The future of Litchfield hangs in the balance.
*This article contains lots of spoilers*
Every season of Orange is the New Black ends with a bang, but season four’s stand-off climax posed so many questions: Is Litchfield Penitentiary on the brink of an all-out, violent riot? Are the tyrannical prison officers about to get their dues? Will half the cast be killed off when tensions in a race war boil over?
Thanks to season five’s new official trailer – landing ahead of a big launch on Netflix on June 9 – some of these questions have already been answered, but it throws up several more theories. Here’s what OITNB obsessives will be asking after watching this latest sneak peak.
Are the inmates in control of Litchfield?
Season four saw Litchfield’s inmates treated like animals, subjected to humiliation, threats and sexual harassment, not least by Humphrey, whose life flashes before his eyes in the final scene. But season five’s trailer hints at a Litchfield controlled entirely by the inmates.
In one scene snippet, Alison declares: “We are protesting the abusive conditions of which we are being held.” She appears to be addressing the press, and other quick glimpses show inmates discussing their own prison rules and initiatives, as if they’re starting life behind bars with a clean slate. Whether this democracy has been handed to them by officers or higher-up executives remains to be seen.