Maritza Ramos

In the season 5 finale, we see Maritza and Flaca go their separate ways after the riot ends when Maritza boards a different bus than the rest of the original members, so fans assumed this was the last time we would see her in the show.

Much to our surprise, Maritza (played by Diane Guerrero) returns for season 7 and plays a major role in the immigration and I.C.E. detention center plot. After being released from prison on parole, Maritza was detained by I.C.E. when the nightclub she was in was raided, since she did not have any form of ID on her.

Despite her continuous pleading that she was an American citizen and that she was mistakenly detained, we eventually learn that Maritza's mother had lied to her about being born in the U.S., as she was actually born in Colombia and was brought to the U.S. as a baby.

During her time in the detention center, Maritza attempts to help other detainees get in contact with lawyers and obtain resources to assist with their release, but her kindness and selflessness quickly caught the attention of the guards.

This sadly resulted in her deportation to Colombia, where she has never even been and does not know a single soul. The entirety of Maritza's story line this season hit close to home for actress Diane Guerrero, because at age 14, she came home from school one day to discover her parents were deported back to Colombia.

Galina "Red" Reznikov

Season seven opens up with Red and Gloria being held in solitary confinement at Litchfield Max. We are unsure as to how long they have been in there, but it is safe to assume it was a long time.

Throughout this season, we see Red's mental health drastically decline upon being released from solitary and returning to gen pop. She was bed-ridden, uninterested in running the kitchen (which we all know she used to LOVE doing), and she became extremely forgetful. It did not take long for her friends to notice that she was not doing well.

The signs Red exhibited were consistent with early on-set dementia, which we learn when she was finally examined by a doctor after Nicky found her sitting in the freezer on the brink of suffering from hypothermia.

Lorna Morello

Much like Red, we see Morello's mental state become worse and worse throughout the season as opposed to her getting better, which fans had been hoping for since the beginning.

In the first couple episodes, we learn that Morello gave birth to a baby boy, Sterling, who came down with pneumonia and passed away. Morello's husband and Sterling's father, Vince, visited her in prison to tell her the devastating news, but as we know, this triggered her typical delusional behavior.

Throughout the rest of the season, Morello was in a constant state of denial that her son had died, so she went on pretending he was still alive by fabricating stories about him to her friends and stealing photos of other people's babies online to post on Instagram with her illegal phone.

Morello's declining mental health ended up getting her transferred to "Florida" alongside Red, where the elderly and mentally ill inmates are housed.

Lorna Morello deserved better!

Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson

Wrongfully convicted of murdering CO Piscatella during the riot, we see Taystee struggling to come to terms with her life sentence. She becomes depressed, hopeless, and so enraged that she contemplates suicide on multiple occasions.

After her appeal to overturn her conviction gets denied, Taystee attempts to hang herself in her cell, but failed. In later episodes, she consults Daya for drugs so she could overdose.

Although suicidal thoughts remained in the back of her mind, Taystee takes on responsibilities in order to occupy herself and distract her from reality. She became Pennsatucky's tutor, the Warden's secretary, and initiated the Poussey Washington Fund with the help of former inmate and celebrity, Judy King.

Even though no justice was sought for herself, Taystee was persistent in helping other inmates prepare for life outside of prison, as well as establishing Poussey's legacy.

Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett

Upon the initiation of the GED program at Litchfield, Pennsatucky began taking classes and was studying really hard to pass the GED with the help of Taystee. She was committed to bettering herself and preparing for life upon release, even after discovering she had a learning disability.

Because of her dyslexia, she was permitted to have extra time on the GED exam, but since Luschek forgot to submit this request to the board, Pennsatucky had to take the test with the same time limit as everyone else.

Convinced that she failed the exam, Pennsatucky became depressed and had no hope for her future, so she overdosed on drugs. Taystee was the one who found her body.

The most heartbreaking part of this entire episode was that Pennsatucky actually passed the exam, which we learn when Taystee opens her certificate.

Karla Córdova

Karla is a new character this season who was detained by I.C.E. alongside Blanca and Maritza, where we see them all work together to seek legal counsel and fight to stay in the U.S. We learn that Karla was separated from her two young sons and her husband had died the year before.

Karla had extensive knowledge of the law, as she used to work at a law firm prior to being detained. She used this knowledge to her advantage while also assisting Blanca with legal advice.

She fought and fought, but unfortunately, Karla was deported. Her final scene showed her hiking in the desert to the border with other immigrants, but she falls and breaks her ankle, leaving her unable to walk. The leader of the group carried her for some of the way, but abandons her claiming "he will try to come back for her."

We assume that Karla has died alone in the desert, but the ending is up for interpretation. Viewers were left with a sense of ambiguity and anger because we wanted to see her reunite with her kids!