Orange is the New Black season 4 review round-up: The Litchfield ladies are back to their best

Netflix's must-binge series returns with 13 brand-new episodes, taking its beloved characters to places darker and more emotionally wrought

The ladies of Litchfield return. And the stakes have never been higher.

We all knew something big was coming when a busload of new inmates appeared at the close of season 3, arriving at the now for-profit Litchfield prison to be packed in like sardines. Now, season 4 brings ever-rising tensions in the overcrowded facility. With the new blood, comes the new security forces; bringing the threat of an all-out war breaking on multiple fronts. Whether between prisoners and guards, or between prisoners and prisoners; rest assured there's a dark new turn in store for the prison-set comedy-drama.

There's been some talk that Orange is the New Black has been losing its relevancy of late, as the initial impact of its revelatory look at the prison system fades. Yet, with season 4 debuting on Netflix 17 June, critics have largely agreed the show's found new energy; and new life, in searching beyond its prison walls towards the currency of the modern world, touching on issues such the "Black Lives Matter" movement, and finding new emotional paths for its characters.

You can read exactly what the critics thought down below:

Daniel D'Addario - TIME

Like everything else, TV series are subject to the harsh law of entropy. But Orange is the New Black has come back from a cooling-off period with more than ever to say, and vibrant new ways to say it. Season 4 is not merely a comeback for a show that had come to feel less central than in its early days; it’s the show’s best season, and, along with season 4 of The Americans, one of the best seasons of an ongoing drama of the past year.

Allison Keene - Collider

What keeps the show compelling throughout rockier times is that it’s a kaleidoscope of characters and character moments, which cover a broad spectrum of personalities and feelings. A good show — comedy or drama — is one that draws you in and makes you want to keep spending time with its characters. Orange Is the New Black has always had that. The show isn’t just about Piper, and it’s not about any one woman. It’s just about women.

Dominic Patten - Deadline

What this latest run of OITNB is, is a rawer and darker-than-before series that remains as fresh and binge-worthy as when it launched. With Schilling’s now jailhouse warlord Piper leading a sinewy ensemble, OITNB S4 is still a viewing priority in this age of so much good TV.

Kevin Fallon - The Daily Beast

For all the laughs, there's no denying the show's power as a drama. A terrifying one. An unabashedly female one, but oh-so-importantly a universal one. The season drags at times, and not every new character is as captivating as the ones you remember falling in love from season one. (In fact, none of them are.) Yet four seasons in there's something about Orange Is the New Black, at a time when most shows start to feel stale or repetitive, that still feels—and I can't think of a better word for it—special.

Brian Moylan - The Guardian

It might be hard to tell the differences between seasons three and four, but this is certainly a lot more grim but just as wonderful as the first time we were locked behind these bars.

Melanie McFarland - Salon

The decidedly different emotional space explored in season four, particularly in comparison to previous seasons, could make some viewers take a little more time with it. This new season is more challenging to experience than it ever was, bigger and messier.Interestingly, this season of Orange also brings the clashes roiling the outside world — conversations about race, class and economic inequality — inside the prison walls. When a maltreated underclass has had enough, and its collective rage boils over, chaos is sure to follow…and on its heels, tragedy.

Though this season ends on a darker, uncertain note that could make sentimental viewers wish we could all return to that sunny lake where anything seemed possible, there’s no question that Litchfield, and the show itself, still retains a measure of magic.

Alis Brennan - GQ

There is, however, a very good chance that season 4 could be Orange Is The New Black’s best to date.

All 13 episodes of Orange Is the New Black season 4 debut on Netflix Friday, 17 June.