Top 10 Shocking Orange is the New Black Moments

Prisoners are people too, but the Litchfield guards forget this in Season 4. The inmates finally reach a breaking point when one of their own tragically loses her life with little to no repercussions. Although the ladies of Litchfield are usually at war with each other, this injustice unites them against a common enemy: the system. With Taystee leading the charge, the prisoners storm the hallways like protesters at a rally. The riot builds to a thrilling climax as the prisoners corner a couple guards from every angle and Daya gets her hands on a gun. While she considers shooting the white supremacists, she ultimately aims at the guards, leaving us on a nail-biting cliffhanger.

When we first meet Lorna Morello, she seems like one of the more levelheaded Litchfield inmates. She spends her days driving a prison van and planning her wedding. In this mind-blowing episode however, it’s revealed that she’s not really engaged. She only went on one date with her so-called fiancé, Christopher, and proceeded to stalk him, eventually winding up in front of a judge as a result. When she discovers Christopher is marrying someone else, Lorna abuses her driving privileges to break into his house, only narrowly escaping before being caught. It’s harrowing to see this seemingly sensible character’s dangerous obsessions come to the surface.

Like many of the prisoners at Litchfield, Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett has done some questionable things, but isn’t without her moments of sympathy. When Lorna gets kicked off driving duty, Pennsatucky takes over and becomes friendly with a correctional officer named Charlie. While their relationship appears innocent enough at first, Charlie soon reveals his abusive side. After getting in trouble with his superior, Charlie takes out his anger by raping Pennsatucky in the back of the van. As if that’s not horrific enough, a flashback reveals that an ex-boyfriend had previously sexually assaulted Pennsatucky immediately after she lost the only guy who ever treated her like a human being.

After suffering a brutal beating, Sophia is sent to the Security Housing Unit where she’s practically forgotten. Throughout the following season, Sophia goes to extreme measures to make her voice heard. Alas, her cries for help are continually ignored and she eventually reaches her breaking point. When Nicky passes by her cell, Sophia asks for a magazine. While this sounds like a harmless request, it nearly results in death. Sophia is later found draped in blood with the magazine by her side. While she survives her suicide attempt, it still doesn’t get her out of solitary. It’s nothing short of heartbreaking watching a beloved character endure so much anguish without getting anywhere.

Upon entering an inappropriate relationship with guard John Bennett, Daya winds up pregnant. In order to get Bennett off the hook, Daya needs to throw someone else under the bus, and George “Pornstache” Mendez is the perfect patsy. After tricking him into having sex with her, Daya pins the pregnancy on Pornstache. Once the cat’s out of the bag, Pornstache is suspended. What makes this all the more shocking is that Pornstache has fallen in love with Daya and vows to come back for her. We’re not sure if that’s hilarious or depressing. In any case, Bennett is in the clear, but that just leaves him free to later abandon Daya. Nice guy…

Yvonne “Vee” Parker is one of the easiest characters to hate in the series. She not only stabs Red in the back, but is also rude to Miss Rosa, who’s dying from cancer. This makes it all the more satisfying, not to mention shocking, when Rosa gets even. Realizing that Rosa’s time is almost up, Lorna allows her to steal the van so she can live out her remaining days as a free woman. At the same time, Vee is staging a breakout of her own. When the two escapees cross paths, Rosa gives Vee her just deserts. Seeing Vee’s dead body, we can’t help but applaud Rosa as she drives off victoriously.

After Alex violates her probation and returns to Litchfield, she fears that her old boss will send somebody to kill her. And so, for much of Season 3, she suspects that the odd new inmate, Lolly Whitehill, is in cahoots with Kubra. While Lolly turns out to be nothing more than a paranoid prisoner, an undercover assassin does come for Alex in the form of a guard. As the hitman threatens Alex in a greenhouse, we’re left with another intense cliffhanger. At the beginning of the following season, however, Lolly ironically comes to Alex’s rescue, stomping her attacker to a pulp. While that’s one problem solved, it also creates a laundry list of other predicaments.

Of all the enemies Piper Chapman makes during Season One, Pennsatucky is the most unbalanced and lethal. After Piper knocks her religion, Pennsatucky sees no other alternative but to kill her. Making a shiv out of a wooden cross, she confronts Piper on a snowy night. Mr. Healy stumbles upon the scene, but he astonishingly doesn’t intervene, abandoning Piper to fight for herself. Luckily, Chapman has a lot of pent-up rage she’s been dying to unleash. Demonstrating just how much she’s changed over the past season, Piper kicks Pennsatucky to the ground and repeatedly punches her in the face. It’s a shocking display of violence, but hey, at least Tiffany finally got some new teeth.

In Season 4, Piper starts to rise through the ranks. You know what they say, though: the higher you climb, the harder you fall - and Piper definitely hits an all-time low here. What starts out as a simple panty business snowballs into a race war with Piper stuck in the middle. After accidentally aligning herself with the white supremacists, she becomes an easy target. When her bodyguard betrays her, Piper ends up at the mercy of Maria and her followers. Forcing Piper down near a burning stove, the gang brands her with quite possibly the most offensive symbol in human history. As the hot metal meets Piper’s skin, the audience can only cringe in horror.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Bloody Tampon Sandwich
“I Wasn’t Ready”

Suzanne’s Crime
“People Persons”

Oral Sex Embezzlement
“We Have Manners. We’re Polite.”

It’s the event that eventually led to Daya holding a gun. When the inmates stand together on tables in a peaceful protest against their corrupt captors, Piscatella orders his men to remove them. Suzanne has a meltdown and Poussey attempts to comfort her, prompting Bayley to restrain Poussey. In the midst of the commotion, Bayley doesn’t realize that he’s crushing Poussey and accidentally kills her. While there’s no gore, this is arguably one of the hardest TV deaths you’ll ever watch, due to how slow and realistic it is. As Taystee cries beside her best friend’s body, we see the consequences of treating people – whether they’re innocent or guilty – like animals.