I started watching Orange is the Black just last month. Initially I though it was all going to be about Piper but was pleasantly surprised when they started to give flashbacks about the other prisoners too.
The drama is a real life story about Piper. She wrote a book about life in prison and this has made into the drama. Piper goes to prison for being a drug mule when she was young. The drama is about her one year sentence at the prison. The show exposes the crime, abuse, corruption and dangers as well as the fun that inmates have. Alex, the person who named here also enters the prison. Piper and Alex rekindle their love and there are a few flashbacks of their life as lovers and drug dealers. Meanwhile Piper's undecisive fiancé write a story about their love and it makes it to the Newyork Time.
Another interesting inmate at the prison and my fabiurite is Red. Initially she comes across as a confident inmate who handles the kitchen and developes a dislike for Piper and starves her. Red's character undergoes changes after she is removed from the kitchen and loses her prison 'daughters'.
You should watch Orange is the New Black if you want to know about American Prisons, specifically miniminum security female prisons. I started to watch it as it was trending on Netflix and I initially liked Piper's character. The inmates are from various backgrounds and races. It's like a little multicultural world inside the prison.
It's so easy to hooked to it and the bonus is that one episode is one hour or even longer,