History YMMV / Orangeisthenewblack

** Carol, particularly her younger incarnation, has developed a huge fanbase since Season 6 came out. People seem to be willing to overlook her psychopathy in favour of her attitude, appearance, and just how entertaining she is. See EvilIsSexy below.
* EvilIsSexy: A lot of fans had this reaction to Young Carol in flashbacks. She’s very evil and very crazy, but her actress (Ashley Jordyn) is very pretty and her manic, LaughablyEvil behavior can be weirdly alluring for some.

** After Trump replaced Obama, a lot of people commented that orange was now quite literally the new black.

** New character “Badison” in season six, for being incredibly obnoxious and unlikeable- and for her actress putting on what many fans consider to be [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent an absolutely abysmal]] Bostonian accent.

** Additionally the situation is also deeply unfair to Suzanne herself, who is aware that she doesn't belong there as she has to get changed separately due to her more developed figure and who is mocked after changing the story into one that she liked. An unfair situation for everyone involved other than Pat herself.

** Piper's business "Felonious Spunk" is a pun on the name of jazz musician ''Thelonious Monk.'' Only Piper would think to stick such a high-brow reference on such a gross business model.

* {{Narm}}:
** Soso's hair being cut by Leanne, which was a very poorly disguised maneuver to cover the fact, that the actress wanted to get a haircut. For a supposed TraumaticHaircut in prison, Leanne surely gave Soso's "Pocahontas hair" a very even and moderate trim, still leaving her hair looking stylish and semi-long.
*** Take a closer look when Soso first wakes up; her haircut is horrendously uneven with jagged ends. Presumably Soso gets it fixed into its eventual sleeker style off-screen by Sophia or Danita.
** Piscatella's actor's face is adorable, especially after he shaves. This sometimes undermines the character's status as a NightmareFuel - he can be genuinely chilling when in action, but when [[spoiler:sitting tied down in a basement in season 5]] he looks most like a good natured giant St. Bernard's dog waiting in front of a shop.
** The guards breaking out in [[Theatre/LesMiserables Do You Hear The People Sing?]] at the end of "We Can Be Heroes". It makes sense in-universe, as O'Neil starts it and they had watched the movie recently, but it's still {{Narm}}.
** Bayley's utterly random background appearance during Poussey's flashbacks in the Season 4 finale, in a very clumsy attempt to hint that [[spoiler:they've been fated for their cafeteria encounter for years.]]
** The entire fact that we don't learn Adeloa's name until the Season 6 finale, in what comes off very much like the crew panicking as they realized the UnfortunateImplications of a comic relief black character never actually getting a name onscreen and contrived a way to say it at the end.
** You have to feel for the writers of the first few Season 6 episodes trying so hard to make us think Alex might be dead, while not a single fan buys it as even if LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt isn't in effect for you, Laura Prepon is still openly listed in the main credits.
** The unbelievably pompous and pretentious “one color” trailer for the final season, in which the show basically takes sole credit for all the progressive social change that’s happened since it started.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: During the tension build-up in the Season 6 finale, Luschek drives up to the softball field, within the fence's boundaries, in a [[Film/BackToTheFuture DeLorean]]. He opens his door, expresses concern to himself, and then drives off...pretty random and bizarre overall.

* AcceptableReligiousTargets: Leanne Taylor is an ex-Amish inmate. (She can speak their particular dialect of German, although is not well-versed in many matters of the modern "English" world.) She left the community for a time as part of ''Rumspringa'', and experimented with methamphetamines and partied with other ex-Amish teens. She, however, decided to go back to the community, but when she was caught with the drugs, she became TheInformant, got shunned by her community (for ratting on the children of respected members of said community), and ran away from home to save her family's honor, [[NoodleIncident getting arrested shortly thereafter for unknown (although probably drug-related) reasons]]. After other inmates learn about her past, they make jokes referencing ''{{Film/Witness}}'', which Leanne in annoyance says had many innacuracies.

* InformedWrongness: The mother of Grace's friend, who is surprised when Suzanne's mother brings her to her daughter's birthday party when she wasn't invited. Both Pat and the writing suggest that the mother is an awful, bigoted person for asking why Suzanne is there, especially when Pat decides it's because of Suzanne's race and her AmbiguousDisorder. But the fact of the matter is that Suzanne is a lot older than the other girls and is unable to behave appropriately around them, as seen when she changes the fairy tale story the girls were telling into a more horrifying one more appropriate for an older audience. There's also the simple fact that Suzanne wasn't invited as the girl was Grace's friend and not hers, Pat had no right to force Grace's friend's mother to let her attend just for the sake of inclusion.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Some feel Stella was this, given that she had a lot of hype behind her that ultimately never truly paid off. Stated to be the object of lust for both Piper and Alex, she's definitely not this for the latter, with Alex more peeved at her than anything else. [[spoiler: After a brief relationship with Piper, she's reveals that she is being released soon and in the finale, she's PutOnABusToHell when Piper frames her after discovering she was the one taking money from her accounts by putting a lot of contraband in her bunk and gets her sent to Maximum Security, where we will probably never see her again (the screwdriver from season 1 is found in her possession, which has been stated to add up to five years to someone's sentence). We never find out what she is in prison for and most, if not every scene she has features Piper on-screen in some way.]] As of Season 4, we do get a glimpse of Stella [[spoiler: in max with Nicky, and they even have a brief, off-screen affair. Nicky breaks it off because of Stella's drug use, which is most likely the reason Stella is in prison.]]

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Piper. Quite often, actually. Some of her reactions are understandable and at the same time very cringing. She gains more prison smarts as the seasons go by but her decisions still get her and her fellow inmates in trouble from time to time.
** [[spoiler:Christopher visiting Morello in prison and making a loud, audible threat to kill her if she comes near him or his family again. Sure, she has been stalking him, but there was a guard within earshot to HEAR that threat.]]
** Soso's ''complete ignorance'' on how life in prison works is mind-boggling. While a period of acclimization is understandable, it takes her the entire season to realize that that prison is not daycamp, the people aren't there to make friends, and the rules aren't intended to make her comfortable.

** Is Alex angry with Piper because Piper waffles and refuses to commit, or does she [[NoBisexuals not approve of Piper's bisexuality]] and uCesar's disgusting actions are frequently dismissed because apparently he's a good father for calling out for Daya's daughter when the apartment is being raided. The same man who aimed a gun at Aleida's son because he didn't want to eat reheated french fries and who started a relationship with Daya when she's young enough to be his daughter. The entire reason that Aleida is prison is because she took the fall for Cesar, and it's implied this is what happened to Daya too. And Cesar was the one who acted so obnoxious and threatening towards Bennett that he left, yet apparently the fact he later threatens to track Bennett down and make him pay is a positive thing according to some fans. That's not even getting into the fact he's a violent drug dealer who never faces any consequences for his actions. It all seems to stem from the fact that his actor is incredibly charismatic. ses it against her? Both? On a larger scale, is Alex's relationship with Piper sincerely romantic and healthy, or are there some seriously abusive and toxic undertones? As of the second season, more fans are leaning towards the latter, though [[BrokenBase the fandom is mostly split on the issue]]. Averted in the next 2 seasons, as the relationship becomes more stable and human.

** Piper. Though she's the main character, it's hard to find people who cite her as their favorite character. Though it's generally agreed upon that she's not the most interesting member of the cast, the base-breaking is revolved around whether or not the story should even be about her. WordOfGod acknowledges that she's the only way the show could run, but at this point few seem to care about how her story plays out when there are more interesting characters whose backstories are often shortened so that her plotline can be advanced. This argument seems to have lessened in season two, where she's increasingly OutOfFocus to spend time with other characters, and she's gotten less irritating, but has ramped up again in season three, with a split between those interested in the beginnings of her as a VillainProtagonist and those who hate where her character is going.

* AmbiguousDisorder: A running theme of the series is the prison system's inadequacy at dealing with mental illness and differentiating it from malicious criminal activity, and several of the inmates are implied to have unaddressed mental illnesses or disorders that would explain or outright justify their illegal conduct.
** One of the biggest examples is Lorna, who likely has some sort of delusional disorder. Most of her outright criminal behavior (Ebay scams aside) stem from a warped worldview and an inability to discern motives. She believes that her "fiance" Christopher loves her, and later that [[spoiler: her new husband is cheating on her]], despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
** It's unclear if Suzanne is mentally ill, developmentally disabled or some combination of both. Her behavior and perception of the world are often childlike, but she also demonstrates certain savant qualities (like quoting obscure Shakespeare from memory). Counselor Berdie tells Healy that Suzanne is "functioning at the level of a six-year-old".
** Nicky may suffer from depression, or may have masochistic tendencies, which would would explain her often self-destructive behavior and her habit of blaming herself for her addictions.
** Lolly clearly has paranoid schizophrenia, albeit milder and more on the "paranoid delusions" side.
** Sam Healy's mother Margaret also had some kind of mental illness, showing erratic behavior and mood swings, plus hallucinations according to his father. All we know is ECT didn't cure it.
* {{Anvilicious}}: The show hits its main messages pretty hard over the course of six seasons, so there's no chance that you'll miss the point.
** The "The prison system is broken and needs fixing, and convicts and ex-cons alike aren't treated fairly" message was obvious the first dozen times. By the time Alex gets a close-up when stating that "nobody cares about an ex-con," it's almost a redundant message. And then when the prison gets privatized, they ramp up the exact same message just with "privatized for-profit prisons are broken" though they add "and they're worse".
** The poor treatment of mentally ill inmates, and the very idea that the mentally ill would be put in prison instead of dedicated medical facilities defines Suzanne's role & character.
** A season three episode elaborates how the representation of women in media, particularly by the beauty standards, is artificial and inaccurate, because in reality women appear in various sizes, shapes, ages and races. Watching the show in which women appear in various sizes, shapes, ages and races, most of the viewers have probably gotten the memo long ago.
** The preferential treatment shown to white people in the prison and within society at large. Black and Latino inmates often must shoulder additional burdens that are not felt by their fellow white inmates, who are sometimes ignorant of the fact that they exist. The minority inmates are never shy about pointing it out whenever it happens. Eventually Piper comes to realize this, and states it for the audience (presumably mostly white).
** Some of the show's message on the validity of different gender and sexual identities, and of different viewpoints in general, can be rather heavy-handed at times.

** A meta example; the behind the scenes look at season five showed that Angie and Leanne's actresses were very excited that their characters were getting more screen time and said that they had a lot of fun filming their scenes. Turns out that the overexposure of the Meth Heads was one of the many reasons why season five was widely disliked, turning the characters from [[BaseBreaker base breakers]] into complete [[{{Scrappy}} scrappies.]] They were then promptly removed from the show completely, only to make a small cameo at the end of the series.

** Vee is either one of the most interesting characters on the show or an annoying Villain Sue, depending on who you ask. Though most people are in awe of Lorraine Toussant's acting.

** Is Alex angry with Piper because Piper waffles and refuses to commit, or does she [[NoBisexuals not approve of Piper's bisexuality]] and uses it against her? Both? On a larger scale, is Alex's relationship with Piper sincerely romantic and healthy, or are there some seriously abusive and toxic undertones? As of the second season, more fans are leaning towards the latter, though [[BrokenBase the fandom is mostly split on the issue]]. Averted in the next 2 seasons, as the relationship becomes more stable and human.

* InformedWrongness: The mother of Grace's friend, who is surprised when Suzanne's mother brings her to her daughter's birthday party when she wasn't invited. Both Pat and the writing suggest that the mother is an awful, bigoted person for asking why Suzanne is there, especially when Pat decides it's because of Suzanne's race and her AmbiguousDisorder. But the fact of the matter is that Suzanne is a lot older than the other girls and is unable to behave appropriately around them, as seen when she changes the fairy tale story the girls were telling into a more horrifying one more appropriate for an older audience. There's also the simple fact that Suzanne wasn't invited as the girl was Grace's friend and not hers, Pat had no right to force Grace's mother to let her attend just for the sake of inclusion.

* InformedWrongness: The mother of Grace's friend, who is surprised when Suzanne's mother brings her to her daughter's birthday party when she wasn't invited. Both Pat and the writing suggest that the mother is an awful, bigoted person for asking why Suzanne is there, especially when Pat decides it's because of Suzanne's race and her AmbigiousDisorder. But the fact of the matter is that Suzanne is a lot older than the other girls and is unable to behave appropriately around them, as seen when she changes the fairy tale story the girls were telling into a more horrifying one more appropriate for an older audience. There's also the simple fact that Suzanne wasn't invited as the girl was Grace's friend and not hers, Pat had no right to force Grace's mother to let her attend just for the sake of inclusion.