00:00Listen up, fans of the ladies of Litchfield. We have to start this story with a big,
00:04huge spoiler alert for Orange is the New Black season 6. If you haven't caught up on the
00:08latest season, which dropped on Netflix July 27, go put yourself in the shoe until this
00:13story is over. After six seasons adjusting to her incarceration, Piper Chapman, played
00:18by Taylor Schilling, is finally free on early release because white privilege. In the season
00:23finale, Piper leaves Litchfield Max as a newlywed after getting hitched to her on-again
00:27girlfriend and reasons she was in the slammer to begin with, Alex Boss, played by Laura
00:31Prepon. Piper's feelings about leaving prison were bittersweet since she thought she would
00:35have five more months with her new wife, who still has four years left on her sentence.
00:38With the seventh season of the Jenji Cohen-created prison dramedy on the horizon,
00:42viewers who were left wondering what Orange will look like with Piper on the outside
00:46can take solace in knowing that, as is Cohen's motto, there is still more story to tell.
00:50Brian Chamberlain, who wrote the season finale, explains to The Hollywood Reporter,
00:54Jenji knew that she wanted to get Piper out at the end of this season, coming into season six.
00:59She liked the surprise of it and she wanted to be able to tell stories about post-prison.
01:03It wasn't just a season six end, it was partially about getting into the arc of where Piper goes.
01:08It's about what is significant about the criminal justice system and what is significant
01:12about Piper's story and journey, so there's plenty to be told.
01:16Executive producer Tara Herman told THR that Orange plans to follow Piper's life on the outside
01:20just as much as it followed her on the inside, calling the character played by Schilling
01:24the grounding force of the show. Herman now elaborates, acknowledging both the end of an era
01:29and an opening to other storytelling possibilities.
01:32We're very excited because now we have a few people on the outside, Aleda Diaz played by
01:36Elizabeth Rodriguez being one of them, and to be able to show the juxtaposition of what life is like
01:41for someone in Aleda's shoes compared to somebody who is in Piper's shoes is very exciting for us, she says.
01:47The parallels between the experiences of white inmates compared to those of non-white,
01:51non-privileged inmates has long been a focus of Orange's storytelling. In the latest season,
01:56that juxtaposition is highlighted in a more heartbreaking way than ever as Tasty Jefferson,
02:00played by Danielle Brooks, cops a life sentence for a murder she did not commit, as Piper
02:05contemplates the endless possibilities the world outside Max holds for her. The hair salon
02:09conversation between Piper and Tasty in the 11th episode, well this took a dark turn, which was
02:13directed by Prepon, was meant to be a turning point ahead of Piper's release.
02:18That was, as a room, something we leaned into as one of the most important moments of the season,
02:23said Chamberlain. Especially for Piper's arc in prison to come out of it with this
02:27understanding that, yeah, she got it hard in prison. People didn't let up on her. But so many
02:32of these women have it hard on the outside, and that's part of the reason they went after
02:36Piper in prison. This contrast of her fish-out-of-water story, which is for minorities and people who are
02:41underprivileged classes, that's constant. That's the world that they inhabit every day.
02:45Since the Netflix series is based on the true story of Piper Kerman, viewers could look to
02:50Kerman's post-prison story for hints about where Orange's Piper might go. After serving 13 months
02:55of her 15-month sentence in a minimum security prison, Kerman wrote her memoir of the same name,
03:00inspired the Netflix TV show, and continues to be an activist for prison reform. Kerman remains a
03:05consultant on Orange, but since season two, the series has significantly veered from her memoir to create its own
03:10fictionalized world through TV Piper's experience. Piper's release could provide an opportunity for the two
03:15stories to meet up once again, with the potential for the character to also go down the activism
03:20route in season seven. Whatever Piper chooses to do with her newfound freedom, in speaking to both
03:24Herman and Chamberlain, it sounds likely that the seventh season of Orange will continue to follow
03:29the lives of those who are still incarcerated in Max, while also tracking Piper and Aleda on the outside.
03:34Whether or not Piper's release sets up the show for its endgame remains to be seen. As Herman explains,
03:39The truth of the matter is the show could go on forever and ever. We so enjoy having the show as a
03:44place to not only talk about what's going on in the current climate, but for us as a room,
03:48it's been such a therapeutic place for us to come and share and grow as artists and people.
03:52So it's an ongoing debate. The 13-episode 6 season of Orange is the New Black is streaming now on Netflix.
03:58To read much, much more on Orange is the New Black, head to THR.com OITNB.
04:03For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
04:09For The Hollywood Reporter News.
04:11For The Hollywood Reporter News, we live at the甜 Allen County on the
04:33island of Los Angeles and retailers. See, John T количество news will not understand which
Comments