The fifth season of "Orange is the New Black" was met with some criticism. As the show gears towards its sixth season, showrunner Jenji Kohan addressed the negatives that followed season 5. Also, Diane Guerrero may possibly be leaving for a stint on another show.
Critics have said that season 5 was, despite impactful, not the show's best season to date – and Kohan knows it too. Samira Wiley's Poussey Washington was killed, and the 13-episodes that followed showed the prison riot that resulted from it. As revealed in the New Yorker, Kohan along with her co-producer Tara Herrmann believe that the reason for the fifth season not being the show's best was because there was a shift that happened in the writer's room.
Herrmann shared that many of their original writers left, but she added that no one was at fault. A new dynamic was created and people were more attached to the characters from a viewer's point of view and not from the point of view of the creator. Kohan on the other hand, stated that she refers to some of the storylines that played out in the fifth season as "fan fiction." Among the six new writers that were hired during that season, only two were hired again for season 6.
Meanwhile, it seems that another character may not be around much or at all in the upcoming season. Diane Guerrero was cast for another show called "Superior Donuts" which will air on CBS. Guerrero, who plays Maritza Ramos in "Orange is the New Black," is in the new show as a series regular.
With that in mind, it does pose a question as to what will happen to her character in the prison drama. There were reports of Guerrero having time to film both shows as "Orange is the New Black" has not started production yet. However, her character may not appear as much in the Netflix series as the events from season 5 had her separated from the group and is not among the 10 inmates.
"Orange is the New Black" season 6 will premiere in 2018 on Netflix.
