Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
After her fight with Pennsatucky, Piper is unexpectedly taken to Chicago to testify against Alex’s former drug boss, Kubra. Alex persuades Piper to lie, then tells the truth herself and gains her release. Piper returns to Litchfield, while Alex fears retaliation from Kubra. Back at Litchfield, the arrival of Vee Parker, Taystee’s former mentor and Red’s old rival, turns the prison’s alliances into a contest for influence. Vee recruits Taystee, Suzanne and others into a crew selling tobacco and heroin, while Red rebuilds a smuggling route through the greenhouse.
Poussey resists Vee’s control and becomes isolated when Taystee stays with the new crew. Vee uses Suzanne to attack Poussey, then frames Suzanne for Red’s serious beating. Daya’s pregnancy remains a pressure point: Mendez is made to appear responsible, and Bennett struggles to acknowledge his own role. Piper receives a furlough to attend her grandmother’s funeral and learns that Larry and her friend Polly are together. On returning, she asks Polly and Larry to report Alex to her parole officer after Alex plans to flee, sending Alex back to Litchfield.
As investigators examine the prison’s violence, Vee’s grip begins to fail. Nicky steals her heroin stash, prompting Black Cindy and Janae to leave Vee’s crew and reunite with Taystee and Poussey. Healy helps clear Suzanne by producing an alibi, and the prison searches for Vee after she escapes through Red’s tunnel. At the same time, Lorna Morello slips dying inmate Rosa the keys to a prison van. Rosa drives through the gate, sees Vee hitchhiking on the road and hits her with the van, ending Vee’s season-long campaign for control.