'Orange Is The New Black' Season 4 News, Spoilers: Repercussions of Poussey's Death in OITNB Finale

Nothing Will Be the Same After 'Orange Is The New Black' Season 4 Finale

By Allen Marcon, CP Contributor Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Warning: Spoilers for "Orange is the New Black" Season 4 Ahead

The end of "Orange is the New Black" Season 4 takes a protest that was supposed to be peaceful in nature and turns it into a scene taken from the pages of the recent newspapers.

In the scene, the inmates are staging a protest to have one of the guards removed from the prison when Crazy Eyes loses control. During the attempt to calm her down, Poussey ends up on the floor with the knee of officer Bayley on top of her neck. Screaming that she cannot breathe to Corrections Officer Bayley until the point she cannot do so anymore, Poussey suffocates and dies on the prison floor.

The scene is heartbreaking to say the least, but what does it mean to the inmates and staff of Litchfield Penitentiary?

Officer Bayley

Bayley is the newest of the guards at Litchfield and was trying to do what he was told to do -- breakup the protest. Surely, killing Poussey was not his intention. However, holding the smaller inmate down the way he did will certainly garner disciplinary action.

Because of the death of an inmate, an investigation will need to be done and Bayley may not be seen for several episodes in "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5 as he might be suspended.

Inmates to be Framed for Poussey's Death?

The death of Poussey will have the greatest effects on the inmates as she was seen as a lively, optimistic person. The worst part is that until the investigation surrounding Poussey's death is done, her body still lies in the same position it was left in.

What makes matters worse is that the company that owns Litchfield will try to look into the past of all the inmates in an attempt to absolve itself from Poussey's death.

Raising Awareness on Black Lives

The similarities of Poussey's death and the current movement of Black Lives matter was not overlooked by the show's producers. The death scene is meant to echo that of Eric Garner who died after he was taken down by police officers in 2014 and screamed "I can't breathe."

Tastyee, Poussey's best friend begins to scream, "You didn't even say her name" as a reference to Sandra Bland who died in Texas police custody. Many believe that the episode is trying to show how little these inmates have when it comes to wrongful deaths.

Currently, "Orange Is The New Black" Season 4 is available on Netflix.