Netflix has released a new teaser trailer and on-set photos for season five of its hit original series Orange is the New Black. The series has been a runaway success for Netflix, receiving a 95% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes and winning five Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Critics’ Choice Television Awards. The Washington Post‘s TV critic Hank Stuever praises the series’ honest portrayal of complicated characters “filled with the entire range of human emotion and stories, all of which are brought vividly to life in a world where a stick of gum could ignite either a romance or a death threat.”
Orange is the New Black, based on the memoir of the same name, tells the story of Piper Chapman, a suburbanite sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security women’s federal prison, for transporting drug money for a friend. Although the series revolves loosely around Piper’s story, the series is really brought to life by the captivating performances of the other women serving time alongside Piper. TIME magazine writes that “the show becomes more engrossing as it spins out from her story, fleshing out the inmates, their backstories, and their alliances. You may come for the culture-clash cringe-comedy; it’s the real human stories that will have you captivated.” In fact, by the end of season four, many fans had quit caring about Piper altogether and became more interested in her fellow inmates’ stories.
The fifth season of Orange is the New Black is set to be released for streaming on Netflix on June 5th, 2017. Season five will reportedly take place in real time and cover the events of just three days at the prison. From the look of it, the teaser implies that season five will pick up immediately where season four left off.
*SPOILERS AHEAD* If you haven’t seen season four yet, turn around and go binge it now.
Season four of Orange is the New Black concluded with the prisoners rioting after the tragic semi-accidental death of fan-favorite Poussey (Samira Wiley) at the hands of prison guards. During the riot, prisoners managed to overtake a guard, steal his gun, and take him as their hostage. The teaser doesn’t waste a beat throwing fans right back into the chaos of that season finale, opening with Daya (Dascha Polanco) holding the gun in the face of the hostage guard. As the teaser fades to black, the sound of a gunshot is heard, but the victim remains unknown. Looks like we’ll all have to wait until our June 5 binge to find out who it was.
