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It’s always been the goal of Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black” to present the reality of prison through the lens of comedy. It takes some of the edge off, endearing fans to a big group of diverse characters, who the show takes time to develop through backstories and human moments.

Being a convicted criminal doesn’t stop one from being a person, the show says. Show-runner Jenji Kohan spends her time emphasizing that fact even as her series oscillates between goofy situations, and the real pain and danger of the prison system.

That danger is more real than ever in the fifth season of “Orange Is the New Black.” Hanging over the new episodes, which start with the inmates of Litchfield overthrowing the crop of guards at the privately owned prison, is the understanding that in the real world, none of this will end well.

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It’s a tonal disparity that strains “Orange Is the New Black” at the seams, frankly. The show might be trying to be too real for its comedy stylings. Season 5 is at both the funniest and most heart-wrenching yet, and yet it struggles to contain those two opposites. “Orange is the New Black” might have become too big to handle itself.

The season kicks off where the last ended. A guard, Humphrey (Michael Torpey), brought a hidden gun into the prison mostly to feed his own sadism. By happenstance, inmate Daya (Dascha Polanco) got hold of it. Suddenly the balance of power shifts, and the inmates take over.

It’s a fascinating change to suddenly give the characters of “Orange is the New Black” some control over their own destinies. As always, the show bounces back and forth between characters, as they deal with their sudden infusion of power. The meth twins, Angie (Julie Lake) and Leanne (Emma Myles), immediately seek a drug fix. Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) and Lorna (Yael Stone) play prison pharmacists. Pennastucky (Taryn Manning) and Boo (Lea DeLaria) hang out in the commissary eating candy. Red (Kate Mulgrew) and Blanca (Laura Gómez) go hunting for dirt about Piscatella (Brad William Henke), the villainous guard who spent all last season ruining inmates’ lives. Piper (Taylor Schilling) and Alex (Laura Prepon) spend most of the season trying to stay clear of the madness, and continue to be vestigial to a show that has many much more interesting perspectives to focus on.

Also Read: 'Orange is the New Black': Here's Where Season 4 Left Off

The heart and soul of Season 5 is Taystee (Danielle Brooks), though. She and her friends use the prison riot as a chance for protest in an attempt to get justice for Poussey (Samira Wiley), the inmate who was killed last season by a mix of corporate neglect, improper guard training, and Black Lives Matter-inspired fear on the part of authority figures. While everyone else uses the riot for a chance to let loose, more or less, Taystee and her group are the ones concerned with leveraging locking up all the guards for a chance at reforms.

It goes about as well as you’d expect. The trouble with inmates taking over Litchfield is that everyone on “Orange Is the New Black” is a bit daft.

The show spends Season 5 trying to balance the comedy it gleans from its characters being not terribly bright with the very real, very dangerous implications it’s playing with.

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The oscillations are jarring — one minute, inmates are ready to barricade Pennsyatucky in “the poo,” one of the sweltering outdoor portable toilets that work like solitary confinement for the hostages. The next, Boo is playing defense attorney in a mock trial for Pennsatucky’s freedom, grilling Angie about how her lack of “Saved by the Bell” knowledge discredits her testimony. One minute, Taystee is making an impassioned plea for the Litchfield inmates to be treated as human beings by an indifferent system and a profit-seeking corporation. The next, the two inmates responsible for guarding the guards are snorting coffee grounds, and then puking their guts out.

“Orange Is the New Black” has always tried for this tight-rope walk, but with so many characters — with about half of them, it’s tough to even remember their names or any useful personality details — it feels like the show is sometimes forcing the comedy because it needs to give everyone something to do. It mostly serves to break up the time spent on tougher, riskier, more interesting issues the show is rightly portraying.

To its credit, though, all those jokes about dumb inmates (and dumb guards) doing dumb things when at any moment SWAT cops could storm the place and shoot everyone are pretty funny. The mock trial is a standout, as is the guard talent show inmates organize to pass the time. And the second episode, featuring backstory of survivalist and Litchfield “Golden Girl” Frieda (Dale Soules), is a treat.

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But it’s when “Orange Is the New Black” is letting its characters be real people — just like the inmates want — instead of bumbling joke fountains that it really shines. Taystee’s struggle for justice for Poussey, Gloria’s (Selenis Leyva) conflict between taking care of Daya and her own needs in the midst of the riot, and Red and Blanca’s fight to find a way to prove Piscatella’s guilt: Those are the things that make the new episodes powerful.

Uneven though it may be, “Orange Is the New Black” Season 5 is full of high moments, both comedic and dramatic. But it also feels like the show is struggling as it grows ever more rapidly, unsure of what it really wants to be or how to be that.

Long gone are the days when “Orange Is the New Black” was the story of a sheltered suburban woman struggling with the realities of the prison system. But the show is still trying to figure out how to shed many of those original trappings. When it finds its footing, it really picks up speed, but Season 5 shows there’s a lot to “Orange is the New Black” that has been outgrown.

Top 25 Best Netflix Original Series, Ranked From Great to Phenomenal (Photos)

There is a ridiculous number of original series available on Netflix right now — so many it's almost impossible to keep up with them. Even Netflix seems to have a tough time making sure its viewers know about its shows. We dug into the annals of Netflix series and plucked out the very best ones for your enjoyment. Here they are in order of great to phenomenal.
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25. "Lost in Space"

Netflix's take on the 1960s TV show about a family marooned on a weird alien planet, with only each other, their pilot, a robot, and a self-serving doctor for company is a lot of fun. A (mostly) more realistic take than the original, the show manages to capture an interesting family dynamic while still tapping into over-the-top sci-fi ideas.
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24. "Dark"

"Dark" concerns a small German town where children have disappeared -- just like 30 years ago. The story starts out as a fascinating, character-driven drama, but quickly starts to pick up speed with some paranormal, science fiction-y elements. There's a lot more to the mystery than first meets the eye in "Dark," and the show does a great job of weaving it over the course of its first season.
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23. "Peaky Blinders"

Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill facing off from opposite sides of the law in post-World War I Britain is enough to make “Peaky Blinders” worth a watch. But its great casting and rock music-amplified tone make it a period crime drama that’s unpredictable in a completely violent way.
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22. “The Crown”

It’s not easy being queen. “The Crown” digs into the personal stories of the British royal family as Queen Elizabeth II is crowned. Elizabeth is constantly pulled between family squabbles, politics, personal responsibility and her duties, and there’s plenty of drama to go around.
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21. “BoJack Horseman”

It takes a bit to hit its stride, but once it does, “BoJack Horseman” joins the top tier of animation geared at adults. The goofy comedy combines solid writing and a cynical look at Hollywood with a darker look at issues like depression.
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20. “The Fall”

The gritty British thriller starring Gillian Anderson of “The X-Files” fame is split between two perspectives: Anderson’s Detective Gibson and the serial killer she’s hunting. Anderson is consistently great as the no-nonsense Gibson, who hunts the killer while fighting off controversy among the police and the press.
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19. “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”

This adaptation of the children’s book series of the same name manages a hilariously melancholy tone. Neil Patrick Harris slays the role of the ridiculously evil Count Olaf, and the rest of the show is full of great performances from a series of stars.
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18. "Santa Clarita Diet"

There's a lot to love about "Santa Clarita Diet" and it's fun take on the undead. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant in particular are hilariously square suburbanites. The way they take to murdering people for the newly zombified Barrymore to eat, in order to preserve their family, is weirdly heartwarming and constantly funny.
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17. “Travelers”

“Travelers” goes gritty with its time travel, imagining agents from the future who have to take over the bodies of people in the past in order to stop the end of the world. The best stuff here is the personal drama as the characters battle their own guilt at the harm they sometimes have to do for the greater good.
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16. "Dear White People"

Adapting the movie of the same name into a series, "Dear White People" digs into race and racism in an Ivy League school. The series is poignant and smart, as well as hilarious all the way through as it finds smart, funny ways to tackle tough topics.
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15. “Marvel’s Daredevil”

The first of Netflix’s original shows featuring Marvel superheroes was a surprisingly dark and intense take. With awesome action and strong stories, “Daredevil” gave Marvel fans a more subdued, believable kind of superhero story in its two seasons.
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14. "American Vandal"

"American Vandal" turns true crime documentary into a comedy, digging into the mystery of who was responsible for spray painting faculty cars at a high school. The show is simultaneously a send-up of super-serious crime docs, and an enthralling and effective mystery all on its own.
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13. “Making a Murderer”

The deep-dive documentary into the investigation of the murder of Teresa Halbach stretches on for 10 episodes, but it’s never boring. Instead, it presents a look into the investigation and conviction of Steven Avery that has sent many viewers digging into the case looking for the truth themselves.
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12. “Marvel’s Luke Cage”

Netflix’s superhero offerings do a stellar job of expanding Marvel stories into perspectives fans might not be used to seeing. “Luke Cage” takes viewers to Harlem, and it’s just as conscious of the implications of following a black man who’s immune to being shot as it is of how cool it would be to have bullet-proof skin.
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11. “Marvel’s Jessica Jones”

The second partnership of Netflix and Marvel pits the super-strong but flawed Jessica Jones against a mind-controlling man she can’t convince anyone exists. “Jessica Jones” is more drama than action, and watching her try to out-maneuver the manipulative Purple Man is often more exciting than flying superhero fists.
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10. “Narcos”

The saga of Pablo Escobar's rise to power and the DEA agents tasked with stopping him is a powerhouse of strong acting. There's no shortage of crime story violence and mystery in the lengthy drug war Escobar wages, which now covers two seasons.
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9. "Mindhunter"

Director David Fincher hits two competing feelings all the way through "Mindhunter." As FBI agents Ford and Tench create a new kind of profiling in the 1970s by interviewing serial killers, the show oscillates between being morbidly fascinating and increasingly dread-inducing. Either way, it's hard to turn away from this crime story.
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8. “Stranger Things”

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” perfectly channels a 1980s movie aesthetic and tells a compelling monster-slash-government conspiracy story. It’s also that certain sort of kid-driven Steven Spielberg or Stephen King kind of story that there just aren’t enough of in the 21st Century. Season 2 is coming this Halloween.
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7. "The Punisher"

Netflix's Marvel shows have been hit and miss, but the violent, brooding, semi-noir mystery it spins in "The Punisher" is the best of the bunch so far. A lack of superpowers makes protagonist Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) easy to relate to, but it's the rest of the extremely strong cast that makes the show so engrossing.
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6. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

This Tina Fey-co-created comedy starts with a strange premise — Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) has escaped a bunker after being kidnapped by a doomsday evangelist for years. But Kemper’s relentlessly upbeat attitude and the supporting zany cast make “Unbreakable” something of a weirdo answer to “30 Rock.” You’ll need to rewatch it to catch all of the hidden jokes.
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5. "The Keepers"

A true crime documentary series that looks to explore the decades-old murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik in Baltimore. Netflix's excellent doc spirals into a much deeper and more chilling story that delves into sexual abuse in a Catholic high school, and the murder that might have happened to cover it up.
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4. "Ozark"

When a money launderer has to convince the drug cartel he works for not to kill him, he has to cart his whole family from Chicago to Missouri in Netflix's crime drama. Imagine "Breaking Bad," but with less chemistry and the entire family involved in trying desperately to keep from getting caught, satisfy the bad guys and stay together.
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3. “House of Cards”

Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is backstabbing his way to greater power in the halls of Washington D.C. It's occasionally ridiculous, but great performances by Spacey, Robin Wright, and many more make Underwood's machinations hard to guess and harder to stop watching.
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2. “Orange is the New Black”

The longer “OITNB” goes on, the better it gets, as it delves into the diverse perspectives of its women’s prison population. It’s an examination of the justice system, of people trying to make the best of a bad situation, and of friendship and survival. It’s also consistently hilarious and sports a phenomenal cast.
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1. “Master of None”

Aziz Ansari brings a rare brand of comedy that's instantly relatable. Whether it's about navigating life at 30 or the experience of growing up in America as the child of immigrants, "Master of None" has a unique, extremely funny perspective. The second season is even better with the first, mixing hilarious and very real moments.
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These are the Netflix Original Series you should prioritize binge-watching immediately

There is a ridiculous number of original series available on Netflix right now — so many it's almost impossible to keep up with them. Even Netflix seems to have a tough time making sure its viewers know about its shows. We dug into the annals of Netflix series and plucked out the very best ones for your enjoyment. Here they are in order of great to phenomenal.

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