Orange is the New Black: Season 6

I was excited to see a new season of "Orange is the New Black" on Netflix again! Even though I have to admit that I didn't really like the last season (season 5 about the riot) that much, I was so ready for a new season! In season 5, I just felt like the riot took too long and things went too slow. Somehow the riot didn't feel harsh to me. I kept feeling unrealistic and strange. 

The season kicked off with the aftermath of the riot. Susanne hadn't gotten her meds anymore, which made her hallucinate. She sees all kinds of strange things, which made the start of the new season pretty weird. When I  started watching again, I didn't really like it. I had hoped to see a more serious aftermath in stead of this 'funny' approach. But I have to admit: It was only short term, and a hallucinating Suzanne is quite hilarious. 

In this season we see some regular faces like Red, Piper, Taystee, Gloria, Lorna and many others. Everyone deals with the aftermath of the riot in their own ways. Some get punished way harder than others. And some try to escape punishment. After the riot, they're not all in same block anymore. And with this "Orange is the New Black" also introduces quite some new characters in season 6. I really liked Vicci Martinez as Daddy. She's definitely my favorite of the new characters. I also like Amanda Fuller as Badison, but I sometimes felt like her story line was too standard and predictable. As always, Daya (played by Dascha Polanco) is one of my favorite characters. 

The aftermath of the riot has been done very well in this season. I really liked the way it focused on the consequences, trying to find justice and everything else related to the riot. Many known characters had their own struggles with the riot and the consequences. 

The fact that most people were split up and ended up in different cell blocks helped. It kept their story lines seperate and underlined their personal struggles. The rivalry between the two cell blocks is something that I liked less. It's good to add something extra to the season (and not just focusing on the riot). But this felt again a bit predictable and standard. Splitting the people up in mainly 2 existing cell blocks. Blocks that originally hate each other. Which makes it of course difficult for the characters we know: They know each other well, even are friends or at least can work together usually. 

Putting them against each other wasn't a very original move. I liked that part of the story line less. The rivalry between the sisters Barbara and Carol was my least favorite part of the season. 

All in all in liked this season way better than the last one. I loved the focus on the personal stories and the way were struggling with the aftermath of the riot. It was also interesting to see how allies changed and people stop or start talking to each other. I'm curious to see the next season already!