Orange is the New Black– 1.05 – The Chickening – A to Z Challenge – Day 15

“I dreamed a dream.”
‘I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die’

- Les Miserables - I Dreamed A Dream

Prologue

Up for discussion today is one my favorite episodes of 'Orange is the New Black'.

I stumbled upon this show by accident honestly. I was a fan of Weeds for the first 5 seasons and then it all went to hell and never recovered. I hate the final season and I hated the series finale more than anything. I say this because the woman who created Weeds is the showrunner for this show as well. Not to mention a media depiction of a woman's time in prison can be laughable. But then I learned it was based on true story and that is was partially adapted from a woman's life. A woman who was very heavily involved in the behind the scenes stuff. That gave me hope.

Another hindrance was it was on Netflix. My only experience with Netflix original programming at that point had been 'Hemlock Grove' and 'Lilyhammer' both shows I did not care for one bit. But the first episode sucked me in and didn't let go and here I am, almost a year later waiting like a junkie for her next fix.

About the Show

Seasons: 1| No. of Episodes: 13|Premiere Date: July 11, 2013| End Date: N/A| Status: On-Air

Genre(s): Comedy-drama, Crime, Dark comedy

Story in a nutshell: The series revolves around Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a bisexual woman living in New York City who is sentenced to 15 months in a women's federal prison for transporting a suitcase full of drug money to her former girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), who is an international drug smuggler. The offense occurred ten years prior to the start of the series, and in that time Piper had moved on to a quiet, law-abiding life among New York's upper middle class. While in prison, Piper is reunited with Alex, and they re-examine their relationship and deal with the tough inmates.

Best Reason to Watch the Show: It’s a realistic depiction of life in a women’s prison. The nudity is matter of fact and honestly not very titillating at all. Each character has a compelling backstory. Piper is not the hero of the story rather the plot device through which we see this strange new world.
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Title: The Chickening | Writer: Andrew McCarthy | Director: Nick Jones
Episode Summary: While relaxing in the exercise yard, Chapman sees a chicken. Red recounts her dream of cooking a proper chicken and offers a gift to the person who catches the chicken. Larry discovers that Vause gave Chapman's name to the Feds. To keep Chapman focused on life beyond prison, Larry lies to her. Polly Harper arranges for Chapman to take a business call, but Chapman skips it to chase the chicken. Morello ends her relationship with Nichols. Burset asks Sister Ingalls for estrogen pills, but she refuses. The overloaded chapel ceiling collapses from a heavy cross Doggett had tried to hang. The prisoners work to clean up and repair the damage. Miss Claudette starts researching her legal appeal. Bennett and Dayanara pass notes to each other. Aleida advises her daughter to date another guard who can do her favors. Flashbacks depict life in the Diaz household. =====================================================================================
Awards

Character of the Night
• Piper

Best Character Interactions
• Sister Ingalls & Sophia

Most Memorable Moment
• When and her crew try to hang her cross and the ceiling collaspes

Best Line
• Polly: Ah! Classic projection.

Best Scene
• Piper blows off her phone call with Barney's to chase the chicken, only to see the chicken on the other side of the gate.

That Awkward Moment Award
• That awkward moment where a girl has to basically become her mother, who she hates, to provide for her younger siblings.

The ‘Mommy Dearest’ Award
• Aleida who is Daya's mom is a total c***. She never has anything nice or helpful to say. She is emotionally stuck at 15 years old it seems.



Side Note: I actually discovered this show because of its theme song. I happen to be a fan of Regina Specktor and I was scrolling through Amazon’s music store and saw that she had a “new” single and that it was the theme song for a show. I googled the show, watch the pilot and the rest is history. PS: The name of the show’s theme song is ‘You’ve Got Time’.
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Grade: B-
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Comparable Shows
If you are interest in finding more shows like Orange is the New Black then I recommend you watch one, some or all of the following shows: Girls, Weeds and/or United States of Tara.
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Up Next: If you like ABC Family’s flagship show Pretty Little Liars then you are in luck my friend. I will be writing about the show’s fourth season finale tomorrow.