The 13 episodes of Season 4 of the American comedy-drama TV series “Orange is the New Black” dropped in one bundle on Netflix on June 17 and less than 24 hours later, avid fans already have their comments and reactions on social media.
Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black” actually caused a major fan outraged when the show decided to kill off its black lesbian character in Poussey Washington, played by Samira Wiley.
Poussey died at the hands of a prison guard when a peaceful protest of the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary turned violent.
In a recent interview, actress Samira Wiley said her character’s death in the TV series was intentional on the part of the producers because they wanted to show the death of the inmate similar to the controversial issue involving Eric Gardner, reports The Wrap.
However, many fans of the show voiced their vehement protests on social media. One fan said that the death of a black lesbian should not be about making white viewers learn a lesson.
In fact, the outrage has become a trending topic on Twitter, one week after the fan outrage started that includes hashtags like #blackLGBT, #BlackLGBTDeserveToBe, and #PousseyDeservedBetter.
Netflix has yet to issue an official statement or comment regarding the fan outrage for the death of Poussey Washington in Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black.”
Shocking, hilarious, and heartbreaking moments of Season 4
The Hollywood Reporter actually took note of some of the most shocking, funny, and heartbreaking moments of Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black” all the way to its gut-wrenching final scene.
Of course, none could be most shocking and heartbreaking than the death of Poussey Washington to cap off a season filled with the injustice of too many kinds inside the walls of the deeply broken Litchfield prison.
The finale saw the black inmate suffocating at the hands of one of the white guards and her death being covered up shortly thereafter. As expected, it spurred protests of Black Lives Matter and ultimately ended in a cliffhanger as a prison-wide riot erupted.
Showrunner Jenji Kohan has previously said that Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black” is going to be its darkest and indeed it was. It also provided long-awaited reunions and moments of outrageous comedy.
Topping the list of the Season 4 moments where “Orange is the New Black” seemed to have raised the level of its insanity is the very first scenes when Lolly Whitehill, played by Lori Petty, saves Alex Vause, played by Laura Prepon after she found her in the greenhouse with hitman Aydin. But it was Alex who eventually killed off her assailant.
Working together with Lolly and mastermind Freida, Alex then dismembers the body of her assailant and bury him in parts around Red’s prison garden. The actresses said that the filming was taken in the dead of summer in the greenhouse and it was very hot.
Prepon said that they were dripping sweat the whole time. Lori Petty said that shooting the scene with Prepon was just awesome. She said that they were looking at the freezing cold van and the cold tent right after the shoot or even before the shoot ended because she felt that it was 500 billion degrees in there.
A continuing evolution
As “Orange is the New Black” is based on the published memoir of Piper Kerman, Piper Chapman, the character played by actress Taylor Schilling, is actually the main protagonist of the show, particularly during its first two seasons.
However, for TV viewing purposes, instead of being taken from a first-person perspective, the TV series has expanded to feature other characters whose only connection to Piper Chapman is the fact that they are all inmates of the fictitious Litchfield Penitentiary.
Taylor Schilling was recently interviewed about her character in Season 4 of “Orange is the New Black” and she said of her continued evolution.
She said that Piper is becoming a little bit of a kingpin and has this swagger in her. But she also said that Piper Chapman is someone who likes to try on everything around her like a piece of clothing.