Orange is the same old same old

A potential look into the future for the out-of-work Litchfield actresses...

Spoiler alert. I will be discussing all kinds of things that happen in season three of Orange Is The New Black. If you've not finished it yet stop here or forever hold your peace/don't bitch that I ruined it for you.

'It's good to have on in the background.' Said nobody about Orange Is The New Black ever... Until season three.

I devoured the season in all of three sittings - one of which was an eight hour session. Like most I tore through it with the anticipation of drama, some saucy scenes, and some laughs of course. But not all of these expectations were met...

Backstory bitches

I feel like the only real bit of feedback from seasons one and two that the writers of OITNB heard was "How great are the backstories?!" They obviously took this, and bolted.

Don't get me wrong, some of these backstories are incredible. And make for amazing character insights. Chang, for example, was one of my favourites.

But there are so many that are left unfulfilled and cryptic. Leanne's for example is fantastic, but it doesn't give us any explicit closure as to how she actually ended up inside Litchfield. Why? Come on guys.

Too many characters spoil the show

As humans, we like being told where to focus, and told to root for someone. The problem with this series, is we're not given a 'Team Piper' or 'Team Alex', or even asked to choose between the different cliques like we were before.

Instead we're presented with so many main characters, so many mini-plots, so many little rivalries - we don't have the chance to build up a case for who we like more. So we just don't.

The expansion of backstories, and increased focus on characters which were previously categorised as secondary, means that the main plot-line has definitely taken a hit.

The plot passover

There are some real big things that happen, the big plot moments which could have really driven this series, that are completely glossed over. Dayanara's baby's birth is over within half an episode, Nikki is driven off to the Maximum security unit very unceremoniously, Piper and Alex's break up is quaintly handled, and Bennet's exit was so brief I was left thinking I'd missed an episode out entirely.

These big things happen in the main storyline that could've been made so much more out of. I want to see Daya grieiving for her child, I wanted to see Red and Morello form an alliance over Nikki's removal, I want to know what on earth got into Bennet, and I wanted to see Alex tear Piper to shreds.

But no. Apparently they all just get on with life in prison now. Good for them. But boring for TV.

Also, side note - I guarantee that next season will include a lesbian prison wedding after yesterday. Go America.

Ultimately, this show is still doing what it set out to do. It's still breaking all kinds of assumptions with a female community which is ironically defying all of the fair sex boundaries. But it's disappointing to see that the writers think that the show can continue on this alone. Without a decent plot-line, OITNB is going to lose it's credibility and permanently fall into the "it's alright to have in the background" realm of TV. A real shame for a show which is doing so much for women in terms of challenging stereotypes.

Oh and, Ruby Rose just reminds me of a young Angelina Jolie. I like her accent and I hope she's back for the next season, because she's a good actress. That's all I have to say on that.

Gilligan's desert: barren of women

Spoiler alert, as we take a look at the women - or lack thereof - in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

It's a man's world. Well, it certainly is with Netflix's greatest hits so far.

Let's take a look at the IMDB summary pages for the cast of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul (respectively) and play 'Spot the Women':

Breaking Bad series cast

Better Call Saul series cast

Women make up 18.75% of these screenshots: out of 16 lead characters, only three are female.

Vince Gilligan, then, does not believe the genres of crime and drama, and subject matter including law and a meth-empire, are feminine topics.

But if you scrap that and look at the women that we do have, we would see only dependent figures. Junkies, girlfriends, wives.

Marie Schrader is the perfect example of this. She's dependent on her family - her husband Hank and her sister Skyler for companionship - and on her own addictions: shoplifting, therapy. As an independent character, she doesn't contribute much to the plot, aside from being Skyler's sister.

And look at Jesse's trail of girlfriends, either dependent on drugs or depended on by their children.

Skyler White, long-suffering wife of her self-absorbed, bitter husband, is the only female who really bites back. The power struggle between Walter and Skyler is something that really needs to be examined in greater detail, but ultimately breaks down to this: Skyler still loses.

Skyler is silenced by Walt, overpowered, beaten down. And in the end, she acts on instinct to save herself and her children. We learn that in a world where men like Walt rule, nobody wins.

Did Gilligan think twice about this in his more recent series?

Better Call Saul presents another idea of women. Opening with a line about "talking dirty", Kim Wexler is the beauty with a brain. Lawyer extraordinaire, Kim appears in every episode of the prequel, but I struggled to remember her name when asked. Her sexual/intellectual persuasive ability is something we're more used to seeing in a female character. But again she seems to have little affect on the overall plot of the series. And seems to be the only active female character in a desert of men.

So, where are all the women? Probably prepping for the launch of Orange Is The New Black, but hopefully they're all doing something sensible, law-abiding and staying well out of the way of these pricks.