Orange Is The New Black, S4 review: Finale & Closing Thoughts

'Toast Can't Never Be Bread'

Poussey's body is still lying in the kitchen, a day after her death.

This is the point when we finally see just how full of shit Piscetella really is -- chewing gum while giving Caputo some BS story about Poussey attacking Bayley.

Speaking of which, Bayley is basically a basket case.

While it initially looks like Caputo will grow a pair, he tows the company line. 

He's caught in an understandable, though reprehensible, bind -- tow the company line and throw Bayley under the bus, or blame Poussey for being provocative.

In the end, he goes off-script to defend Bayley. This pushes the prisoners too far.

They riot. In the commotion, Humphrey loses his holdout pistol. 

Dya picks it up and aims it at him.

Fade to black. See you next year. Goddammit!

Flashback: Poussey gets a send-off, and it's magic. 

On her last day before heading overseas, her phone is stolen in a club. Poussey runs out to try and catch the thief, but winds up on a series of surreal adventures ala After Hours.

A snapshot of better times, it is the perfect way to say goodbye to one of the series' best characters.

Final thoughts: Season 4 is a major step up from a rather maudlin third season. The storylines are stronger, familiar characters get interesting arcs while other background characters finally get fleshed out. 

And the writers addressed the lack of a major antagonising force in the last season with a real rogues gallery of absolute shits: Piscetella and the new guards, Linda and MCC, even Caputo -- all are great additions who put our core cast through their paces.

Overall, this is a terrific season that manages to build upon everything that made the show great -- great characters, great twists and a few good laughs. Even better -- it feels like it's barely getting started. 

Based on this cliffhanger, Season 5 is going to be a doozy!

For previous episodes

Episode 1 

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

Episode 5

Episode 6

Episode 7

Episode 8

Episode 9

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12