Life in Litchfield prison has never been easy, but now that it's under a new "for-profit" regime, things are about to get more stressful than ever before for our favorite inmates and involve some "very surprising twists in the story," according to Laura Gómez. The actress, who plays the cell-phone-hiding inmate Blanca Flores, shared a few Orange Is The New Black Season 4 spoilers with Bustle during a recent interview and warns viewers to prepare for a very different season. Because while you should definitely still "expect to laugh," the harsh reality of these storylines — especially in regards to overpopulation in prison — makes the overall tone of the season "a little bit darker" than its ever been before. So could this mean that someone will die on Orange Is the New Black Season 4? When it comes to this show, nothing is out of the realm of possibility.
"I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to," Gómez remarks when I try to nudge her for more details. And while she could understandably not say too much about it one way or the other, she did promise that something big will go down that will "create deep emotions in the audience." Though whether or not these would be good or bad emotions, she didn't say. "There are some surprising situations that are going to occur and it's going raise the stakes, not just for the season, but of the entire show," she tells Bustle. Is it OK to officially start panicking now?
The trailer has certainly indicated that life in Litchfield is going to feel very unsafe these days (not that it was really all that safe in the first place), mostly due to the overpopulation problem the prisoners will be forced to contend with. A topic that will prove to be extremely important, considering how prominent it is within real-life prisons as well.
"I think that it's going to be a very powerful season and we're exploring very important topics such as the overpopulation of prisons, for instance," Gómez shares. "The reflection that it's bringing from the real world is very powerful... it's going to be a little more drama than comedy because of the topic itself." But it also probably has something to do with the fact that this means a ton of new prisoners will be taking up residence in Litchfield from now on, and as you can imagine, not all characters are going to mesh well together.
These new dynamics will serve as a driving force for the entire season a give "a lot of layers to the characters" as they try to adjust to this new (and highly close-quarters) way of life. "It's exploring such a human thing," Gómez explains. "It's such a human thing to react to change." Especially when you're talking about a prisoner's way of life — because sometimes their routine is all they have. "It's almost like the show is exposing a reality we don't want to even take a look into," says Gómez. "There's a territorial thing that happens in life. I can only imagine what it's like in real life, but the show is kind of exploring that within the Litchfield world. So yes, there are territory issues."
Obviously, I can see Red and Judy butting heads right off the bat, considering they both seem to very much like being in charge. But the addition of so many new inmates makes the possibilities for drama pretty much endless, so for now it's difficult to say who will align themselves with who. Perhaps the introduction of new inmates will force former foes to join forces in unexpected ways, kinda like how Pennsatucky and Boo's friendship just kinda came out of nowhere and surprisingly melted our hearts.
Either way, though, get ready to find Litchfield like you've never seen it before. But regardless of how different it may be, I'm sure it'll make for yet another unforgettable season. Let's just hope it won't come at the expense of someone's life.
Images: Netflix; Giphy; K. C. Bailey/Netflix
