Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Litchfield’s new corporate owner, MCC, cuts costs, changes food service and brings in inexperienced guards while expanding the prison population. Piper and Alex reunite after Alex is returned to Litchfield for violating parole, but Alex remains afraid that Kubra will retaliate for her testimony. Piper turns an idea from the prison’s underwear factory into a business selling inmates’ used panties, with help from her brother Cal and a guard who smuggles the parcels out. The scheme grows as Piper recruits other women, and her confidence in running it puts new strain on her relationship with Alex.
Nicky’s attempt to move Vee’s heroin with guard Luschek ends when he blames her after the stash is found; she is transferred to maximum security, leaving Red and Morello behind. Stella joins Piper’s business and becomes close to her, but she steals the profits as her release approaches. Piper retaliates by planting contraband in Stella’s bunk, and Stella is sent to maximum security. Elsewhere, Suzanne’s science-fiction serial attracts attention in drama class, while Poussey and Taystee support Soso after she overdoses. Pennsatucky tells Big Boo that guard Coates raped her; the two plan revenge, but Pennsatucky ultimately gets herself removed from van duty instead.
The season closes with several threads still unsettled. Morello marries her visiting boyfriend Vince, Caputo accepts a senior role within MCC, Sophia remains in solitary confinement, and the women discover that MCC is adding beds and bringing many new inmates to Litchfield. A breach in the fence lets the prisoners rush to a nearby lake for a brief swim. Alex is absent from the group: she is left alone in a shed, where Aydin, a guard secretly sent by Kubra, confronts her. The season ends without showing what happens to Alex.