Orange Is the New Black: Season Four

The fourth season of the hit Netflix series opens with a jailbreak, of sorts—there's a hole in the fence and the inmates go swimming in a nearby river—and Alex (Laura Prepon) turning the tables on a hitman hired to kill her, which leaves a dead body to get rid of. Orange Is the New Black initially focused on Piper (Taylor Schilling), a middle-class drug runner sent to a minimum security prison on a plea deal, but the narrative has since expanded across the entire prison population and now she is just another character in an ensemble comedy-drama, which continues to get bigger now that a new influx of inmates hits the overcrowded facility. This is the result of a private prison contractor trying to squeeze out the maximum profit, and the stories here come out of the cutbacks and complications as Caputo (Nick Sandow), the well-meaning new warden, struggles with budget slashes and corporate demands. Racial tensions also continue to simmer; a new head of guards (Brad William Henke) instills a brutal sense of obedience through harassment and abuse; and Blair Brown costars as a Martha Stewart-type. This season takes a swerve into tragedy when a nonviolent protest ends in the death of an inmate, and it once again ends on a cliffhanger. The series remains one of the most popular on Netflix, with high quality writing and storytelling that is built around an entertaining cast of characters. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2016 third season, extras include episode commentaries, a set tour, and a gag reel. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)