Orange is the New Black Season 7: What will happen after THAT finale?
Orange Is the New Black
This post contains spoilers for all of Orange is the New Black Season 6.
If you’re not up for spoilers, check out our season review here.
Will Piper be back for Orange is the New Black Season 7?
Orange is the New Black execs have revealed what’s next for the show – after the finale of season six saw main character Piper (Taylor Schilling) released from prison.
The finale appeared to tie up much of the story of Piper Champan, who has had a diminishing role on the show for several years as the stories of Daya and Taystee come to the fore.
It saw her finally finish her prison sentence, qualifying for early release – hastily tying the knot to her lover Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), who still has years behind bars to go, before her release.
The bow on her story even saw Piper decide to write a book about her time behind bars, mirroring the real-life biography by Piper Kerman that the show is loosely based on.
But exec Tara Herrmann has confirmed that despite being out of prison, Piper is not out of the show.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, she said: “The thought of releasing Piper has come up in previous seasons because the real Piper’s sentence was 15 months and we want to make sure that we can fully tell the story of what it’s like for Piper on the outside,
“We just want to make sure we didn’t do it too soon in her complete arc as a series, but it seemed like the time was right. It felt like we had sort of seen her full time in accordance to what the real story was for the real Piper.”
Confirming that Piper would stay put, Herrmann added: “She’s the grounding force of the show.”
“As we were thinking of Piper on the outside, having them be married creates a lot more stories for us and possible conflict.”
Will Laverne Cox be back for Orange is the New Black Season 7?
There’s no word on whether trans character Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox) will remain part of the show, after also getting out on early release.
The character has had a diminished role on the show for several years, due to Cox’s obligations to other projects.
Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox)
Cox doesn’t have many future commitments announced yet, after the cancellation of her drama Doubt.
Things aren’t looking good for her return, however, given the perceived finality of the ending – and the show’s recent willingness to unload every excess cast member.
Will Orange is the New Black Season 7 be set in an immigration detention facility?
The show appeared to set up room to take on new territory in season seven, with the revelation that corporate prison company MCC would be branching out into immigration detention centers – with Blanca Flores (Laura Gomez) tragically revealed to be heading for deportation.
Blanca Flores (Laura Gomez)
While the show will obviously continue to primarily focus on the prisoners in Max, it sounds like there is definitely more to come from this than a one-off line.
Herrmann said: “We hope to tell some of those stories in the next season, but because it’s ever-changing, we don’t want to get too detailed in true hopes that by the time our next season airs it’s a whole different thing.
“We look to be able to organically find these things within the characters and the stories that we’ve already created… but immigration has been an issue here in the country since it was born.”
Writer Brian Chamberlayne added: “Jenji [Kohan, the show’s creator] came in at the beginning of season six stating that one of the clear things she wanted to do was address immigration detention centers — that’s something she was adamant about.
“We had spoken to some immigration attorneys and the way that Blanca’s story has worked out, it was a perfect opportunity to start to tell that story.”
