SEASON

Season 1

Season 1 of Unorthodox. The season opens with: Born and raised in a New York Hasidic community, Esty struggles after a fruitless first year of marriage. She runs away to Berlin and finds new freedom.

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THIS ENTRY’S STORY

The story

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Plot summary

1. Part 1

On a Sabbath day, 19-year-old Esty Shapiro, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish married woman, flees her home in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, section of New York City with only a handful of possessions. She takes a plane to Berlin, where her estranged mother lives, but runs away before they can meet after seeing her mother kiss her female partner. At a coffee shop, Esty meets Robert, a young man ordering many coffees. She helps him take coffee to his friends who are waiting at a nearby music conservatory where they all study. Esty sneaks into their rehearsal, and is deeply moved by their music.

After the rehearsal, she hears the group announce they are going to the beach, and asks to come along. At the beach, Esty removes her sheitel as she bathes in the water, revealing her real hair. Back in Williamsburg, Esty's husband, Yanky Shapiro, discovers that she is missing, and runs to his family for help. In a flashback, Esty prepares to marry Yanky, and is visited by her mother who gives her German citizenship papers, should she ever need them. Esty goes forward with her wedding.

2. Part 2

Esty is discovered sleeping overnight in the conservatory. She is encouraged to apply for a hardship scholarship given to talented refugees and musicians in other difficult circumstances. Esty decides to go ahead as she plays the piano. When her conservatory friends invite her to dinner, they ask her to perform a piece. Esty is heartbroken when one of them, Yael, tells her that, while she is musical, her playing is merely adequate, and nowhere near good enough for the conservatory. She calls home for the first time, but is further distressed when her grandmother hangs up on her without speaking. Yanky and his cousin Moishe fly to Berlin to try to retrieve Esty, and Yanky is stunned by Moishe's worldly ways.

3. Part 3

Esty decides to withdraw her application for the conservatory, but the woman processing her application convinces her to continue with it. She goes to a club to see Yael performing, and is spotted by Moishe, who has succeeded in tracking her down. Esty leaves with Robert before Moishe can confront her. When they return to Robert's apartment, Robert and Esty share an intimate encounter. In a flashback, Esty's marriage begins to crumble almost as soon as it starts, as she cannot have sex with Yanky because she finds it painful. She is eventually told that she is suffering from vaginismus. After a particularly angry fight with Yanky, Esty urges him to complete sex with her, despite her horrific pain.

4. Part 4

Moishe finally tracks down Esty, and threatens her, telling her she will have nothing if she doesn't return to her husband. In distress, Esty finally contacts her mother, who promises to support her and her child. Esty decides to go through with her audition, switching her discipline from the piano to voice. After her audition, she is approached by Yanky, who begs her to come home with him. Promising to change, Yanky cuts off his payot, but Esty tells him it is too late for them and leaves to start her new life.

Credits

Exact listed stories combined in catalog order. All source URLs and original licenses are retained below; formatting and headings adjusted. Mixed CC BY-SA 3.0/4.0 adaptations use 4.0 as permitted by 3.0 section 4(b).
Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Unorthodox (miniseries). Series, exact episode number and English title matched. Paragraphs formatted; references and illustrations omitted.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1382584944
Original license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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