Today, Netflix is home to a plethora of original content. Netflix was founded in 1997, but didn’t start releasing original content until 2013. Netflix first released House of Cards that year, followed by Hemlock Grove, and then Orange is the New Black. While their first two shows have ended, Orange is the New Black has been renewed for a seventh season. Though the show was originally based on the book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman, later seasons began taking more liberties and stepping away from the source material. Like every TV show, Orange is the New Black has had its good seasons and bad seasons, but many people have enjoyed the show for the last five years.
The show and the many talented actresses who portray characters have been nominated for several Golden Globes and even won a handful of Primetime Emmys. Despite the show’s clear popularity, though, there are certain elements of the show that don’t make sense and have left people scratching their heads. While many of these mistakes are due to plot holes, there are even more continuity errors that have taken place in the last six seasons. Many of these mistakes slip by even eagle eye viewers and don’t really affect the plot of the show, but they are still mistakes none the less.
With that said, here are the 20 Mistakes Fans Completely Missed In Orange Is The New Black.
20. Judy King’s Water Bottle
Judy King is a complicated character on Orange is the New Black. She is first introduced in season 3 episode 4, although she doesn’t become an inmate of Litchfield Penitentiary until the end of the season. King isn’t like most inmates, however, since she is often treated with celebrity status, given her previous work as a cooking show host. She is eventually given her own personal room at Litchfield and even gets to enjoy seltzer water.
In one of the scenes in season 4 episode 12, her bottle of seltzer water can be seen to be about as full as the letters on the bottom of the bottle, but then she drinks some and even pours some into a cup. This causes the level in her bottle to go down, but in later shots, it goes back to where it was before.
19. The Timeline Is Often Ignored
One of the main complaints people have about Orange is the New Black is the timeline of events. Although Piper Kerman was incarcerated in 2004, the show’s Piper Chapman enters prison in 2013. While this was likely just so that the filmmakers didn’t have to keep up with trying to make the series fit into an early 2000s time frame, the show can’t even keep current events straight.
In season 5 episode 1, a guard mentions the San Bernardino shootings, which took place in 2015. However, if Piper was only in jail for 13 months, this would have meant that season 5 takes place around September or October 2014. It makes sense to not have the show take place in 2004, but it doesn’t make any sense to not keep the current timeline in order.
18. Piper’s Fish Tattoo
In both movies and TV shows, giving a character a tattoo is often a tough task since the tattoo will have to be applied everyday of shooting. If the tattoo isn’t drawn or positioned the same way it was in other takes, people will notice and call out the filmmakers on the difference. That being said, for Orange is the New Black, Piper’s fish tattoo disappears completely.
During season 1 of the show, Piper is shown in a flashback getting a fish tattoo on the back of her neck. While the makeup department did a decent job of recreating the tattoo for each episode of the show for the first season, the tattoo seemed to completely disappear by season 2.
17. CO Davis’ Diabetes
Many horrific events took place during the riot in season 5. Many guards were tortured by the inmates and forced to do dehumanizing acts. One extra despicable thing that the inmates did was refuse to give CO Davis his insulin shots. Davis pleaded with the inmates that he needed his insulin because he has diabetes, but the inmates refused to give him his medication.
Davis appeared to have less energy than the other Correctional Officers since he wasn’t given his insulin, but after the guards are fed the scraps and garbage from the cafeteria, Davis seemed to be just fine. Season 5 stretches over three days of the riot, yet Davis never again mentioned his diabetes or suffered from hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia.
16. How Many Inmates Are Missing?
Even though season 5 only takes place during three days, a lot takes place in those three days. After the police regain control of the prison, the guards are sent to do a count of all of the inmates that have been captured. During their count, it is decided that ten inmates are missing, but their count really should have been eleven people missing.
There were ten inmates hidden in the pool bunker, but Pennsatucky and Chang also escaped, which would have brought the total missing to twelve. That being said, Linda was counted as an inmate even though she wouldn’t have been on the list, which should have brought the total back to eleven missing.
15. Alex’s Wine
The relationship between Piper and Alex is one of the most complex relationships on the entire show. They go through several love/hate phases in their relationship, but they are currently married on the show. That being said, in season 2 episode 11, the show contains a scene where Alex is on the outside talking to Piper, who is in prison.
Alex can be seen drinking a glass of wine while she is on the phone. In one shot she goes to look out the window and her glass is completely empty. In the very next shot, however, her glass has one more in it, which she then drinks. Unless her glass can magically refill, this is just another continuity error.
14. Piper’s Scar
Things get ugly between Maria Ruiz and Piper in season 4. During the season, Piper starts a used panty business inside the prison walls. When Maria sees what Piper is doing, she starts her own business instead of joining Piper’s venture. This starts a war between the two characters, which ends with Piper being branded by Maria in season 4.
In the horrific scene, Piper is branded by Maria on her left arm. That being said, in season 6 episode 9, it is clearly seen that Piper has a scar from Maria’s brand on her right arm, not her left. To have the scar shift up or down her left arm would have been one mistake, but having it jump to her other arm completely seems like a huge mistake.
13. Is Coates Really A Judas Priest Fan?
One of the unhealthiest relationships in Orange is the New Black is the one between Charlie Coates and Pennsatucky. In season 4 episode 8, Pennsatucky and Coates are talking about time travel. Pennsatucky asks him what he would do if he could time travel, and he says he would go back to 1999 to see Judas Priest in concert.
He tells her a story about how he got too intoxicated to go to the concert and he ended up missing Rob Halford on stage. That being said, in 1999, Tim “Ripper” Owens was the lead singer of Judas Priest, not Halford. That being said, is Coates really a Judas Priest fan, or is this just another case of the writers not doing their research?
12. Baxter Bayley’s Name Tag
CO Baxter Bayley is played by actor Alan Aisenberg. The character was first introduced in season 3, and was last seen in season 5. The guard is seen as one of the nicer correctional officers and even helps Piper smuggle the used underwear out of the prison for her panty business. That being said, Bayley was responsible for Poussey Washington’s passing, which occurred during season 4.
During season 4, his name tag reads “C. Bayley,” but in season 5, it changes to “B. Bayley.” In season 5, Bayley goes on a self-destructed course, as the guilt of Poussey’s demise begins to come over him. While Bayley wasn’t seen at all in season 6, it is possible that he could return for season 7.
11. Janae’s Flashlight
Janae Watson was a side character who was seen during the first five seasons of the show, but was missing once her friends were sent to Max. She was imprisoned for armed robbery and was also bunkmates with Poussey Washington for the first four seasons. One of her earliest continuity errors comes during the first half of season 1.
In season 1 episode 7, Janae is talking to Piper on the ground and has a flashlight in her hand. In one shot, the flashlight is on and facing up in her hand, but in the next shot, the flashlight is facing down. The mistake doesn’t change the impact of the scene at all, but it is still a strange continuity error.
10. Piper’s Vanishing Ring
While Orange is the New Black has had several continuity errors throughout the show’s six seasons, one of the earliest mistakes came during the series premiere. Early on in the episode, Piper is sitting in her bathroom crying and you can see that she has a ring on her right hand and her engagement ring on her left hand.
When she goes to wipe her eyes with toilet paper and the camera switches to a closeup, Piper is still wearing the ring on her right hand, but her engagement isn’t on her left hand anymore. Then, in the following shots, her engagement ring is back on her left hand once again.
9. Was Mercy Actually Released?
Mercy Valduto had a very small role in Orange is the New Black. She is played by Katie Iacona, and the actress is only credited for being in the first episode of the series. During her stay at Litchfield, she became romantically involved with Tricia Miller, who passed away a few episodes later. In the first episode it is established that Mercy was released… or was she?
In season 1 episode 8, Mercy can be seen sitting at a table that Maria comes to sit at. While the character was definitely released in the series premiere, her character showing up in a later episode is just a continuity error. It is likely that the scene was filmed as part of the series premiere, but was later added to a different episode instead.
8. Sophia’s Hair
Sophia and Mendoza have a complicated relationship, especially since their young sons are friends. This becomes an issue between the two inmates since they often blame each other for their children’s misbehavior. At the same point in the series, Red was struggling with the fact that the prison food had become basically inedible.
While Red was talking to Mendoza about the lunches, the side of Sophia’s hair could be seen to be quite long. However, after Red and Mendoza finish their conversation and speak to Sophia, her hair is now shoulder-length. Sophia may have been the beauty guru within the prison, but even she couldn’t have cut her hair that fast.
7. The Missing Extras
Orange is the New Black shows the character’s lives inside the prison, but viewers are also treated to their backstories, which are told through flashbacks. Red was the basis of the flashback for season 1 episode 2. In the episode, Red is shown jogging with some women who she thinks are her friends, but really want nothing to do with her.
During their walk in the park, there are several extras in the background with others jogging and people sitting on the bench. When the women tell Red that they are cutting the walk short and Red stops jogging, the camera gives fans a wide shot of part of the park. The only problem is that several of the extras who were in the park previously are now nowhere to be seen.
6. Angie’s Reappearing Tray
Julie Lake’s character Angie Rice was one character from Orange is the New Black who was present for the first five seasons, but was abandoned in season 6. The character often hung out with Leanne Taylor, who was played by Emma Myles. Angie was more of a side character, but she was still at the center of a continuity error in season 3.
In season 3 episode 6, Angie tries to smuggle cake out of the cafeteria so that she can have a late night snack. When she tries to leave the cafeteria, she puts her tray in the container above the garbage can, but when the guard sends her back to her table, the tray is back where she was sitting.
5. The Mysterious Spring
For the most part, Orange is the New Black doesn’t use a lot of special effects. The show is mainly a drama, which means that the program doesn’t really call for many effect sequences. That being said, in season 1 episode 7, Flores finds that her contraband cellphone is missing from the wall in the bathroom where she had been hiding it.
Piper had been the one to steal her phone, but not knowing this, Flores destroys the stall leaving the door broken and the walls damaged. When the scene is over, the camera tilts down to show the destruction and a metal spring can be seen duck taped to the stall wall. This was likely used so that the door didn’t damage the other part of the stall, but it also should have been removed before the camera tilted down.
4. Alex’s Salt Shaker Tattoo
Many characters in Orange is the New Black have tattoos. Some of these characters get their tattoos in prison, while others entered the prison with theirs. Alex Vause is one of the main characters who happens to also have a few tattoos. One of her tattoos is a salt shaker, which is located on her left shoulder blade.
While fans still don’t know the meaning behind the tattoo, it is obvious that the tattoo changes positions throughout the show, especially in the first season. The tattoo usually has the top of the salt shaker pointed up, but a few scenes in season 1 show the salt shaker’s cap to be completely slanted to the right. Keeping a tattoo from becoming a continuity error is a tough job to do, but this mistake just seems too obvious.
3. Gloria’s Transfer to D-Block
One of the biggest plot points in season six was the oncoming war between C-Block and D-Block. Both blocks are home to one of the two Denning sisters, Barb and Carol. The sisters have hated each other for a long time, which has caused tension between the two blocks. Gloria was part of C-Block when she got put in Max, but Joel Luschek was able to transfer her to D-Block because he thought it would help her.
When Gloria is pleading with the CO to not transfer her to the other block, she can be seen holding a small container of her belongings. After the door to D-Block is opened and she is sent in, though, she is then shown carrying a big bag of her laundry and other belongings.
2. CO McCullough’s Real Name
CO McCullough was one of the guards who was held against their will during the riot. After the riot was over and she returned to work, she had some form of PTSD that she is still currently dealing with. In season 5, it is established that her first name is Artesian, but in season six, her uniform says “B. McCullough” for some reason.
It is unknown why her name tag would ever say this since her name starts with an “A,“so this is likely just a continuity error. That being said, if she returns for season 7, she could get a name change, but that would then result in yet another continuity error.
1. Larry And Cal’s Cooking
Larry, Piper’s husband, and Cal, Piper’s brother, don’t share a lot of screen time. In fact, Jason Biggs was only a main character on the show for the first two seasons. That being said, shortly after Piper was incarcerated, Larry and Cal are seen in the forest hanging out and cooking some hot dogs.
When they sit down and start talking, Cal is holding a curved stick to roast his hot dog, while Larry has a straighter stick. That being said, during the entire scene, the sticks switch between Larry and Cal. In some shots, Cal will have the curved stick, while in other shots, he will have the straight stick that Larry was previously using.
Are there any other mistakes in Orange is the New Black that you noticed? Let us know in the comments!
