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When Does ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Return? Spoilers Point To A Long Wait For Season 5 And Resolution To The Big Cliffhanger

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 08:04 PST, Jul 3, 2016

When will Orange is the New Black come back for Season 5, and what will happen to the imperiled Litchfield inmates?

With now more than a week since the fourth season of the Netflix prison drama was released, most fans have already wrapped up the action (with many of them finishing it the first weekend) and interest in the show’s return is very high. While Netflix has not yet given an indication when Orange is the New Black will officially return, there are plenty of spoilers pointing to the new release date and the fate of the inmates.

[WARNING: From here the story delves into some major spoilers about Season 4 of Orange is the New Black, so if you haven’t yet finished, it’s best to proceed with caution.]

The last season of Orange is the New Black could be seen as a season-long reflection on the nationwide tensions related to police brutality and killing of suspects that fueled the Black Lives Matter movement. During the season, a new for-profit regime took over control of Litchfield, and with it came some brutal new guards.

In the ensuing protests against the crackdown, Poussey was accidentally killed by the guards, Judy King’s release from prison was up in the air, and Daya somehow found her hands on a gun that a guard had smuggled in amid the tensions. The season ended with Daya raising the gun at the guards, with viewers unsure if she will fire it.

They could be waiting a long time to find out. Without any solid indication from Netflix of just when Orange is the New Black will return, all signs point to at least one year before production can be completed and the streaming service can dump all the episodes on fans.

There are some solid ideas of when Orange is the New Black will return. Romper figured out that it will likely follow the same timeline of previous seasons, which means close to another year before viewers have a chance to seeing resolution for the Litchfield riot.

“While Netflix has not officially announced the premiere date of Season 5, fans can use a little math to figure out when Season 5 will premiere. With the exception of Season 1, all of the seasons of Orange Is the New Black have premiered within the first two weeks of June. So, if Netflix keeps with that schedule, which it usually does, fans can expect a premiere date for Orange Is the New Black Season 5 in June 2017.

“That seems like a long time to wait considering some of us have marathon-watched the season the same day it came out. It is an entire year without new Orange Is the New Black. The good news is, you can go back and re-watch the first four seasons over and over again until Season 5.”

But while fans are waiting to find out what happens to Judy King and Daya, there are some spoilers hinting at where Orange is the New Black will go next. Popsugar suggested that another inmate could step in and take the gun from the more mild-mannered Daya, but the actress who plays Maria saw another possibility.

Jessica Pimentel suggested that Daya could actually be doing Maria’s bidding by holding C.O. Humphrey at gunpoint.

“If you’re a boss, you don’t get your hands dirty ever,” Pimentel told TV Guide. “So [for Maria], it’s like, ‘Oh, d**n, I’d like to shoot that guy. Daya, pick that [gun] up. I’m never going to get my hands dirty.’… [Maria] has no reason to live at this point.”

But there’s still a while before fans will find out. Every indication is that Orange is the New Black won’t be back until mid-2017, so there’s plenty of time to ponder all the potential spoilers.

[Image via Instagram/Orange is the New Black]

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