‘Orange Is the New Black’: 8 Pressing Questions for Season 7

Season 6 of Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black left a number of questions up in the air.

Spoilers for Orange Is the New Black season 6 are ahead.

When season 6 of Orange Is the New Black took Netflix subscribers into the walls of Litchfield’s maximum security prison, fans were enveloped in a word where feuding cellblocks plot one another’s murders, characters faced wrongful convictions, and death and violence seemed to be a looming threat.

When the season wrapped after 13 episodes, a number of questions – will she appeal? What happens now? What about season 8? – were left unanswered, potentially setting up what fans can expect in season 7.

Keep scrolling to see the burning questions we have following Orange Is the New Black season 6.

What will happen after Piper’s Release?

Season 6 ended with a surprise prison wedding and Piper’s early release from Litchfield, leaving fans wondering not only where Piper will go next, but how the show will handle Piper’s life on the outside as well as the rest of the inmates left in prison.

While it is likely that the series will find a way to perfectly balance both aspects, when it comes to Piper, she will probably be going through an adjustment period. She entered prison as an engaged woman to now ex-fiancé Larry, but left prison as a married woman to Alex Vause, who still has four years of her sentence left to serve. Not only will Piper have to adjust to life without her wife, but also her newfound freedom.

As was heavily teased throughout the season, the series may venture into Piper writing the memoir that inspired the series, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.

Is Daya’s future entirely hopeless?

Just like Taystee, Dayanara Diaz is wrongfully charged for a death that occurred during the prison. While she pulled the trigger and shot C.O. Humphrey in the leg, it was Kukudio’s antics of blowing bubbles into his IV that ultimately led to his death. However, that fact is never revealed, and Daya is served a life sentence and quickly becomes the object of C.O. Hellman’s violence now that she is labeled a guard killer. To make matters worse, in an attempt to escape her pain, Daya resorts to drugs.

While actress Dascha Polanco told The Hollywood Reporter hopes that the truth of what really happens eventually comes out and wants to “believe that she [Daya] has a chance,” she ultimately doesn’t “believe in the system — I know that she is set up to fail.”

Will Blanca be deported?

Upon walking out of Litchfield Max on early release, and with her husband Diablo waiting to pick her up with a bouquet of flowers, Blanca Flores was instead greeted by ICE agents who promptly put her in handcuffs and issued her into a bus with several more inmates.

While it is possible that her story could end there, the heartbreaking twist will likely play out in season 7. As MCC’s new Vice President Linda Ferguson announced, MCC is opening an immigrant detention center, meaning that when fans next see Blanca, she could be in an entirely new facility.

Will Taystee appeal her conviction?

At the close of season 6, Taystee was handed down her punishment for her involvement in the season 5 prison riot: guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of C.O. Desi Pescatella. The charge, despite it being a wrongful conviction, meant that Taystee is now facing a life sentence, a sentence that would provoke the death penalty if she weren’t in the state of Pennsylvania. Now, fans are wondering if OITNB will give Taystee justice.

It is possible that Taystee will choose to appeal the conviction, giving her a second chance at freedom. It is also possible that the truth of what really happened (Piscatella was really shot rookie officer Natoli and the CERT team staged the murder to place blame elsewhere) will be revealed. Both Cindy and Suzanne were present when the murder was staged, and Cindy anonymously called Caputo tipping him off to that fact.

However, should Taystee choose not to appeal, she will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

What will happen to Lorna Morello and her baby?

In another heartbreaking season 6 twist, Morello, who is 7-months pregnant, goes into early labor while she is alone and hiding in a closet. The last that fans see of Morello is her being led down the hallway by a prison medic with blood staining her pants.

At the moment, it is not known if Morello will have a safe birth or not, and if her baby does not survive, she will have to deal with that loss. If both she and the baby make it through the ordeal, she will have to learn to cope with living inside of the prison while her child lives outside of it, likely with Vinnie.

Whatever predicament Morello finds herself in in season 7, there is no doubt that Nicky will continue to be by her side supporting her.

Will we see the missing inmates again?

Although season 6 saw the introduction of a number of new characters, several other characters were absent, a fact that was not missed by fans. As characters like Piper, Alex, Red, and Nicky were transferred down the hill to Litchfield Max, others were transferred to different facilities throughout the country, like Big Boo, who was seen at a Cleveland prison at the start of the season.

As for whether fans can expect to see Big Boo, Janae Watson, Alison Abdullah, Brook Soso, Yoga Jones, Leanne Taylor, Angie Rice, and the rest of the inmates in season 7, according to executive producers Tara Herrmann, it depends on what happens in the writers room and where the story takes them.

“It has to be organic for us,” Herrmann told The Hollywood Reporter. “We never want to suddenly be in a world that we haven’t set up. But we love those characters and miss them as storytellers for sure, so we hope to always see them.”

Is the war between C-Block and D-Block over?

The storyline of season 6 quickly saw itself cemented in the longstanding war between Litchfield Max’s C-Block and D-Block, a rivalry that was started decades ago by sisters Carol and Barbara Denning. While the feuding sides often resorted to childlike antics to get back at one another, there were also much more sinister plans, like the final battle that was intended to take place on the kickball field in the season finale. But with both Block leader’s dead, will the war continue, or was the peaceful playing of the kickball game a signaling of a cease fire?

While it is possible that the inmates will choose peace, it is just as likely that once the teams go back to their cellblocks, the feud will start anew. Badison had been vying for a top spot all season, and it is possible that she will rise as C-Block’s new leader.

Should the feuds continue, several fan-favorite characters will likely still be in danger – most prominently Nicky and Alex – while Frieda will likely manage to escape unscathed in Florida.

Will season 7 be the last?

Orange Is the New Black has only been renewed through season 7, a renewal that was granted way back in season 4, and following Piper’s early release, many fans are wondering if the possibility of her writing her memoir will be a swan song for the series or if they should be expecting a season 8.

According to series star Laura Prepon, who portrays Alex Vause, fans should be preparing to say goodbye.

“As of now, season seven is our last season,” Prepon said, adding that leaving the series will be difficult. “Will it be sad? Of course. But we have to look at how fortunate it was for us to be a part of, because this show really was lightning in a bottle…Sometimes you get these shows and they are lightning in a bottle and they’re so fantastic, and you just hang on and go for the ride. You just live it and be it, and it’s an incredible experience.”

Ultimately, according to Hermann, the decision of whether or not the series ends after season 7 relies on creator Jenji Kohan.