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The Orange Is the New Black Refresher You Need Before Season 7

Here's where we left off with Litchfield's inmates

keishahatchettbiopic.jpg
Keisha Hatchett

Orange Is the New Black will drop all 13 episodes of its seventh and final season on Friday, July 26, marking the end of an era. Jenji Kohan's beloved dramedy broke ground for its empathetic look at the lives of marginalized women in a stark prison setting, showcasing a diverse group of perspectives on screen before it was en vogue.

Much has happened over the course of the show's first six seasons, as new characters entered the picture while most key players remained, and the show switched locations to a maximum-security setting in Season 6. When we last checked in at Litchfield Max, the prison was on the brink of a gang war orchestrated by dueling sisters Barbara (Mackenzie Phillips) and Carol (Henny Russell). Their plan backfired, though, and the season ended with the two killing each while the other prisoners enjoyed a friendly game of kickball.

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War may have been avoided but if we're going by the Season 7 trailer, the ladies still face a mountain of problems as their stories come to a close. Here's where our favorite inmates left off.

​Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black

Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black

JoJo Whilden/Netflix

Piper (Taylor Schilling): With five months left on her sentence, she was pushed to the top of the list for early release and left Litchfield (and her wife) behind. Season 7 will be all about Piper adjusting to life on the outside and how it affects her relationship with Alex (Laura Prepon), who still has four years left on her sentence.

Sophia (Laverne Cox): She, too, received early release in Season 6, along with a hefty sum for her silence about the prison's abhorrent treatment of her as a trans prisoner.

Taystee (Danielle Brooks): The fan-favorite inmate received a life sentence after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of corrections officer Piscatella (Brad William Henke), who was actually killed by friendly fire. To make matters worse, she was sold out by her best friend Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore), who struck a deal with federal agents in order to avoid additional time on her sentence.

Daya (Dascha Polanco): She is also serving a life sentence for killing a CO after accidentally shooting Humphrey (Michael Torpey) with his own gun -- an event that indirectly lead to his death. She turned to drugs to cope with what happened and by the season's end had become a heroin addict. This was, at first, unbeknownst to her mother Aleida (Elizabeth Rodriguez) who, along with CO Hopper (Hunter Emery), had begun smuggling drugs into the prison to help her cash flow following her own release.

Gloria (Selenis Leyva): After a failed attempt to expose the guards' perverse fantasy inmate game, Alvarez (Nicholas Webber) locked her in SHU as a way of keeping her silent.

​Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black

Kate Mulgrew, Orange Is the New Black

JoJo Whilden, Netflix

Red (Kate Mulgrew): The fierce kitchen mom also wrapped the season in SHU following her brutal attack on Frieda (Dale Soules) for the unforgivable offense of falsely implicating her in Piscatella's torture.

Suzanne (Uzo Aduba) and Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning): The comedic duo were placed in B-Block, also known as Florida, where inmates who are elderly or dealing with mental health issues are housed.

Lorna (Yael Stone): She was last seen being escorted to medical after going into premature labor at seven months. Her blood-soaked pants suggested things may have taken a deeply wrong turn and her fate remains up in the air.

Blanca (Laura Gomez): The final shots of Season 6 were perhaps the most shocking and heartbreaking since Poussey's (Samira Wiley) death, with the raven-haired inmate being immediately transferred to an immigration detention center after believing that she was finally going to be released. We may not know exactly what's in store for Season 7, but it's clear that at least part of remaining episodes will be devoted to tackling the topical issue of undocumented immigrants and deportation.

Orange Is the New Black's seventh and final season heads to Netflix on Friday, July 26.

Dascha Polanco and Danielle Brooks, Orange Is the New Black

Dascha Polanco and Danielle Brooks, Orange Is the New Black

Cara Howe/Netflix