‘Orange Is The New Black’s Natasha Lyonne Predicts ‘Major Characters Suffer Major Consequences’

Orange is the New Black‘s third season left fans hanging with the finale, but even more troubling for some OITNB fans is the question of whether or not Natasha Lyonne’s Nicky Nichols will ever be seen again. In the third season of Orange is the New Black, Lyonne’s character was sent into the oblivion otherwise known as maximum security, following the allegation that Nichols was the reason for heroine making its way into the prison population at Litchfield.

When the subject of Nicky’s fate was posed to Natasha at Orange Is the New Black‘s 2015 Summer TCA press tour panel, Ms. Lyonne handled the prodding for spoilers deftly without giving a hint of a single clue.

“I feel a great deal of solidarity with the cast of Game of Thrones,” responded OITNB‘s Lyonne.

Natasha later responded to the question with more seriousness.

“I was excited [about Nicky’s subplot],” the Orange is the New Black actress said to E! News. “We have an incredible puppet master in [showrunner] Jenji [Kohan] and there’s a great deal of trust that I have in that. I’m pretty much a person who is up for adventure and I thought it was wise to have there be a big consequence for Nicky’s playing around with heroin. It can’t all be fingering and cookies all the time. There’s going to be hell to pay at a certain point for playing with her personal fire.”

Although the subplot meant seeing far less of Nicky Nichols and diminished screen time for Natasha Lyonne, the Orange is the New Black actress felt that taking the story in that direction was best for the show as a whole, as well as for her OITNB character.

“I think it makes sense and I think that the stakes of the show and the reason it resonates and continues to is ultimately because of this underlying intensity to the fact that these people have lost their freedom and are up against themselves behind these walls. I think it’s a good thing to have major characters suffer major consequences. Otherwise, I think it might be a little bit too friendly and it loses some of its bite.”

So it seems that OITNB fans can ultimately expect Natasha Lyonne A.K.A. Nicky Nichols to return next season?

“That seems like a sneaky way to ask another spoiler question,” responded the Orange is the New Black actress.

Ms. Lyonne did suggest that OITNB fans could expect to see more of Nicky with her response to how a stay in maximum security would affect her Orange is the New Black character.

“It could really go both ways. People respond all kinds of ways to intense [situations] beyond rules. That kind of discipline sometimes brings out the best in people and sometimes brings out that much more anger and rebellion. Certainly, at a certain point, I think Nicky would have to come to terms with her childhood and do some reconciling with her past if she’s going to make peace with being an adult.”

The fourth season of Orange is the New Black will premiere in June 2016 on Netflix.

[Featured image: Natasha Lyonne courtesy of Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]