The single biggest problem with binge-viewing? You get through a season of your favorite show way too fast and then have roughly a year to wait for more, which inevitably means you've forgotten a whole lot of important info by the time next season rolls around. On top of that, Orange Is the New Black has one of the largest, richest ensemble casts on television. With that in mind, here's a quick refresher on the key things you'll need to remember when season five debuts June 9.
Poussey
Let's just start with the horrific shock that ended season four — not that you're likely to have forgotten this one. Ever since Litchfield was privatized, things had been spiraling out of control, with the new gang of COs becoming increasingly power-crazed under the management of macho psychopath Piscatella. Finally the prisoners snapped, resisting with a peaceful protest that quickly turned tragic.
After the inmates stood atop cafeteria tables, refusing to move until Piscatella resigned, the guards tried to remove them by force. Poussey jumped in to defend Suzanne, who was being violently restrained — but in the fray that followed, nobody noticed that Poussey herself couldn't breathe. She was suffocated by Bayley, the guard restraining her, in what was OITNB's most shocking and brutal moment to date.
Poussey also spent most of the season being incredibly, adorably happy with her new girlfriend Brook Soso, so obviously disaster had to be just around the corner.
Taystee
As Poussey's best friend, Taystee's reaction to her death was probably the most heartbreaking of all. The finale focused on the aftermath, and on Taystee (who had become Caputo's secretary earlier in the season) trying to convince Caputo to do the right thing and tell Poussey's family what really happened to her.
But the corporate monsters now running Litchfield put pressure on Caputo to spin her death in the public eye, first by trying to find information with which they could smear Poussey. When they couldn't, they decided to pin the whole thing on Bayley as a way to cover up the full scope of corruption and abuse at Litchfield. In his televised statement, Caputo went off book and stood by Bayley, while erasing Poussey from the story entirely. He didn't even say her name, let alone acknowledge the horror of her death.
Furious and devastated, Taystee led the inmates in a protest, which once again escalated quickly.
Daya
Daya spent most of season four worrying about her baby, who had been taken into foster care following the arrest of her ex, César. When Daya's mother Aleida was released from prison, she promised she'd fight to get Daya's baby back from CPS, though Daya seemed skeptical.
But Daya's big moment came in the very last scene of season four, during the riot over Poussey's death. As CO Humphrey went for his gun, Maritza pushed him and he dropped it — and Daya picked up, taking aim at Humphrey. That cliffhanger is where the season ended and apparently where season five picks up.
Piper
Taylor Schilling's divisive Piper started out the season still trying to convince herself she was a badass — or "gangsta, like with an A at the end," as she put it. But she ended up getting her comeuppance and then some after finally taking things too far with Maria, who ended up getting an extended sentence due to Piper's sabotage.
In retaliation, Maria and her gang ambushed Piper and branded her with a Nazi swastika. After that agonizing moment, Red later (literally) rebranded Piper's scar to turn the swastika into a window. Because "when God gives you a swastika, he opens a window … and then you remember there is no God."
Piper had a fairly quiet season after that trauma, abandoning her panty enterprise and reconnecting with on-off girlfriend Alex, who had some pretty serious shit of her own going on.
Alex and Lolly
After narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt from her former boss, thanks to Lolly, who intervened just in time, Alex's storyline took a dark turn when she was forced to smother to death her (paralyzed) hitman Aydin. She and Lolly dismembered and buried him in the greenhouse with the help of Frieda.
Lolly's paranoia and delusions quickly became a threat to the trio's secret, and Alex spent a while trying to convince Frieda not to kill Lolly. Eventually, Lolly ended up taking the fall when Aydin's body was discovered, and was taken away to the psych unit. While Alex was shaken by the whole ordeal, the person most impacted ended up being Healy, who had bonded with Lolly in part because her psychosis reminded him of his similarly ill mom.
Sophia
Sophia spent most of season four in the SHU, where she became increasingly depressed, at one point lighting her cell on fire and later attempting suicide. In the penultimate episode, Sophia was finally allowed back into the regular prison, just as everything was going to hell. She discovered that Maria's gang had taken over her salon, but Gloria (Selenis Leyva) kicked them out and gave Sophia her salon back — along with her wig, which was taken from her in the SHU.
Pennsatucky
Following her horrifying scene in season three where Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) was raped by a seemingly sympathetic guard, Charlie (James McMenamin), her storyline only became more complex in season four. Her rapist apologized to her and Pennsatucky accepted his apology — a decision that rankled some viewers as much as it did Boo (Lea DeLaria).
