Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Piper Chapman enters Litchfield to serve a sentence for carrying drug money for Alex Vause, the former girlfriend she had left behind while building a life with fiancé Larry. Reunited inside, Piper and Alex reopen their relationship while Piper tries to adapt to prison routines and the women who already control them. Red runs the kitchen and punishes Piper after she insults the food; Nicky becomes a close ally, while Suzanne’s attention and Pennsatucky’s religious fervor make Piper’s first months more complicated.
The season widens its focus through the inmates’ memories and daily conflicts. Red loses her place in the kitchen to Gloria, Taystee leaves prison and then commits a crime to return, and Claudette’s failed appeal ends with her attacking a guard and being transferred to maximum security. Daya’s relationship with guard John Bennett leads to a pregnancy; Daya has sex with Officer Mendez so she can blame him for the pregnancy, and Caputo catches them together. Piper’s ties with Alex strain as Larry learns more about their past, and both relationships eventually break apart.
At Christmas, Piper has been approved to marry Larry, but that future collapses after Larry ends their engagement. Red sabotages the kitchen after Gloria takes over, while Pennsatucky, angry that Piper rejected her attempt to baptize her, prepares to kill her. After the pageant, Pennsatucky attacks Piper outside with a shiv fashioned from a cross. Healy hears Piper call for help and walks away; the season cuts off with Piper on top of Pennsatucky, punching her as the outcome for both women remains unknown.