In the extras section there is a 19 minute farewell video where the writer/creator of this show, Jenji Kohan, said this show was never about women in a prison, but it's essentially a social commentary on what's currently happening in the world and her soapbox to get the conversation going. So with that said, I'm kind of glad it's over as it feels like, especially in the later seasons, that the message became the priority. It's not like it was too preachy or anything. The message was powerful and I get it, but at the same time I need a good story. There would be episodes, especially early on where an episode would end and I'd be like, "That's it? What happened after that?" and it would never be revisited again or it would be revisited in a later season when it served the message and not the story that was referenced so long ago that it's already been forgotten.
As for this final season, I was mostly okay with it. I defintiely thought it was a stronger season compared to most, but I probably should have re-watched season 6 first. Anyway, there were a few moments where it felt like it dragged, especially when focusing on the detainees verses the inmates, but I think the show did a decent enough job to give us a balance of the characters we cared about while they hammered their message home.
Kate Mulgrew (Red), Uzo Aduba (Suzanne), Danielle Brooks (Taystee), Adrienne C. Moore (Cindy), and Selenis Leyva (Mendoza) are the real stars of this show and they all gave great performances this final season. Special shout out to the writers for taking the characters of Caputo and Fig (Nick Sandow & Alysia Reiner) who I never thought I would give a shit about, and keep us interested in their story. Personally, I'd love to see a cut of this entire series without Piper (and Alex), or at least a diminished role, as I think the show would have highly benefited with their storyline as the minimal as possible.
