The Orange is the New Black ending in season 7 saw some of the most important characters get delighted endings, but other individuals have far much more tragic fates. Created by Jenji Kohan, Orange is the New Black debuted on Netflix as one particular of the streaming service’s initially original shows, and it garnered a big fanbase and quite a few Emmy Awards. Orange is the New Black is primarily based on the book of the identical name by Piper Kerman, who spent time in a women’s prison soon after getting convicted of smuggling a suitcase complete of drug funds.

Taylor Schilling plays Piper Chapman in the show, but her story was the entry point for dozens of character research of the females of Litchfield Penitentiary. The show follows the inmates by way of a chicken obsession, an illicit underwear production line, a prison riot, and getting placed into maximum safety. There are so lots of likable and unlikable characters in Orange is the New Black, but the most important group ends their stories with each tragedy and hope.

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15 Piper &amp Alex

They End Up Together In Ohio

After Piper gets out of prison, her marriage to Alex becomes strained by the extended-distance partnership, and they each finish up cheating on one particular a different. Alex has an affair with McCullough, a CO, who becomes angry and vengeful when Alex breaks factors off. McCullough requests that Alex be transferred to a prison in Ohio, and Alex decides to set Piper absolutely free – telling her that they require to break up.

After considerably deliberation more than whether or not to stick with Alex or pursue a partnership with her new adore interest, Zelda, Piper ends up moving to Ohio so that she can be with Alex. She gets a job at a cafe and begins taking classes in Civil Procedure. In the new prison, there is no wall involving them in the going to area, so they can basically hold hands. At this point, Alex nonetheless has 3 years left on her sentence prior to they can actually be with each other.

After leaving Orange is the New Black, Taylor Schilling went on to seem in the horror-anthology series Monstrerland and the Hulu original film Pam &amp Tommy, about the lives of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. In 2024, she returned to the stage for the play The Apiary. Laura Prepon returned to the franchise that produced her renowned in 2023, reprising her part as Donna on The ’90s Show.

14 Pennsatucky

She Dies Of A Drug Overdose

Sadly, not just about every character in Orange is the New Black gets a delighted ending. Tiffany Doggett, a.k.a. Pennsatucky, spends season 7 studying challenging to take the GED and, along the way, is diagnosed with a finding out disability. However, when the time comes to take the exam, she is told that she has not been offered the allotted added time she wants mainly because Luschek (who replaced the certified GED teacher) forgot to place in a request for it.

Despite added tutoring from Taystee, Pennsatucky leaves the exam believing she has failed and hits up Daya’s gang for some drugs. This turns out to be Pennsatucky’s final hit, as she dies of an overdose. As her physique is carried away from Litchfield, a ghostly version of her waves goodbye to the prison as she walks away from it.

Since Orange is the New Black ended, Taryn Manning has appeared in quite a few reality Television shows, which includes Hollywood Game Night, Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, and Worst Cooks in America (as a contestant). She also appeared in quite a few low-price range films, with titles like Bloodline Killer, Miranda’s Victim, Bobcat Moretti, and Sanctioning Evil.

13 Taystee

Creates The Poussey Washington Fund

For most of season 7, Taystee has only one particular aim in thoughts: death by suicide. After getting wrongfully convicted of Piscatella’s murder and getting sentenced to life in prison, she is no longer a delighted, bubbly young lady. She asks Daya for sufficient drugs to die by suicide, but the higher cost tag delays factors. There is a short flicker of hope when it appears like a notebook written by Suzanne, in which she recounts how Piscatella actually died, may exonerate Taystee – but her lawyer tells her it really is as well flimsy as proof.

Taystee is about to kill herself when she finds Pennsatucky’s physique, which derails her suicide try. Later, she is about to attempt once more when she sees an envelope from Tamika containing the GED certificates for all the students she tutored. She learns that Pennsatucky basically passed the exam and gained her GED.

This offers Taystee renewed hope that she can basically assist persons, and she reaches out to Judy King for assist in setting up the Poussey Washington Fund – a foundation that gives microloans to females newly released from prison to assist them get back on their feet as an alternative of falling back into the cycle of crime and poverty. In prison, Taystee finds a new objective in teaching economic literacy to inmates who are quickly to be released so that when they obtain their funds from the Poussey Washington Fund, they will know how to handle it.

Danielle Brooks’ greatest results soon after her part in Orange is the New Black was when she earned the part of Sofia in the remake of The Color Purple. Her overall performance in this film earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress though winning the Best Supporting Actress award at the African-American Film Critics Association Awards. She also played Leota in Peacemaker for the DCU and has a part in the upcoming Minecraft film.

12 Red

Develops Early Onset Dementia

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Introduced in Orange is the New Black season 1 as a fierce den mother and the veritable Queen of Litchfield, Galina “Red” Reznikov is brought low when she is forced to commit substantial time in SHU. The mixture of this isolation and a serious urinary tract infection induces a state of delirium that develops into early-onset dementia. Over the course of Orange is the New Black‘s final season, Red’s memory fails her much more and much more till she can no longer even recall how to cook.

She is transferred to B-Block, a.k.a. “Florida,” exactly where Litchfield’s elderly and mentally ill individuals finish up. There, she reunites with her old “friend” Frieda Berlin but does not recall Frieda’s betrayal. She introduces herself as if they had under no circumstances met. Eventually, Red remembers Frieda and tries to attack her, but Frieda hides in her cell and says she’ll keep there till Red forgets her once more.

Kate Mulgrew was currently a main star thanks to her part as Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager. After Orange is the New Black, she remained an in-demand actress, with roles in Mr. Mercedes, Star Trek: Prodigy, The First Lady, and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

11 Morello

Loses Her Baby And Has A Mental Breakdown

Red is not the only most important character who ends up in Florida. After providing birth to a infant boy, Sterling, in season 6, Lorna learns from a tearful Vinnie that their son died of pneumonia. Refusing to accept reality, Lorna continues to insist that her son is alive, even making Instagram accounts for him employing photos of babies that she finds on the world wide web. Unable to bear this, Vinnie decides to divorce her – which Morello interprets as him taking her infant away.

Her mental overall health degrades more than the course of Orange is the New Black season 7, and although Nicky desperately tries to assist her, she at some point accepts that she can no longer retain Lorna secure. When Lorna lashes out at a different prisoner, it is the final straw, and she is transferred to B-Block. The final time she is observed, Red is cradling her like a infant and singing her a lullaby as Morello sucks her thumb.

Yael Stone was mainly a newcomer when she appeared on Orange is the New Black. Since that Television show helped her break out, she appeared in the Liam Neeson film Blacklight, the Australian thriller Blaze, and the Television shows Picnic at Hanging Rock, Bay of Fires, and One Night.

10 Nicky

Becomes The New Prison Mom

With Red in retirement, Nicky requires more than as the new “Prison Mom” soon after asking Red for suggestions on how to care for persons behind bars. She is in the kitchen, sporting red lipstick and assisting a drug-addicted inmate to get by way of her withdrawal. After spending the show’s final season struggling to retain as well lots of plates spinning – her new girlfriend, Red’s dementia, and Morello’s breakdown – Nicky ultimately appears to embrace her new part, taking care of girls who require it and constructing a loved ones of her personal.

Natasha Lyonne has come to be a main star due to the fact her time on Orange is the New Black. While that series helped her make a name for herself, she actually broke out with her starring part in the Netflix series Russian Doll from 2019 to 2022. She then continued to create her name with the original Peacock series Poker Face, which began in 2023. She also signed on to the MCU reboot of The Fantastic Four.

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9 Maritza

Gets Deported To Colombia

One of the most heartbreaking storylines of Orange is the New Black season 7 sees Maritza get arrested by ICE though hanging out in a club due to the fact she does not have her ID. At the ICE detainment facility, she is reunited with Blanca Flores, who lost her Green Card soon after pleading guilty to organizing the riots. When a group of inmates from Litchfield is brought in to run the kitchen at the ICE detainment facility, Maritza is also reunited with Flaca. She begs her for assist in proving that she’s an American citizen.

However, when Flaca ultimately manages to speak to Maritza’s mother, she learns that Maritza wasn’t born in the United States at all but in Colombia. At initially, there is hope when Maritza gets her hand on the quantity for an organization that supplies legal assist to ICE detainees. However, Maritza’s fate is sealed by an act of kindness when she writes down as lots of copies of the quantity as achievable and hands them out to the other females in the facility.

The guards spot this behavior, and Maritza is promptly deported to Colombia — a nation she has under no circumstances visited and exactly where she knows no one particular. She gets on a plane with quite a few other females, and one particular by one particular, they fade away, with Maritza fading away final. Her fate in Colombia is left unknown.

Diane Guerrero moved on from Orange is the New Black to capture roles in some massive productions. She became a recurring character in Jane the Virgin (as Lina Santillan), the DCU show Doom Patrol (as Crazy Jane), and the Disney Animation film Encanto (as Isabela Madrigal).

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8 Flaca

Helps Women Detained By ICE Contact Their Families

No one particular is hit tougher by Maritza’s deportation than her very best buddy, Flaca. As the Litchfield females perform in the kitchen, Gloria starts attempting to assist the females attain their households by taking notes from them with names and telephone numbers and employing her cell telephone to attempt and make speak to with them. This at some point gets her in problems when she smuggles a telephone into the ICE detainment center so that Karla, a lady who is getting deported to El Salvador, can use it to speak to her sons one particular final time.

After Gloria gets out of prison, Flaca resolves to take more than the perform she was performing, saying that it really is what Maritza would want her to do. She requires messages from females as they line up their lunch trays, telling them that she can not guarantee something but will do her very best to uncover their households.

Jackie Cruz received her initially main part thanks to Orange Is the New Black. Since that show ended, she has had only minimal roles and appearances. She had a recurring part in Good Girls as Rhea, one particular-shot appearances in Blue Bloods and Unforgettable, and quite a few smaller sized films, which includes the 2020 Tremors sequel, Tremors: Shrieker Island.

7 Ruiz

Gets To Spend Time With Her Daughter Again

Maria Ruiz, who was heavily pregnant when she initially appeared in Orange is the New Black season 1, had her infant and was practically promptly separated from her. She had a second heartbreak when her boyfriend, Yadriel, stated that he wasn’t going to bring infant Pepa for any much more visits to the prison mainly because he did not want her to see her mother behind bars. In season 7, Yadriel reveals that he has began dating a different lady (also known as Maria), and Ruiz is naturally furious.

However, with the assist of Joe Caputo’s restorative justice system, she functions towards getting a much better particular person. Eventually, she apologizes to Yadriel and asks if he can commence bringing Pepa to see her once more. He agrees, and in Ruiz’s final scene, she requires turns with “New Maria” to study a image book known as Mi Burro, Mi Burro to Pepa in the visitation area.

When she is not acting, Jessica Pimentel is the lead singer of the heavy metal band Alekhine’s Gun. Before Orange is the New Black, she had quite a few Television appearances in various roles in the Law &amp Order franchise. Since the Netflix prison drama, she has had a part in The Horror of Dolores Roach on Prime Video.

6 Aleida

May Or May Not Have Killed Daya

Dayanara Diaz, as soon as a sweet girl who liked drawing photos of anime characters, has been completely transformed by the season 7 finish of Orange is the New Black. She’s the drug kingpin of Litchfield and addicted to drugs herself, and to make matters worse, she recruits her 13-year-old sister, Eva, to assist smuggle drugs into the prison. Aleida is released from prison but ends up back behind bars when she finds out that Eva has been dating a drug dealer twice her age and goes on a violent rampage at the dealer’s residence.

When she learns Daya roped Eva into her drug operation, there is a fierce confrontation involving the relatives. After Daya asks Aleida if she knows what it really is like to kill a person, Aleida punches her daughter in the throat, jumps on leading of her, and begins to throttle her, saying that she may be about to uncover out. The outcome of this fight is not shown, but it really is achievable that Aleida ended up killing Daya in order to defend her younger daughter.

Elizabeth Rodriguez had been acting for years prior to Orange is the New Black, with roles in Dead Presidents, Desperado, and Miami Vice in her previous. Since the Netflix drama, she has appeared in Shameless as Faye Donahue and East New York as Det. Crystal Morales. She also appeared in the film Allswell in New York, which she also wrote and made.

5 Mendoza

Gets Out And Returns Home

One of the happier endings in Orange is the New Black is that of Gloria Mendoza, who comes close to losing her release date more than the contraband telephone she smuggled into the ICE detainment facility. In a uncommon act of selflessness, Luschek (who is nonetheless reeling with guilt more than his part in Pennsatucky’s death) confesses to smuggling phones into Litchfield and says that he was forcing the females to smuggle them into the ICE facility.

He asks that Gloria be spared from any punishment prior to he himself is fired on the spot. His gambit pays off Gloria is released from prison, reunited with her little ones, and meets her grandchild. While unpacking factors she finds the image book Mi Burro, Mi Burro, which she gifts to Ruiz.

Selenis Leyva had some results following Orange is the New Black. In 2020, she started playing the part of Gabi in Diary of a Future President, for which she was nominated for a Gracie Award and Imagen Award. She also stars in the sitcom Lopez vs. Lopez with George Lopez and has roles in a couple of blockbusters, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Creed III.

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4 Black Cindy

Gets Out And Reconciles With Her Mother And Daughter

In Orange is the New Black season 6, Black Cindy testified that Taystee murdered Piscatella in exchange for early release. Taystee gets her revenge when, shortly prior to Cindy is released, she sends a letter to Cindy’s daughter revealing that the lady she believes is her mother is basically her grandmother, and her “sister” Cindy is her true mother.

This bombshell causes Cindy to move out of her mom’s residence and briefly come to be homeless. After reaching her lowest point, Cindy resolves as soon as once more to do much better and meets her daughter, Monica, and mother at a quick-meals restaurant, promising that from now on, she will show up and be there for Monica.

Adrienne C. Moore employed her results from Orange is the New Black to safe a starring part in the CBC series Pretty Hard Cases as Kelly Duff, a part that has earned her 3 nominations from the Canadian Screen Awards. She also had the likelihood to voice Etta Candy in the animated DCU film Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.

3 Flores

Gets Out And Moves To Honduras With Diablo

During her time in ICE custody, Flores sees lots of females deported, which includes Maritza, Karla, and Nicky’s new girlfriend, Shani. It appears like her personal case is hopeless, but Karla assists her by telling her to ask for a keep of removal to get her criminal conviction overturned – mainly because she wasn’t told it would have an effect on her Green Card status.

Amazingly, she succeeds in fighting her conviction and is released as a absolutely free lady with a Green Card. However, the adore of her life, Diablo, has been deported to Honduras. Despite possessing the solution to keep in the United States, Flores as an alternative chooses to go to the “murder capital of the world” to be with Diablo, and the two of them have a delighted reunion at the airport.

Laura Gómez hasn’t carried out considerably due to the fact she played Blanca Flores on Orange is the New Black. She had a 3-episode run on Law &amp Order: SVU though appearing on the Netflix drama and then had a 3-episode run on Anne+, a Dutch drama, soon after leaving the show. She also appeared in the Spanish dramas Upon Entry and La cocina.

2 Suzanne

Grows Up (Sort Of)

Introduced as “Crazy Eyes” in Orange is the New Black season 1, Suzanne ironically becomes one particular of the most steady characters by the finish of season 7. She becomes Mayor of “New Cluck City” (the name for the prison’s new chicken enrichment system) and requires charge of caring for a group of a dozen chickens. She gains her personal knowledge in crime and punishment when an “immigrant chicken” (the rogue chicken that wanders about Litchfield) tends to make its way into the coop, and a different chicken shows up dead.

At initially, Suzanne imprisons the new chicken, but when a different chicken dies, she puts them all in “chicken SHU” to quit the violence. The chicken system becomes a microcosm of the bigger prison industrial complicated, exactly where Suzanne and Lolly reflect on the difficult nature of chicken criminal justice.

After Pennsatucky dies, Suzanne decides to release the chickens from solitary confinement, saying that “P-Tuck” had believed it was cruel. She holds a memorial for Pennsatucky, exactly where she sings the Mountain Dew jingle. During a frank discussion with Taystee, Suzanne says that she’s come to comprehend that she can not handle every little thing, and she’s now beginning to develop up. The final time the show sees her, she assists Taystee lead the economic literacy class.

Uza Aduba identified results soon after Orange is the New Black with voice roles. She took on the part of Bismuth in Steven Universe, Officer Kubritz in 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, and Alisha Hawthorne in the Pixar film Lightyear. She also had reside-action roles in National Champions in 2021 and the Television miniseries Painkiller in 2023.

1 Sophia

Opens Up A Boutique Hair Salon

As Piper is agonizing more than her partnership with Alex, she gets a surprise bit of suggestions from none other than Sophia Burset, who was released from Litchfield at the finish of season 6. She shows up for a parole appointment promptly soon after Piper’s, and upon finding out Piper has a gala to go to, she insists on fixing her hair beforehand. Burset has opened up her personal hair salon, Vanity Hair by Sophia. While Piper is in the chair, Sophia advises her to think about letting go of her life in prison and placing it behind her.

Laverne Cox became the initially transgender particular person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for acting on Orange is the New Black. Since that show, Cox earned roles in The Blacklist, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Deat White People, and Inventing Anna. She also had film roles in Bad Hair, Promising Young Woman, and Jolt.

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What Happens To The Rest Of The Original Characters

At the pretty finish of Orange in the New Black’s season finale, the show catches up with characters who had been transferred soon after the prison riot and other individuals who weren’t shown for a though. Here’s what occurred to some of the other old Litchfield inmates – and these in charge of watching more than them.

• Gina
  ,
  Norma
  ,
  Yoga Jones
  ,
  DeMarco
  , and
  Big Boo
  are in the identical Ohio prison as Alex, so at least she has some friendly faces in her new house. They all sit down for a meal, and Yoga Jones invites a new inmate to come and sit with them. She then begins to give her the identical “mandala” speech she gave to Piper in the pilot episode.
• Angie
  ,
  Leanne
  ,
  Janae
  ,
  Alison
  ,
  Soso
  , and
  Sankey
  have also been transferred to the Ohio prison, and they are all outdoors in the yard. Angie pulls Leanne’s pants down for a joke. Meanwhile, Alison occasions Janae as she races about the track. Sankey – a former member of Litchfield’s white supremacist gang – tells Soso that she has been attempting to reform herself, and shyly confesses through a poem that she has feelings for her.
• George “Pornstache” Mendez
  has shaved off his mustache. He raises Daya’s infant, Armaria (who was adopted by Mendez’s mother and is now a toddler), and teaches her to play the drums employing pots and pans. He appears to be a considerably much better father than he was a CO.
• Caputo
  and
  Fig
  give up on attempting to conceive their personal infant and as an alternative determine to adopt. Though Fig is at initially set on adopting a boy beneath the age of two, he appears charmed by a small girl named Vanessa who sings Afroman’s “Crazy Rap.”
• Sam Healey
  ends up functioning behind the counter at a smoothie bar.
• Tamika Ward
  gets fired from her job as Warden and is replaced by
  CO Hellman
  – although in his final scene, it really is indicated that the job is not going to be entertaining for him.
• Joel Luschek
  gets fired soon after admitting to smuggling in phones.
• Chang
  ends up in the ICE detainment facility, exactly where she complains about the open-program architecture.

In lots of techniques, Orange is the New Black‘s final season was the darkest and saddest, but it ends on a hopeful note as Piper reflects on how she nonetheless loves to be clean — even although the which means of that word has changed for her. Some characters finish up in tragic areas, but these who survive at least do not finish up alone.