Orange is the New Black season 5 premiere review: Not my circus, not my monkeys

When we last saw the ladies of Litchfield they were rioting after Poussey was killed by a guard using excessive force on her. The cliffhanger had Daya holding a gun to a guard’s head as she tried to figure out if this is really the right thing to do. Jumping into the Orange is the New Black season 5 premiere, we are right back in the thick of things, which is exactly what we hoped for since it’s been one heck of a long wait to have answers.

We start the premiere off with the guard trying his best to humanize himself with Daya, but she shoots him to shut him up anyway. Although she has a few ladies chattering in her ear about killing the guards, Gloria is trying to be the voice of reason, saying that shooting him is one thing, killing him is something else. More then anything, this isn’t about whether or not to kill the guard – this is about how things were handled with Poussey and how the women feel that they are no longer being treated as human beings anymore. They are taking a stand – even if it means committing more crimes in the process.

Starting a full scale riot is the way they think they can get some of their basic human rights restored and while some of the ladies are starting to group up and figure out a plan, others are just looting and pillaging the prison for whatever food, drugs and weapons they can find (except for Piper and Alex who are hiding out). Basically, it’s complete chaos and everyone is out for themselves – which is not surprising in a riot situation. Red said it best when she said “Not my circus, not my monkeys” which one of our favorite proverbs meaning “your issues are not my problem”. If the women can’t get on the same page nothing will change, because if they stay divided nothing will get accomplished.

Gloria seems to be the only person that understands that once the riot is over, there will be further charges added to everyone who is participating, so she is trying to save the life of the guard Daya shot in order to avoid a murder charge added to all the crimes being committed. With Sophia’s help, they are able to remove the bullet from the guard’s leg (which included some full frontal of the guard – unexpected, and kind of unnecessary), but she can’t stop the bleeding. They bring him to medical and luckily there is one nurse left to help save the guard.

Taystee, Cindy and some of the other women storm Caputo’s office demanding that he make things right and stop the cover up of Poussey’s death. While we’ve always said that Caputo genuinely cares about these ladies and does typically try to do the right thing for them, this time he deserved the punch in the face that Taystee gave him for participating in this cover up. They write out a statement for Caputo to read on video (which he does) and then find a way to post it on Twitter so the world can really know what happened to Poussey and for the prison to stop protecting the guard that killed her.

This premiere was pure chaos, but set up the season well since we expect this riot to escalate into insanity. The women have control of the prison and the guards and are ready to do what it takes to make some changes. How long they will keep control remains to be seen since we saw Daya get knocked out and her gun taken from her (who has the gun? We are guessing Red). Poussey will not be forgotten and even though we don’t have Samira Wiley as part of the cast, she is still very much part of this show. She was always a beacon of hope in a very dark place, and now some of the ladies of Litchfield are going to find a way to have something good come out of this tragedy. Episode grade: B+

What did you think of the Orange is the New Black season 5 premiere? Who do you think took the gun from Daya? Leave us a comment in the box below. If you want to check out more of our Orange is the New Black season 5 coverage then head on over to the link here and let us be your guide. (Photo: Netflix)