Everyone in Litchfield has a story. Almost every episode of Orange Is The New Black is dedicated to exploring the history of significant characters in the female prison, but some characters take a while to get their backstory presented. Orange Is The New Black flashbacks are the primary source of information when it comes to character backstories, but some characters don't get the full introduction that major characters like Piper and Taystee get. Other characters have dark pasts that are merely hinted at, and may not even be acting like their true selves within the prison walls. The premiere episode of Season 4 provides hints at one character's history which begs the question: Why is Maureen in jail?
Maureen Kukudio was introduced in Season 3 and quickly fell head-over-heels for Suzanne. Suzanne's popular Time Hump series of stories made her very popular within the prison, so it wasn't going long before a love interest came her way. In addition to being a great author, Suzanne is just a great all-around person who deserves someone in her life just as delightfully weird and wonderful as she is. However, Maureen seemed to want to move a little too fast for Suzanne and they called their burgeoning romance off.
Maureen spent the night in an old guard's housing facility outside of the prison fence, and it seemed then that it was easy to just write her off as someone who's not entirely rational. Then something very interesting happened. She got taken into Caputo's office, and the warden of Litchfield looked at her file — and he was surprised. The warden of a prison filled with murderers, drug pushers, and crime lords was surprised by this woman's history. Then Maureen said, "Who likes to be predictable, right?" Then she started speaking with complete lucidity, even trying to manipulate Caputo by arguing that she could've "froze to death" to keep her from getting in trouble. What? How? Who is Maureen? Does she know more than she let on? What did Maureen do that surprised Caputo?
In a perfect world, fans wouldn't have to wait forever to find out, but Orange Is The New Black is used to playing the long game when it comes to character development. For the time being, it looks like Maureen's goal is to get involved in celebrity chef Judy King's crew, which would be a smart move for anyone in prison. Does Maureen have an attraction to popular personalities? While fans may not know what is in Maureen's file or what her true intentions are, it's clear that there's more to Maureen than meets the eye. The best thing that can be hoped for right now is that her feelings for Suzanne were real though because the last thing Suzanne needs is yet another person trying to manipulate her.Images: JoJo Whilden/Netflix, Giphy
