‘Orange Is the New Black’ Creator Jenji Kohan Reveals ‘Meta’ Alternate Ending

Orange Is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan recently revealed the “meta” alternate ending that she had in mind for the show. The series is based on the memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, written by Piper Kerman, who is the basis for Taylor Schilling’s Piper Chapman. While speaking to Vanity Fair recently, Kohan sais that she had the idea to possibly end the show by having the final scene be the real like Kerman pitching the idea of the show to a producer. However, she shared the idea with her son first, and he very quickly shot it down.

Warning: Spoilers for Orange Is the New Black Season 7 are ahead!

I mentioned it to my 13-year-old over dinner, and he’s like, ‘No you can’t end the show like that!’,” Kohan said.

“It would have taken away from the grounded and important show that we wanted to make,” executive producer Tara Herrmann then added.

While the show did not end with a “meta” finale, it did wrap up each character’s arc with some level of hope or heartache.

Orange Is the New Black actress Laura Gómez, who played Blanca Flores in the series, was one of the stars to have her story end on a high note. At the end of the series, Blanca gets her criminal charges and deportation case thrown out, and reunites with the love of her life, Diablo.

Gómez recently spoke with PopCulture.com about the end of the show, and shared her thoughts on what it was like to star in the beloved dramedy.

“It’s been beautiful in many ways because you know, this was a show that became so iconic so soon and over time we had such a huge following. [OITNB] changed our lives in many ways,” she said/

“It’s been interesting to have had the opportunity to be a part of that, but with a bit of a slower pace. I’ve had the opportunity to evolve with the character and learn some things slowly and still maintain a little of my anonymity because I wasn’t as recognized at the beginning and I appreciate that,” Gómez continued.

“I wouldn’t have wanted the show to have been this iconic and this important and then for people to say, ‘oh, that was such a good show once,’ you know?” she later said. “I love that we’re leaving on a high note. And I love that we’re bringing important topics to the table, that we’re bringing this conversation, that we’re not ignoring it, but that we’re also saying goodbye.”

All seven seasons of Orange is the New Black are now streaming on Netflix.