Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The season picks up after Aydin corners Alex at the end of the previous season. Lolly pulls him away, but he survives, and Alex later suffocates him in the greenhouse; Lolly and Frieda help conceal his body in the garden. Meanwhile MCC’s expanded Litchfield is crowded with new inmates and guarded by inexperienced recruits. Captain Piscatella imposes harsher rules, and the guards’ abuse spreads from humiliation to forced fights. Caputo tries to manage the pressure while answering to MCC.
Piper’s underwear business collides with Maria Ruiz’s competing operation, widening tensions between their groups. Piper’s attempt to impose control ends when Maria’s allies restrain her and brand a swastika on her arm; afterward she admits she has gone too far, and Red reshapes the burn into a window. Judy King, a celebrity chef, receives special treatment, but her friendship with Poussey gives Poussey hope of a job after release. Poussey and Soso become a couple and begin making plans for life outside. Sophia remains in solitary confinement until her family’s efforts draw attention to her treatment and help secure her release.
After guards force Suzanne and Kukudio to fight, the inmates organize a peaceful protest demanding Piscatella’s removal. During the struggle to clear the cafeteria, Officer Bayley pins Poussey to the floor while trying to restrain her and keep Suzanne under control; Poussey dies from asphyxiation. MCC works to shift blame, and Caputo’s press conference fails to name Poussey or hold the institution accountable. Taystee leads the inmates in anger after hearing the statement. Humphrey brings out a gun, Maritza knocks it away, and Daya picks it up and points it at him as the prisoners gather around her; the season stops before she fires.