Clearly over the seasons the writers decided to make several characters a lot more likable and a lot less vile than originally intended.. was that based on fan/viewer reactions after S1 had aired, or something else? The changes in some characters is just so drastic!
shareI haven't went back to season 1, but I remember all the Latinas being a lot more brash than now. Maritza and Flaca seemed less ditzy and just thugged out. Maria wasn't a thug at all. Was really quiet and depressed. The crazy latina with the huge hair, she just flat out seemed like a crazy woman you would see on the street. I didn't even know she could speak. Now she seems a lot more civilized. Gloria was all into Santeria and voodoo, but this season she just brushed it off like it was just a phase, not something she truly believed in.
shareEveryone was thugged out Boo seemed like a psychotic stalker and had one of her ex's sent to max out of jealousy, Red was emotionless and cold AF with her ''family'', Suzanne's crazy-ness was more intense... I don't know about Gloria changing though, we hardly saw her in S4 for some reason I missed her this year!
shareI re-watched S4 then started to re-watch S1 for the first time straight after and the differences in character are noticeable. For me the biggest were Suzanne who is much more thuggish and 'street' she even attends AA/NA which after her S4 flashback I can't really see her being an addict. Poussey is a tonne different too, she's much more gangsta (with an A at the end!) than in in later series where she is more reserved and intellectual.
Taystee is even more annoying than in later series' which was a feat, Yael Stone's accent was not as ridiculously exaggerated as it is now. The amount of time Alex takes off her glasses is infuriating since she clearly needs them to see in any aspect as you see in the scene where they get broken.
and the doctor said, 'you're er, seven years pregnant... or summin like that'
by the end of season four, I was starting to feel like all the characters were secret hipsters who love listening to Robyn, and making literary references to books and cult TV shows.
shareHi buttondiet, the writers are showing character arcs and how the personalities progress through seasons; unfortunately, the character who has changed the least is Piper.
shareMorello is completely different when you compare her to season 1. In season one she talked more rushed and just had a totally different demeanour. In later seasons she seems almost ditzy, head in the clouds. When they portrayed her in court she was so delusional she was smiling while Christopher was on the stand and saying that the defence was "turning the whole story around" and that it didn't happen like that.
shareThat's what happens when you turn a black humor/drama/comedy show into a full on comedy.
The characters are completely OCC and have changed tremendously. Not for the better, either.