JoJo Whilden/NetflixOrange Is the New Blackseason three has come and gone if you, like us, ignored everybody you hold near and dear to watch the entire new season. And now here we are, empty inside, obsessively thinking about those cliffhangers. Sorry, we mean THOSE CLIFFHANGERS! We have questions about the new faces, the missing faces and the maybe dead faces. Shall we?
[Here is your obvious spoiler warning. Read on at your own risk.]
Is Alex Vause dead? Laura Prepon's character, Alex, spent the season being fearful for her life, suspecting Lolly (Lori Petty) was going to kill her for her former drug kingpin boss. Turned out Lolly was just a little cray cray and the real threat was a new guard who cornered Alex in the greenhouse at the end of the season finale. Alex was last seen shocked, pleading for her life. Viewers were also last seen shocked, pleading for Alex's life. Was this done because Laura Prepon only signed on for a season contract? Season four started to shoot, like, now, and Prepon was spotted out and about with her jet-black hair, so something tells us we'll get some resolution to the cliffhanger…even if it's bad.
Will Laverne Cox return for season four? Laverne Cox got something to do this year as Sophia…even if it was a rough storyline. Things all started going south for the fan-favorite character when her ex-wife and son started driving Gloria's (Selenis Leyva) son for visits. Sophia perceived the negative change in her son, Michael, as the influence of Gloria's son, Nicky. Gloria and the other inmates started spreading rumors about Sophia after Sophia stopped Nicky's visits. This lead to a confrontation where Sophia pushed Gloria and Gloria went flying headfirst into a wall. The rumors intensified and Sophia was jumped in her salon, as witnessed by a guard who ran to get help. What followed was some powerful acting (remember, she got an Emmy nomination for a reason), threat of lawsuits and a wonderful scene with Sister Jane Ingalls (Beth Fowler). Instead of training the new staff and taking responsibility, the prison sends Sophia to SHU for "her own protection." Pearson (Mike Birbiglia) quit over it and Caupto (Nick Sandow) was enraged, but seemed to lose that desire to save her in favor of a promotion…so will we ever see Sophia again? Cox signed on for a pilot that didn't make it to series and season four is set to begin production, so keep your eyes peeled…
Will Black Cindy now be known as Tovah? Black Tovah? Adrienne C. Moore—who had quite the season with the disinfectant "shower" to the corn thievery—went on a journey, finally getting her immersion in the nearby lake after dozens of inmates took advantage of the fence repair, checking off another step in her conversion to Judaism.
Will that rape-happy guard be stopped? Come on, he's got to go.
Did Bennett have something to do with Cesar's arrest? And where did Bennett go? We know Matt McGorry had to go learn how to get away with murder and dance into our hearts on How to Get Away With Murder, but…something tells us this story isn't over. The show featured Bennett and Daya's (Dascha Polanco) romance and baby so heavily, it seems like a little bit of a cop out not to provide proper resolution. On that note…
What's going to happen to Daya's baby? Can the never-aging Mary Steenburgen come to the rescue even if she thinks the baby is dead?
Is Martha Stewart Judy King going to have a big role next year? Fringe's Blair Brown was on TV in the background pretty much all season with her Martha-inspired character (well, really Martha plus some Paula Deen it seemed), and the season ended with Judy surrendering at Litchfield…only nobody was there to take her in. Is that it, she's done? Or will Judy be a major player, perhaps a rival or ally for Red (Kate Mulgrew), next year? Could go either way…
What happened to toast Norma? We're talking about the prop, we know Angie ate the toast on the show. Did Annie Golden get to keep the prop? And on that note, how great was Golden as the silent inmate? So great.
And finally, a plea: Please let Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) return from the maximum-security prison. She's probably there for good, which sucks, but she was one of the best characters on the show. Please, Jenji Kohan, please!
Seasons 1-3 of Orange Is the New Black are now streaming on Netflix.