8: Morello the Stalker
Only Orange Is the New Black could make a character who had stalked and psychologically abused a man appear sympathetic. Morello has always been a bit away with the fairies but Season 2 showed us exactly how twisted she could be.
Having told the inmates constantly about Christopher – her supposed fiance, Morello took an opportunity, granted to her because she was taking Miss Rosa to the hospital, to go and break into Christopher’s house and go through all of his things, dress herself up in his wife’s wedding dress and then take a bath in it.
The sequence was extremely difficult to watch but really added a lot to her character. Her quest for love has become sweet and incredibly tragic and this was the catalyst for that development.
7: ‘Trust no Bitch’
Everybody loves Ruby Rose, not only she is beautiful, but it turns out she ain’t too bad in the acting department either.
Her portrayal of Stella, Piper’s Australian lover, in Season 3 was a welcome addition to the Piper/Alex storyline and the blow off- Piper stabbing Stella in the back and getting her sent away was executed perfectly. Just to add insult to injury too – Piper had tattooed Stella with the phrase ‘Trust no Bitch’ earlier in the episode. Will she be back for revenge one day? I’d like to hope so.
6: Suzanne’s Back Story
Suzanne, aka, Crazy Eyes, is one of the most loved characters from the show and last season we finally got a chance to find out how and why she ended up behind bars, and boy, was it a tough watch.
The episode, which was one last season’s finest moments showed us just how bad her condition was, and how, once left alone she could easily get herself into trouble. Watching her go from winning employee of the month at work to a convicted felon was hard enough, but the scenes with the little boy, especially the one which led to the child’s death were utterly heartbreaking. This was one of the show’s toughest episodes and somehow, there was still worse to come from that season.
5: Piper Vs Pennsatucky
Like most of the characters in this show, Pennsatucky undergoes some serious character development during the four seasons, and it seems a long time ago now that she was the show’s main antagonist.
That was the case way back in season 1 though, where Pennsatucky was hell-bent on killing Piper after she had ‘disrespected’ her on several occasions during the series. This culminated in Pennsatucky pulling a shiv made from a cross on Piper in the season’s final scene. With nowhere to turn Piper had to stand up for herself, beating her opponent to a bloody pulp, leaving us to wait another year to find out whether she had killed her or not.
4: Miss Rosa Escapes, Kill Vee
In wrestling, there is a phrase: ‘to mark out’ which means that for a moment, you get so caught up in the performance that you forget it is fake and emotionally react. Well, I marked out big time at the end of Orange Is the New Black season 2.
Miss Rosa’s battle with cancer had been one of the more emotionally difficult storylines of the season, so when she managed to escape in the van in the last episode, fans everywhere rejoiced. As Rosa drove to freedom, though, she spotted Vee, the season’s antagonist at the side of the road, having just escaped herself. Rosa, with Don’t Fear the Reaper blasting out of the radio, proceeded to plow Vee down before signing off with the line ‘always was rude, that one’. A true mark out moment indeed.
3: The Great Escape
Orange Is the New Black can be a tough show at times, but just as we share each character’s troubles we also get to share their moments of joy and nothing quite rivals the closing moments of season 3.
Discovering a hole into the fence thanks to the reappearance of the mythical chicken from Season 1, the girls made a bid for freedom – resulting in them all partying together in a lake as season 3 drew to a close. It was a glorious and triumphant moment to behold, though, in hindsight, it did nothing but lull us into a false sense of security ahead of the sheer emotional devastation of season 4.
2: Daya’s got a Gun
The ending of every season of Orange Is the New Black has made it onto this list and it is an area the show has consistently delivered in so far. The cream of the crop, however, is season 4’s nail-biting finale.
Everything about the last episode was perfect and the closing moments, which saw a prison riot break out were perfect. The very last shot was of Daya, holding a gun to the head of CO Humphries, the man who had been at the center of much of the problems in the prison for the last year. It was five straight minutes of heart pounding, emotionally charged TV that left us all begging for more.
1: Poussey’s Death
I’m not crying, you’re crying. This was, difficult. Orange Is the New Black has delivered some really emotional moments over the last four years, many of which have made their way onto this list, but not one destroyed me quite like the death of Poussey.
What made Poussey’s death so difficult, was not that the scene left us feeling hopeless as we watched the show’s best character get crushed right in front of our very eyes, but it was the hope that we had been filled with just prior to that.
Poussey was always the voice of reason, the character who we could all emphasise with, and the one who we really wanted to have a happy ending. Even as a grizzled vet of many TV deaths, Poussey’s death destroyed me, which, in a perverse way, is a testament to how wonderfully written this show is.
The following flashback episode was a fitting tribute to the character also, even if I did use up about five boxes of Kleenex watching it.
What are your favourite Orange is the New Black moments? Let us know in the comments below, and let Liam know on Twitter, here – @liamhoofe
Originally published June 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
