'Orange Is the New Black' Season 5: Laura Prepon Talks Directorial Debut, Torture Scenes

By Kristinova V. Justimbaste, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, June 13, 2017

"Orange Is the New Black" actress Laura Prepon recently talked about the upsetting torture scene in season 5, which she directed. WARNING: This article contains spoilers from the latest season of the show.

Prepon, who portrays Piper Chapman's (Taylor Schilling) on-again-off-again lover Alex Vause in the series, made her directorial debut with the 10^{th episode of "Orange Is the New Black" season 5, titled "The Reverse Midas Touch."}

Jenji Kohan, creator of Netflix's popular prison drama, admitted that they were not able to infuse their take on the 2016 elections, wherein Republican candidate Donald Trump won against Democrat Hillary Clinton, as they were already in production when it happened. Nevertheless, they were able to portray an idea which is very reminiscent of the local scene. The episodes of the current season of "Orange Is the New Black" depict what it is like to fight against authorities who abuse their power.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actress-turned-director admitted that this idea was prominent particularly in the episode she directed. "You see what happens to people in an environment like a prison when there is no control and no authority," Prepon told the publication. "You see how different personalities handle that environment. We have the backstory of Piscatella and also the scenes of the girls in the closet with him, and how he asserts his authority over the women."

Prepon said that episode 10 is the toughest episode in the roster in terms of the material. What made it more difficult for her as a director was that she was doing it with her hands bound behind her back, as the scene involved her character being tied up and subdued.

In the episode, the prison guard Piscatella (Brad William Henke) takes a number of inmates hostage while he subjects prison leader Red (Kate Mulgrew) to torture.

Kelly Karbacz, who plays Kasey Sankey on the show, shared that fans should expect to see the 13-episode season to cover a lot of backstories of Litchfield's inmates.

The fifth and latest season of "Orange Is the New Black" is now streaming on Netflix.