Warning: 'Orange is the New Black' season three spoilers ahead.
After leaving my room for the first time in 14 hours, after binge-watching season three of "Orange Is the New Black," I felt a rush of different emotions. I went from happy to sad, from angry to confused, from gross to sympathetic and from high to low. With a new season released once a year, viewers binge-watch the episodes, losing sleep until they’ve watched as much as they can. This show is known for shocking story lines, flashbacks and cliff hanger endings.This season left viewers with a lot of unresolved endings, and wondering what will happen to the inmates at Litchfield.
Here are the top five most shocking moments from the latest season of "Orange Is the New Black," in no particular order:
1. CO Bennett leaving Daya and their baby.
The season’s second episode ended with a shocking conclusion, as one of Litchfield's favorite couples broke up. In the beginning of the episode, Bennett proposed to Daya at “their place,” saying how he would always love her, and they’ll “find so much happiness, we won’t know what to do with it.” Promising a good and happy future for their baby, Bennett risked everything for Daya and their child. ... Until he met Daya’s family, and learned what he was marrying into. The family was welcoming to him, but was not what Bennett wanted. A flawed family with not much money and a lot of drugs and fighting — Bennett ran. The episode ends with Bennett crying in his car, then driving off into the sunset leaving the crib Daya’s family gifted to him on the side of the road. Weeks passed with Daya waiting for Bennett to return back to work, until she found out that he left his position for good. With no way to reach him, Daya was left hopeless and alone ... and eight months pregnant.
2. Nicky being sent to Max.
Sadly, another one of Litchfield's favorites left this season — the beloved Nicky Nichols. Nicky has been battling a terrible addiction to heroin since she was young, doing crazy things like stealing a taxi in order to score. In the second season, Vee even tempted her by giving her a small baggie of the stuff, but things got bad when Nicky found Vee’s stash of the good stuff, stole it and hid it. With no way to get the drugs out, Nicky was stuck hiding them. She took a huge risk by asking her good friend and boss at the electrical shop, Luschek, to sneak the drugs out of the prison and sell them. They successfully sneak the heroin out of the prison, save for one little baggy Nicky hid (unbeknownst to Luschek). Word spread that Luschek had heroin, and his office was searched in front of the entire electrical staff. Upon finding the baggy Nicky hid, Luschek ratted her out, sending her to max. Nicky tried to explain what happened, but wasn’t able to get her words in. In an emotional ending, Nicky was dragged across camp saying a quick goodbye to two of her closest friends, Morello and Red. Nicky isn’t shown for the rest of the season, so no one knows what's happening to her. (Dear producers, please bring Nicky back in season four!)
3. Pennsatucky’s rape.
One of the saddest scenes in season three is the final scene of episode 10. Pennsatucky develops a close relationship with one of the new COs, Coates. They go get doughnuts and ice cream together while on truck duty, and begin to spend more time together. But things escalate and get weird as the episode continues. In the final scene, Doggett tries to get Coates to hang out and get ice cream with her, but Coates was just put on probation for missing count and spending too much time going off camp. She continues to flirt with him and tries to help him figure out when to be back for count. She tries to help him, but he takes a violent turn and forces her into the van and rapes her. Later episodes reveal that he continues to rape her while flashbacks reveal that Doggett has a history of being sexually assaulted.
4. Sophia’s Hate Crime.
Throughout the season, tension rises between Sophia and Gloria. The rivalry reaches a point where Gloria spreads a rumor saying that Sophia, a transgender woman, still has her penis. The rumor spreads throughout Litchfield and inmates start harassing Sophia, making snide comments to her, and stop going to her beauty parlor. One day, a group of inmates goes to Sophia’s parlor and badger her about the rumor Gloria spread. They said she’s only “pretending” to be a woman so that she can be in a women’s prison and continue to berate her with questions. They ask her to see a peek of what she has "downstairs," a request she absolutely refuses. They began to attack her, throwing her to the floor, calling her a “she-male” and a “he" and threatened to stab her with her own hair shears. A new CO sees the melee and, instead of helping, runs away in fear, leaving Sophia helpless. Once the inmates leave her alone, she's left with a busted lip and multiple bruises and scratches on her face. Caputo, not knowing what to do, sends Sophia to the SHU for her own protection.
5. Soso’s suicide attempt.
Soso didn’t adjust to prison well. She’s a talkative hippie who had trouble making friends in season two. She started a hunger strike which got her close to a couple inmates, but she failed to develop any genuine relationships. She yelled at her friend Meadow when she came to visit, losing all of her friends outside of prison as well. She became a member — albeit a flaky one — of Norma’s prayer group/religion, but then was bullied by one of the fellow members, Leanne. Leanne tormented her by saying rude things to her, tripping her in the cafeteria and even cutting Soso’s hair while she slept. Soso began to get counseling by a new counselor, Berdie Rogers, who actually helped her and listened to her problems of fighting depression. Unfortunately for Soso, Rogers is suspended. Soso is sent back to Healy who dismissively suggests antidepressants saying, “No one likes depressed people.” Soso, while in the medical center, stole packets of Benadryl later overdosing on them in the empty library. Poussey finds her passed out, presumably dead, and gets Taytsee and Susanne to help her resuscitate her. The three of them get Soso to throw up the pills and revive her. It became their new mission to make sure Soso doesn't end up in Psych for her attempted suicide. While doing this, Soso bonds with Poussay, and by default, becomes friends with Poussey’s friends.
