: Suzanne hosts a seance, and poor Judy King is tied up to a cross as a revenge for the luxuries she has been afforded.
Five episodes that dialed up the drama:
“Bora Bora Bora” (Season one, episode 10)
OITNB often pulled the rug out from under us with unexpected twists and harrowing deaths (Samira Wiley’s Poussey and Taryn Manning’s Pennsatucky come to mind right away). But an early crushing blow, and a sign that this show is not for the weak, comes with Tricia (Madeline Brewer). This episode emphasizes the bleak reality of the people trapped within and preyed upon by a corrupt justice system. In this case, corrections officer Mendez, a.k.a. Pornstache (Pablo Schreiber), takes advantage of Tricia to smuggle drugs despite knowing her history of addiction. After forcing her to work and then locking her in a room, he returns to find she has overdosed and died. If the guy wasn’t a villain already, “Bora Bora Bora” loudly proclaims him as the enemy. Pornstache makes the accident look like Tricia took her own life, which sends her close pals Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) and Red (Kate Mulgrew) into a spiral. Elsewhere, Piper gets real with a juvenile delinquent and lectures her about what it takes to survive. “I’m scared that I’m not myself in here, and I’m scared that I am,” she says. The dialogue feels pertinent to everyone inside Litchfield who has been forced to adapt, or, worse, encouraged to follow their worst impulses.
“We Have Manners. We Are Polite” (Season two, episode 13)
One of OITNB‘s polarizing and dangerous villains was Vee (Lorraine Toussaint). As The A.V. Club’s recap of this finale noted, she’s the catalyst for main players like Taystee, Poussey, and Suzanne to evolve. “We Have Manners. We Are Polite” is not a wholly satisfying conclusion to their dynamic. The dramatic stakes are high because everything is on the line for Vee after she assaulted Red, and Healy (Michael Harney) is hot on her trail. Against all odds, OITNB makes the audience (slightly) empathize with Vee’s fear and loneliness, even if that’s exactly how she made the girls under her thumb feel. The show’s power truly came from how it humanized its flawed women. Then again, it’s just as cathartic when Miss Rosa (Barbara Rosenblat)—who is driving away, hoping to escape so she doesn’t die of cancer in prison—runs down Vee, who has also escaped. Season two’s closer comes full circle for Piper as well, whose relationship with Alex (Laura Prepon) is on the line. Piper manipulates Polly and Larry (Jason Biggs) to let Alex’s parole officer know about her plans, ensuring she doesn’t skip town. It’s a cold move similar to what Alex pulled earlier when she gave Piper’s name during her own trial. Their love story reaches a toxic stage here that, thankfully, develops as it goes on.
“Toast Can Never Be Bread Again” (Season four, episode 13)
Season four’s penultimate hour, in which the inmates’ silent protests quickly turn violent, is one of OITNB‘s definitive episodes. Poussey’s desire to help a non-medicated Suzanne turned fatal after she was pinned down by CO Bayley (Alan Aisenberg), crushed under his weight. Yet, the most poignant hour comes after her death. In “Toast Can Never Be Bread,” flashbacks take us back to a much happier day in Poussey’s life when she could hop on a bus with friends and take whatever the open road threw her way. In the present, Taystee and the rest of Poussey’s friends struggle to cope. They go through all stages of grief, sticking primarily with righteous anger; anger that Poussey’s murderer is likely going to go free and that the only ones facing consequences will be them. Not even Caputo (Nick Sandow) stands up for the truth. “Toast Can Never Be Bread Again” is sad and infuriating, exploring the pervasive evil of corporate and government bureaucracy. It’s no wonder that the end, with Daya picking up a gun and pointing it at an officer, is one of the most charged final shots of any OITNB episode.
“Minority Deport” (Season seven, episode five)
OITNB‘s deft handling of immigration laws and how the country’s broken system affects people resonated when the final season aired in 2019, but it feels like a must-watch right now (for both educational and humanitarian reasons). In “Minority Deport,” Maritza (Diane Guerrero), who’s being held in a PolyCon ICE facility, manages to get a lawyer’s information from Gloria (Selenis Leyva). Being the sweetheart that she is, Maritza passes the number to the other women held there. That’s the last straw because officers round her up with a few others and put them all on a plane. The final minutes of “Minority Deport” are the hardest to shake off: Maritza, along with the other passengers, slowly fades away from the airplane seat, as if she’d never existed—a terrifying notion if there ever was one. In highlighting the many hoops people have to jump through to obtain U.S. citizenship, OITNB delivered a poignant and necessary message.
“Here’s Where We Get Off” (Season seven, episode 13)
After 90 episodes of complicated stories about resilient women who have endured unspeakable things, there’s no fairytale ending for Orange Is The New Black. Instead, the dramatic closer offers a realistic conclusion; gritty, grounded, and full of hope about the human spirit. That’s ultimately what Kohan’s series was all about: Overcoming hardships through empathy, even in the toughest of circumstances. Piper and Alex are divided by the walls of an Ohio prison, the latter has been transferred to, but their connection is stronger than ever. Pennsatucky’s death weighs on Taystee and Suzanne, but they’re both used to moving on. Black Cindy and Gloria acclimate to life outside of Litchfield, unnerving as it may be. Best of all, Nicky pays tribute to her saviors by taking over the kitchen as the next maternal figure (adorned in red lipstick, of course). Like any powerful OITNB outing, “Here’s Where We Get Off” puts us through the wringer, but not shying away from these emotions is exactly what made this an incredible—and incredibly dramatic—series finale.
