Every Major Character Who Was Killed Off (And Why)

The many Orange is the New Black Deaths not only helped make it one of Netflix’s first widely popular and critically acclaimed original shows, but also a heart-wrenching drama. The highly influential series is inspired by a true story, adapted from Piper Kerman’s memoir Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s PrisonAbout her experiences in a minimum-security federal penitentiary. The series brings attention to America’s broken prison system and the corrupt privatized facilities. It humanizes prisoners and paints them as lost, forgotten souls rather than dangerous criminals.

The show highlights that when a prisoner gets out, they are set to leave on the outside and, more often than not, find themselves back in prison. Although the show is mainly about Piper, it showcases many of her fellow inmates. Every episode in Orange is the New BlackThe seven seasons feature flashbacks of a different character’s background, showing what led them to prison. The series’ character-focused narrative makes every death hit harderAs not every character made it to the end of Orange is the New Black.

Tricia Miller – Season 1

Dies from a drug overdose

Tricia (Madeline Brewer) was one of the more lighthearted and endearing characters of Orange is the New Black season 1, But she struggled with abandonment issues and drug addiction. She was one of the youngest inmates at Litchfield at age 19 and helped out in the kitchen. Her issues became clear as early as episode 4 when she attempted to plant drugs in her girlfriend’s bunk on the day of her release to be found by a corrections officer. Fortunately, she was caught in the act and told, “TBeing is not love.”

Tricia’s backstory was explored in episode 10 when it was learned that she ran away from home as a teenager to escape her rapist stepfather. She and a friend depend on stealing to survive, but she keeps a notebook of everything she steals with the intention of one day paying her victims back.

During episode 9, it came to light that Co. Jorge “Pornstache” Mendez was smuggling drugs into the prison and supplying them to Tricia. When his drug supply was a hassle, He forced Red to help him smuggle drugs in to help Tricia with her withdrawal. Red refused and demanded Tricia turn herself in, resulting in an extended sentence and time in SHU.

Tricia then went to Red and asked for forgiveness, but Red said she was done with her. Mendez strong-armed Tricia to help him distribute the rest of the drugs, And she tragically ends up overdosing on them. Mendez covered up the overdose by framing it as a suicide by hanging. However, Red and Nikki knew the truth, and Tricia’s death hit them both especially hard since they felt responsible. The two then conspired to take down Mendez once and for all.

Yvonne “Vee” Parker – Season 2

As was run in an attempted escape

As (Lorraine Toussaint of Concrete cowboys) arrived in Litchfield during Orange is the New Black Season 2 and quickly became a powerful figure among the inmates. She acted as the main antagonist of the season and an opponent for Red. Vee was a highly charismatic, intelligent and manipulative sociopath who used people as pawns and discarded anyone in her path, no matter their loyalty. When he arrived at Litchfield, She immediately saw Susan, aka “Crazy Eyes,” as an easy target to manipulate. She used her desperation for love and used it for her criminal organization in prison.

Wee also became a motherly figure to Tasty outside of prison and quickly drove a wedge between her and her best friend, Pussy, when Pussy pushed back against Wee’s assumption of the blackness. As well, Red was brutally beaten when she refused to sell her “business”. After all the vindictive backstabbing and pain she caused beloved characters, Wis’s death was one of the most satisfying. During an attempt to escape, she was overtaken by another escapee, Rosa, who later said, “Always so rude that one.” Whose body was then left on the side of the road.

Rosa Cisneros – Season 2

Rosa possibly died of cancer off-screen

One of the most enigmatic characters in Orange is the New Black, Miss Rose (moon nightBarbara Rosenblatt) was one of the first inmates that Pfeiffer met when he arrived at Litchfield. When Red started starving Piper after she insulted her cook, Rosa told her that she had similar issues her first week in prison and had to fight with the other inmates to sort things out. “If I had Won, I’d Was LA Hefa“, she said. Suffice it to say, it did little to calm Piper’s nerves.

During season 2, the Rosa-focused episode finally gave a backstory to the mysterious character. In her youth, she was a bank robber but was reckless and was eventually caught and sent to a maximum security prison. Apparently, after she was diagnosed with cancer, she was transferred to Litchfield. Rosa is not seen again after escaping, but it is assumed that she died off-screenFinally succumbed to her terminal illness. However, there was some comfort in knowing she died a free woman.

Poussey Washington – Season 4

CO Bayley Suffocated Poussey

Poussey (Samira Wiley) had one of the most devastating deaths of Orange is the New Black. She was one of the more level-headed and intelligent inmates and loved joking around with her best friend, Tasty, who she was in love with. However, Tasty is heterosexual, and the feelings are not reciprocated. Poussey avoided violence and was one of the few to resist Vee’s manipulation During season 2. In season 3, her mother died, and she fell into a dark depression and turned to alcoholism. With Taysty’s help, however, she climbed out of her depression.

During season 4, the inmates initiated a peaceful protest in the cafeteria, calling for Captain Piscatella’s resignation for his terrible treatment of many women in the prison. Susan became increasingly upset, and while Posey was trying to calm her down, She was thrown to the ground by CO Bayley. Due to improper training, Bailey accidentally chokes Pussy to death, to the horror of everyone, especially Taysty, who is sobbing uncontrollably, begging for her friend to wake up.

Thomas Humphrey – Season 5

The prisoners banded together to kill him

CO Humphrey was the primary antagonist of Orange is the New Black Season 4. At first glance, he seemed like a decent guy and friendly co-worker, but later he revealed he was a sadistic sociopath who enjoyed tormenting and abusing the inmates. At one point, he went as far as forcing Martiza to eat a dead mouse at gunpoint. During the prison riot, in the first episode of Orange is the New Black Season 5, a group of inmates surrounded a couple of Kos, including Humphrey.

He smuggled a gun into the prison, but when he reached it, Mortiza knocked it out of his hand, and Daya picked it up. The other prisoners began to shoot him, and as Humphrey pleaded for his life in Spanish, Deia shot him in the head. leg Gloria brought Humphrey to Sophia to stab him up in an attempt to protect Daya from serving life in prison for murder. After initially refusing to be treated by a trans person, he eventually relented since she was his only chance for survival.

Sophia brought him to a prison nurse who treated his wound and placed him in a hospital bed between Maureen and Susan. While telling the women about various methods of torture, Humphrey suffered a stroke in the second episode of the problematic season 5. Maureen revealed that she pumped air into his IV to kill him, but it simply put him into a coma. however, His injuries and continued abuse by other inmates eventually led to his deathH. His body was left in a broom cupboard to be later found by the CERT team.

Desi Piscatella – Season 5

One of the sert officers accidentally killed him

Captain Piscatella (Brad William Henke) was one of Orange is the New Blacks most notorious villains. He was a brute to the inmates and extremely lazy in his work, which rubbed off on his costs. Most of his underground enterprises lacked the proper experience to carry out their tasks effectively, which had a ripple effect on how the prison was run and how the prisoners were treated.

The brutality and mercilessness became so unbearable that the inmates staged a protest demanding his resignation, which resulted in Fauci’s death. . This further united the prisoners against the guards, which caused the riot. During Orange is the New Blacks season 5 cliffhanger, Piscatella was accidentally shot and killed by one of the CERT officers, which they covered up and pinned on Taystee, who was later convicted of his murder and sentenced to life.

Maureen Kukudio – Season 6

Maureen died from injuries sustained in a fight with Susan

Maureen (Emily Althaus) was a secondary antagonist in Orange is the New Black Season 4 but later became Susan’s love interest. She was shy and had difficulty expressing her feelings, preferring to express herself through poetry. However, what started as a healthy relationship soon turned toxic as she became increasingly irrational and erratic and began to be manipulative towards Susan.

One of Maureen’s darker moments arose when Susan humiliated her, so Maureen offered to fight Susan for the guard’s amusement. While Susan was reluctant to fight back at first, she ended up beating Maureen severely. Due to a lack of medical attention during the riot that broke out shortly after the fight, Maureen died of her injuries on screen during Orange is the New Black Season 6.

Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett – Season 7

Tiffany died by suicide

Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) was an antagonistic character for much of the earlier seasons of Orange is the New Black and constantly causing problems for Piper and her friends. She was sent to prison for murdering a nurse at an abortion clinic who commented on her various abortions. This ironically led to her gaining a religious following due to the belief she killed the nurse for her anti-abortion views. Her religious fanatics went to her head, And she began to believe that she was a messenger of God – A fantasy that finally threw her into the psychiatric ward.

in later times, Pennsatucky has become an oddly sympathetic character, primarily due to her repeated abuse by others. She has also matured in her mind and has more compassion with each passing season. She had one of the most compelling character arcs, which made her death even more heart-wrenching. During season 7 of Orange is the New BlackShe was determined to get her GED and learned that she had struggled to read her whole life because she had dyslexia.

When it was time to take her exam, her teacher failed to fill out the proper paperwork to allow her extended time to take the test. She was convinced that she had failed, and life cheered her once again. In her grief, she took her own life by overdose.

What was more devastating was that Pennsatucky had passed her test. She was later found by a broken Taysty, who was sick of seeing yet another life taken by the broken prison system. Pennsatucky was the last death of Orange is the New Black And one of the most heartbreaking since it was completely avoidable and pointless – a tragedy that happens far too often in fact that the series did not shy away from portraying.

My Orange is the New Black Death

Daddy, Barbara, & Carol

There were other minor character deaths that all played a big part in Orange is the New Black And were important regardless of the importance of the character. Two of these came in season 6, Where Barbara Denning and her younger sister Carol Denning died. Barbara and Carol are the two main antagonists in the season. They murdered their younger sister, and they weren’t much better off when they ended up in prison. In prison, Barbara and Carol become rivals, with Barbara as the D-block leader and Carol in C-block.

The two declared war on each other and started the giant turf war between D- and C-Block, but it was all a hoax. They hid together when the war started, and they planned to sneak out and kill Frida, which had previously double-crossed them in events before the series began. However, the turf war never started and the inmates just played a game of kickball. The two sisters think the other double-crosses each other, and they start a fight where they kill each other, with Barbara getting her throat slit and Carol getting shanked in the back.

In season 7, there was one more minor one Death when Dominga “Dad” Duarte died. Throughout the show, Daddy is mostly a good person to anyone she likes, and she serves as Barb’s right hand in the prison. She also likes Dia and has a relationship with her from the moment she arrives which sadly leads to her downfall. When she tells Daya that she will sleep with whoever she needs to be strong in the drug game, Daya poisons her. It may have been an accident, but it’s still a tragic one Orange is the New Black Death.

Which deaths on Orange Is the New Black were the most impactful?

Poussey, Pennsatucky, & Tricia

The two most impressive deaths on Orange is the New Black are those of heavy-hitters Poussey Washington and Tiffany “Pensatucky” Doggett. Posey’s death was easily the one that had the most to do with future stories and the fates of other characters. Fussy’s death caused many bad things to happen that her simple existence could have prevented, Like the riot. Her death helped the show become so intense in later seasons, and without it, nothing would have meant quite as much.

Pennsatucky’s death by suicide was only a challenging moment to accept since she had passed her GED test, but a simple mistake on her teacher’s part caused her to give up on life. This moment in Orange is the New Black Shows how this prison creates a sense of help among the women there.

However, outside of the two women, two other deaths had a significant impact on viewers at home. Tricia struggled to make it and is trying to get clean and improve her life. The facts made her overdose death so hard to take and showed how bad Mendez was, especially when she made it look like a suicide, a Orange is the New Black An end that Trusia never deserved.