https://staging2.theplaylist.net/5-reasons-season-2-of-orange-is-the-new-black-is-better-than-the-first-20140609/ Fri, 13 May 2016 07:20:16 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://staging2.theplaylist.net/5-reasons-season-2-of-orange-is-the-new-black-is-better-than-the-first-20140609/#comment-30633 Fri, 13 May 2016 07:20:16 +0000 http://www.indiewire.com/2014/more/uncategorized/5-reasons-season-2-of-orange-is-the-new-black-is-better-than-the-first-85026/#comment-30633 I felt season 2 was ultimately stronger, with a strong thanks to the inclusion of Vee, a terrifying villain who furthers the show's themes of power and control within small institutions. The only real letdown was Piper and her storylines–I think Taylor Schilling does a capable, sometimes tremendous job as Piper, but it's the character I don't like, often self-involved and with WASP-y shock at everything around her, only softened (or hardened) by having her acclimate to her environment. While Schilling grounds the character in poignancy, it's often still written and edited a sitcom (see the funeral montage), which dulls the sharpened blade of the writing very quickly. Worse is the insistence of including shoe-horned storylines about her fiance Larry and best friend Polly; none of those two actors seem very invested in their characters, least of all each other.

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